Exercise Guide

Reverse Snow Angel

A face-down snow angel, sweeping the arms from the hips to overhead and back while keeping them off the floor. Works the whole upper back through a long arc.

BeginnerStrengthPullIsolation
Form
Reverse Snow Angel - Start position
Start
Reverse Snow Angel - Mid position
Mid
Reverse Snow Angel - End position
End

Illustrations by Bryl Lim for Workout Guide, after Everkinetic. Used unchanged under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Details

Primary Muscle

Middle Back

Equipment

Bodyweight

Difficulty

Beginner

Category

Strength

Force

Pull

Mechanic

Isolation

Secondary Muscles

ShouldersLower Back
How to Perform
  1. 1

    Lie face-down with your arms by your sides, palms down, and lift your hands off the floor.

  2. 2

    Keeping the arms straight and off the ground, sweep them out and overhead in a wide arc.

  3. 3

    Touch your hands together above your head if your shoulders allow.

  4. 4

    Sweep back down the same path to your hips.

Tips
  • Slow and continuous beats fast and jerky - the point is time spent holding the arms up.
  • If your hands drop to the floor mid-arc, shorten the range rather than resting them.