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Make better shapes in your kipping TTB

By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

Making the right shapes is the FIRST step in getting your toes to bar to work for you, and eventually do them efficiently in a workout setting.

Exercise Quick Navigation

    Arch Lifts

    Technique

    Lying flat on the floor, squeeze your glutes and lift your arms off the floor. Keep your heels together as you do so. Your legs and arms should leave the ground.

    Do not shove your belly into the ground and hyperextend the low back. This is not part of the arch position and it’s not a good habit to get into.

    A nice arch is long and distributed, with tight lines and no one point in your back doing all the work.


    Kip Swing variations

    The kip swing itself can be tricky and a good kip swing sets up good habits for the future. Hugely bent knees do not contribute much power when moving from arch to hollow, and a longer body line is more helpful.

    To combat common bad habits like a loss of tension and a large knee bend, we can use targeted positioning of resistance bands to make sure you are keeping your shapes all the way through the kip swing.

    1. Beat swing to band (heels)
    2. Beat swing to band (hollow)
    3. Beat swing to band (chest)
    4. Beat swing to bands (both sides)
    5. Beat swing
    6. Kip swing

    How do I use these?

    Try them all. Figure out which ones you find the hardest, and spend time on those. Remember that the things that make this hard are losing tension and length, or starting with a kip that’s bigger than you can currently control. Be okay with a smaller movement to start while you build confidence and ability here.

    Technique

    Set the band up according to the video. Start in a dead hang, and do a small beat swing. The band will throw you out of position, so you will have to fight back with extra tension and intention to make sure it doesn’t cause you to lose rhythm.


    Hollow Rocks

    Technique

    From a hollow body hold, rock back and forth. Ensure that your whole spine rolls across the floor, you shouldn’t be going thud-thud between your shoulders and your hips because there should be a nice curved spine to roll across.


    Entry Jump Sequence

    We have 3 variations of this in our kipping bar muscle up program:

    1. Entry jump (banana jump)
    2. Entry jump to arch
    3. Entry jump to kip swing

    What is it?

    Watch the videos to understand the key components of the entry jump for a toes to bar:

    • Fairly close behind the bar – no need to create lots of extra momentum here.
    • Jump into a small pike position so your toes lift as you catch the bar (your body should not be in a straight line when you catch the bar
    • Swing into a long, tight arch, so that your toes are behind the bar when your shoulders are in front of the bar

    Practice good entry jumps – they will save you a lot of pain when doing higher rep sets in the future!


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    Master your toes to bar with these timing drills

    By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

    There are only a few key things to master when it comes to the kipping toes to bar:

    • Shapes
    • Timing
    • Strength

    You’ll find other articles on both ab strength and straight arm pulling strength on Ganbaru, but this one is all about the timing component. Timing makes kipping difficult – it’s not obvious for most people!

    I’m a big fan of providing external feedback to force the timing issue in multiple ways, so I’ve developed a system of timing drills that hopefully end up working for everyone when learning their TTB.

    Exercise Quick Navigation

      Dead stop kipping variations

      I love the dead stop kipping variations because they force an athlete to return quickly to the arch position. One of the most common faults in a kipping toes to bar is a lazy, slow return to the arch, and this messes up the kipping dynamic entirely. Dead stop variations require you to get back to position even faster than on the bar, and the arch must be tight and aggressive or the athlete will get thrown around as their heels hit the box.

      We have 4 variations of this in our toes to bar program:

      1. Dead Stop Knee to Chest
      2. Dead Stop Knee To Elbow
      3. Dead Stop Single Leg TTB
      4. Dead Stop TTB

      Where do I start?

      Set the box up roughly 5-10cm in front of the bar you’re hanging from (it’s important that it’s slightly in front or the timing will suck). With your heels on the box, squeeze your glutes and keep a long body to form something similar to your arch position on the bar. It won’t feel exactly the same, but it’s close enough.

      With an aggressive pull back on the bar (elbows straight), swing your body back into a compressed position. Here you will either do a knees to chest, knees to elbow, or a single or double leg toes to bar. Return quickly to the arch position without any juddering against the box.

      Watch out for these mistakes:

      • Bending the knees on the return to arch to “buy time” instead of driving the heels to the box
      • Failing to push down into the bar with enough force
      • Bending the arms

      Jumping variations

      Jumping variations, in my view, have less utility than the dead stop variations above. However, they are still very good for exposing an inability to move quickly into and out of position, so they can be helpful for some athletes who are struggling with the dead stop skills.

      We have 3 variations of this in our toes to bar program:

      1. Jumping Knee to Chest
      2. Jumping Knee to Elbow
      3. Jumping Toe To Bar

      What is it?

      Just like your dead stop drills, you will need to quickly find the end position of your TTB variation, then return to the power position so you can reform the arch. The floor is a bit more forgiving for this, but the timing is still very fast – faster in fact than with an actual kipping toes to bar.

