body- and side lever, static or dynamic

[Brage Berg]

hi!

 

the last two years i have been working alot on both my side lever, and my body lever. I normally do side levers for static and body lever for dynamic training. i can hold a side lever with good form for about 10s with straight body paralell to the ground and about 8 reps of body levers. and lately i have been doing body levers downhill witch make them substantially harder(i cannot do 8 of these:P). i can also do about 3 side lever pulls, but i need som work on the form since i havent been doing these alot.

 

i was thinking of changing thing up a bit and do body lever as a static exercise to make better progress in FL and to start training side lever pulls with full ROM.

 

do anyone have any experience with these two? how well they transfer to other exercises, how the static version is compared to the dynamic version when it comes to effectiveness, etc. 

 

 

[Jon Douglas]

I believe there was discussion a while back in which coach mentioned his athletes doing extended static body lever holds. They're good things anyway, i found they helped my handstand quite a bit.

Basic rule of thumb is that, provided you are adequately prepared through the whole ROM, the lever is the most difficult position in a movement like these-- in a front pull, for example, the full lever is halfway. Pulling up gets higher right up until that point-- after that time you are closing the angle. Your skill, str, flexibility and fatigue during reps might impact whether you actually feel it gets easier as you rise of course.

That said, a set of eg) SL pulls each side is a lot of time under tension, and because of the leverage advantage at some points can allow you to get a lot more total TUT than jumping into a lever hold and dropping out of it.

So definitely benefits in both approaches. Personally I prefer the moving ones for the reason I mentioned, but there's no reason not to mix it up and of course the embedded combo has the best of both-- adding static holds in the middle of your reps. Cranks and reverse cranks done this way are pretty brutal, and planche press to HS and back with a pause at both ends is a goal for many people here too

[Connor Davies]

I will say this: side levers for reps is pretty badass.

 

Since you can already hold it for 10s, I'd focus on increasing the number of reps that you can do, rather than trying to increase hold time.

 

Body lever's a bit different.  Is there some reason you can't do a front lever already?

[Brage Berg]

thank you both for answers! 

 

i will defenitly startr working on my side lever repping. i just need to clean them up before using them in my program. i tend to lift the legs a little bit during ascent from the lever position, and i want them to be STRAIGHT before i use them. so i gues i will start by adressing this issue and maybe do half reps from bottom to the lever position and negs from the top position to the lever position. maybe also with holds for the lever position(sort of like a embedded set). does this make any sens?

 

when it comes to the front lever. i have had much trouble with this. i think the problem is that my back/lats are not strong enough. for some reason i am having a lot more trouble developing back strength than chest/ab/shoulder/arms. i feel that i am very far from a full FL while i can hold a BL with proper form for 20s(wich i testet recently and are very happy about:P). i am currently working on my flat tucked and i am comfertable exceeding 90/90 a bit for a 12 second hold. but i am slowly getting there. i have tried the straddle and i can hold it, but while holding a straddle, i cant seem to straghten out completely and tighten my glutes. so my back is parallell to the ground, but not my legs. there is something uncomfertable about the position and it shouldent be because my core isnt strong enough. but maybe im wrong. any ideas?

[Brage Berg]

found my main problem with the FL.... scapula position of course!! read some threads, watched som videos, and filmed myself!! so i guess i hafe start from scrach again and get used to the right positioning.

[Connor Davies]

.....i guess i have start from scrach again....

I feel you buddy.  Let's just hope you haven't been training handstands with bad form as well, or you're going to be feeling deja vu soon.

 

Edit: feel like posting a video of your side lever pulls?  You don't have to, I just wanted some inspiration.  It's one of my long term goals....

[Brage Berg]

I feel you buddy.  Let's just hope you haven't been training handstands with bad form as well, or you're going to be feeling deja vu soon.

 

Edit: feel like posting a video of your side lever pulls?  You don't have to, I just wanted some inspiration.  It's one of my long term goals....

 

my handstand form are pretty good, but it wasnt that many months ago i had to start cleaning that up to. finding this forum helped me alot.

 

im not yet happy with my form on the side lever pulls, but i guess i could could post a video. have to film it first though.

 

after this cycle(a few weeks from now) i was thinking of filming all of the exercises i use and upload them here to get a form check from the guys at this forum. it would probably be brutal, but most defenitly helpfull. dont really know anyone with any back ground in this kind og stuff, so i have to learn everything from reading and watching videos.