Getting that full Front Lever - able to do all easier variations

[John Key]

Hello!

I've been training calisthenics for a year. I have no gymnastics background whatsoever, I do most things after reading all about it on the internet (this great forum included!).

 

For the last 6 months I trained Front Lever. Though it was slow, I'm rather happy with the progress I made. I can hold all variations of Front Lever except for full FL with both legs extended. I always make sure my form is perfect - arms straight, no pike in legs/hips, toes extended. As soon as my form breaks down, I stop.

 

From what I understand, the progressions are as follow: tucked, advanced tucked, one leg (alternating), straddle, half lay, full. There's something weird about me - half lay actually feels easier than straddle. I can hold solid half lay for 10 seconds, while straddle for about 5 seconds. 

 

NOW the funny thing. I once held a perfect full front lever, not just a negative but isometrics for a few seconds! As you can imagine it was a big acheviement for an amateur like me. That was after a week of no trainging at all due to sickness. I'll attach a video to this post. After that, next few tries were succesful though not for as long. Unfortunately for the last two weeks full FL felt impossible again   . 

 

 

How can I finally transition to the full FL? What could I possibly do wrong while training for it? I want to master this skill. Like if I'm awoken in the middle of the night, I could always hold Lsit. I want the same thing with Front Lever (after warm up ofcourse), that I can hold it whenever I want, not just in extraordinary cases. 

VIDEO0568_02.mp4

Edited September 6, 2015 by Cymek

[Romulo Malta]

If all the variations you said you could hold are like the one at the video, they don't qualify as a proper front lever. The most evident flaw is that your elbows are bent. The obvious most common advice you will probably get here is to step back to the progression that you can perform with correct form.

 

If you want to properly progress and make sure you have your form checked and really master that skill, the best solution is to follow the Foundation course. Just to let you have an idea of how detailed and comprehensive is the Foundation preparation, the Front Lever has 26 progressions (before getting to the full FL) in the course!

[Kevin Conley]

Even the slightest bend makes it a world easier. It does look 100% like your elbows have a bend in them. If you can hold all the positions before without any bending in the elbows at all (at all), then go back and be sure you can hold all progressions perfectly for at least 30 seconds; 5 and 10 second holds are not enough for most people. After that, come back to the full. Whenever I had trouble in later progressions, it was because I didn't master previous ones.

 

Otherwise, your form looks great. Keep working hard and you will likely have it soon enough.

[John Key]

You're right, the form seen in the video is not perfect (bent arms). I guess I was too optimistic about it. Good thing is that my arms are locked during straddle and half lay. I'll aim for 5 sets of 10 seconds of these variations.

[Jesse Kim]

I'm far from a perfect front lever as well, lol. I'm better at looking up the knowledge for GST than actually applying it to my training, since I'm not efficient yet

[Emirking Stillalive]

You are bending your arms too much, your biceps of course takes some load away from your lats. On the other hand, I think your core muscles are ready for a full front lever. But, you have to hold every progression with straight arms, you have to feel your lats and core doing all the work. I can also hold bent arm front lever, but trust me, when i straighten my arms I'm no where near to hold even for a second, just because my lats and upper back are not strong enough.