      Set yourself on a bar that you can reach with your feet on the floor with a little bit of space to push your chest through to an arch position. You can stack plates or boxes up if you need more height.

      Technique

      Keeping a tight body, swing through to a small arch, then as you move back out of the arch, aggressively jump up to the end position (i.e. knees to chest, knees to elbow, or toes to bar) then return to the floor before your body swings to the other side. You should be able to return the feet to the floor, then pass back to the arch as you’d normally see in a toes to bar.


      Kipping timing drills

      There are 4 specific timing related drills in this program:

      1. Single Leg TTB w Half Box Support
      2. Kipping Knee to Elbow
      3. Single Leg TTB
      4. Toes to rings

      Talk me through it, coach

      Each of these forces something slightly different.

      The half box support variation is the friendliest, as it allows you to determine your positions and regulate your timing. As you improve, you can reduce the amount of weight you put through the foot to allow you to do more work with the swing and the upper body.

      The knee to elbow forces a relatively big straight arm pull on the bar and requires a good deal of compression as well. It is my favourite scaling option for the toes to bar.

      The single leg toes to bar keeps the timing of the toes to bar very similar, but is less physically difficult to achieve.

      The toes to rings helps with shapes more than timing for those struggling with compression.

      Technique

      These movements are all fairly self explanatory if you’ve been working through your toes to bar progressions. Watch the videos and make sure you’re using tight body lines, straight elbows and aggressive arch positions.


      Direct scaling options for the toes to bar

      If you’ve got the components of the toes to bar right, but haven’t quite got the movement yet, these are my favourite ways to regress the toes to bar.

      1. TTB Half TTB
      2. Toes to Target
      3. Toes to bar

      What is it?

      The TTB + half TTB allows you to feel the moment of contact and figure out just how hard you need to compress to reach the bar. I do not recommend this scaling option if you struggle to get your hips behind the bar. We want each rep to be rhythmic.

      The toes to target is simply doing the same movement as the toes to bar with as much height as you’re currently able to achieve. Keep squeezing the gap closer and closer to the bar each week so you eventually tap the bar!


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      Beat bar muscle up bottlenecks

      By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

      The kipping bar muscle up is tricky for a lot of athletes at first. Having a solid base of understanding of how the movement works can help you figure it out quicker!

      Exercise Quick Navigation

        Start with the right grip: the pseudo false grip

        What you need to know

        A true false grip on the bar isn’t necessary for a kipping bar muscle up, but some degree of it can be very helpful to make the turnover easier. Rather than a neutral grip where the second knuckle faces the sky as you jump up to the bar, rotate your hands over the top of the bar so that the base knuckle faces the sky and the second knuckle faces forward.


        Hanging arch and hollow

        Why it matters

        A lot of times, people make perfectly good arch and hollow shapes on the floor, but the second they jump to the bar they do nothing resembling those shapes. Starting by exposing yourself to making those positions before adding momentum can help bridge the gap.


        Beat swing

        Why?

        I like starting with a beat swing because a lot of people’s kip swings are too loose and floppy to generate sufficient power. The beat swing is smaller, and asks for more control.

        Technique

        I like to see really long body shapes in the beat swing, resembling the hanging arch and hollow very closely. There is no room for a knee bend in a beat swing.


        Crescendo kip swing

        What is it?

        A kip swing that starts as a small beat swing and grows in size and intensity to whatever size you can control without losing the rhythm.

        Technique

        Starting from a dead hang, begin to make your arch and hollow shapes, then add rhythm to turn it into a beat swing. Start making more aggressive, larger movements to turn it into a larger kip swing. Use this movement to practice seeing how big you can make your swing while still keeping it tight. You may be tempted to bend the knees, but avoid this for as long as you can.


        Entry sequence jump for kipping bar muscle up (BMU)

        What is it?

        This video helps you understand how to efficiently jump to the bar to begin your BMU with some momentum.

        Technique

        Jump from one or two small steps behind the bar, not below it. Get your toes up FAST so that when you catch the bar you’re in (or on your way to) a pike position. Swing through to a powerful long arch, and patiently wait to start reversing out of the arch to push down onto the bar and pull your toes up to the height of your chest.


        Pull to stomp

        What is it?

        A simple drill to help you learn to use a straight arm pull on the bar to move your hips and shoulders behind the bar.

        How to execute

        With a bar in a low rack, placed low enough that you can sit on the floor just in front of the bar, pull your knees to your chest and push down on the bar until your hips and shoulders glide behind the bar. You will have to push continuously, you will not get away with a push to leave the floor then swing.


        Pull to pop and turn over

        What is it?

        A progression from the pull to stomp. There is also an intermediate step, the pull to pop, which adds the hip extension.

        Does this teach the kipping bar muscle up perfectly?

        No. Not a lot of things do. But it does help you understand the sequence of events and it can be useful for figuring out the pull to initiate a movement behind the bar, hip extension and turnover.

        How to execute

        Begin initiating the movement like the pull to stomp, but extend the hips so that you catch the floor with your feet, then push to jump over the top of the bar.


