With these all being static holds it
is best to find the maximum length
of time you can hold for and then vary
your sets and times to best aid your
progression, for example do 10 sets
of 50% of your max time with a rest
inbetween.
The conditioning
To help strengthen the correct muscles
the following exercises are suggestions
that should help you avoid the banana
position:
• Shoulder rotations with staff
3x30
• Hanging knee/leg raises
10x10
• German Hang extensions
5x5
• German Hang
max hold x5
• Skin the cat
3x8
This is a great little workout that
will strengthen the correct muscles to
help you engage and straighten up as
you learn to perform the back lever
properly.
Focused workouts &
Grease the groove
In order to ensure a complete full
body workout, we need to create a
connection between the mind and
the body, enabling you to be able to
perform conscious contractions and
full body engagements during the
back lever and its regressions.
Once you have mastered the
previous workout your body you will
be in the perfect position to be able to
achieve the correct body positions and
muscular engagements.
The following workout will then
help with the specific positioning of
the actual back lever, ensuring your
body is capable of withstanding the
strain it will be placed under and
using the correct regressions and
progressions.
‘Grease the groove’ is a system you
can use to accelerate your ability to
excel at a particular task. First you
need to allocate an active point, for
example, a door way that you pass
EXTENDED
TUCK
TUCK
FULL
BACK
LEVER
MARCH 2018 / MUSCLE & FITNESS
113