What I've learnt from teaching the L-Sit
The L-Sit is a very hard move to perform - even if you’re physically strong, have good upper body and core strength, being able to extend your legs for 10+ seconds to perform a true L-Sit can be a huge challenge.
Having taught a number of my clients how to perform an L-Sit, here’s what I’ve learnt:
1. You need patience
Gymnastic/bodyweight moves like the L-Sit are very hard to perform so to achieve them, they are broken down into steps (“progressions”). For example, the L-Sit has roughly 4-6 progressions - some like the tuck hold may not take long to master and some like the 1 leg extension or 2 leg half extension may take weeks or months to master. Until you’ve mastered every progression and can perform it properly, you can’t progress.
From my own experience - and having taught clients - the biggest challenge isn’t physical ability, it’s getting clients to think differently - being patient and achieving small goals. Once clients think about the progressions - and how they can master them (versus trying to master the whole move in one go), they make progress quickly.
2. Identify the weaknesses… and work on them
With gymnastic/bodyweight work, even the smallest weakness can cause major challenges to performing the moves. For example, to perform a perfect L-Sit, you need:
Shoulder and upper body strength
Arm (tricep) strength
Wrist flexibility and strength
Lower core strength and mobility
Hip flexor mobility
Leg (quadriceps - thigh muscle) strength.
The clients who I have taught to perform an L-Sit have all faced similar challenges: shoulder strength, lower core strength/mobility and hip flexor mobility. To perform these kinds of exercises every part of the body needs to be strong, so once you’ve identified a weak area, it’s all about performing exercises to strengthen that area.
For example, if I can see that a client is struggling to lift and suspend their legs because of their lower core strength and mobility, I’ll focus on routines such as lying/hanging leg raises that build strength in the lower (front) core. If a client doesn’t have the hip flexor mobility, I’ll get them to practice routines that extend the flexibility of the hip flexors (a group of muscles). [See training notes in the postscript]
3. Enjoy the journey
There is a reason that moves like the L-Sit are impressive: they are very hard to achieve. My clients who have achieved the L-Sit (and gone on to try new, trickier moves) have done so because they set themselves an overall goal, but most importantly, worked very hard at achieving all the progressions and enjoyed the training to get to that point.
PS. Training notes: I will be uploading a series of short video tutorials showing how to develop strength and mobility in the shoulder, (lower) core and hip flexor muscles - to help progress your L-Sit work