Training guide
A back lever means hanging from a bar or rings with straight arms and your body held level, face down, your arms behind you. You get there by rolling back through your arms from a hang and lowering until you're level, and you build it like a lever: tucked first, then flatter, then with your legs straddled and finally together.
We found no study of the back lever itself, so this guide is honest about what's known from ring gymnastics, tendons and injury surveys, and about what is coaching practice or our own judgement. It holds the front of your shoulder near the end of its range and your biceps at full stretch, so it rewards patience more than effort.
It covers the German hang and skin the cat that come first, how to hold a tuck back lever, the ladder to the full lever and when to move up, rings or a bar and your grip, how long and how often to practise, what to watch in your shoulders and elbows, and our back lever progression workout, with 3D demos of the German hang, the tuck and the full lever.
Hang from a bar with straight arms, tuck your knees and roll back through your arms until you're upside down, then lower slowly until your body is level and face down, arms straight behind you, and hold. Come out the way you went in. Our demos use a bar and an overhand grip.
First the German hang, with your feet supported at first, and skin the cat. Then the tuck, the advanced tuck (back flat), one leg straight, a straddle and finally legs together, each learnt as a slow lowering and then a pause. No trial has tested this ladder; it is coaching practice.
We found no study of the back lever itself. Gymnastics' rule book gives the back and front levers the same lowest value on rings, and coaches say the back lever comes sooner for many people. That doesn't make it a beginner's move: it holds the front of your shoulder near the end of its backward range and your biceps at full stretch.
The shoulder was the commonest injury site in two calisthenics surveys. In videos of biceps tendon tears at the elbow, most happened with the elbow almost straight, the palm turned up and the arm holding still; the videos show the arm's position when tears happened, not how likely a tear is. Use the overhand grip of our demos, not a chin-up grip, and never drop into a German hang.
In training studies, strength rose a month or two before the tendon changed, and tendons changed most in programmes of 12 weeks or more. Those were leg tendons; nobody has studied the arm's. Stay on each step longer than you think.
2 or 3 times a week, not on consecutive days, first in your session. Tuck back lever: 4 to 6 holds of 5 to 10 seconds; full back lever: 4 to 6 holds of 3 to 8 seconds (our move pages' doses). Hold for about half to two-thirds of your best, rest about 2 minutes, and move up when your best clean hold reaches about 15 to 20 seconds (our front lever guide's rule; editorial). A steady bar is all you need.
You hang from a bar or rings with straight arms, roll back through your arms into an upside-down hang, then lower your body until it's level and face down, your arms straight and angled behind you, and hold it still. GymnasticBodies lowers the tuck "with straight elbows until your hips reach shoulder height" and cues a slight spread of the shoulder blades and pressing down through the hands. Gymnastics' rule book calls it a hanging scale rearways: a 2-second hold with the arms straight throughout.
In the German hang you roll all the way through and hang face down with your shoulders fully opened behind you; GymnasticBodies says it prepares the shoulder for extreme ranges of motion. Skin the cat takes you into the German hang and back out. Then come the tuck (knees to chest, back level), the advanced tuck (back flat, thighs at a right angle to your body), one leg straight, the straddle and the full lever. Straddling your legs is easier than keeping them together.
No study has measured muscle activity in a back lever. Our reading of the anatomy: gravity tries to swing you down into a German hang, so the muscles that bring your arms forwards from behind your body hold you up. That means the front of the shoulder, the chest and the biceps, which crosses the front of both the shoulder and the elbow. The muscles round your shoulder blades set the shoulder, and your glutes, hamstrings and trunk keep your hips from sagging or piking.
Coaching sources list different muscles: GymnasticBodies names the shoulders, trapezius, lats, biceps and abs, and GMB says the posterior chain (the back of the body). Steven Low, a physical therapist and former gymnast, writes that straight-arm skills put the biceps at full length, so they take a lot of strength to do safely. Arms straight behind the body do stretch the long head of the biceps over the front of the shoulder, in cadavers and in 15 young men.
