Master The Toes-to-Bar With These 4 Progressions
Learn these four progressions and you’ll raise the standard of your core workouts for good
Elevate your abs sessions way above the plankers with the fiendish toes-to-bar move. Learn these four progressions and you’ll raise the standard of your core workouts for good.
This is on the trickier end of bodyweight moves, so training and strengthening each position of the rep will clean up your form when they’re put together. They can also serve as warm-ups once you’ve mastered it.
Scapular Retraction
3 sets of 8 reps
It’s vital to get to grips with the correct shoulder position when attempting the full toes-to-bar. Grab the bar and start in a dead hang, shoulders by your ears. Switch into an active position by depressing your shoulders away from your ears. Keep your arms straight.
Hollow and Superman
5 sets of 20 seconds on, 20 seconds off in each position
The stages of the swinging motion (known as kipping) will harness your momentum for the full movement. Start on your back with your arms straight by your head, then tense your core to raise your shoulders and feet. Flip over and lift your hands and feet off the floor .
Beat Swing
3 sets of 2-5 reps
Now, recreate those same positions but while suspended from the bar. Hang with active shoulders and start by performing the hollow, with your head back and your feet in front. Then, switch straight into the superman, with your head forward and your feet back. Create as much tension in your core as possible and swing back and forth.
Strict Knees-to-Elbow
Finally, you need to build some extra strength. Hang from the bar in your active shoulder position, then raise your knees Hold for a second, then lower slowly. Strict, controlled reps, with a steady tempo in the negative part of the movement, will build the strength that you’ll require for the full toes-to-bar.
Toes-to-Bar
Now that you’re solid in all the phases, the moment has come to perform your first full rep. Use these tips to link together the component moves. High-five yourself at each milestone and be the envy of other gym-goers.
Active Start
Start off with beat swings, then go into a full kip swing. The difference between the two is the range of motion. With the kip swing, aim to move further back and through the bar, while maintaining solid midline tension.
Pull Your Weight
When you go for the first rep, you want to feel like you’re pulling the bar down. This will move you further back (reducing the distance between your feet and the bar). Once in the rear of the swing, think knees-to- elbows, then kick your feet to touch the bar.
Join Forces
Linking reps together requires a good exit down from the bar. Once you have hit the bar with your toes, move your heels towards your glutes and extend through the bar into the superman position. Now, pull back into the hollow position for the next rep. Start with small sets and build up, but stay in control.
David Morton is Deputy Editor at Men’s Health, where he has written, worked, edited and sweated for 12 years. His areas of particular interest are fitness, workouts and adventure.
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