S P O RT S
PERFORMANCE
BENEFITS OF
CALISTHENICS
Mastering the Back Lever
The Back lever is one of the most
eye-catching isometric holds in the
world of calisthenics and believe
it or not is one of the easiest to master
of all the levers.
When trying to perform a back lever
a lot of people get over excited and
try to perform full levers before fully
strengthening the correct muscles to
be able to perform this static hold
properly. The result of this often leads
to the development of bad habits and
the inevitable ‘banana’ lever which
occurs when people think that lifting
their feet up will be enough to hold
their core up.
Now with the aforementioned
banana lever the majority of people
will think they are perfectly straight
and will remain completely unaware
of the positioning of their body.
Sometimes to the extent that they can
be completely vertical and think that
they are horizontal. This is due to a
lack of spacial awareness.
Most people who decide to pursue
such a goal as the back lever may have
never been upside down in their life,
so this can be a completely new
experience for them and can often
cause the brain a bit of confusion.
But don’t worry. This can all be
corrected with a bit of persistence
and guidance...
Straight body/hollow body
This might be going a bit deep for
some but there is an ongoing debate
112
MUSCLE & FITNESS / MARCH 2018
BY JASE BARVOLUTION
within the calisthenics/gymnastics
communities about the correct
position for levers and planche -
should the body be ‘straight’ or
‘hollow’?
Wondering what the
difference is?
A ‘straight body’ is when the body is
locked into position with no piking
of the hips and with a retracted or
neutral scapular.
Now to the main event, the ‘hollow
body’. The hollow body is the correct
body positioning required to perform
/// PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEVE SANDER
levers and ultimately a planche.
This position involves a rounding
of the upper back which helps
with engagement of the upper back
and shoulders and also helps the
lumbar (lower) region of the back
to become flat.
Either body position is good,
as long as you are able to hold the
position with no pike (bend) in the
hips and you can keep the body
straight.
He