Back lever problems?

I have a pair of rings and i try to do the back lever. I hang vertically upside down and make my body straight and then i slowly lower backwards. I don't feel any strain except on my triceps maybe? And then i just cant hold myself and swing into the lowest position.

My question is, what can i do to progress to the back lever? I just don't feel like anything is straining or working (unlike the front lever where i feel a lot of work being done).

And how should my back be positioned? Is someone able to provide me with a diagram or picture of proper form?

Thanks

If you read the book - Building the Gymnast Body, there is a full set of progressions working up to the back lever.

You are doing something wrong. When i do the back lever i contract ALL my body, biceps forearms shoulder pecs lats trapezius lower back and butt even neck ( and my face is also contracted ) i cant tell you which muscle is working harder because as i said i contract all of them. I would said its important biceps lower back and pecs-lats

from http://www.drillsandskills.com/article/17

For negatives, you should be hitting at least 5s to maybe 10. Any less means its too much load and too advanced and you would be better off using an easier progression ( instead of a straight body, use a tuck/advanced tuck, single leg, straddle or 1/2 layout position ).

Thanks for the help. I can do it with one leg and i don't find it takes that much. But with 2 legs i cant hold it at all.

I will try it with one legs though and tucked and see how that works. I think i am not putting my arms back far enough so their in the same position as skin the cat. I am just speculating because i can't see my arms when im doing it.

I will try again today and see how everything goes.

Thanks

If you are doing your BL on rings, it doesn't matter where your hands are really. It's a matter of lowering your hips and butt to the level that your shoulders are. Your hands and the rings will figure themselves out.

How are you holding the rings in the BL? Like the above picture or with the palms facing up or the palms facing each other. It will feel different each way.

Try to film yourself, cellphone if you have to. It doesn't need to be great, just good enough. Perhaps set up a mirror somewhere.

I personally find the palms down BL far more comfortable on the wrists and forearms. If I have the wrists facing each other it puts a lot of strain down the inside of my forearm and wrist.

IIRC, Coach Sommer mentioned that you should try to work on BL with palms facing away from the body. This engages forearms and elbows and helps strengthen them, which is necessary for PL progression. BL with palms facing toward your body does not require much of forearm and elbow strength so this is good if you have a wrist or elbow injury.

Palms facing down prepares your elbows for the cross and a lot of other ring strength elements.

For my little guys right now, I don't mind they do palms up. When they get older I'll switch them over ( granted they are 8 and 10 right now and are only in the compulsory level so they have 3-5 years before optionals. )

I would require the young one's to perform the back lever with correct hand position now. Why allow the body to adapt unnecessarily to an incorrect position now and then struggle to rectify the problem later?

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Hmm, perhaps I should have Erik start working the different hand position in the BL for skill training when on rings and after a few weeks have him then start doing it when we do the holds+FBE. My other little guy does complain of elbow stress when holding it in tuck. Curiously he turns his hands to the side and then stops complaining. I can't recall what his hand position is when he tries a negative off-hand.

We played with changing the hand position today. He noted there was quite a bit of stress and tension on the elbows.

My plan is to over the next 6 weeks to 3 months have him do it as a side station when we are on rings. So maybe that will be 3-5 repetitions ( it's more important right now, imo that he work his ring support and muscle-up transition and support negative to false grip leading to ring dips ) per rings workout ( 2x a week ). I had him start up by only doing it in tuck to get used to how to hit the correct angle as it has a different feel ( whereas the way he does it has a completely different feel for me to do it palms up ).

During our static hold training, I will continue to have him do it his current normal way until the end of this 6 week to 3 month period and then we'll probably switch over.

My other levels 4's are still strugging to get into the tuck BL. Some turn the rings parallel versus palms up.

I am thinking that training the BL with palms down may help ring support strength for some reason. Maybe, we'll see.