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Want to learn front lever?

You would obviously want to take the fastest route to learn the skill. 

There are tons of exercises you can choose from but there are top-notch exercises that deliver better results specific for your front lever journey compared to others.

And training the skill directly doesn’t yield the best results. You need to choose the best exercises that hit the right muscles and that train your body coordination and control.

Here the 5 most effective front lever exercises you need to do for faster progress.

1.🤜Tuck Lever Scapula Contractions

Your core acts as a primary stabilizer to hold you up on your handstand. This will also make or break your form. Have a weak core, you’ll mostly have a banana handstand or just fall down because of your inability to control your torso.

The hollow hold is great for building your core and has very transferable gains to handstands (and many other calisthenics exercises as well). You are basically doing a hollow hold only in a different position when doing a handstand. Train this for 2-3 sets of 30-45second holds.

👍How to perform:

1. Perform a tuck lever with perfect form. Straight arms, knees tucked to the chest, horizontal body line, full-body flexed.
2. Retract your scapula further by moving your shoulder blades together. Keep your arms straight.
3. Release the retraction and go to a protraction while still keeping your arms straight.
4. Repeat per specified repetitions.

2.🤜Dragon flag

The front lever is highly dependent on having a strong core. Have a weak core? You’ll only be holding a front lever in your dreams. Sit-ups will never be enough to strengthen your core to the level that you’ll be able to learn a front lever.

How can you solve this? Only by practicing the dragon flag.

Popularized by the legendary Bruce Lee, the dragon flag is a high-level abdominal exercise that fits exactly for the front lever. When you can already comfortable do dragon flags, your core requirement is basically done. 

With dragon flags, you’re almost in the same muscle tension on your core as if you’re already doing the front lever.

👍How to perform:

1. To begin with, you will need a curved sit up bench. Rest your back on the bench and grip the handle normally.
2. Keep your hips and knees bent such that your feet are placed on the floor.
3. Now lift your legs and lower back till the back is upright.
4. Now straighten your legs up and keep them close together.
5. From this position, lower your lower back till it is almost parallel to the floor. The legs should be kept straight and close together and held above parallel. Your upper back should only be touching the ground.
6. Hold this position for one second then lift back the upright position without bending your hips or legs.
7. Repeat and feel your abs burn!

3.🤜Banded Lever

Banded levers form a great bridge from your current progression to your next target. The resistance band lifts some of your weight. For example, you weigh around 80kg, you’ll feel like you’re only 60kg depending on the resistance band level you are you using,

At the same time you train for strength, you also get to train body control and coordination. You’ll feel what it kinda feels like doing the more advanced front lever progression. 

Just be sure to use the appropriate level of bands for you. Too much assistance from the bands will give you almost no gains. If the stronger band doesn’t help you reach the front lever progression you’re aiming for, you need focus first on the easier progression.

👍How to perform:

1. Place band under one foot and hang from bar.
2. Enter the appropriate front lever progression.
3. Hold the position for a specified period of time.

4.🤜Tuck Lever Pull-ups

Even though the front lever is a static exercise, dynamic exercises also help you speed up your learning process. 

One dynamic front lever exercise is the tuck lever pull-ups. As the name suggests, it’s basically a pull-up while you’re in the tuck lever position. It builds you the upper body strength fully not only in the actual position hold of the front lever.

Keep in mind that this is a very challenging exercise. Hold the lever position in every position of the pull-up exercise.

👍How to perform:

1. Enter the most comfortable front lever progression hold for you.
2. While you’re in position, pull your body up while keeping the lever position.
3. Slowly lower down back to the lever position. Straighten lock your arms.
4. Repeat the steps for a challenging set of reps.

5.🤜Lever Lower Downs

Lower downs are a progression in the series of Front lever exercises. This is a very advanced routine in the bodyweight training exercise as you need to have a really strong core to hold your body parallel to the ground midway in the exercise. The entire muscle bulk on the back of the spine and shoulders is recruited to suspend the body.

It is an eccentric (negative) type of exercise which allows your body to do a more difficult exercise than your body can usually handle. It’s great to strengthen the necessary muscles for your front lever.

👍How to perform:

1. To begin with you need a horizontal bar/gymnastic rings hanging from a ceiling.
2. Grab the bar with your hands placed more than shoulder-width apart.
3. Holding the bar firmly, swing your lower body up till you are upside down. Keep your hips and knees flexed to 90 degrees and back slightly rounded. – Tuck down position.
4. Begin returning to erect position by moving down from the shoulders till your spine is parallel to the floor and hips and knees are flexed to 90 degrees.
5. Continue to return down till your feet rest on the floor.
6. Repeat the steps above.

These exercises are excellent in building the strength, skill, muscles and endurance specific to front lever. It’s not yet the progression but combine these exercises to your progression and you’ll soon be hovering in mid-air!

Now that you know the best exercises to finally get the front lever, you next need to know how to safely get there.