Some exercise routines appear seemingly easy. You are so motivated to just do it at the start, but when you’re two minutes soaking sweat into the routine, you find yourself sighing in defeat. Your struggling muscles and aching body are screaming “too much struggle!” and they make you want to quit.

Front and back lever exercises are good examples. Sure, trained gymnasts can do it with their eyes shut. But a regular person? Nah. You better hustle and train hard if you want to achieve those movements and reap the benefits.

Also, these “easy” but “difficult” exercises are not only good for you but they also have some insane benefits. But first, research time! Read on to find out more about the front and back lever exercises!

Getting strong lats or latissimus dorsi (a.k.a. the largest muscles in the upper body) and phenomenal core strength is no easy task. You’d have to take on the immense and the grueling challenge to train, and dedicate precious time really working to enhance your skills.

What is the best way to achieve it, you say? Simply incorporate front and back lever exercises in your Calisthenics trainings!

Here is a simple table to help you visualize the important muscles being activated for front and back lever:

Front and Back Lever Exercises: A Fundamental Gymnastics Strength

The interesting thing about front and back lever exercises is that these are rated A in the Gymnastic Code of Points. That’s right, A. If you’re not familiar with Gymnastics, their scale goes from A to F, with A being the easiest and F being the most difficult. Simply put, they consider it as a basic strength which just shows how difficult the sport really is. It’s not just prancing around or twirling elegantly in the air. The proof of superhuman strength is the training and the gymnast’s skills.

In fact, there’s a meaningful reason behind having this as their basic exercise. Instead of lifting weights, gymnasts work through progressions where they manipulate the leverage, range of motion and momentum.

But of course, you need to be equipped with the right knowledge to do the proper forms.

What is front lever exercises? 

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again! These “easy” but “difficult” exercises have some insane benefits.

A front lever exercise is a kind of Calisthenics movement that probably looks like an easy resting position, but is actually designed to build and develop your core strength. With the help of your back muscles, such as the lats, rhomboids, and spinal erectors, as well as your abdomen, you can maintain the proper posture during the movement.

However, make no mistake. A front lever is both difficult and cool-looking. It’s a common gymnastic move wherein a static hold is performed on still rings or a pull-bar, and the person is lowering his or her body from an inverted hang until the body is completely straight and horizontal. With this position, it seems like the person is floating on air, or is in a rigid plank.

Training for the front lever is considerably safer for your joints than learning some of the other high-level strength skills because you don’t have to work on locked elbow joints.

However, the front lever exercise is easier said (and seen) than done. It requires a high degree of back and core strength before you can do it. If you think it’s something you can achieve, then stay with us, and we’ll show you the proper progressive steps in attaining this exercise!

What is back lever exercises?

Now let’s move on to the counterpart of front lever- the back lever exercise, which is on another level of awesome!

This whole-body exercise places an emphasis on your back and core. It also requires strength and flexibility in the shoulders and arms in a typically untrained position. It would be good to have a spotter (just ask a friend to help you out) who can assist you in case you fall.

The back lever can be an awkward position, and because you are somewhat inverted, you may feel like you don’t quite know where your body is in space. Have your spotter friend also point out if you’re doing the correct form or not! You don’t want any injuries.

How to do the back lever? 

Before you even try doing this exercise, you must first skin the cat

Don’t worry! We don’t mean it literally. The Skin the Cat is a preparatory exercise you should do to get your muscles warmed up. It mostly focuses on the shoulders, so that it builds flexibility, as you use it for a full extension later on.

To do Skin the Cat: Raise your legs up from a hanging position. Now, thread your feet under the bar, and lower down as far as you can behind you. Reverse the movement to come back up, and practice several times. Slowly but surely.