The front lever is an exercise that has frustrated many, it has frustrated me in the past as well as some of my friends and is probably frustrating a lot of people around the world as we speak. The most common thing people say to me is that they can hold the one leg lever for a lot of time like 30 or 40 seconds but they can’t hold a full front lever for even a second, they can even pull up in the position, but still no dice when it comes to a full front lever. Well here’s the problem with that – when you can hold 30 seconds of a one leg lever you will be able to hold an advanced one leg lever, not a full front lever, you can’t just skip levels like that. Also keep in mind that with a regular one leg lever this leg is so tucked in that it might cause you to break the straight line of your other leg and that makes it even easier. And believe me when I tell you that you will feel a significant difference between a regular and an advanced one leg lever – especially if you’re one of those that can pull up in the regular one leg lever, you’re gonna notice how more difficult it is to do it in the advanced one. So holding a 30 second one leg lever isn’t really the last step before achieving your goal, you’re actually only halfway there and after you master both the regular and the advanced one leg lever, you still might not be ready for a full front lever and would have to either do a straddle of a halfway lever. The second problem is that people think you need incredibly strong abs or lower back muscles for the front lever. The reason why the abs are activated is to hold the legs in place so your body can be straight and that’s about it and it doesn’t require a lot more work in the front lever than it would if you did something like this. In both of these positions the abs are activated so your body can be straight and the amount of pressure on the abs is almost identical. Yeah OK in the front lever its gonna take more abs strength, but not that much more So if you can keep a straight body in this position and then lower your legs and bring them back up then it’s safe to say you already have about enough core strength for a front lever. The real thing you need for a strong front lever, is this (shows the back). The back muscles are the foundation for a front lever. Yes the abs have to take the weight of your legs so you can keep a straight line, but the back muscles take the weight of the legs, the weight of the pelvis area and the torso, so it has to do a lot more work. Sometimes if you fail to hold the lever you might bend in the center and it’s still not the abs’ fault, the reason why your body is bending is not because your abs can’t keep it straight, it’s because the back won’t be able to handle the bigger pressure from the straight body. And while we’re at it, what are strong abs anyway? Is it visible abs? That’s what a lot people associate it with, but that’s not always the case. Here’s me in 2012, I was quite lean and had some good looking abs, and here’s me in some half natty lighting where my abs look nice. Here’s how they look today, I am not nearly as lean but I can assure you these abs are stronger than these. Now that doesn’t mean that you should put on fat, that won’t help you with a front lever I just wanted to make the point that strength isn’t just about appearance.

• published: 20 Jul 2015
• views: 1308