A longer body and longer legs make every step past the tuck harder, because your feet sit further from your shoulders, as our front lever guide explains; tall people do learn the levers. Backward shoulder range differs too: women's was about 5 to 10 degrees greater than men's in 6,635 people. Some people have loose shoulders, which OrthoInfo describes as a sense of the shoulder slipping in and out. If yours has dislocated or feels as if it slips when you hang, the back lever isn't for now.
We found no study of muscle activity, movement, training, hold times or injuries in the back lever, the German hang or skin the cat. A systematic review of still-rings research found 37 studies of 263 elite gymnasts, nearly all observational, and none on the back lever. The ladder, the prerequisites and the doses on this page are coaching practice or our editorial choice.
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The 2025 to 2028 men's code of points puts the back lever and the front lever on rings in the same lowest value group (A, worth 0.1); the planche on rings is a C and the swallow a D. A hold counts after 2 seconds with straight arms. That's how elite judges rank the holds, not how hard either is for you.
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Elite men training about 25 hours a week gained 4.1% (swallow) and 3.6% (planche on rings) after 4 weeks of slow-lowering training (9 men), and 8 to 9% after 3 weeks of a combined programme (10 men); only 4 of 19 elite men could hold the swallow at their own body weight. Neither trial had a control group. The authors note that muscles adapt faster than tendons and ligaments.
In 52 male gymnasts, bench press strength and iron cross holds were only moderately linked (a correlation of 0.41): the authors say the bench press seems necessary but not sufficient. Elite coaches build a general strength base first, especially in young athletes. So keep your pull-ups and dips, and practise the hold itself.
In elite gymnasts, assisting devices that shortened the lever in ring strength elements lowered the stress on the shoulder and elbow, though they changed how the shoulder muscles worked together. That's the logic of starting tucked and with your feet supported.
In a 4-week trial of 22 adults, holds raised strength 12% at the trained angle and 5 to 11% at others. A review found hard holds, at about 70% of maximum or more, were needed to change tendons. Another review suggests maximal-strength holds of 1 to 5 seconds at 80 to 100% effort, 30 to 90 seconds in all a session, and coaches hold for about 60 to 70% of their best time. So practise the lever position itself.
62% of 93 street workout athletes reported an injury in a year, the shoulder most often (23% of injuries), with tendon problems the commonest diagnosis; about 1 in 10 of the injured were doing front levers, and the back lever wasn't named. 59% of 181 Dutch calisthenics athletes reported an injury, the shoulders most often (32%). Both were self-selected surveys, so neither gives a risk per hour of training.
In 57 videos of biceps tendon tears at the elbow, 98% happened with the palm turned up, 89% with the elbow within 10 degrees of straight and 88% while the arm was holding still; 5 were in a calisthenics planche. A second study of 56 videos found the same pattern, 3 of them in calisthenics (the two searches may overlap). None was a back lever, and the videos show the arm's position when tears happened, not how likely a tear is.
In 8 people training knee-extension holds, strength rose about 30% by 2 months and 40% by 3, but tendon stiffness changed only at the end. Tendon collagen renews far more slowly than muscle protein, and the core of the adult Achilles tendon is essentially not renewed. Across 27 studies, and a later review of 61 studies (763 people), tendons stiffened with heavy loading, most in programmes longer than 12 weeks. All of this is leg tendons; nobody has studied the biceps tendon.
No study compares them for the levers. Ring muscle-ups drew more biceps, forearm and upper trapezius activity than bar muscle-ups in 10 men, ring dips used less shoulder extension than bar dips in 13 men, and across 137 reviews unstable equipment didn't consistently add strength.
Hang comfortably for 30 seconds with your shoulders active, as our front lever guide asks, and do a few strict pull-ups and dips (our suggestion; our pull-up and dip guides teach both). Elite coaches build a general strength base in the upper body before straight-arm ring work.
