Back lever/ lower back question

Hello everyone!

First of all you need to know that I'm new on this site.

 

Well, I have some questions relating to the back lever.

I started practicing the back lever on Monday. The first thing that I noticed was pressure in my chest. So i guess this kind of pressure will disappear after some time.

 

Well, I can hold a tuck planche for like 20 seconds and the tucked back lever for like 15 seconds.
In both movements I can't straighten my lower back and I don't know why..

Why I can't straighten my back? It is due to lack of strength or something else?

Is there any workout to strengthen my lower back?

 

In the end I have to say that I am only training with my bodyweight.

It would be nice, if anyone replies to my question!

 

Sincerely Julian

 

By the way I am not a native english speeker, so I apologize for my english

Hey Julian,

 

I learned the back lever 2 years ago and when I started I was roughly at the same place you are at now. I didn't do many other exercises to strengthen my back besides my ring workouts, 2-3 times a week. Exercises I did were:

 

- static holds: hanging tuck, hanging advanced tuck, 1 leg out/the other pulled to chest, straddle

- dynamic: from an inverted hang upside down, go into an advanced (straight-back) tuck and then slowly lower yourself into a lever. This is essentially a negative and a very powerful tool for bodyweight exercises. The key is too never let your back arch or cave downwards or else you may injure your lower back. You can achieve this by tightening your abs as you lower. Also it is good to keep your arms straight and tight into your body.

- once you can do 1 leg out with a straght body then you can try a bycicle motion of alternating legs

 

And don't give up! If your forearms start to hurt then stop immediately and look into forearm conditioning exercises (somewhere else on this site). You can also try switching your grip from palm on top to palm underneath - this helped me to still train while recovering from forearm splints.

 

Hope this helps!

what works for me is: protract your scapula and tighten your core + whole body

I strongly disagree with some of the proferred advice.

 

- Do not train back levers until you have mastered rope climb.  

 

- The primary purpose of training the back lever is to prepare the brachialis and shoulder girdle for more advanced ring strength elements.  As such it is a waste of time training the back lever with the incorrect grip (palm underneath).  Be strong enough to do it correctly, or don't bother.  

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Hey fair enough!

 

I have a question though: When I was training the back lever I never had any forearm pain and I learned with the proper grip however my pain developed when doing circles on the mushroom. That led me to also have pain in the correct grip on back lever even when I could hold it for over 5 seconds previously. So I switched up the grip which allowed me to continue back lever (I know it's the wrong way to do it but I was afraid of losing my lever) and any time I try and slowly get back into circles I run into the same problems with forearm splints. Btw I am now back to doing the lever with palm on top however I prefer now to do it in false grip!

 

Thanks coach!