Front Lever top-down vs bottom-up

[RichardTran]

So probably 4 months ago i was able to do front levers coming down from the top like a negative for 12 seconds. I thought that being able to swing into a front lever and holding it is harder and would help me more So i started trying that and doing that. But now when i try to lower into a front lever i can barely hold it for a couple of seconds while i can swing into one and hold it for 10. 

I think going from bottle up requires less muscle recruitment as opposed to lowering yourself down... any thoughts? and should i strive to regain that strength?

[Christopher Schwab]

It is all about specificity training. You trained at first to do top-down and were better at that, and then trained for bottom-up and lost some specific strength in the mean time (4 months is a long time to not train something).

 

Whichever way is more difficult tends to depend largely on the individual, though I'm sure technically speaking one may be more difficult, and I suspect it is bottom-up. I know in my case as well I can lower myself in to an almost full-lay front lever from the top, but when I go from the bottom I can barely get in to a straddle.

 

I wouldn't say you lost actual strength per-say, just in that very specific movement you are no longer as strongly conditioned and used to it as you once were.

[RichardTran]

ChrisUK
Makes a lot of sense, thanks!

I think I am just going to alternate when i train bottom up and top down, get great control on both motions seems like a good idea.