        Hollow body medball slides

        What is it?

        A REALLY FUN drill that teaches you to keep a hollow body and pull aggressively on something with straight arms to glide behind the bar.

        Technique

        Start out the front of the bar with your bum or upper hammies sitting on the medball. Maintain a hollow body position. Aggressively pull on the bar with your arms straight (don’t let them bend!!!!) so that you slide over the ball, which will roll down toward your heels. You will then return back because the momentum will turn you around. Do this for reps until pulling with straight arms makes sense.

        Do you need to incorporate this often?

        No. This drill is just there to “explain” the straight arm pull. Once you’ve got that concept, you don’t need to do it (unless you want to just for fun, in which case, go for gold).


        Glide kip in band “chair”

        What is it?

        A movement that feels (and looks) a lot like a glide kip, which shares roots with a bar muscle up. The band will support you as you swing forward, then use your momentum to pull up and around.

        To execute, set a bar in a low rack and secure it with more bands.

        What are you supposed to get out of this drill?

        Two things:

        1. The concept that you absolutely must continuously press down into the bar for a successful turnover
        2. The movement of the toes (or knees, but preferably toes) toward the ceiling that helps initiate the swing backward before the hip drive over the bar

        Technique

        Use a thick band for these at first.

        Sitting in the band with it placed below your bum at your upper hamstrings, allow yourself to swing your hips and shoulders in front of the bar. When momentum dictates that you should start swinging back, bring your toes or knees toward the bar to bring your shoulders and hips behind the bar, then extend the hips to float over the top of the bar.

        Being good at these guarantees that you understand the pulling and pressing components of the BMU, and often results in a fuller hip extension. They’re not a cure-all, but they do help connect the dots for a lot of people.


        Single leg BMU jump to support

        What is it?

        A moderately useful drill that requires you to use the swing leg in a way that helps you over the top of the bar, since a lot of people aren’t strong enough to single leg jump their way to the top of the bar. (I am using your weakness to my advantage!)

        Technique

        With one leg on a box in a position you could jump to support from, descend down as if you were replicating your arch position on the bar. Leave the box leg grounded, and let the swing leg move behind the bar as you arch. Then, reverse the position back to your hollow and allow the toes on the swing leg to rise up to chest height before aggressively opening the hip to make your body straight at the same time as you jump from the box to the support position.


        Kipping BMU from boxes & banded kipping BMU from boxes

        Why the box?

        The box does two things:

        1. It adds momentum if you’re not yet efficient at generating it for yourself
        2. It slows down the swing from the arch back to hollow, which forces people who rush their way out of the arch to slow the hell down.

        Using bands for kipping bar muscle up regressions comes with their own set of pros and cons and I generally prefer to use them sparingly. But they do provide a tactile cue to push down into especially for people who struggle to extend the hips if they’re not pushing into something.

        Technique

        It’s the same as your usual bar muscle up, but you’ll need to be more patient as you reverse from the arch back to the hollow. Wait for momentum to dictate your change in position, don’t try to beat physics because you will make it very hard for yourself.


        Kipping bar muscle up & banded kipping bar muscle up

        What is it?

        The bar muscle up!

        Don’t forget:

        • Big jump to pike
        • Long, powerful arch (reach your toes and get long!)
        • Toes rise to the height of the chest
        • Hips drive (squeeze your glutes!)
        • Constant pressure down into the bar (don’t lose it or you’ll catch low)

        If you’re banding them, just make sure you do some practice without them as well. That could mean doing more hips to bar (hip pop), movements from the box, or hip pops to the box, but try not to let all your practice be banded or you could end up hamstringing yourself with progress later on.


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        Build straight arm strength for your kipping BMU

        By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

        Even though a kipping bar muscle up is driven primarily by momentum and good mechanics, it still requires a good strength base to do them well and safely. These basic bent-arm pushing and pulling drills will help lay the foundation for the strength you need to kip to the top of the bar.

        Exercise Quick Navigation

          Support hold variations

          We have 5 variations of support holds in our kipping bar muscle up program:

          1. Low bar support hold
          2. Support hold (high bar)
          3. Jump to support
          4. BMU jump to support
          5. Ring support

          What do they do?

          Help you understand and build strength in the finishing position of a bar muscle up – there needs to be constant downward pressure on the bar. You also need to keep your neck long and make sure your shoulders are as far away from your ears as you can make them by pushing your shoulders down. This will engage muscles that will help you stay stable on top of the bar.

          Technique

          For all variations, follow along with the videos – but the themes will always be the same:

          • Long neck/shoulders down
          • Active pressure into the bar
          • Tight body line with legs together and hollow body position

          Straight arm pulling strength drills

          Straight arm pull – toes to box

          What You’ll Need

          Set up a box just in front of the bar you’re working on. You should be able to stand with your heels directly below the bar and your toes are just touching the box.

