Exercise

Floor Angel

The wall extension performed lying on the floor: with the lower back flat and the elbows kept down, you take the arms from beside the head to overhead and back. On the floor gravity resists the movement directly rather than merely holding you against a wall, so the range comes back slowly.

Also called: Floor Angels, Floor Wall Extension, Floor Wall Extensions, Lying Wall Extension · Equipment: bodyweight · Pattern: isolation

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How to do it

Step by step

  1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat, and glue your lower back to the floor — it must stay there for every rep.
  2. Bring your arms out to the sides with the elbows bent, upper arms at shoulder height, and rest the elbows and the backs of the hands on the floor.
  3. Slowly straighten and reach the arms overhead, staying as close to the floor as you can.
  4. Only move as far as you can keep your elbows on the floor. If you cannot reach the floor with your elbows at all, that is fine — just try to reach.
  5. Return along the same path under control.
  6. Do not let the lower back arch or the ribs flare to buy extra range; the range you have with the back flat is the range you are training.

Log the floor angel in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.

General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.