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The German hang asks for comfortable bar hangs, some existing shoulder extension, and low rings or a spotter for the first tries. The tuck back lever asks for comfortable German hangs and controlled skin the cats; the full back lever, a steady 15 to 20 second tuck back lever and comfortable German hangs. No study has tested any of these thresholds.
GymnasticBodies says the back lever shouldn't be attempted before mastering less advanced ring strength progressions. The ladder below is how you get there.
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A solid bar you can reach from the floor or a low box, or rings at about head height so your feet can touch down, as in GymnasticBodies' assisted German hang. Clear space and a mat underneath. Test a doorway bar before trusting it, as our front lever guide says.
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From our German hang page and GymnasticBodies. Move slowly enough that you could stop at any point, and never let gravity drop you into the position (the move page's cue and caution). Skin the cat has no 3D demo of its own.
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The movement on the figure: German hang
From our tuck back lever page and GymnasticBodies; the stopping rule and the breathing are our front lever guide's (editorial). For the advanced tuck, flatten your back and open your hips until your thighs are at a right angle to your body.
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The movement on the figure: Tuck back lever
From our back lever page and GymnasticBodies, which cues tight glutes and pressing down through the hands. Don't pike at the hips to make it easier: use a tuck or a straddle instead (the move page's cue).
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The movement on the figure: Back lever
Move down the list as each step becomes steady. Skin the cat, the advanced tuck, the one-leg lever and the straddle have no demo of their own: skin the cat is the German hang in and out, and the others are the tuck and full levers with your back flattened, one leg straightened or your legs apart.
The move-up points are our editorial choice. Coaching sources disagree, and no study has compared them.
Bar hangs, 2 sets of 20 to 30 seconds with your shoulders active, and scapular pull-ups, 2 sets of 8 holding the top for a second, as in our front lever progression workout.
3 holds of 10 to 20 seconds, starting with your feet supported (the move page's dose). Take weight off your feet only as your shoulders allow, over weeks rather than sessions (editorial).
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3 to 5 slow repetitions, resting a full minute between (the move page's dose), without swinging and slow enough to stop at any point.
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Knees to your chest, back level: 4 to 6 holds of 5 to 10 seconds, early in a session on fresh arms (the move page's dose), resting about 2 minutes. Learn it first as a slow lowering from the upside-down hang, then as a pause.
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Flatten your back and open your hips until your thighs are at a right angle to your body; then one leg straight, swapping legs each set; then both legs straight and wide, the wider the easier. 4 to 6 holds of 3 to 8 seconds at each (editorial, between the move pages' tuck and full doses). As one coach puts it, nobody goes from the tuck to the advanced tuck in a day.
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Legs together: 4 to 6 holds of 3 to 8 seconds with long rests, two or three times a week at most (the move page's dose). Our back lever page asks for a steady 15 to 20 second tuck back lever and comfortable German hangs first.
When your best clean hold reaches about 15 to 20 seconds and 4 or 5 holds of about 10 seconds feel solid, as our front lever guide suggests; one coach moves on after a 15-second hold. Test your best hold every 2 to 4 weeks, when you're fresh.
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Coaches teach each step first as a slow lowering into the position from the upside-down hang, then as a pause. Our editorial dose: 3 sets of 1 to 3 lowerings of 3 to 5 seconds, counted in your holding time.
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Hold for about half to two-thirds of your best clean hold, adding up to about 30 to 60 seconds of holding a session, with about 2 minutes between holds and 3 for the hardest steps (our front lever guide; editorial). In your first two weeks, about 30 seconds of holding in all. Coaches use about 60 to 70% of their best hold time, and a review suggests 30 to 90 seconds in all for maximal-strength holds.
2 or 3 sessions a week, not on consecutive days, with the lever first after your warm-up (our editorial starting point). Strength rose more with at least 2 sessions a week and with exercises done early in a session. Training the front lever too? Do one lever first each session, or alternate days, and keep straight-arm work to 3 hard sessions a week in all (editorial).
