esh Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Like all wise men looking for solutions to real-life problems, I originally learned how to do the back lever from watching Youtube videos, or at least how I thought the back lever was supposed to be performed. Like a fool, when I got Building the Gymnastic Body, I skipped over the entire section dedicated to the BL thinking it had nothing to offer me, as I was able to already hold a full BL for awhile. Out of curiosity, I decided to check that section out the other day while re-reading through the book.As it turns out, I was not only doing it wrong, but also, when you try to do it right, it's much, much harder. Basically, I was squeezing into my lats with my arms, therein making a BL laughably easy.Since figuring out the correct way to do a BL, I've been working through the progressions pretty quickly, but I'm also having a problem breaking my old, bad habit of squeezing my arms into my lats. This usually means I have to get into the position via squeezing my arms into my lats, remind myself that that's improper form, then gradually spread my hands apart. So, to my question/point...Is this a good way to do it until I'm no longer naturally squeezing with my arms? Could I just achieve the same position out of a German hang by raising up/through? Is spreading your arms away from your body slightly even the right way to do a BL?Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blairbob Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I figure most people squeeze their lats into their triceps during the BL. My arms aren't so close merely due to the fact that my shoulder extension flexibility is poor. I can skin the cat to german hang but it's not an ideal angle ( and a bit skewed on my right shoulder because of when I seperated that shoulder ). Spreading your arms farther apart makes the BL harder which is good if you think about if you want to use it as a progression to bridge towards the cross. It's fairly difficult to pull out of a german hang into the BL. It's not easy by no means unless we are talking about a tuck or pike position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregor Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Instead of squeezing it to your lats, squeeze the rings just down and try to squeeze a litlle bit late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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