Muscle & Fitness Australia — November 2017

NOVEMBER 2017 / MUSCLE & FITNESS 17

By Andrew Gutman COA NYOU D ?T RA I N

Photograph by Edgar Artiga

1

Hang from a

bar and simply bring

your knees towards your

chest.

2

Aim your knees towards

the bar; get as parallel to

the floor as your spine will

allow.

3

Next, try to hold that

position, with your

back parallel to the floor,

for 10 to 15 seconds.

4

When you can do that,

extend one leg and

alternate. (One extends;

the other retracts.)

5

Now attempt to spread

your feet as you extend

your legs. This will help

dissipate tension through

your body.

HOWTODOIT

Work up to your first

front lever with this

progression:

Two moves to strengthen

your front lever

Use these exercises from front-lever aficionado

Shawn Perine to perfect your front lever.

don’t need barbells and dumbbells

to be strong and ripped. The front

lever (shown above) – which every

top gymnast can do in his sleep –

is a better indicator of your lats,

core and grip strength than a

deadlift. Why? Because you can’t

cheat it – if you can’t do one with

the right form, then you can’t do

one. It’s as simple as that.

And mastering this move will

pay dividends when it comes

to your other lifts, as being able to

suspend yourself in mid-air with

your back parallel to the floor

requires a tremendous amount of

full-body stability. That stability

will benefit you during compound

lifts and Olympic movements. Not

sure where to start? Follow

the progression below.

BACK

STRAIGHT-ARM

PULLDOWN (NOT SHOWN)

PERINE SAYS: “This move mimics

the motion of the front lever, except

your feet are planted and your

hands move along an arc, which is

the opposite of how you move in

the front lever. Remember to keep a

slight bend in your elbow to avoid

hyperextension and to keep your

shoulders down and back."

CORE

HANGING LEG RAISE

(ABOVE)

PERINE SAYS: “Superstrict

hanging leg raises and

superstrict pull-ups, where you

bring your body as high over the

bar as possible, will help prep

you for front levers. You want to

get totally comfortable on the

bar and have control in your

movements on it.”

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THE FRONT LEVER