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End each hold before your hips drop, your elbows bend or your shoulders shrug. Training to failure isn't needed, and a lever that collapses with bending elbows loads your elbows and shoulders hardest, as our move page warns.
3 to 5 minutes of easy movement, shoulder circles, bar hangs and scapular pull-ups, then 1 or 2 easy holds at an easier step (our front lever guide; editorial). Keep breathing through every hold with steady out-breaths; don't strain with your breath held, as our breathing guide explains.
Every 6 to 8 weeks, halve your holding time for a week, as our plans do. Keep pull-ups and dips for bent-arm strength, and a hollow hold for the straight body line the lever needs.
Our demos use a bar. Gymnasts do the back lever on rings, the competition apparatus, but unstable equipment didn't consistently add strength across 137 reviews, and a bar is easier to set up low enough to put your feet down.
Some coaches find rings kinder to the elbows because your hands can turn; nobody has tested that. Ring muscle-ups drew more biceps activity than bar muscle-ups in one small study, a reminder that rings change the load rather than remove it (our reading).
Hold the bar overhand, about shoulder-width apart, which is what our demos use. A chin-up grip, palms towards you, keeps your forearm turned palm-up, the position in which most filmed biceps tendon tears happened. That's our inference from the tear videos and our move pages; no study has measured biceps load by grip.
GMB says an overhand grip puts the emphasis on the biceps and elbows, and an underhand grip less on the biceps and more on the shoulder; GymnasticBodies turns the rings so your palms face behind you. Neither has been tested. On rings, use the hand position that keeps your elbows within our elbow rule (editorial).
Our move page's cue: elbows locked, because bending them turns the lever into a pull, and a failing lever with bending elbows loads your elbows and shoulders hardest. Go back a step.
The lever is too long for you right now: shorten it with a tuck or a straddle rather than bending at the hips.
Set your shoulders and press down through your hands, as if pushing the bar or rings towards your hips.
Or swinging through skin the cat. Move slowly enough to stop at any point; the move pages warn never to let gravity drop you into the position.
Stay on a step until your best clean hold reaches about 15 to 20 seconds. Tendons need the time even when your muscles feel ready.
Use the overhand grip of our demos, as for a pull-up.
End each hold before the shape breaks, and keep to 2 or 3 sessions a week.
Breathe steadily through each hold, as our breathing guide explains.
The usual reference value for how far the arm goes back behind you is about 40 to 60 degrees; 39 active adults reached 68.8 degrees, and 13 experienced men reached about 89 on a dip bar. Women's backward range was about 5 to 10 degrees greater than men's in 6,635 people. Nobody has measured the angle in a back lever or German hang; the German hang looks to go well past these (our reading). Build it slowly, feet supported.
The dip study's authors suggest that loaded shoulder extension at the end of its range may strain the front of the shoulder capsule: a hypothesis, not a finding. A complete chest tendon tear in a calisthenics athlete happened in a hold with the shoulder extended 70 degrees (one case report). Of bench, bar and ring dips, ring dips used the least shoulder extension, about 69% of the men's maximum, which suggests people limit their own range on rings (our reading).
Arms straight behind the body stretch the long head of the biceps over the front of the shoulder, in cadavers and in 15 young men. With the elbow straight as well, the biceps is at full length, which is why coaches build straight-arm skills gradually.
In high-level male gymnasts needing shoulder surgery, 12 of 30 shoulders were hurt on rings, 3 of them in strength holds, and the long head of the biceps and the labrum (the rim of cartilage round the socket) were often involved; 91% returned to competition, after about 9 months. Male college gymnasts had about twice the shoulder and elbow injury rates of female gymnasts, and across 22 studies men's injuries were mostly in the arms and shoulders, which reflects the men's apparatus, rings and high bar, as much as sex. None of this measures the risk of a back lever.
