Toes-to-Bar

A core and hip-flexor movement performed hanging from a pull-up bar, where both feet are swung up to touch the bar between the hands. A coordinated kip lets athletes string multiple reps together efficiently.

Standard: Hanging from the bar with arms extended, both feet must make contact with the bar at the same time, between the hands.

How to do the Toes-to-Bar

1. Hang from the bar with a shoulder-width grip and arms straight.
2. Establish a kip by alternating between a hollow and an arch position with the whole body.
3. From the arch, snap into a hollow and drive the toes upward in one sweeping motion.
4. Pull down slightly on the bar with straight arms to raise the hips and shorten the distance.
5. Touch both feet to the bar between your hands.
6. Let the legs drop back and immediately re-establish the arch to load the next rep.

Common faults

• Only one foot touches, or the feet touch the bar at different times.
• Bending the arms and turning it into a pull-up-style motion instead of using the hips.
• No rhythmic kip, so each rep starts from a dead stop and burns extra energy.
• Failing to fully extend the body at the bottom between reps.

Scaling & progressions

• Hanging knee raises, bringing the knees as high as possible toward the chest.
• Knees-to-elbows as an intermediate range-of-motion step.
• Lying floor toes-to-bar (V-ups or leg raises to a target) to build the hip flexors.
• Reduce reps and focus on maintaining the kip rhythm.