Open Exercise

Development draft, v0. Formats and IDs may change.

Catalogue

Prone Towel Pulldown

oec:prone-towel-pulldown

A bodyweight back exercise performed face down on the floor, pulling a taut towel toward the chest while holding trunk extension.

Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.

Also called: Towel Superman, Superman Towel Pulldown, Prone Towel Lat Pulldown, Superman with Towel Pull

How to do it

Setup

  1. Lie face down on the floor or an exercise mat with your legs extended straight behind you.
  2. Grasp a towel or strap with an overhand grip wider than shoulder-width, holding your arms extended overhead.
  3. Engage your glutes and lower back to elevate your chest slightly off the floor, keeping your neck neutral.

Movement

  1. Pull outward on the towel with both hands to create continuous lateral tension.
  2. Drive your elbows down and back toward your ribs, pulling the towel in toward your upper chest.
  3. Squeeze your shoulder blades down and together at the bottom of the movement.
  4. Slowly extend your arms back overhead under control while maintaining outward tension on the towel.

Breathing

Inhale as you extend your arms overhead, and exhale forcefully as you pull the towel down toward your chest.

Cues

  • Rip the towel apart
  • Drive elbows to hips
  • Keep chest proud, gaze down

Common faults

Losing tension on the towel
Actively pull outward with your hands throughout the entire rep to keep the lats and upper back engaged.
Hyperextending the cervical spine
Keep your gaze directed toward the floor rather than looking up to protect the neck.
Shrugging the shoulders toward the ears
Depress your scapulae and think about pulling your elbows down into your back pockets.

Safety

  • Do not excessively arch the lower back if prone extension causes lumbar discomfort.

Muscles

  • Latissimus dorsi prime mover
  • Rhomboids synergist
  • Middle trapezius synergist
  • Lower trapezius synergist
  • Teres major synergist
  • Rear deltoid synergist
  • Erector spinae stabilizer
  • Gluteus maximus stabilizer

Joints

  • Shoulder: Adduction, Extension
  • Shoulder blade: Retraction, Depression, Downward rotation
  • Elbow: Flexion, Extension
  • Thoracic spine: Isometric stabilization
  • Lumbar spine: Isometric stabilization

Details

Movement
Vertical pull, Spinal extension
Modality
Calisthenics
Mechanics
compound
Force
pull
Laterality
bilateral
Kinetic chain
open
Level
beginner
Equipment
Strap
Record
Repetitions
Load
bodyweight, not applicable

Related

Sources

This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.

Data

prone-towel-pulldown.json