Stall Bar Exercises

Stall bars, also known as Swedish bars, are a set of bars arrange vertically, like a wide ladder, with short spaces between the rungs. These bars are used in various types of dance and gymnastics training to develop strength and flexibility. The arrangement of the bars allows you to hang in a variety of positions and keep your body stable, preventing you from using momentum to complete the movement.

Stall Bars Origins

Stall bars and the exercises you can perform on them developed out of the 19th century gymnastics movement in Germany, headed by the physical culturists Johann Guts Muths and Frederick Ludwig Jahn. These men built climbing apparatus for their athletes, including ladders that could be used for climbing or for other exercises. The Swedish physical culturist Per Henrik Ling mounted vertical ladders against the walls of his physical training institute, which evolved into the stall, or Swedish, bars we know today.

Hanging Leg Lifts

Perform hanging leg lifts by standing with your back to the stall bars and gripping a single bar overhead with both hands. Lift your feet off the ground and use your abdominal strength to raise your legs as high as possible. The most advanced version of hanging leg lifts requires you to keep your legs completely straight throughout the movement and touch the bar you are holding with your toes. The stall bars keep your body stable and motionless, preventing you from using your back muscles or momentum to complete the movement.

Front and Back Supports

Supports are exercises in which you support your body weight on your hands, with your arms straight by your sides, as if you were in the top of a dip. You can train your core stability and the strength of your shoulder girdle. You support yourself with your back to the bars in the back support, and face the bars in the front support. The stall bars force you to maintain an upright posture.

The Flag

The flag is an exercise in which you hold your body horizontally and parallel to the ground. Grasp the stall bars with one hand above the other. Select bars that are about shoulder-width apart. Pull yourself up with one hand on the stall bars while pushing yourself up and out with the lower hand. The flag demands strength in your core to maintain a neutral spine while supporting your legs. You must also powerfully contract your entire upper body to keep yourself stable in this position.