an interesting variation on the body lever?

instead of anchoring the arms overhead, the arms remain pressed into the ground as in a yoga shoulderstand position

unlike the shoulderstand however, the body is lowered completely to the ground and pressed back up again :shock:

Yesterday I was able to do this in a flat tuck. I also tried to lean down in a full lay and I am estimating that I managed about 20-30 degrees. My triceps are quite sore today.

I think this could potentially be quite a good exercise and have some carryover towards the manna, at the least general development of the active flexiblity in the triceps and rear delt. The problem is that the maximum load occurs fractionally above the ground at a much more closed shoulder angle. Leaning in a full lay allowed me to hit a higher angle that would be similar to a full manna position.

Performing a full body lever in this position would be something I would like to see. I can only hold FL in a flat tuck for time, sometimes I can hold straddle or one legged momentarily. It would be interesting to see how someone stronger managed with this exercise.

I don't know anything about the manna, but I like this move because not everywhere has a stable place to hold onto and do body levers. I tried it in my room a long time ago but stopped for some reason

It's a pretty interesting drill I've worked time to time. Frequently, when we are first training a vertical body lever it's done with the arms in this position.

In the L4 Junior Olympic floor routine (and L5, perhaps L6) there is a candlestick and the arms can be placed in this fashion or with the ears covered by the arms. I prefer arms by ears ( because we are still teaching them to breakfall backwards correctly ) but this is an interesting point that they can push with their arms to assist in flattening out their hips.

Played around with this exercise before, maybe I should try again

Variation in this pose is, for me, a flexibility issue. I find that I'm better able to stack onto my shoulders when my arms are down as shown in the image. When my arms are next to my ears I find my back tends to arch more and my hold time decreases.

As for some sort of lever movement with the arms in either position you are dealing with a lot of body weight to hold and I think with the arms down a straight body lever down to horizontal would be incredibly difficult without lifting your shoulders at some point regardless of core strength.