Tears of the biceps tendon at the elbow happen to about 2.55 in 100,000 people a year, 95% of them men, at an average age of 46. OrthoInfo says they usually happen when the elbow is forced straight against resistance, which in a lever means one that collapses or a sudden jolt, more than a steady hold (our reading).
An ache at the front of the elbow of about 3 to 4 out of 10 that settles within an hour and is no worse the next morning is acceptable, as our elbow guides say. If it breaks that rule, drop back a step for a week rather than stopping all training.
Keep shoulder pain to about 5 out of 10 or less during the exercise, back to its usual level by your next session, as our shoulder guides advise. A sharp pinch means lower, lighter or stop.
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Pull-ups, 3 sets of 3 to 8 stopping 1 to 3 reps short, and hollow holds, 2 sets of 20 seconds, as in our front lever progression workout; dips, 3 sets of 3 to 8, only as deep as your shoulders are comfortable (our full-body calisthenics workout); shoulder circles and the round-the-world stretch at their move pages' doses.
No study has timed it, and one coach says the progression can take months for most people. If you can already hang, pull and dip comfortably, a steady German hang and tuck back lever often come within weeks to a few months; the straddle and full lever often take many months to a year or more of regular practice. Taller bodies often take longer, and many people settle happily at the tuck or the straddle.
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The front lever faces up, held mainly by the lats pulling your arms down towards your hips; the back lever faces down with your arms behind you, held by the muscles that bring the arms forwards (our reading; neither has been measured). Both load the biceps at full length and need the same slow build-up.
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Gymnastics' rule book rates them the same, coaches say the back lever comes sooner for many people, and another coach calls the front lever the harder move. You can train both: do one lever first each session, or alternate days (editorial). Our front lever guide covers the other one.
The planche is a straight-arm hold on your hands, leaning forward, and is rated two values higher on rings; the muscle-up is a bent-arm move up and over the bar. Our planche and muscle-up guides cover them.
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Our back lever progression puts this page into one session: the warm-up, your step on the ladder, then pull-ups, dips and a hollow hold. The front lever progression is its sibling, and the pull-up and dip progressions build the base.
Build to a back lever: shoulder circles, hangs and shoulder-blade pulls, German hangs, then tuck and full back lever holds, pull-ups, dips and a hollow hold.
30 minIntermediate10 movesPull-up bar, A stepBuild to a front lever: hangs, shoulder-blade pulls and knee raises, then tuck and advanced tuck holds, inverted tuck rows and pull-ups.
30 minIntermediate8 movesPull-up bar, A stepWork up to your first pull-up: dead hangs, scapular pulls, rows, negatives and assisted pull-ups.
25 minBeginner7 movesPull-up bar, A stepWork up to bar dips: bent-knee and straight-leg bench dips, a support hold, slow lowering and assisted dips, then full dips and ring dips.
20 minBeginner9 movesA band, A bench or boxA 25-minute band routine for healthy shoulders: move the shoulder and upper back through their range, then strengthen the rotator cuff and shoulder blades.
25 minBeginner12 movesA wall, A bandOur German hang page rules it out for now after a shoulder dislocation, and skin the cat isn't appropriate with shoulder instability. OrthoInfo says a shoulder that has dislocated is vulnerable to dislocating again. Follow our shoulder dislocation guide, which leaves out hanging from a bar; the NHS says recovery usually takes 6 to 12 weeks, and up to 16 weeks for some sports.
Front-of-elbow pain that builds up, or biceps tendon trouble: leave the German hang and the levers out and follow our distal biceps tendinopathy and elbow pain from pull-ups guides (the move pages' cautions).
OrthoInfo describes biceps tendinitis as pain reaching backwards, such as putting on a seatbelt or a coat. Leave the German hang and the back lever out for now and follow our biceps tendinitis and front of shoulder pain guides, which bring loaded positions with the arm behind the body back last.
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After a recent shoulder dislocation, or shoulder or elbow surgery, follow your surgical team's limits first.
NHS inform says anyone with a shoulder condition or recent shoulder surgery should follow their healthcare professional's advice.