          Technique

          Hop up to the bar, and place your toes on the box. Keeping your body tight so that your butt doesn’t shoot back, press down onto the bar with your arms straight. Do not let the elbows bend. You should pull backward such that your shoulders move behind the bar and your toes slide up the box.

          Do not let your butt shoot back further than your shoulders. If you catch yourself doing that, try squeezing your glutes to stop it from happening.


          Banded lever pulls

          Technique

          Set a thick band up on a bar and climb into it with both feet in the band. Keeping a perfectly straight line from your shoulders to your toes, push down into the bar with your elbows locked as hard as you can. Your shoulders should drift behind the bar and the band will pull your feet up until you’re in a somewhat lever-like position.

          Common Mistakes

          Losing the hollow body position by extending the back excessively.


          L-sit on dumbbells and L-sit on rings

          A good L-sit is a classic gymnastics foundational move because it challenges the triceps (helpful for a straight arm pull) and the abs (helpful for keeping a hollow body while moving through space).

          Technique

          With your hands next to your hips, squeeze the dumbbells or rings back so that your hip joint aligns with your wrist. You don’t want your hands next to your thighs – that means you’re not squeezing back hard enough.

          Lock out the legs (if doing a full L-sit) or tuck the knees in close to your chest. The legs should be at least as high as the hips if not slightly higher. Press down into the rings or dumbbells so your shoulders are far away from your ears with a long neck.

          If you’re on the rings, maintain constant pressure down, but try not to just hug the rings to your sides.

          Common Mistakes

          • Using a progression that is too hard for you right now – there’s no shame in a tucked L-sit and you’ll get more out of doing a regressed version well than doing a hard version poorly.
          • Allowing the legs to drop down
          • Allowing the hips to drift behind the hands
          • On the rings, squeezing the rings to your sides so you don’t have to stabilise

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          Mastering the hardest part of the kipping bar muscle up

          By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

          The kipping bar muscle up relies on a strong swing and a powerful hip extension to drive you up over the bar. But the hip extension piece can be very confusing – all the other times you’ve aggressively extended the hips, you probably had your feet on the floor. We do hip extensions when we deadlift, olympic lift, kettlebell swing, and much more – but it’s weird to do a hip extension with your feet in the air and try to generate force from that movement.

          The following is a series of hip extension drills that I use in varying contexts to get people to understand how to use an aggressive hip drive to generate movement and rotation on an axis. Some of them might click for you, others won’t – that’s okay! See which ones you feel you get an “aha” moment from and feel free to repeat them later in your BMU learning process if you think they are helpful.

          Exercise Quick Navigation

            Simple drills

            The first 5 drills are simple, hip extension-only pieces to help you understand the extension of the hips and how you can use that to manipulate your body in space.

            Dowel glide kip hip extension

            Technique

            Lying on your back holding the dowel/broomstick overhand grip like a barbell, bring your knees toward your face with your legs as straight as is comfortable. Place the dowel on your ankles, shins or knees, then aggressively open the hips by squeezing the glutes, keeping yourself in a hollow body and tracing the dowel up the legs as you go. You should roll from your back into a seated position due to the force of the hip opening.


            Med ball hip extension

            Technique

            Lie on your back like the dowel drill above, then roll backward enough to slide the medball under your lower back (not bum – it needs to be higher than that). Repeat the same hip-close, hip-open movement by bringing the knees toward the face with relatively straight legs, then aggressively driving them open. You should flip over the top of the medball, landing in a seated position on the ball. You might roll off, but you’re not falling far – just be aware that it might happen.


            Turnover to L Sit

            Technique

            Using the same hip motion as the previous two exercises, roll from your back into a seated position, catching yourself on the plates and continuously pressing down into them so that when you come over the top, your arms stay straight, and don’t bend much or at all.


            Floor hip pop to low band

            Technique

            Set a 2 thick bands in a rack above your knees but below your mid-thigh. Lie on the ground in front of the band and repeat the same motion as previous – knees to face, then explosive hip drive. Catch your legs (lower calf) in the band and maintain a rigid body line so that you land in the band and your whole body bounces without breaking position at the knees, hips or back.


            Heels elevated hip extension (ring)

            Technique

            With your heels elevated on a low box and your body hanging horizontally down below the rings, drop the hips toward the floor. Now explode them up with a powerful hip extension and control your body line to keep it horizontal by pulling the rings out wide. Only your heels, not your whole foot, should be on the box.

            Heels elevated hip extension (ring)

            Technique

            With your heels elevated on a low box and your body hanging horizontally down below the rings, drop the hips toward the floor. Now explode them up with a powerful hip extension and control your body line to keep it horizontal by pulling the rings out wide. Only your heels, not your whole foot, should be on the box.


            Hanging dynamic drills

            The first 5 drills are simple, hip extension-only pieces to help you understand the extension of the hips and how you can use that to manipulate your body in space.

            Pull to pop – bar in rack

            What is this?

            An early exposure to the muscle up movement: pulling your quads toward the bar, then aggressively driving the hips to create elevation through the hips and shoulders.

