How I got the Full Front Lever

[christianguy89]

@jesusloverr I was showing off my human flag to some friends and didn't warm up and cracked my shoulder on the pulling arm right there like a true retard.

I can't do human flag on this side anymore and front lever hurts but I Can Do pullups, muscle ups for days even heavy weights so I'm happy.
Front lever pullups were my dream goal though so maybe someday.

I really like how straight yours IS.

 

[jesusloverr]

@christianguy89 Geez that’s a lesson for us all I think, and something most of us are probably guilty of - showing off ours skills when our bodies aren’t prepared for it! I hope you can recover some of your skills again bud

 

[christianguy89]

@jesusloverr True, but at least my calisthenics journey continues despite probably not being able to do these skills, which I'm glad for.

 

[smithsinha]

@jesusloverr hi, have u managed to achieve the front lever again? i’m realising that this workout is good to get it the first time but i’m not so sure if it’s helping to get it again the second time…

 

[jesusloverr]

@smithsinha Hey, yeah I did get it again. Then lost it again due to a shoulder injury which I’m going through rehab on now. My biggest challenge seems to be actually keeping the FL.

I swear by this FL programme. I have every intention of doing it again once my shoulder recovers. Good luck!

 

[smithsinha]

@jesusloverr thank you! i like the positive attitude

 

[smithsinha]

@jesusloverr hi i wanted to ask again, is this routine enough for hypertrophy as well or do i need to do a side routine that’s more hypertrophy based? (FL main goal)

 

[jesusloverr]

@smithsinha I’d say it’s mainly strength based tbh. Although of course there are crossovers between the two.

If you desperately want a hypertrophy element I’d probably suggest doing a separate hypertrophic specific routine, but I don’t think it’s necessary to achieve the full FL.

 

[smithsinha]

@jesusloverr i feel like as i’m slowly bulking and gaining weight my training for the front lever is getting harder and harder, for example, my isometric holds used to be 5 sets of 8 seconds straddle and now it’s barely 5 sets of 8 seconds front lever or is it because i’m getting weaker so i need a deload

 

[smithsinha]

@jesusloverr do u have methods or way to get over a plateau in strength ?

 

[jesusloverr]

@smithsinha A deload would be my first go to. Depending on your training volume and length, could be a light week, or could be an entire week off.

Failing that, I’d consider one training cycle doing a completely different program entirely: stop training FL and start training OACU on your pull days, for example. Do 2-3 sets of FL isometrics once a week for maintenance. After a full cycle of OACU (say 4-6 weeks), come back to the FL program and continue from where you were.

Third option, (all 3 of these are assuming you’re doing normal progressive overload techniques + healthy eating and sleep btw), do a short training cycle focusing on explosive power training (2-3 weeks). Muscle ups, explosive FL rows, explosive FL raises. This should help build intense strength gains. But IMO probably isn’t sustainable long term hence why it’s not something often talked about in calisthenics. Make sure you rest and eat well so as not to injury yourself. I used to use power training cycles to blast through plateaus when I used to weightlift.

 

[smithsinha]

@jesusloverr for me now that i’m slow bulking i realised that i have to regress in a lot of progressions and that makes me feel weaker is this normal?

or am i just overtrained and should do one of the methods above?

 

[jesusloverr]

@smithsinha Very hard to say without knowing the ins and outs. Adding extra weight faster than your strength adaptations will lead to regression (in bodyweight skills). But saying that, it could also be overtraining, especially if you haven’t eased off for a long time. Fatigue does accumulate.

Usually, the extra calorie surplus would make you think that it would go towards strength development and hypertrophy, so if I were to hazard an educated guess (without knowing the full context), I’d guess it was a plateau more than your extra bodyweight holding you back. So yeah, try on of my suggestions and see where you’re at. In the big scheme of things one training cycle is nothing. Any lost strength can be easily regained.

 

[smithsinha]

@jesusloverr thank you, i really appreciate the time and effort you take to reply, please keep doing what you’re doing

 

[jesusloverr]

@smithsinha You’re welcome. Best of luck.

 

[nemo]

@smithsinha

 

[lmay4111]

@jesusloverr What do you think about taking your front lever workout structure as a template for planche? Everything is the same, you just switch out the fl exercises for planche ones. So planche presses instead of fl raises and planche pushups instead of fl rows?

I plan on combining this idea with your front lever sessions in a push pull manner.

 

[jesusloverr]

@lmay4111 Yeah why not. It makes logical sense and the progressions are such that it gives the body time to adapt. I never really tested it with planche so can’t speak from experience.

If you have success please do let me know!

 

[burtonlux]

@jesusloverr It might be late to ask now, but do you train pull up on pull days, or do you only train for the fl?

 

[jesusloverr]

@burtonlux Hey. Its been awhile but I believe at the time I would train FL one pull day, and then one-arm chins the next pull day. The reason I stopped was because I got golfer’s elbow thanks to the OAC training. I’d wager if you wanted to really nail the FL in record time, just stick with that u til you get close, then reintroduce pull up sessions while maintaining the FL