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This isn't the time to learn the back lever: the NHS says not to start a new vigorous activity in pregnancy, and to avoid activities where there's a risk of falling (our reading is that hanging upside down is one).
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Elite coaches build a general strength base before straight-arm ring work, especially for young athletes. Learn it with a gymnastics coach.
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If you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
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For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; arm pain that comes on suddenly with pressure, heaviness or squeezing across your chest; severe difficulty breathing, or a chest that feels tight or heavy; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; or a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful, especially while lifting or straining. The NHS says a bleed on the brain may be more likely when lifting something heavy. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising.
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A pop or snap with sudden pain during a hold, especially with bruising or a bulge in the upper arm, can be a torn biceps tendon. Go to an urgent treatment centre or A&E (in the US, urgent care) the same day, and don't wait for it to settle, as our biceps guides say: OrthoInfo says a repair is ideally done in the first 2 to 3 weeks.
A sudden, sharp pain at the shoulder or upper arm, sometimes with a pop, can be a torn long head of the biceps: see a GP or get help from NHS 111 the same day, as our biceps tendinitis guide says.
Call 999 or go to A&E: after a fall or injury, your shoulder looks out of place or has changed shape, you cannot move your arm, or your shoulder is painful, bruised or swollen. Do not drive yourself, and do not try to put it back in yourself.
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Call 999 if someone has hit their head and has been knocked out and not woken up, can't stay awake, has a fit, has fallen from a height of more than 1 metre or 5 stairs, has problems with their vision, hearing, balance, walking or speech, or has new numbness or weakness. Get help from NHS 111 after a head injury if you're being sick or feel dizzy. If you're told to go to A&E, don't drive yourself.
Train over a mat, with the bar or rings low enough to put your feet down (editorial).
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Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for sudden or very bad shoulder pain; not being able to move your arm; a shoulder or arm that has changed shape or is badly swollen; pins and needles that don't go away; or pain that started after an injury or accident, like a fall. In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care. See a GP if shoulder pain is getting worse or hasn't improved after 2 weeks. While your shoulder is sore, the NHS says not to make up your own strenuous exercises or use heavy gym equipment.
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Get help from NHS 111 if you heard a snap, grinding or popping noise when you hurt your wrist, or you can't move it or hold things.
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Very sore, swollen, tight muscles and dark urine after an unusually hard or high-rep session need medical help the same day: it could be rhabdomyolysis, as our elbow pain from pull-ups guide explains. Normal soreness peaks a day or two after a new exercise and fades.
See a GP if you think you have a hernia, a bulge or lump that may get bigger when you strain and smaller when you lie down. Get help from NHS 111 if you have a hernia and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, you feel or are sick, you're vomiting blood or your vomit looks like coffee grounds, you're constipated, you have a high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused. Call 999 or go to A&E for a femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of your thigh, in your groin) with very bad tummy pain, sickness, being unable to fart or poo, a high temperature or sudden confusion.
The NHS lists lifting heavy weights among the causes of a femoral hernia. After an inguinal hernia repair, avoid heavy lifting or strenuous activity for at least 4 to 6 weeks.
Speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions or concerns, as the NHS advises. Get advice before hard or straining work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled (140/90 or higher at a clinic, or 135/85 at home), or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists.
With controlled high blood pressure, the American Heart Association considers low- to moderate-intensity strength training with proper breathing safe: breathe out as you lift.
With a pacemaker or defibrillator, the American Heart Association asks you to check with your doctor before upper-body strength training, because repeated arm movements can damage or dislodge the leads.
The rule book rates the two equally and coaches say the back lever comes sooner for many people, but easier to reach isn't safe to start with. GymnasticBodies says not to attempt it before easier ring strength work; it holds the biceps at full length with the elbow straight and the palm turned, the position of most filmed tears; and the front of the shoulder works near the end of its range. No study has measured either lever's safety.
