Questions on Tuck Front Lever

[John Filippini]

So I'm just starting to try experimenting with some basic gymnastics progressions and I had a question on doing tuck front levers.

Basically, I can jump myself to a stable tuck front lever that's about parallel and hold that for up to 8s. However, if I try to hang and pull myself up to one, I only get maybe a third of the way up, and after holding that for maybe 1 or 2 seconds the back of my left shoulder feels a sharp pain like the muscle's about to tear. I can physically hold it for a few more seconds, but eventually my shoulder will just go numb and tingly.

Should I be attempting to learn to pull myself up, or should I be getting my hold times up higher on the flat lever that I can jump to, then going back to the pulls?

As a reference, my other stats are in my signature if that makes it easier to prescribe based on fitness levels. Thanks in advance.

[IvanPS]

Well probably working both at once would be ok. Try some skin the cats. Hanging leg raises would be a good exercise too. And I guess doing negatives of this pull would help from tuck front lever lower down slowly.

[cathal]

pulling yourself up into a front lever from a deadhang requires a certain amount of strength. if you can only hold a tuck front lever for 8secs then it is likely you do not have the strength to do this. focus on building your static holds up and over time you will develop the strength

[Mark Weaver]

I noticed in my own progression that I couldn't pull up to the hold position either, until I had been working on it for about a week. My first try was about 5 seconds. After a week i was able to hold it much longer, and i could pull up into the position from a dead hang.

[Blairbob]

Methinks to take it easy on your shoulders right now. Perhaps your shoulder was not warmed up enough ( with enough stick dislocates and swinging ).

For now, you can try doing tuck front lever pulls ( which is basically the first half of a skin the cat ) but bend your elbows to take off the shearing load on your shoulders.

You can also work negatives by starting in an inverted tuck hang and lowering as much as you can. If you're worried about a jarring drop, simply pull back to invert hang.

[jtaporco]

i had the exact same problem as you. i've only been doing these exercises for about 2 months now and i just recently did a tuck lever for 60 secs. just take your time with it and don't quit. and ask a lot of questions, like me cause i'm definitely not an expect around here.