            Technique

            Set the bar low enough in the rack that you can reach it while sitting on the floor. Sit slightly in front of the bar. Rock forward, then rock back and pull your knees toward the bar while pulling on the bar with your arms straight. This should pull you behind the bar. As you are moving backward, quickly open up the hips to full extension and catch your feet on the floor.


            Banded hip pop

            What is this?

            The first and friendliest exposure to get you to hip extend on the bar: it’s friendly because your feet get to push into something (the band) which makes the concept slightly less foreign.

            Technique

            Loop both your feet into a relatively thick band, with legs straight. Swing slightly backward, then slightly forward, then as you shift backward form a hollow, swing through to your arch, and do the hip pop. The hip pop here will mean you lift your toes to just below the height of your chest, then aggressively drive the hips up and punch your feet down into the band aiming for the floor in front of you. As you do this, you need to push down hard into the bar with your arms straight. If you get the timing right, you will float up behind the bar with your shoulders higher than your hips.


            Hip pop to boxes

            What is this?

            An unassisted hip pop, but still gives you a target and a sense of grounding as you finish the hip extension. Set up two boxes either side of yourself behind the bar.

            Technique

            Jump to hollow, swing to arch, and begin the hip pop. Pull the toes to the height of your chest while pulling your shoulders behind the bar. From this position, extend the hips while still pushing down into the bar, catching your feet on the boxes in full hip extension.

            As you get better at this, you can raise the height of the boxes so you are caching higher and higher


            Hip pop – hips to bar

            What is this?

            The “all grown up” version of the hip pops, the hips to bar is a precursor movement to the bar muscle up. To be able to turn over, you should be able to jump to the bar, initiate the hip pop and elevate yourself so you can easily see over the top of the bar, with your arms at least parallel with the bar.

            Technique

            Same as all your other hip pop movements – good timing, huge hip drive, and continuous straight arm pressure down into the bar.


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            Strength drills to get your kipping bar muscle up

            By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

            Even though a kipping bar muscle up is driven primarily by momentum and good mechanics, it still requires a good strength base to do them well and safely. These basic bent-arm pushing and pulling drills will help lay the foundation for the strength you need to kip to the top of the bar.

            Exercise Quick Navigation

              Inverted row hold

              What You’ll Need

              A bar and a rack. The lower you set the bar and more you elevate your feet the harder this exercise is.

              Technique

              Leaving your heels on the floor, pull your elbows toward the ground until your chest touches the bar. Keep your body in a hollow position, try not to stick your chest out. Hold here for time.


              Chin up

              Technique

              Jump up to a dead hang on the bar with an underhand grip. Squeeze your legs and abs to make a hollow body position. Pull your elbows toward the floor, trying to keep a long neck so you don’t hunch your ears around your shoulders.

              Common Mistakes

              Losing the hollow body position, letting the shoulders shrug up around the ears or being loose in the legs.


              Ring push up

              Technique

              Set the rings low and form a hollow body. Do a push up as usual, noting that it may be more challenging to maintain the body line.

              At the top, push hard into the rings so that your shoulder blades wrap forward around your ribs, and turn your biceps forward.


              Pull up

              Technique

              Jump up to a dead hang on the bar with an overhand grip. If possible, bring yourself into a pseudo false grip or full false grip by aiming the base knuckle or back of hand toward the ceiling.

              Squeeze your legs and abs to make a hollow body position. Pull your elbows toward the floor, trying to keep a long neck so you don’t hunch your ears around your shoulders. Complete the rep when your chin clears the bar and descend with control. If you want more challenge, aim to tap your chest below your collarbones on the bar.


              Chest to bar iso holds

              What is it?

              A pull up with your chest touching the bar, holding yourself there to gain strength in a commonly weak position.

              What You’ll Need

              Very likely, a resistance band (or several) – because these are tough and most of us need to scale them to accumulate any appreciable time in this position.

              Technique

              Pull up until your chest is touching the bar. Hold there for time, usually 15-30 seconds.

              Use as many bands as you need.

              Common Mistakes

              Letting the chest lose contact and still counting the rep.


              Bar dips

              What is it?

              The easiest and usually smallest motion of the dip varieties, the bar dip primarily serves to get you used to the dip on the bar. We can build more strength with other variations but this is great for specific muscle up training.

              Technique

              From a support hold on the bar and in a hollow body, descend down until your chest taps the bar. Allow the elbows to travel behind you, try not to just bow to the bar. You will pike as you descend, that’s okay.


              Box dips

              What is it?

              A dip variation that allows you to sink down between two boxes to explore a lot of range.

              What You’ll Need

              4 boxes or dip bars.

              Technique

              Dip down between the two boxes, keeping a tight body line.


              Ring dips

              What You’ll Need

              Gymnastics rings, slung low enough to step or hop into

              Technique

              From a ring support, descend down between the rings without losing the hollow body position. At the top, rotate the biceps forward and make sure the rings are not touching your sides.

