Engage Your Upper Body: Angels and Devils Workout Guide

You’ve come to the right place if you’re bored with your ab training routines and want to spice up your regimen with a challenging core exercise. Planks, leg raises, and crunches are staples in most ab workouts. Although there is nothing wrong with these movements, limiting yourself to a few exercises can stall your progress. You must constantly switch up your training regimen to keep your muscle guessing and avoid hitting a plateau. 

Enter angels and devils.

No, this article is not about a horror movie or a plot reveal of an Angels & Demons (2009) sequel. We’re talking about an exercise. 

Angels and devils is a unique core exercise combining a static hold with movement. This exercise primarily works your core and also targets your glutes, shoulders, and back. The secondary muscle group engagement makes this exercise more challenging and demands greater core stability and endurance. 

It is one of the few core exercises that target all these muscle groups in the same movement. Angels and demons might look easy, but it will set your core on fire as soon as you get into the start position. The stopwatch is your biggest enemy while performing the angels and demons exercise. 

This article covers everything you need to know about the angels and devils exercise to add it to your exercise arsenal, including its target muscle groups, benefits, correct form, common mistakes, and variations and alternatives. 

What is the Angels and Devils Exercise?

Angels and devils is a core exercise that could be considered a dynamic version of the reverse hollow body hold or Superman. It will help build a stronger core that can improve your performance in other compound exercises and daily functioning. 

To perform this exercise, lay prone on the floor and raise your chest and knees off the floor. Extend your arms above your head. Your body, from your hands to your toes, should be in a straight line at the start position. 

Limiting the movement to your shoulder joint, move your arms in an arc and bring your hands over your glutes. Your chest and knees should remain off the floor throughout the exercise. 

Beginners or folks that lack core strength can perform this exercise while keeping their knees on the floor. You must, however, ensure that your lower legs are off the floor throughout the exercise. 

On the flip side, you could make this exercise harder by wearing ankle and wrist weights or holding dumbbells or weight plates. If you are an average lifter, it’ll be a long time before you can start using additional resistance in this exercise.

Muscles Worked During Angels and Devils

The angels and devils exercise targets the following muscle groups:

Core

The angels and devils exercise primarily targets your core. Holding a reverse hollow body position for an extended period will put a lot of tension on your midsection. Raise your arms and legs as far as possible toward the ceiling for optimal core engagement. 

Squeeze your core for the duration of this exercise for optimal midsection engagement. Letting your core loose during the exercise can result in the lowering of your limbs toward the floor, removing tension from your midsection. 

Back

You’ll experience full back engagement while doing the angels and devils exercise. Holding your legs and arms off the floor will require you to keep your back contracted for the duration of this exercise. The static hold will primarily engage your lower back. On the other hand, the requisite arm movement will result in upper back stimulation. 

Glutes

You must brace your glutes to lift your knees off the floor. Keeping your butt engaged throughout the exercise can lead to massive pumps. This exercise will also help build a better mind-muscle connection with your glutes, which will carry over to compound exercises like the squat and deadlift. You’ll also experience hamstrings and quad engagement if you lift your legs to a decent height. 

Shoulders

Since the angels and devils exercise requires constant arm movement, you should expect a decent shoulder engagement. This exercise primarily activates your lateral and posterior deltoids. 

Benefits of Angels and Devils

Adding the angels and devils exercise to your training regimen entails the following advantages:

Build a Stronger Core

Angels and devils is an incredibly effective exercise for building a strong core. Your core strength gains will carry over to other functional (multi-joint) exercises and can improve your physical performance in daily activities. 

Best of Both Worlds

This exercise requires holding a reverse hollow body hold position while moving your arms in an arc. Angels and devils combines static and dynamic exercises, getting you the best bang for your buck. 

Full Body Exercise

Unlike most core exercises, angels and devils is a full-body exercise. Besides using it in your ab training regimen, you could do the angels and devils exercise before a back or lower body workout to activate your posterior chain. 

No Equipment Needed

The angels and devils exercise can be done anywhere at your convenience since it requires no additional equipment. You can do this movement in the comfort of your home during your rest day or in a fully-equipped commercial gym. 

How To Do Angels and Devils

This is how to do the angels and devils exercise with the correct form:

Steps:

1. Lie prone (face down) on the floor.
2. Extend your arms overhead.
3. Your body, from hands to heels, should be in a straight line at the start position.
4. Lift your chest and knees off the floor as high as possible.
5. Your arms should be in line with your shoulders and parallel to the floor.
6. Move your arms in an arc at your sides until your hands are over your glutes. This is the “angel” portion of the movement.
7. Turn your palms toward the ceiling while performing the arc motion.
8. Return to the start position. This is the “devil” motion.
9. Repeat for recommended reps.

Angels and Devils Tips:

1. Keep your head neutral throughout the exercise. Looking at the wall in front of you will strain your neck unnecessarily.
2. Spread your fingers while performing this exercise and touch your hands at the ROM’s top and bottom.
3. Keep your glutes, back, and shoulder blades contracted throughout the exercise to maintain the reverse hollow body hold position.
4. You could perform this exercise for reps or time. Alternate between these methods to add variety to your training regimen.
5. Raising your knees and chest as high off the floor as possible improves the effectiveness of this exercise.

