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German hang to inverted cross starts as a pull into a wide arm incline position (give or take half way to inverted hang). Once the back is in an incline position, push and open hips into inverted cross. As much as the element looks like a Zanetti from an incline position, it is not. The push starts from a much lower position, with the hands in a suboptimal position(too far forward). It is one of the most difficult strength elements possible. And not to be taken lightly. It will require tailored work for the hands, arms, shoulders, and core. Progressions for the movement don’t exist due to complex nature of physical development, and the unique build of an individual athlete. My progression in the movement has been surprising. I expect to have 3 different variations of the element in less than 8 years. It took me 2 months to achieve back-lever, 6 months for maltese, and I’m about 5 years into calisthenics. I have never been in a gymnastics center, or on high rings. I train alone, on 6ft-10ft straps on anchor attached to a frame I built over 4 trusses in my garage. I don’t train any dynamic swing elements due to my setup. Ring towers are extremely difficult to access as a random adult from the world of calisthenics. I have plans of building my own in the next few years. Then, maybe I’ll have a new list of dynamic swing elements, and/or dismounts.

Hi all - thanks for the input. That's helpful. I'm languishing on pressups at the moment (still astonished that reaching 5 x 15 with good form is so damn hard). However I have an eye specifically on the Korean dips and wondered if there were any home kits people were aware of. I can beg a friend for use of their power cage, so good shout on that. Thanks!

For most of the dip work, the portable "dip bar" equipment is ok if you use it on a non-slip surface, and you are aware of the balance issues. Korean dips, on the other hand, need equipment that is very heavy, or bolted into the floor. Is there a playground near you that has a single bar at the required height? Allesandro posted about these bars in another thread. You can also use a safety rail in a power rack at a gym, though you might need to put some weight on the rack if it is not bolted down. Here's an example. It's a basic rack, sometimes called a "power cage". I have something similar and have done Korean dips on it, but only with an additional 100kg of weight sitting on the rack. Power rack with safety rails

@Lavonne SchillerI'm on this site almost every day. Alessandro is always available with excellent input and coaching.

Are you searching for soemthing that self support itself? Do not know if there is somethimg available…Maybe a door frame bar that you fix With pressure?

Forum is dead mate... goodluck getting an answer

Hello Are there any recommended brands for parallel bar exercises required in Foundation 2 (particularly for the variants on single bar like Korean dips)? Not sure what to look for. Most home training equipment doesn't look like it's able to support weight for single bar variations and the professional equipment is very expensive. Thanks

Notes on reverse planche Reverse planche body position is about 6 inches above the hands and involves body contact with rings. For good form the body should rest in between the curves of the rings(the top quarter). The contact will be similar to wrist contact on rings, it’s something that can be manipulated, and an important aspect to learn good form. One of my favorite combos: L-sit to maltese to reverse straddle on rings. Pike reverse planche(manna) is a difficult hold to stick. The amount of lower body movement, lifting of the butt, and back angle gives it dynamics. The body does not make contact with rings. Manna/pike reverse planche on rings is difficult to stick, reverse planche requires more strength. Going up from manna is next level!

An updated list based on my current training 1. Superfly- straight body pull pass reverse planche before closing the hips and going into inverted cross 2. From German hang to inverted cross 3. Supermanna-the higher the manna, the stronger the element. Note- only pike reverse planche is a hold. 4. From a hang to reverse planche 5. Crosspossible- front lever to iron cross 6. From a hang to pike reverse planche(manna) 7. From rings support to handstand, back and hips surpass planche before pike. The higher the hips are before pike, the stronger the element. 8. From rings support to reverse planche 9. From a hang to victorian cross 10. Zanetti Elements 1, 4, 5, 8, and 9 are dangerous to train without a professional. These elements require specially designed accessories for the lower body and hip. They are not elements, an athlete can develop like traditional muscle-ups.

HI Patriq, the main problem is the link between passive and active mobility. the more your reach a solid 90° and 120° pancake the easier will be to compress at the top.

there are a lot of them...for example all the movement that requires an upper arm support on the parallel bar for the shoulder depression. for the upward rotation probably the press to handstand.

Hi Everybody, Just out of curiosity i was asking myself wich advanced gymnastics movement places the most stress on the lower trapezius (Wether it is due to scapular depression demand or upward rotation demand) For scapular depression, my take would be : iron cross or One arm pull up For upward rotation , my take would be : l sit press to handstand or one arm handstand (in hollow shape) Tanks for your input Victor

I'm working towards the straddle-up, but my back look mostly like a banana and my legs are no where near being straight. Do you have any suggestion on what to work on in order to improve this exercise? Other than generally getting stronger abs and more flexible hamstrings.

My list was invented as a guideline to two of the most difficult strength elements, which are only available on rings. A new idea shared and invented in 2024. I’ve been working on a front-lever pike to victorian cross as a progression for element 10. And from victorian cross to iron cross as a progression for element 4. Both elements are technically new, but not listed due to being lower in difficulty. My timeline for element 3 (super-manna) and element 2 from straddle in pike, are 8 and 12 years, respectively. I don’t know if I will ever get a Superfly. But it’s something I will continue to work on, without a definitive timeline of ever achieving one. I’ll post up a video of a SuperManna (element 3) when I can execute a clean one.