              Common Mistakes

              Try not to hug the rings too close to the sides for stability, especially at the top – this is part of embracing the challenge of the rings!


              Strict negative bar muscle up

              We have 3 variations of this in our kipping bar muscle up program:

              1. Strict negative BMU into band chair
              2. Strict negative BMU in low bar
              3. Strict negative BMU

              What is it?

              Practice with the strict bar muscle up, even if you’re not quite ready for a strict bar muscle up without assistance.

              Technique

              Keep a tight hollow body, and dip low to reduce how far you have to transition. Go as slow as you can as your elbows rotate around the bar and don’t lose your hollow body. Descend in a tight line!


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              Do these ab exercises to get your toes to bar

              By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

              As much as kipping, rhythm, and tension matter for having a good kipping toes to bar, there’s one key thing you need for them to work: core strength.

              This means building strong abs in a deep compressive crunch, strong hip flexors at their end range, and the ability to leverage those muscles in a hang with and without momentum.

              These exercises each train one or more of these components, and are excellent all-rounders for building core strength for toes to bar.

              Exercise Quick Navigation

                Hanging Knee to Chest

                Technique

                From a dead hang, pull your knees toward your chest. Keep pulling until you feel your spine round and your pelvis roll under you like you’re tucking your tail. Control the descent back to a dead hang.

                Don’t stop the rep early – if you stay in a dead hang and your pelvis is spilled forward, you won’t get the gains from this movement that you want!


                Hanging Leg Raise

                Technique

                From a dead hang, pull your toes up with straight legs as high as you can. Keep pulling them upuntil you feel your spine round and your pelvis roll under you like you’re tucking your tail. Control the descent back to a dead hang.

                Don’t stop the rep early – if you stay in a dead hang and your pelvis is spilled forward, you won’t get the gains from this movement that you want!


                Single Leg Raise

                What is it?

                The same as the above, scaled down to use just one leg at a time.


                Lumbar Band Hollow body Hold

                Setup

                Secure a resistance band to an upright, squat rack or heavy weight, and stretch it out. Lie down (face up) on the stretched out band, lining it up below your belly button under your lower back. Press down into the band with your back.

                Technique

                Lift your arms straight up toward the ceiling, and do the same with your toes. Reach up so that your shoulders peel off the floor. Now, extend your arms up toward the ceiling and your toes down toward the wall at the same time, lengthening the levers adding weight to your abs.

                Hold this position without letting your lower back lift (if you do, the band will snap away from you). Use the band to help you keep a good position where your bottom ribs are always pulling toward your pelvis.


                Medball Knee Raise

                Setup

                Tuck a big (4-10kg) medball in between your ankles and climb or hop up to a bar in a dead hang.

                Technique

                Pull your knees toward your chest, with the medball staying between the ankles. Keep pulling until you feel your spine round and your pelvis roll under you like you’re tucking your tail. Control the descent back to a dead hang.

                Don’t stop the rep early – if you stay in a dead hang and your pelvis is spilled forward, you won’t get the gains from this movement that you want!


                Single Leg Pike Lifts

                What is it?

                A deep core compression exercise that loads up the lower abs and quads.

                Technique

                From a seated pike position on the floor, walk your hands as far forward as you can. In this position, lift one leg at a time without bending the knee.


                V-Up

                Technique

                Lying flat on the floor, reach your hands and legs toward each other to tap your toes with both hands. This should make the shape of a V with your body. Keep your legs as straight as you can.


                Single Leg V-Up

                Technique

                Just like the above – but only tap one hand to the opposite foot, then lie back down and switch sides as you come back up.


                GHD Sit up

                What is it?

                A great all-rounder heavy ab exercise.

                Technique

                Sitting on the GHD so that your butt and hamstrings hang off the edge, set your eyes on something high on the wall in front of you. Lean back, keeping your ribs pulled down toward your belt line for as long as you can, reaching back at the last minute to tap the floor with your hands. At this point your focal point may be blocked by your own torso. Aggressively throw your hands back toward your feet, crunch your abs and snap the quads to find your way back to a tall seated position as fast as possible.


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                Straight arm strength is *king* for unlocking toes to bar

                By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

                Even though a kipping bar muscle up is driven primarily by momentum and good mechanics, it still requires a good strength base to do them well and safely. These basic bent-arm pushing and pulling drills will help lay the foundation for the strength you need to kip to the top of the bar.

                Exercise Quick Navigation

                  Baby Skin the cat

                  What it does

                  The skin the cat, or even a half skin the cat like this one, helps you gently explore range through the shoulders and strength with arms straight.

                  Technique

                  From a dead hang on the rings, lift your legs in a pike then pull your toes over the top of your body through the rings until your hips are next to your wrists. Carry on as far past this point as feels safe. Then, reverse the movement to come back to the dead hang.


                  Straight Arm Pulldown

                  Technique

                  Set up a band on a bar above you and grab either side of the loop. With locked elbows, pull the band down to your sides. Try to keep a long neck and avoid shrugging in this position.


