Toes-to-bar are a challenging exercise that will test not only your core strength but your grip strength as well. This movement is aptly named as it is performed by bringing your toes to the pull-up bar as you hang from it. Toes-to-bar can be done with a kipping motion as shown above or in a strict fashion as shown below. Both have their own benefits, with kipping toes-to-bar challenging your cardiovascular abilities and coordination along with your core strength and strict toes-to-bar being a tougher, more targeted core exercise. Generally, kipping toes-to-bar are preferred when performing large numbers of the exercise while strict toes-to-bar are more appropriate when performing smaller, concentrated sets.
Most people will struggle with doing this exercise at first, but luckily there are many ways to work up to a full toes-to-bar. If you find hanging from the pull-up bar difficult, as many will at first, try performing toes-to-rig or toes-to-wall instead. This movement is done by lying on the floor and bringing your feet up to touch the rig pole or the wall behind you. This can be done with bent knees as shown at the beginning of the video below or with straight legs as shown at approximately 0:26. Another slightly more challenging option is to perform V-ups as shown at 0:42 in the video below. All of these exercises will still give your core an excellent workout but will eliminate the need to support your body weight from the pull-up bar.
If you are able to hang from the bar but can’t yet lift your toes all the way to it, you can perform hanging knee lifts instead. Hanging knee lifts are demonstrated at 0:50 in the video below. As you become more proficient at hanging knee lifts, you can try hanging leg raises which are demonstrated at approximately 1:00.
As with all the exercises we will be performing, please don’t hesitate to scale to your abilities. Doing something is better than doing nothing!
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