Master the Back Lever: The exercise that gymnasts use to build superhuman core and shoulder strength
The Back Lever is a calisthenics hold that can transform your core, arm and back strength. We tell you how to master this exercise through an easy to follow progression
When someone suggests suspending the body in a straight line with the arms behind you holding onto a pull-ups bar or rings, the first question to ask would be—why? This move is called a back lever, and the answer to the question would be for full-body strength and control. The back lever, because of its higher difficulty, gives you better shoulders, an incredible core, a strong back, and teaches stability, balance, and co-ordination of different muscle groups working together. While L-sits and dead hangs and hollow rocks are all great isometric holds, the back lever is the move which can take the body to the next level.
The first thing to remember about this exercise is that it looks way more difficult than it is. This is something that trainers may say about many exercises—and it is a tough move alright—but it’s fairly easy, provided you get the technique right. There is a specific set of exercises to do one by one, which makes the progression chart easy, and with an end point in sight. After achieving the back lever, there is nothing more you can add to the move apart from starting to learn the front lever, which unlike its twin, is actually more difficult to pull off than it looks.
It is suggested that one learns these levers on rings rather than a pull-up bar because rings allow for more movement. The first step to learning the back lever is to do something known as the “German-hang" in the fitness world. This is a hang where the arms are behind the torso and in full extension. The video below is an excellent guide to learning this.
In case of stiff shoulders, the video also suggests preliminary exercises to do in the run-up to the German-hang. It is recommended to be able to do this hang for at least 30 seconds before cranking up the progressions. Learning the skin-the-cat move before this is an easy way to get into the German-hang.
The next two steps are vital. From a German-hang position, do a knee tuck and lift the body up. This is usually a progression for any hanging move. Think of how the hanging leg raise also starts with a hanging knee tuck. This will feel slightly different in this case because the arms are behind you.
Nicholas Elorreaga, who is a personal trainer and student of exercise science, has written a step-by-step guide on his fitness blog, and says that doing this in front of a mirror or recording yourself doing this will help you know if your back is slowly rising up along with the knees. Once you master this, try going from a basic grip to a German-hang and tuck over and over again until the joints develop the memory of knowing what this feels like. Doing some reps of these will also increase the strength of hanging with this grip. Doing these also takes you closer to mastering skin-the-cat, which is shown below.
The next step is an advanced-tuck. In this, the key is to raise the body till the back is as straight as possible. “Do a skin-the-cat and stop in a tuck back lever, then actively flatten your back and push your knees out slightly (they will naturally push out slightly if you flatten your back properly)," writes Elorreaga in his guide. Incidentally, I learnt the back lever with the steps in the same exact order. It takes two-to-eight weeks to master, but the process is challenging and ultimately highly rewarding.
The next progression is the best one though, because if this is met, then you are ever so close to pulling off your first back lever. This is the big leap of trust that every exercise needs and this will bring in the glutes into the game. Until now, because of the position of the legs, the glutes were hardly engaged. But now comes the straddle or the one-legged back lever.
Keeping one leg tucked, slowly straighten the other one behind into full extension. From here on, there is only the challenge of straightening out both legs that is to be met. It might take some time to go from this step to the full move, but feel free to train with both sides one by one until there is enough strength to push both legs out together.
There is another way to go about this which some might find easier, and it’s shown on YouTube channel Summer Fun Fitness’s video titled 5 Minute Back Lever Tutorial. In this, the athlete starts with a narrow grip (pull-up style pronated grip), then does a skin-the-cat, and shoots both legs high and up in a high back lever before slowly lowering the entire body until it is parallel to the bar. It is the lowering movement that gives the muscles enough time under tension to make all the effort worthwhile.
Pulasta Dhar is a football commentator and writer.
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