- What's up elite THENX athletes.
I'm Sten Heria, and I'm here with Osvaldo Lugones.
And today we're gonna show you guys
how to do a front lever in five easy steps.
(heavy hip-hop instrumental music)
Now, a front lever is a calisthenics
and a gymnastics static hold where you hold
your body parallel to the ground in a horizontal line
from your shoulders to your toes.
All right, now Osvaldo is gonna demonstrate
what a front lever looks like.
(heavy hip-hop instrumental music)
Now that you know what a front lever looks like let me go
over what the requirements are to learning this movement.
A 20 second L-set hold, 20 reps of high knee raises,
10 L-sit pull-ups, and 10 upside down deadlifts.
Once you can do those you're ready to begin.
The first progression is gonna be the tuck front lever hold.
To start this movement you're gonna grip
the bar shoulder width apart.
Active your scapula, bring your knees up to your chest.
Now, from here you're gonna do something similar
to a lat pulldown while your elbows
are locked out, squeezing your core.
And hold this position as long as you can
while maintaining that pulling down force.
(rhythmic hip-hop instrumental music)
You're gonna hold that movement as long as you can.
The tuck front lever is a great progression for beginners
because it reduces the amount of weight extended
and makes it easier by keeping more weight
at the center of your gravity.
Although this exercise is much easier
than holding the actual front lever it mimics
the same muscles required to hold the front lever.
The primary muscle groups utilized
during this exercise are your lats,
your lower back, your core, and your rear delts.
Remember to keep your arms straight
by locking out those elbows.
And try and get your tuck front lever
to a 20 second hold before trying the next step.
Moving on to the next progression to mastering
your front lever is gonna be the front lever drops.
This exercise actually starts with one of the requirements,
which is the upside down deadlift.
And this one, again, you're gonna start
with shoulder width apart.
You're gonna bring your toes up to the bar.
Now you're gonna squeeze your core, your glutes,
and try and get into a straight line.
From here, while maintaining those straight arms
you're gonna lower your body as slowly as you can.
And although your body's slowly descending
you're still pulling down on those arms.
All right, in the beginning of this exercise
you're gonna be dropping pretty fast,
but the goal is to slow that descent every time.
(rhythmic hip-hop instrumental music)
The benefit of the front lever drop
is that you're going through the full range of motion
in a front lever and holding it even if
it's just for one second at horizontal.
A common mistake when attempting the front lever drops
is that you end up lowering at the hips instead of the toes.
And a way to combat this is by squeezing your glutes
and activating your lower back
as you descend as slowly as you can.
Make sure you can properly perform this exercise
with good form before moving on to the next progression,
which is gonna be the front lever raise.
This exercise is very similar to the previous progression,
except here instead of starting at the top
and dropping down we're gonna start at the bottom
and raise up to a horizontal position.
This is is gonna be the first progression
where you're actually gonna feel the full weight
of what a front lever hold actually feels like.
Think of a lat pulldown where your elbows are locked out,
and you're bringing your hands down to your hips.
You're gonna start similarly,
grabbing the bar shoulder width apart.
He's gonna lean back and pull straight down.
As he's leaning back his lower back
and his core lifts his feet up.
Squeezing the glutes help to keep that straight line
without your hips sagging down.
Again, notice his elbows are locked out,
and he's pulling down as hard as he can.
He doesn't let go of that pressure
at any point in the movement.
Now, a common mistake with this exercise
is people will often lead with their toes
instead of their hips, which will result
in what looks similar to an L-sit raise.
To combat this you want to make sure
you're using your lower back, squeezing those glutes,
and bringing the bar towards your hips as the driving point.
And if you can't raise into a full horizontal position
don't cheat yourself, and only go up as high
as you can while maintaining that perfect form.
The next progression is gonna be ice cream makers.
Now, with this exercise we're gonna
start by doing the pull-up.
And at the highest point of the pull-up
where your hands are as close to your shoulders
as possible you're gonna lean back
while keeping your body straight
from your shoulder to your toes,
keeping your core and your lower back activated
as you drop down to that straight horizontal line.
And come back to the starting position
where your shoulders meet your hands.
(rhythmic hip-hop instrumental music)
Now, when doing this exercise you're gonna be using
a lot of momentum in the beginning,
but as you continue training this progression
you're gonna be able to control
this movement a little bit more every time.
This exercise is really great for your core
and helps keep your core engaged the entire time,
what you're gonna need for this next
and last progression, single leg front lever hold.
This progression utilizes everything we've learned
in the previous steps and starts with the front lever raise.
Again, we're gripping it shoulder width apart,
except this time we're lifting with one knee raised,
and lifting to that horizontal line,
and holding it for as long as we can
before dropping in a controlled descent.
Now, once you've done it with one leg
you're gonna move on to the other leg.
Hold it as long as you can before dropping down
in a slow and controlled way.
(jazzy instrumental music)
That's the single leg front lever hold.
You want to make sure you can get this hold time
to at least 5 to 10 seconds on each leg before
actually going for the front lever.
(jazzy instrumental music)
And that was the front lever hold.
Thank you Osvaldo so much for demonstrating.
And thank you guys for watching.
For the full step-by-step front lever
technique guide go to thenx.com.
Become a member to get full access to all
our workout programs, technique guides,
and daily workouts that are gonna have you
in the best shape of your life.
Download the THENX app in the App Store or Google Play store
to take our workouts with you everywhere.
And join the millions of other THENX athletes
around the world changing their lives today.
Thank you guys again so much for watching.
If you enjoyed this video definitely smash that like button.
And share this video with a friend who might be trying
to learn how to do a front lever.
Comment down below what you want the next video to be about.
And if you comment within the first 30 minutes
of this upload you always have
a chance to win some THENX gear.
And, remember, we post every Sunday
8:00 p.m., USA Eastern Time.
And with that said I'll see you guys next Sunday.
- What's up THENX athletes, it's Chris Heria.
We've just released the update to the brand new THENX app.
So if you haven't already download
the THENX app in the App Store.
Make sure you're updated to this final version and become
a member to get full access to the brand new features,
brand new programs, and all new content.
Join the millions of other THENX athletes around the world
getting in the best shape of their lives today.
Before I go, the THENX crew and I will be out on tour
in Barcelona, Berlin, and Rome.
So if you would like to attend one of our workout events,
then make sure you go to thenx.com/blog/events,
and sign up right now before we're all sold out.
If you like the music that you hear on this channel,
then make sure you're following me on SoundCloud.
As soon as I reach 10,000 subscribers
I'll be releasing all the music you hear as well
as some unreleased tracks that you guys haven't heard yet.
Thanks again for watching, mad love, peace out.
(soft hip-hop instrumental music)
(moves into rhythmic instrumental music)
(moves into heavy hip-hop instrumental music)
(moves into bassy instrumental music)
(moves into high-intensity instrumental music)