Front Lever Lower Back Form

Ok I am very confused as to what position the lower back should be in for front lever. I was looking through this forum and it seems as though about half say that the lower back should be neutral and half say it should be hollow, so it obviously is not arched. And of course the upper back is neutral or as retracted as you can. I've seen a ton of front levers with a neutral lower back and a ton with hollow so are both positions correct? And which position is easier? Here's a couple of pictures showing a neutral lower back and hollow lower back.

This guys lower back looks neutral:

http://imgur.com/hjZfcyG

This one looks hollow/rounded:

http://imgur.com/CjDfLGR

Also can't find a picture but if you look at nik anisimovs front lever he is rounded/hollow as well.

Please don't respond unless you are 100% certain it is the correct way, thanks!

Frahebede said:

Ok I am very confused as to what position the lower back should be in for front lever. I was looking through this forum and it seems as though about half say that the lower back should be neutral and half say it should be hollow, so it obviously is not arched.

Just to confuse you, some people refer to an arched back as a hollow back....

They both look the same to me.

Body should be hollow in front lever.

Your scapula should be retracted but you should have a flat lower back.

Yaad Mohammad said:

Your scapula should be retracted but you should have a flat lower back.

Daniel Burnham said:

Body should be hollow in front lever.

Ahhhh see! So which one is it? Yaad said flat/neutral and Daniel said hollow. Can someone please clarify

The real answer is that as Far as the lower back is concerned the things are equivalent. The lower back naturally has it arch. During the front Levrio have to follow up the body To reduce this and bring tension down Through your limbs. So I'm reality when doing a hollow body you are really making the lower back neutral. This of course is taken to the extreme hollow body holds on the ground what you really want to feel the tension in the abs.

And practice don't worry about it too much probably hollow body and keep straight. The key is not to arch and sag down towards the ground

Edit: I dictated this post while driving. I'll have to fix the typos later.

Daniel Burnham said:

Edit: I dictated this post while driving. I'll have to fix the typos later.

I read this post while drunk and it all made perfect sense....

Daniel Burnham said:

The real answer is that as Far as the lower back is concerned the things are equivalent. The lower back naturally has it arch. During the front Levrio have to follow up the body To reduce this and bring tension down Through your limbs. So I'm reality when doing a hollow body you are really making the lower back neutral. This of course is taken to the extreme hollow body holds on the ground what you really want to feel the tension in the abs.

And practice don't worry about it too much probably hollow body and keep straight. The key is not to arch and sag down towards the ground

Edit: I dictated this post while driving. I'll have to fix the typos later.

This, we were saying the same thing.

Could some please clarify what "hollow body" means? 

I always suspected that it referred to the protraction of the scapula, but from this thread it's evident that it's not necessarily the case..

ForzaCavaliere said:

Could some please clarify what "hollow body" means? 

 

I always suspected that it referred to the protraction of the scapula, but from this thread it's evident that it's not necessarily the case..

Well in this situation it can be achieved by tilting your pelvic forwards.

ForzaCavaliere said:

Could some please clarify what "hollow body" means? 

 

I always suspected that it referred to the protraction of the scapula, but from this thread it's evident that it's not necessarily the case..

Yeah thats what I thought it was too for a looooong time but protracted/retracted scapula is the upper back and hollow/arched back is in the lower back. So I think front lever should be a neutral upper back and hollow lower back and planche is protracted upper back and hollow lower back. I'm pretty sure every move is supposed to be down in a hollow body and nothing should ever be arched really.

Frahebede said:

Yeah thats what I thought it was too for a looooong time but protracted/retracted scapula is the upper back and hollow/arched back is in the lower back. So I think front lever should be a neutral upper back and hollow lower back and planche is protracted upper back and hollow lower back. I'm pretty sure every move is supposed to be down in a hollow body and nothing should ever be arched really.

I don't think you would use hollow body for exercises such as squat and deadlift. 

Thanks a lot for the clarification though.

Ok sorry posting so much on front lever form, but I just really want to make sure I am doing it correct. I'm pretty sure I used to do it with an arched lower back but now I think I am doing it hollow now.

This is an old pic from when I did it incorrectly and I can't exactly tell but I think my lower back is arched as it looks distinctly different than this second pic recently that i did with a hollow lower back (arms not straight and piked in second one but I was dead tired after training)

http://imgur.com/JaOntSW

http://imgur.com/vNfzVxn

It really looks a lot different and it feels way different as I get muscle pains in my back when I do it with a hollow body but not arched. Also in the second pic (hollow) you can see my lat curve but in the first one you can't so I think that shape is only made when hollow. So, is my lower back actually arched in the first pic or not?