functional training

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

What is it?

A great all-rounder heavy ab exercise.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.