jesusloverr
New member
How I got the Full Front Lever
I've been meaning to make this post for a while, but life has its way of keeping me busy.
I'd like to start with some disclaimers:
- I'm sharing this because after years of being part of this community I feel like I don't see enough posts of people sharing their success stories alongside the strategies they used to get there. Most posts seem to be on two ends of the spectrum: tons of posts of people seeking advice on how to achieve their goals, and then those, for lack of a better word, showing off (nothing wrong with this!) their achievements, but with little help/advice as to how others can mimic their success. Therefore, I'd like this post to be dedicated to giving back to the community and bridging the gap between that spectrum.
- I achieved the Full Front Lever (FFL / FL hereafter) in April 2020. I then transitioned onto One-Armed Chin-ups (OACU) only to get golfer's elbow in September 2020. Unfortunately FLs really aggravated the pain and so I had to stop them altogether for a long stretch of time, and eventually lost them. Once recovered, I have begun training again using exactly the same programming that I will outline here. I have absolute confidence that I will gain my FFL again (currently on the one-leg, foot-to-knee stage).
- There were lots of other factors going on, as there are in any workout programming (mine was Push-Pull split with mobility). But for the sake of space and specificity of this post, I'll only focus on the FL training aspects.
- Goes without saying but, this worked for me. Everyone is different, that's why some people get these skills easily while others have to dedicate huge amounts of time. By sharing this, I'm not suggesting it'll work for you, but perhaps if you've been trying other things unsuccessfully for a while and want a different approach, give it a try. Put it this way, you won't get any weaker.
Quick Facts
- I have been into amateur weightlifting & bodybuilding for most of my life (m33). I currently weigh 72kg (158lbs) and am 170cm (5'7") tall.
- I started implementing calisthenics from September 2019. For my FL work, that essentially only consisted of a few sets of (bad form) FL pulls.
- Transitioned to a calisthenics-only workout from December 2019. This is when I really started taking my strength skills training more seriously.
- I was simultaneously working on handstands (before every session), planche and dips (Push days), pull-ups (Pull days), leg work (split days) and core (split days - Vsits and Leg raises)
- The vast majority of my FL training was done on parallettes (like these).
Programming
Split: Push - Pull - off - Push - off - Pull - off
FL (Pull Day) Workout structure:
A. FL isometric hold progression 5 x 6-10s (3-5" rest)
B. FL pulls + negatives 3 x 3-6 (3" rest)
C. FL rows 3 x 6-8 (3" rest)
Breakdown
A. FL isometric hold progression
Progression: Tuck FL > Adv. tuck FL > One-legged tuck FL > One-legged foot-to-knee FL > One-legged foot-to-ankle FL > Straddle FL > FFL
Details: Most of these progressions will be self-explanatory. A lot of progression guides make an irrational jump from Adv. tuck straight to Straddle, which from my experience is far too big a leap. Therefore, the real game changer for me was adding the incremental one-legged progressions (credit where due: it was our man @fromgenesistorevelation that offered me this advice). I've represented the one-legged variations above as a 3-step progression (One-legged tuck FL > One-legged foot-to-knee FL > One-legged foot-to-ankle FL) but truth be told it is far more scalable than that - and that's precisely why it is far more effective. Start with the One-legged tuck FL: E.g. your right leg is fully extended, and your left leg is fully flexed with your knee pulled into your chest like a tuck. Each workout, attempt to incrementally unflex the bent leg so that it is a little further away from the chest, until bent at 90°. Then start to measure it by where the left foot is in relation to the extended leg: First by the thigh, then the knee (photo), then the calf, then the ankle. When you get to this stage, the straddle should be quite achievable, and you're literally inches away from a FFL!
B. FL pulls + negatives
This move is broken down into two components: the pull and the negative. For the pull, pull your body from the ground with straight arms (bear in mind: I trained on parallettes, not a pull-up bar, so smaller lever angle) using an easy progression and raise your body perpendicular to the floor. Now switch to a more difficult progression, and slowly lower yourself down. At the bottom of the movement and before you touch the floor (this is one rep), switch back to the easier progression and repeat the pull portion. Repeat for reps.
When you begin these you might not have the endurance to do multiple reps without touching the floor, but as you get stronger aim to do one full set without touching the floor (think: time under tension!). It's better to lower the progression so that you can do a full set than to push so hard that you have to touch the floor each rep.
E.g. If you can do one-legged foot-to-knee, use an advanced tuck for the pull portion, and experiment with either the one-legged foot-to-knee or the straddle for the negative.
C. FL rows
I'm sure these go without much explanation. Get into an easier progression and perform rows (pulling yourself horizontally towards the bar).
E.g. If you can do adv. tuck, do a knees-to-chest tuck and row for reps.
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Conclusions
Using this programming I was able to achieve the FFL for roughly 7-8s holds after a solid 3 months. This was no doubt compounded by my 4 months of entry-level calisthenics work prior to that, and then >15 years of general weightlifting experience before that.
Did I take Deload weeks? Technically no; however although they weren't explicitly programmed into my schedule, I would often take extra rest days when I felt I needed them, or when I was too busy to work out.
Do I think this is replicable? Yes, definitely. I feel like it covered everything I needed to achieve the FL: from the static holds, to the hypertrophic/endurance component. But of course, everyone is built differently and everyone has different backgrounds, so please adjust it to your needs.
To conclude, I hope that was of some help to those of you working towards your FL. It took me a while to type all this up, but I'm glad I did it: my way of giving back to the community. If anyone has any questions feel free to comment below or DM me, and I'll do my best to respond. Life is quite busy atm, so I might be a little delayed. Thanks for reading!
EDIT: Fixed some typos