Movement of the Week || Toes To Bar – Part 3

Check out our final segment of the toes to bar series as we prep for the Open (Feb 25). Make sure to tune back in on Tuesday for our next series: Chest to Bar.  #toestobar #crossfit #intheopen #crossfitopen2016 #strict #upperbody #activeshoulders Straight Arm Strength In our final video of the toes to bar series, we focus on straight arm strength. Improving straight arm strength will make the kip swing more powerful and increase strength endurance for all “hanging” gymnastics movement.  These exercise are shown in order of least difficult to most difficult, and can be performed concurrently with the kip swing and core drills in previous videos. 1. Band Straight Arm Press Downs This can be done with the band set up you see in the video or with an old school cable pulley system if found at globo gyms and hotel/apt. gyms. Keep the arms straight as you press the bar to chest level. Maintain a tight core, and glutes similar to the hollow position. Only move up in band tension or weight when you can successfully complete 12 reps without breaking at the core. 2. Ring Fall outs This exercise integrates core stability and straight arm strength. The goal is to maintain a hollow body position throughout all phases of the movement. The tendency will be to allow the back to overextend, if this is happens shorten the length you extend the arms away from the body at the bottom. Work perfect set of 3-5 reps until you can hold your arms in line with your ears in a perfect hollow position at the bottom for 5 reps. 3. Strict Knees to elbow and Toes to bar These variations simply remove the swing and any momentum it creates from the full movement to force the arms, shoulders, and core to do more work. If you’re not strong enough to do these variations, use a spotter to help get your knees to your chest and toes to the bar. Then, slowly lower your legs for 3-5 seconds. The straighter the legs are the more demanding the exercise will be. Athletes of all ability levels benefit from increasing strength and strength endurance in the “strict” variations of bodyweight movements. Goal here is to develop the ability to complete 3 sets of 5 strict toes to bar with straight

A video posted by CrossFit Austin (@crossfitaustin) on Feb 6, 2016 at 8:04am PST