How I got the Full Front Lever

[burtonlux]

@jesusloverr thanks for answering!

 

[sister_diane]

@jesusloverr This is a fantastic post and I am saving it. Since the gyms closed in December here I’ve had to transition from a mixed programme to a full callisthenics programme and I’ve seen some great improvements, but I seem to be hitting a plateau in the last couple of weeks. So perhaps it’s time for a new training schedule.

I’ve learnt the ring muscle-up and I’m working towards the archer/one arm ring chin-up, but both progresses have stalled. My straight arm strength, however, is absolutely shit, so I think it’s time for me to try your programme.

I do have a couple questions though:

• I can do a tucked front lever, but I can’t do a tucker front lever pull with straight arms from a hanging position. Especially at the bottom it just feels impossible. Is this normal? Should I view the pull as starting from more of a 135° angle instead of starting at 180°? Or is this even too large a range of motion? I usually do them hanging from a high bar.
• That brings me to my second question. Right now I have a low bar to my disposal where I could touch the ground as you do, but when I move to my new place I probably won’t. Do you reckon I just pick an angle for my arms to which I do those negatives and then go back up?
• And then a question that has bugged me for longer. If I want to do FL rows but can only do a tucked FL, then how can I even do rows? Aren’t my knees in the way of the bar? Maybe I should do it on rings then?

Anyways, great post!

 

[imangster]

@sister_diane For your last question, yeah do tuck FL rows on rings. If it's too hard then you could do arc rows instead.

 

[jesusloverr]

@sister_diane

I can do a tucked front lever, but I can’t do a tucker front lever pull with straight arms from a hanging position. Especially at the bottom it just feels impossible. Is this normal? Should I view the pull as starting from more of a 135° angle instead of starting at 180°? Or is this even too large a range of motion? I usually do them hanging from a high bar.

All of my FL work was done on my tall parallettes (aka. dip bars), so the very bottom of my negative or FL pull was closer to between 90-110° mark than it was the 180°. The only time I did pulls from 180° was back when I first started experimenting with calisthenics at the gym, but I stopped them once COVID closed my gym and I started exclusively workout out from home.

That brings me to my second question. Right now I have a low bar to my disposal where I could touch the ground as you do, but when I move to my new place I probably won’t. Do you reckon I just pick an angle for my arms to which I do those negatives and then go back up?

Same as above, if you want to follow my programming I'd do the negative to around 90-110°. You can always experiment with this as you progress. In fact, this could be your form of progressive overload for this move - gradually increasing the angle, rather than sets/reps/progressions.

And then a question that has bugged me for longer. If I want to do FL rows but can only do a tucked FL, then how can I even do rows? Aren’t my knees in the way of the bar? Maybe I should do it on rings then?

Rings would certainly be a good work around. Another would be to use two dip bars (this is what I did in the beginning) doing your rows with a neutral grip, and once you have the adv. tuck, you can transition onto one dip bar with a pronated grip.

 

[sister_diane]

@jesusloverr Thanks a lot!

 

[jesusloverr]

@sister_diane You’re welcome. Good luck!

 

[stamstam]

@jesusloverr I've been doing the FFL with a band as assistance and slowly moving the rings higher which makes the band pull less. What do you think of this method? The band goes around your feet.