                  Banded Straight Arm Pull

                  Technique

                  Set up a band in a rack directly in front of you tied to a rack or upright. With your elbows locked, pull the band toward your side. It should be very difficult when you reach your side with your arm straight. Slowly control the band back to where it was.


                  Hollow Body Box Slide

                  What is it?

                  A hanging straight arm pull that is accessible even to those with minimal straight arm strength

                  What You’ll Need

                  A box and a bar to hang from. Se the box about 10cm in front of the bar you’re hanging from.

                  Technique

                  Jump to the bar so that you’re in a dead hang. Your toes should be able to touch the box. Form a hollow body position by slightly tucking down the ribs and pelvis and squeezing the legs and glutes tight.

                  Push down into the bar with your elbows locked. This should cause your toes to slide up the box. Retain the hollow body so that your hips don’t shoot back. Only your shoulders should move further back, the rest of your body should just elevate.

                  Common Mistakes

                  Letting the hips push back instead of the shoulders. If you stand from the side and draw a line from your shoulders to the floor, it shouldn’t pass through your bum or legs.


                  L Sit on Parallettes (Tuck)

                  Technique

                  With your hands on dumbbells or parallettes, lock the elbows and lift your knees to your chest. Push back on the parallettes so that your hips are next to your wrists, not behind them. This will require you to work harder through the triceps and abs.


                  Strict Knee to Elbow

                  Technique

                  From a dead hang, push down into the bar, lean back, and pull your knees up. Continue pushing through the bar and pulling the knees until they tap your elbow, or tricep if you’re not strong enough for elbow yet.


                  Ball Up/Ball up negative

                  Technique

                  From a dead hang, push down into the bar, lean back, and pull your knees into your chest. Continue pushing through the bar and pulling the toes high until they tap the bar, then descend slowly.

                  If you’re doing a negative, you can kip your way to the top and catch your feet in the bar. Then, unhook them before you slowly descend.


                  Low bar lever (regressions)

                  Technique

                  Attach a barbell to a low rack so that it doesn’t roll around. Attach a third band to the middle of the bar and loop it under your low back.

                  Hanging below the bar with the band strung around your back, push down HARD into the barbell so that your shoulders drift behind the bar and your hips lift to the height of your shoulders.

                  Hold that position as well as you can!


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                  How do kick ups to handstand work?

                  By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

                  You need a few things for a good kick up to handstand.

                  • A gentle push into the floor with the grounded leg
                  • A gentle sweep of the leading leg
                  • A shift of weight from the feet into the hands
                  • The right around of push + sweep to result in the hips being placed over the hands as gently as possible
                  • An intent from the hands to catch the force moving over the top to prevent an overbalance
                  • Balance in the hands before closing the legs, or enough reps to know how much extra momentum the leg closure will add to the system

                  And there are a few things that hamper our ability to control a kick up.

                  • Excessive force and momentum (i.e. throwing the hands down and pushing hard)
                  • The hips starting very far away from where they will finish when stacked over the hips
                  • Weak, intention-less hands with no effort to manage motion
                  • Rushing to close the legs, adding momentum

                  We can work on these components by playing around with different variations and challenging different positions. The drills below give you different components of the pieces we want and constrain you away from some of the things we don’t want. Practice a few of these and see if they help your kick up!

                  Exercise Quick Navigation

                    Kick Up from Box to Wall

                    What is it?

                    The easiest kick up drill because it brings the hips over the hands before you have to push into the floor.

                    Technique

                    Place a small box (20″ or less) close to a wall so you can elevate your foot onto it with your hands placed near the wall ready to handstand. Sweep the leg up until it taps the wall behind you gently and you briefly float off the box with the grounded leg. Repeat. Only push very gently with the foot on the box, and focus on getting your hips over your hands rather than what’s going on with the feet.

                    Common Mistakes

                    Throwing the legs aggressively at the wall. Be gentle!


                    Wall Kiss Kick Ups

                    Technique

                    Like the above but without a box, push into the floor with the grounded leg and sweep the leading leg up just hard enough to gently tap the wall with the leading leg’s heel, then come back down. Repeat for reps. Focus on figuring out how hard you need to push to get your hips over your hands, not the feet.


                    Sprinter Kick Up to Wall

                    What is it?

                    The sprinter stance starts you with your hands and feet on the floor to reduce places you can add unnecessary momentum in your kick up.

                    Technique

                    With both hands and one foot on the ground, kick up gently into your handstand. You can close the legs, but don’t rush it! As always, just push hard enough to get the hips over the hands, rather than thinking about getting the feet up to the sky.


                    Sprinter Stance Kick Up

                    Exactly as above, but get off the wall and do it out in the open. Use your fingertips pressing into the floor as “brakes” so you don’t tip over the top.


                    Kick Up to Wall

                    What is it?

                    A place to kick up without the feeling of risk in the open, and a guaranteed stopping point.