Hi Victor, any type pf horizonal pulling. but rather than searching for muscles balance i'll search for postural balance so strive to maintain the extension of the spine primarily.

Hi everybody, Bar accessibility to do pulling work is limited for me (small living space, weather outside to find a bar, time to do so) so there's weeks where suspended pulling work is completely missing in my workouts. I still train Push FBE Hard like dips, Pseudo planche push ups, HeSPU and i'm pretty sure i will devellop anteroposterior imbalance soon. If i choose to not be dedicated at all to pull up variations : Which pulling motion or exercice would be essential only in order to balance the push work ? (something i can do with light dumbells or band) Biomechanics is complex so thank you in advance for the advices

Hi Megan, i think that there is no a specific guideline in the sense that if something produces pain it is better to avoid it. for sure i would look for a long period period of general conditioning with high reps , high total time under tension and so on. probably for now the restore series of gymfit and eventually scaled version are more suitable for you. for the legs gymgit should be fine but again everything should be adapted in function of your situations. for sure islation exercise with machine like hamstring curl are essential..

Hi! I am in recovery from hamstring tendinopathy that occurred after I tore my hamstring (going into the splits doing aerial work). I have been doing physical therapy and have graduated from it (they are encouraging slow heavy lifting and essentric hamstring weight training. I have been told to not do more passive stretching than active stretching. I also have a Ham and Pincer bilateral hip impingement on both sides of my hips that took me out of competitive powerlifting back in 2015. I do a lot of glute med and mobility work because of this. I would love to be able to do the splits again. Will the trainings in GymFit be safe for me to do as is? Or will I need modifications? What is the balance of active vs passive stretching. Also are there any exercises that are in this program that are not recommended because of my prior injuries? I would like to get to a place of increased mobility and prevent injuries in the future.

My intention for posting this list is strictly for educational purposes. The list opens up the door of possibilities for athletes that have achieved every hold in calisthenics. By giving them angles that are damn near impossible to achieve. But it’s important to stress that one has ever achieved a muscle-up by only doing dips and pull-ups and no one will ever achieve a Superfly by only doing butterflies and presses to handstand. Due to workload requirements of the Superfly and the 360-elevator(elements 1&2), it would be difficult to imagine an athlete competing with these elements. The most difficult G elements aren’t worth the risk of poor execution. Especially when an athlete can butterfly pull to manna/pike reverse planche instead of a Superfly and get the same difficulty points without ever attempting one of the most difficult turnovers in calisthenics. They wouldn’t be properly compensated for the equivalent of an 80 hour work week for 10+ years. Element 1 might seem scary but I have dealt with the most injuries training element 4 (cross-possible). It passes through an “impossible”

Hi Emma, the Hungarian was a sort of advancd program including more dynamic and advanced strenght elements...but it is no longer on GB curriculum since it was too advanced. it was never released.

I'm not at a level where i actually could even do it, but out of pure curiosity: what is the Hungarian? I know it's the very last part of the GB curriculum, but all I could find about it was an article from 10 years ago, with pretty vague info. Is there anywhere i can actually find out what it is and how it works? Coach Sommer mentioned a DVD about it, but i couldn't find it. Again, not at my level, but for what i read it seems so interesting i wanted at least to know more about it.

Wanted to second evolvefit. Many people also find success and then try to create their own identity after that. There are a lot of good voices out there, but the reality is that the internet is the Wild West and it is often so easy to repackage something and make your own way from it. It takes a long time for people to figure out the cream from the chaff, and most probably don’t have a hope of figuring that out.

Hello Alastair, perhaps I can offer my opinion on this matter. The exercises in Fundamentals (ape, table, etc) serve the roll of introducing you to new movements. They will help you assess your current mobility level, and give you a clear indication about your weakpoints, etc. I found great effect in doing the program consecutively (meaning on day one I did day one’s work, day two I did day two’s work…) as there is some good overlap with the movements. But I kept some of the movements and used them in my warm up - particularly the table walk and ape walk from day one. I had bad sciatica and had to modify them, but they forced me to address the area likely causing the pain - this is a long story involving my history with what I thought were bulging discs but turns out might have been piriformis related. Within a week my year and a half struggle with back pain disappeared, almost completely. im not saying this is typical, but in this instant I found very quickly a problem and after working on it here and there via the ape walk I had found an amazing effect. I keep that one in the loop even today, though I don’t necessarily go for distance or have too much structure. I just know that if that is going well things generally will follow

Number 1 seems scary lol

Element #2 replaces the “elevator” on rings and starts from the second lowest position, German hang. The lower body and core must lift above the rings while the shoulders and head remain beneath the rings. The easiest way to achieve element #2 is to figure out element #8(rings support to handstand without pike passing through inverted cross). Elements 1 and 2 represent a front ward and back ward movement from a hang to handstand. They are without a doubt the most difficult strength elements possible.