Show Me Your Butthole & You Will Master Toes 2 Bars!

I got a warning that this content may not be suitable for children and may go against their policies…..so I decided to send it anyways. So If you are reading this, then welcome to the dark side of fitness….muawhahahaha 😈 

Are you struggling to do your first toe to bar or stringing them together? This is definitely an advanced movement, and its less of a strength movement than a technique. In fact, the toes to bar in CrossFit is considered a gymnastics movement. So, while you do need some strength in your hand grip, shoulders and abs, the right technique & timing will make all the difference.

If you are not familiar with what a toes to bar is, its exactly what it sounds like. You hang from a bar and kick your feet up to kick the bar. When done properly it looks like this:

Most people will bend their knees like this though:

The way I learned was just by swinging hard, doing a fast knee’s to elbows and then kicking while someone screamed, “show me you butthole!” as a reminder to bring your hip and legs up—— so not really the proper coaching style, but effective.

(Also, saying that or dare typing is, makes this content possibly dangerous according to Google 😉)

How Do You Actually Do A Toes-to-Bar?

Below is how to actually perform a toes to bar (but keep saying above in mind and it might just help)

The toes-to-bar exercise starts with two famous positions – the hollow body hold and the bow/superman hold. Once you master these two positions on the floor, you can then bring them to the bar.

1. Grip the Bar: Start by gripping the pull-up bar with an overhand grip, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Make sure your grip is firm.

2. Assume the Starting Position: Hang from the bar with your arms and legs fully extended, while activating shoulders (see further down the page) keeping your body in a straight line. Engage your core and shoulders for stability.

3. Initiate the Swing: Begin a gentle swing with your body. This is often referred to as the "kip". It's a controlled swinging motion that involves a slight bending at the hips and knees into and out of the hallow body.

4. Drive Hips Upward: As you swing forward, drive your hips up towards the bar while simultaneously pulling with your arms. Think a swinging knee’s to elbows.

5. Lift Your Legs: With a fluid motion, lift your legs up while keeping them as straight as possible. At the top of the knee to elbows, kick fast by extending your leg when they are closest to the bar. The aim is to touch the bar with your toes.

6. Make Contact with the Bar: Try to touch the bar with your toes. It's important that both toes touch the bar at the same time for the rep to count.

7. Return to Starting Position: After touching the bar, lower your legs back down to the starting position in a controlled manner, preparing for the next rep.

8. Maintain Rhythm: Continue the exercise by maintaining the kipping motion and rhythm, using your core strength to lift your legs for each rep.

Toes-to-Bar Progressions

Start by establishing a hallow body position. Even if you have mastered this movement, it’s a good way to warm up. It’s also a good reminder of how important it is to have a solid hollow body position during these movements. Your goal is to focus on perfect positioning at all times. If this position is new to you:

• Begin with your lower back, butt, and heels touching the ground. Think about pushing your belly button to the floor.

• Legs should be straight and together with toes pointed and raised off the ground.

• Staying tight, your head & shoulders should come off the ground. Raise your arms over your head and glue your ears between your biceps.

To find the bow position (also commonly referred to as the superman position) roll to your stomach. This movement is essentially the opposite position from the hollow.

• Lay on your stomach with your arms and legs stretched out as if you were hanging from a pull-up bar.

• Contract everything on your backside – scaps, back, glutes and hamstrings – to raise your arms, chest, and thighs off the floor.

If you can establish and hold this position, then you’re in a good place to move to the next step. If not, we suggest spending more time getting into the perfect position. You can modify the position and make it a bit easier by keeping your hands at your side instead of over your head and your legs in a bent position closer into the body.

Toes-to-Bar Progression: Beat Swings

Once you’re comfortable with the hollow and bow positions, it’s time to start doing them while hanging from a bar – practicing the kipping motion by using your shoulders and lats to initiate the movement while keeping the midline tight.

If you feel like a kid swinging on the monkey bars and your kip is totally out of control, it’s because you’re attempting to kip using your legs rather than your shoulders. Think about bringing your chest forward and back rather than lifting your legs and initiating from there.

Practicing your transitions with these two movements is super important because this how you are going to generate your power, through the kip. Once you get your momentum through your hollow body and Superman, then focus on keeping your lats engaged through the swing. This will force you to continuously press down on the bar. In the superman, your chest should be in front of the bar. On the hollow body, press down on the bar so your chest is behind it and you can see in front of you.

It’s when you are in your hollow part of the kip that you should pull your knees to your chest and finish off with the toe kick that brings them to the bar. As soon as your feet hit the bar, PULL them back down as fast as possible to get back loaded up in your Superman for your next repetition.

Toes-to-Bar Tips

Tip #1 – Always keep an active hang.
As soon as you start to hang from the bar you should be in an active position, creating space between your ears and shoulders. This allows you to gain a lot of tension through your body on the rig and puts you in full control over your swing.

Tip #2 – Work in small sets when you are first learning.
If you can do a few toes-to-bar strung together but not a lot, stick to smaller sets and focus on perfecting your form. This will prevent you from creating bad habits when the toes-to-bar start to get challenging. Quality vs quantity.

Tip #3 – Mount the bar to initiate your swing.
Whenever you are starting your toes-to-bar, you always want to start by mounting the bar in a hollow body position. This is going to keep your body nice and long and help initiate your first kipping swing well. It will get you in the appropriate rhythm so the start of your set won’t feel like you are already 5 sets deep.

So if you already have toes-to-bar and are looking for ways to stay on rhythm, knock out longer sets, or tweak the movement to use different muscle groups, check stay tuned for tomorrow!

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