                    How to use it better

                    Imagine the wall is not there. How would you change the amount of force you’re using to kick up? How would your hands behave as you got closer to getting the hips over the hands?


                    Anti-gravity kick ups

                    What is it?

                    A way to gently explore the amount of kick required to enter a handstand.

                    Technique

                    Starting in your sprinter stance, deliberately undershoot the kickup, and kick slightly harder each time you fall down until you spontaneously catch a float in the handstand or overbalance. If you overbalanced, try again with a little less force, and dig your fingertips into the floor to stop going over. If you float, see if you can recreate that amount of force.


                    Donkey kick to tuck handstand

                    What is it?

                    A good way to take the legs out of the kick up and focus on the hips-over-hands component.

                    Technique

                    Starting with your feet and hands on the floor, jump your feet off the floor into a tuck handstand. Don’t extend the legs up, just stay in the tuck and come back down. Start with small jumps and increase until you get a moment where your hips hover over your hands to learn how hard to push.


                    Kick up to hanstand in rack

                    What is it?

                    A way to kick into something that’s less forgiving than the wall.

                    Technique

                    Set 1-2 strong resistance bands in a rack at the height of your head. Kick up into it, trying not to let yourself fall into the band, but rather catch yourself in the hold. If you do fall into the band, see if you can gently shift your way out of it back into your hands. Try again until you hardly touch the band at all.


                    Kick up to handstand

                    Now combine all that you’ve learned above.

                    • Get the hips over the hands as a priority
                    • Be gentle as you push into the floor and sweep the leg
                    • Grip the ground as you arrive in the handstand
                    • Don’t rush the legs closed, spend time in the float if you catch one and remember how much force you used so you can recreate it next time!

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                    We’re not talking about this enough: your hands in a handstand

                    By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

                    I find it so weird that often when we learn to handstand, no one spends significant time talking about what to do with and feel in your hands. It leads most beginners to focus their efforts and intentions elsewhere, when the biggest cues are coming from the hands since they’re the base of support when you’re upside down.

                    Here’s what you need to know:

                    • The pressure in your hands needs to shift forward from the heel and outside of the hand to the middle of the hand. That means there will be weight in your fingertips and possibly the base of your knuckles as well. It’s further forward than most people think when they start handstanding.
                    • The muscles of the forearm should be working hard. You know how when you stand on one foot, the foot wobbles around and the muscles around your shin and calf have to adjust to create that balance? The hands have to do the same when you’re upside down

                    This article covers what you need to know about your hands in various handstand movements.

                    Exercise Quick Navigation

                      Handstand holds and walks

                      What should you feel?

                      • A shift in pressure from the heel of the hand into the knuckles and fingertips as you kick up into the handstand
                      • A maintenance of pressure in the middle of the hand as you hold
                      • The fingertips digging into the floor whenever your body threatens to tip over the top and overbalance
                      • The distal knuckles popping up off the floor if you are gripping the floor hard enough
                      • The shoulders shifting forward whenever your body threatens to fall back down and underbalance

                      Common Mistakes

                      • Leaving the weight too far back in the heels of the hands
                      • Flat, lifeless hands with no intention of the fingertips into the floor
                      • No action when encountered with a slight over or underbalance

                      Handstand Wall Pull Aways – Plate to Wrist

                      How to do this drill

                      Place 2x 20kg bumper plates right up against a wall.

                      Cartwheel or walk into a wall-facing handstand such that the base of your wrist is almost touching, and your wrist is touching, the plates.

                      Shift your body weight slowly off the wall, forward into the hands. At some stage, your wrists will gently peel off the bumper plates. At pretty much exactly this moment if you’ve set it up correctly, your feet will also leave the wall.

                      Grip the ground like your life depends on it to prevent an overbalance.

                      Enjoy the handstand you are now in.


                      Kick up to overbalance

                      What is it?

                      A bailing drill that can also double as a drill to teach you to really dig your hands into the floor when your weight shifts over the top.

                      Technique

                      Deliberately kick up with more force than is required for a handstand so that you start to overbalance. Delay the fall for as long as you can by digging your hands into the ground. When it can’t be rescued, twist to bail safely and catch yourself.

                      Play around with the intensity of the kick up and see if you can actually find the right amount of force to stop a kick up in its tracks.


                      Wrist Push Up

                      Why?

                      To build strength in your fingers and forearms to be better at handstands.

                      Technique

                      Kneeling on all fours, shift your body weight forward so that your shoulders are over your knuckles. Keeping the shoulders there, lift the thumb off the floor, then lift the heel of the hand off the ground by pressing the knuckles down into the floor. Don’t let yourself shift back while you do this – you should feel the undersides of your forearms contracting as you do so.


                      General Wrist Warm Up

                      What is it?

                      A wrist warm up to help get your wrists used to the amount of pressure that’s going to go through them once you start pressurising your hands correctly in a handstand.

                      What to do with it

                      Follow along with the video, and do this warmup or the pieces of it you think are relevant to you before you handstand.

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