back lever help

[Daniel Krull]

Can somebody help me with learning the back lever? Thanks.

It would be nice if somebody would make an instructional video on how to do this... I don't know all of the gymnastics lingo.

Got any suggestions on where I can find an instructional video on still rings moves?


P.S. Shout-outs to Steven Low, Blair Robert Lowe, Jeff R Tucker, and Roger Harrell.

[Blair Robert Lowe]

Ringtraining.com has a video on rings strength. There are a few in the CFJ by Tuck as well.

Coach Sommer has his GymnasticBodies dvd's as a set besides the book.

BL can be trained like Coach Sommer's Planche/Front Lever article on Dragondoor. Tuck, Advanced tuck, straddle, 1/2 lay. 60s of volume. Test max hold on your best position and cut that in half to make a work set hold. Total these into 60s of total volume. Rest accordingly as needed. You may only require 30s of rest, you might need 3-5 minutes but Coach Sommer uses 45-90 seconds preferably.

You can also work negatives or use the single leg lever position with one leg straight and the other tucked. Some people get stuck on straddle because of hip flexors. 1/2 lay sometimes becomes piked at the hips or too arched or the legs will seperate.

Tuck is like a ball, Advanced/Flat tuck is like a tuck but with a straight back so the position is more open. I generally cue that the hips and knees are at 90 degree angles. You can extend the degree from there to flatter if you desire and can.

Since you are hoping to train Iron Cross one day, make sure to train the BL with the palms facing down and elbows up.

There are a bunch of back levers on my youtube. Some of those videos are not of me but I'm letting a guy upload his videos there so he should have some videos in tuck, advanced tuck and straddle position. He does somehow bend his elbows a bit in them which I'm not sure how he did.

You should have mastered a basic straight arm skin the cat in pike position to german hang before considering attempting the back lever. I'm sure you can.

As well, any person should be able to do a lock arm support with rings turned out before they should begin training the back lever to any degree. It's a matter of physical preparation.

[Daniel Krull]

? I didnt understand most of what you said. Im new to the gymnastics lingo... Where is your youtube channel? Thanks for your help!

[Blair Robert Lowe]

http://www.youtube.com/user/Tygrus pretty wfs

I guess I forgot that. You will notice I do the BL with a different hand grip than Erik does. I use the correct version for future ring strength such as the Iron Cross/Planche/Maltese. This is because it puts more load on the elbow and your elbows have to be able to deal with a lot of load on the elbows. This is also similar to the load when doing rings turned out support with the straps off the forearms and the triceps not resting on the lats.

Read this old article. Beware they have shirtless young male gymnasts. So maybe wfs.

http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/229

2 basic things should be mastered before really beginning training for the back lever. They are the rings turned out support and something called a skin the cat. Refer to the "Got Rings" article by Roger Harrell in the CFJ.

These are the progression shapes/positions for lever work. You can look these up on DrillsandSkills for most of them.

Tuck
Advanced/Flat Tuck- A tuck where the lower back is straight instead of rounded.
Straddle
Single Leg- A position where one leg is straight and the other is bent.
1/2 Lay(out)- Described best in the GymnasticBodies site.
Straight

The DD article prescribes a simple workout is 60s of total volume. So if your worksets are 5 seconds each, it would require 12 attempts/work sets. Voila. Ample rest of 45-90s between repetition is reccomended. When you can hold a progression for more than 15-20 seconds it is time to move on to the next progression so long you can hold it for 3-4 seconds.

There are a bunch of programming options in the GymnasticBodies Building the Gymnastic Body book.

You can also program lever work by using negatives/eccentrics.

Perhaps that better explains everything. If it doesn't, please specify but I doubt I can be anymore specific than that.

[Daniel Krull]

I got the GymnasticBodies set... I'm reading it right now... thanks!