How to Learn the Muscle-Up, Front and Back Lever

Advanced is where calisthenics stops being about reps and starts being about skills. To earn it, you need to show one of these on video:

• 3 muscle-ups
• An 8-second fully flat front lever
• A 10-second fully flat back lever

You only need one. This guide covers the base you need first, how to choose your skill, and the step-by-step progressions for each one.

Build the base first

All three skills are built on strong pulling and a solid core. Before you focus on them, most athletes should be able to do:

• About 10 strict pull-ups (the Certified level)
• 15 or more dips on parallel bars
• A 30-second hollow body hold

If you're not there yet, keep building these. Every rep makes your Advanced skill come faster.

Which Advanced skill should you choose?

• Muscle-up: a good fit if your pull-ups are fast and explosive. It's a movement more than a hold, so technique matters as much as strength.
• Back lever: often the most accessible of the three, but it puts your shoulders and biceps in a stretched position. Build into it slowly.
• Front lever: demands very strong lats and core, and it tends to take longer for taller or heavier athletes. That's why the hold is shorter: 8 seconds instead of 10.

Many athletes train two skills at once and film whichever one comes first.

The muscle-up: 3 reps

A muscle-up is a pull-up that flows into a dip on top of the bar, in one movement. The hard part is the transition, when your chest moves from under the bar to over it.

Progressions

1. Explosive pull-ups: pull as high as you can, aiming to bring your chest to the bar. 4 to 5 sets of 3 to 5 reps.
2. Straight bar dips: dips on top of a single bar, the position you finish in. 3 sets of 8 to 10.
3. Transition drills: practise the movement over the bar on a low bar with your feet on the ground, or with a resistance band for help.
4. Negative muscle-ups: start on top of the bar and lower yourself slowly through the transition into a hang.
5. Full attempts: when you're fresh, do 5 to 8 single attempts with full rest. Once you have one, build to three with sets of singles, then doubles.

Common mistakes

• Pulling straight up. Pull the bar toward your hips and lean your chest over it.
• Getting one arm over before the other. Keep both arms moving together.
• Pulling too low. If your pull-ups don't reach your chest, go back to explosive pull-ups.

The back lever: 10 seconds, fully flat

In a back lever you hang face down, with straight arms behind you and your body horizontal from shoulders to heels. You can train it on a bar or on rings.

Prepare your shoulders

Practise the skin the cat (rotating backward through your arms) and the German hang (the stretched position at the bottom of it), first with your feet touching the ground. Go gently: these positions stretch the front of your shoulders.

Progressions

1. Tuck back lever: knees pulled to your chest.
2. Advanced tuck: back flat, knees away from your chest.
3. One-leg or straddle back lever: one leg extended, or both legs wide.
4. Full back lever: legs together, body straight and parallel to the ground.

Hold each step for 3 to 5 sets of 8 to 12 seconds. When you can hold about 15 seconds with good form, move to the next one. Keep your arms locked and squeeze your glutes to keep your body straight.

The front lever: 8 seconds, fully flat

The front lever is the mirror image: you hang face up, arms straight, with your body horizontal under the bar.

Progressions

1. Tuck front lever
2. Advanced tuck front lever
3. One-leg or straddle front lever
4. Full front lever: legs together, hips in line with your shoulders.

Do 4 to 6 sets of 5 to 10 seconds at your current step, 2 to 3 times a week. Add front lever rows in a tuck position and hanging leg raises to build strength around the hold.

Key cues

• Keep your arms completely straight.
• Pull your shoulders down, away from your ears.
• Don't let your hips drop below your shoulders: "fully flat" means a straight line.

A sample Advanced week

Day	Focus
Monday	Skill work first, then explosive or weighted pull-ups
Tuesday	Dips, push-ups and core
Wednesday	Rest
Thursday	Skill work first, then pulling strength
Friday	Dips, push-ups and core
Weekend	Rest or light mobility

Always do skill work at the start of a session, when you're fresh. Straight-arm holds load your tendons, which adapt more slowly than your muscles, so add hold time gradually and stop before your form breaks.

How to film your Advanced skill

• Film from the side, with your whole body and the bar or rings in the frame. For levers, this is what shows that your body is flat.
• For holds, count out loud or keep a visible timer in the shot.
• At the start of the video, say your name and that you're applying for Advanced.
• Film in one continuous take, upload it to YouTube or Instagram, then send the link with the application form.

What Advanced unlocks

Once approved, the Advanced collection unlocks on your customer account, together with every level below it.

Next up is Elite, the rarest level you can earn on video: how to train the one-arm pull-up, planche and one-arm muscle-up.