Nobody has timed it. Even elite gymnasts training about 25 hours a week gained about 4 to 9% in ring hold strength over 3 to 4 weeks, and coaches say the progression can take months.
Tendons adapt more slowly than muscle, the shoulder is the commonest injury site in calisthenics surveys, and the tear videos show where problems happen. None of this measures risk, so it doesn't make the lever dangerous; it's why every ladder starts short and moves up slowly.
Nobody has measured it. The lats pull the arm down and back, the direction gravity already pulls in a back lever; by the anatomy, the front of the shoulder, the chest and the biceps hold you up, with your glutes and trunk keeping you straight (our reading). Coaching sources disagree, from the posterior chain to a list that includes the lats.
Untested. Our move page's caution is to enter slowly, never let gravity drop you into position, and build the hold from the feet-supported version. Loaded shoulder extension at the end of its range may strain the front of the shoulder, a hypothesis from a dip study.
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A steady bar is all you need, as for the front lever; unstable equipment didn't consistently add strength across 137 reviews. Rings are the competition apparatus and let your hands turn, which some coaches prefer, untested.
A longer body takes more strength and often more time, but tall people do learn the levers, as our front lever guide explains. Nothing here suggests changing your weight.
Hang from a bar with an overhand grip, tuck your knees and roll back through your arms until you're upside down, then lower slowly until your body is level and face down with your arms straight behind you, and hold. Start with the tucked version and lengthen it one step at a time. Come out the way you went in.
Nobody has measured it. Our reading of the anatomy is that the front of your shoulders, your chest and your biceps hold you up against gravity, while your glutes, hamstrings and trunk keep you straight. Coaching sources list different muscles, some including the lats.
Gymnastics' rule book rates them the same, and coaches say the back lever comes sooner for many people. It still loads your biceps and the front of your shoulder hard, so it needs the same slow build-up. Our front lever guide covers the other one.
No study has timed it, and coaches say it can take months. Our rough estimate, not a promise: if you can already hang, pull and dip comfortably, the tuck often comes within weeks to a few months, and the full lever often takes many months to a year or more of regular practice.
Comfortable 30-second hangs and a few strict pull-ups and dips, then the German hang, with your feet supported at first, and skin the cat, as our move pages' ladder does. If your shoulder has ever dislocated or feels as if it slips when you hang, the back lever isn't for now.
4 to 6 holds of 5 to 10 seconds early in a session, which is our move page's dose, each about half to two-thirds of your best and adding up to about 30 to 60 seconds, with about 2 minutes' rest. Move up when your best clean hold reaches about 15 to 20 seconds.
We'd suggest 2 or 3 times a week, not on consecutive days, at the start of a session. Strength rose more with at least 2 sessions a week, and tendons adapt more slowly than muscle, so your elbows and shoulders need the days off.
A steady bar is all you need, and our demos use one. Gymnasts do it on rings, and some coaches find turning rings kinder to the elbows, but nobody has tested that, and unstable equipment didn't add strength in a large overview of reviews.
On a bar, hold it overhand, as for a pull-up. A chin-up grip keeps your forearm turned palm-up, the position in which most filmed biceps tendon tears happened; that's our inference, since no study has measured grip in a back lever. On rings, coaches disagree about the best hand position.
It isn't proven to be, but it holds your shoulder near the end of its backward range under your body weight, and the shoulder was the commonest injury site in calisthenics surveys. Build the German hang slowly from your feet, never drop into it, and keep shoulder discomfort to about 5 out of 10, settled by your next session.
Straight-arm holds pull hard on the biceps tendon. An ache of about 3 to 4 out of 10 that settles within an hour and is no worse the next morning is acceptable; otherwise drop back a step for a week. A pop with sudden pain, bruising or a bulge in the upper arm needs an urgent treatment centre or A&E the same day.
Yes, if the bar is solid and low enough to put your feet down, with a mat underneath; test a doorway bar before trusting it. Roll through slowly, and stay with the German hang and the tuck until they feel easy.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
