Toe to Bars

Similar to Plow Raises, bringing our toes to touch the bar completes the range of motion.

Though you may feel the need to bend your legs at first, work on doing this with straight legs.

This strength and mobility standard is a respectable feat! Congratulations! Building up the repetitions in this movement will give you awesome core endurance and give you a head start in the other calisthenics “tricks” you may want to explore, such as Levers and Flags!

Standards

LEVEL 1: 2 Sets of 10
LEVEL 2: 2 Sets of 15
LEVEL 3: 2 Sets of 25

Do 2 Sets of as many as you can. The levels above are standards you can use to measure your progress. Rest 2-3 minutes between Sets.

If you struggle to hit Level 1 after a few weeks of trying, try using a few of Regressions shown below.

Once you can do 2 Sets of 25 (Level 3) with GOOD FORM, you are ready to move on to a harder Leg Raise variation.

Form Cues

  • Keep your legs straight throughout the exercise.

  • Avoid leaning back in this exercise as much as possible. Though it may be necessary to some extent, leaning back too far will bring in your lats and decrease core work.

  • Do not do this exercise if your grip is failing. Falling on your lower back can paralyze you or worse.

  • Try to keep your pelvis tilted back at the bottom of the exercise. This will keep your working muscles braced throughout. While not necessary, this helps some people avoid lower back pain.

  • It may be tempting to forcefully bring up your legs. While there is a place for this, aim to do this exercise slowly under full control first. Then explore explosive movement as you’d like.

  • Film yourself and watch back between sets to check your form. A mirror is also useful.

  • Keeping your thighs pressed together may help you focus on the movement.

Tutorial

  1. Grab an overhead bar or rings with a shoulder width grip.

  2. Engage your core by tilting your pelvis back.

  3. Smoothly bring your legs up, keeping them perfectly straight until they touch the bar or your thighs are compressed against your chest.

  4. Pause for 2-3 Seconds, firmly pressing your thighs against your chest.

  5. Slowly reverse the movement, keeping your pelvis rotated back.

  6. Pause for 1 Second.

  7. Repeat 3-6.

Progression & Regression

To make this exercise easier: Bending your knees as necessary will make this exercise easier.

To make this exercise harder: Exploring gymnastic holds like the V-Sit, I-Sit, and Manna can take your midsection work to the next level!

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