Common Mistakes While Performing Angels and Devils

Avoid committing these errors while doing the angels and devils exercise:

Rushing Through the Exercise

Many exercisers rush through the reps to save themselves the pain of holding the Superman pose. Furthermore, they shorten the range of motion or bend their elbows to make this exercise easier. Doing so makes you leave gains on the table. 

Keeping Your Legs Together

The hollow body hold requires you to hold your feet together. Most trainers carry over this lower body position to the angels and devils. Keeping your legs together in the Superman hold limits your range of motion and can significantly hamper your ability to hold the position for an extended period. Keep your toes shoulder-width apart in this exercise for optimal lower-body engagement. 

Scrapping the Floor

Folks that cannot hold the Superman pose fail to achieve the shoulder elevation required to move their arms through the full range of motion. It results in them brushing their hands against the floor while performing this exercise. It is also common in exercisers when fatigue starts to set in, in which case you must stop the exercise and return to it after an adequate break. 

If you cannot keep your hands off the floor while performing this exercise, you must work on your core strength and upper body mobility before adding the angels and devils exercise into your training regimen. 

Not Focusing on Pulling Your Knees and Chest Toward the Ceiling

After raising their knees and chest off the floor, most people focus on moving their hands while performing the angels and devils. As a result, many trainers lose mind-muscle connection with their upper and lower body and cannot hold the Superman pose for long. You must focus on actively pulling your knees and chest toward the ceiling throughout the exercise to hold the optimal position required to target your core. 

Variations and Alternatives of Angels and Devils

Use these angels and devils variations and alternatives to add variety to your training regimen:

Reverse Hollow Body Hold (Superman)

The reverse hollow body hold is an incredibly effective core exercise. It helps build a solid midsection and can improve your overhead mobility. This exercise is similar to the angels and demons, with the only difference being the lack of arm movement. 

Steps:

1. Lay prone on the floor.
2. Extend your arms overhead. Your body, from hands to heels, should be in a straight line.
3. Brace your core and glutes, and raise your knees and chest off the floor as high as possible.
4. Hold for time or repeat the movement for recommended reps.

Check out our complete reverse hollow body hold (Superman) guide!

Prone Press and Pull

Prone press and pull is the perfect exercise for beginners. It will help you build the core strength and upper body mobility required to perform the angels and devils exercise with the perfect form.

Steps:

1. Line face down on an exercise mat.
2. Extend your arms overhead. Your legs should be in line with your torso.
3. Raise your chest and head off the floor and hold this position throughout the exercise.
4. Bring your elbows to your sides while raising your chest off the floor. Your arms and upper body should resemble a “W.” Contract your lats.
5. Slowly return to the starting position.
6. Repeat for reps.

Reverse Snow Angel

You can use the reverse snow angel as a progression movement to work toward the angels and devils exercise. Focus on pulling your chest as high off the floor as possible. 

Steps:

1. Lie prone on the floor with your arms extended over your head and your heels placed on the floor shoulder-width apart.
2. Get into the starting position by lifting your chest off the floor. Keep your head neutral to avoid unnecessary neck strain.
3. Move your arms in an arc until they are at your sides.
4. Return to the starting position.
5. Repeat for time or recommended reps.

Cobra Pose

Back mobility is the most common limiting factor while performing the angels and devils exercise. You must be able to hold your chest off the floor for an extended period to get the most out of this exercise. 

Steps:

1. Lie facedown on an exercise mat.
2. Place your hands under your shoulders and spread your fingers.
3. Extend your legs behind you with the top of your feet planted on the mat.
4. Keeping your elbows tucked to your sides, lift your upper body off the floor by extending your elbows. 
5. Your pelvis should be touching the mat throughout the range of motion.
6. Hold this position for the recommended time.

Hollow Body Hold

Hollow body holds can improve your Superman hold performance as it helps build core strength. It also makes you more comfortable holding the reverse hollow body hold. 

Steps:

1. Lie supine on the floor.
2. Extend your arms overhead. Your body, from hands to heels, should be in a straight line.
3. Raise your arms, head, chest, and feet toward the ceiling.
4. Your lower back and hips should be the only touch point with the floor.
5. Hold for the recommended time.
6. Repeat for recommended reps.

Check out our complete hollow body hold guide!

Wrapping Up

The angels and devils is an underutilized but potent exercise that will help you build a solid core. It can also be incredibly effective in your warm-up routine to fire up your posterior chain. You may, however, require some time to build the core strength and mobility to hold this pose for an extended time. Stick with the exercise and give it time to work its magic; the results will be worth it. 

Beginners can use the variations and alternatives listed in this article to improve their performance on the angels and devils exercise. Focus on performing these exercises with perfect form to get the best bang for your buck. Best of luck!

---