8 Gymnastics Moves You Must Add to Your Routine

Pound for pound, gymnasts are some of the strongest athletes in the world. Take former gymnast Andrew Speer, C.S.C.S., owner of Speer Strength in New York City. (That’s him in the photo above.)

He’s one of the lightest men to ever complete the Russian Kettlebell Challenge “Beast Tamer,” in which he had to perform a pistol squat, a single-arm press, and a pullup—each with a 48-kilogram (106-pound) kettlebell.

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Speer credits his success in the weight room to his years of gymnastics training. And that’s because it helped him focus on more than just building muscle and strength.

Instead, it forced him to strive for a blend of stamina, stability, balance, power, and brawn. It turned him into the athlete he is today. (We’re pretty sure it helped him sculpt his six-pack, too.)

Take a page from Speer’s training book by incorporating these 8 gymnastics movements into your own routine today.

On your first day of training as a gymnast, you learn the hollow-body hold. The foundational position teaches you to brace your abdominals and create total-body tension—two skills that are integral to the sport, says Speer.

But here’s why the hollow-body hold can give you a huge edge: The stronger and more stable you are in the position, the better you’ll be at transferring force from your upper body to your lower body without any energy leaks, Speer explains. 

That means you can squat, throw, push, pull, jump, hit, kick, and sprint with more power.

Do it: Lie on your back on the floor with your legs straight and together, and your arms above your head. Contract your abs, and lift your legs, head, and shoulder blades a couple of inches off the floor. Pause.  Your body should form a banana shape from hands to feet. 

Once you can hold the position for at least 30 seconds, add a small forward-and-backward rock to increase the intensity. Your abs will get one hell of a workout, says Speer.

There’s only one way a gymnast performs a pullup—and that’s with a hollow-body position, according to Speer. And it should be the way every guy performs the exercise. 

Here’s why: Holding your body in a concave position increases stability, allowing you to focus more effort on pulling your body up to the bar. 

It also engages more muscles—including your glutes and hamstrings—and forces your lats and abs to work together, Speer explains. (You've mastered a handful of pullups. Here's How to Do 20 Perfect Pullups.)

Do it: Grab the bar using an overhand grip that’s hip-width to shoulder-width apart. Hang at arm’s length. Tighten your abs, press your thighs together, and point your legs slightly in front of you so your body form a wide C. Maintain this position for the entire time. 

As you pull yourself up, imagine that you’re pressing down on the top of the bar, and focus on bringing your belly button up. Look straight ahead and pull until upper chest touches the bar. Lower yourself.

Gymnasts perform this move on the parallel bars and rings. “It’s an isometric exercise that challenges the strength and stamina of your rectus abdominus (six-pack muscles), hip flexors, lats, and triceps,” says Speer.

If you can hold the position for 20 to 30 seconds, you are the owner of a seriously strong torso. 

Do it: Sit in between parallel bars or parallets, holding on to the bars. (If you don’t have access to either piece of equipment, you can use a pair of hexagonal dumbbells on the floor instead.) Straighten your arms, pulling your shoulders down away from your ears as if you’re doing a reverse shrug. Bend your knees toward your chest, and lift your legs and glutes off the floor until your feet are even with your hips. Hold this for 30 seconds. Then lower back down to the starting position.

Once you can hold the tucked position for 30 seconds, extend your legs straight out in front of you and hold.

Gymnasts perform the planche to demonstrate their extreme upper-body strength and endurance. They even lift their feet off the floor until their body is parallel to the ground. 

That’s an advanced version, so Speer recommends trying the planche pushup. You’ll perform a pushup (with your feet on the floor), but shift your weight forward as you lower your chest. 

It works your pecs, deltoids, and core harder than a regular pushup, and also strengthens the muscles and connective tissues in your wrists and shoulders, he says. 

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Do it: Assume a pushup position with your arms straight and your hands below your shoulders. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your ankles. 

As you bend your elbows and lower your body toward the floor, allow your chest and shoulders to shift forward until your hands are below your pecs or ribs. Pause, and then push back up to the starting position.

“Rolling is the foundation of tumbling in gymnastics,” says Speer. “It improves your spacial awareness and body control.”

Sure, you may not do back handsprings any time soon (or ever), but you should learn to somersault, he advises. “It’s hands-down the best way to prevent injury during a fall.”

Do it: Find a mat, grass, or soft surface. Crouch down, and place your hands on the floor a little wider than shoulder-width apart a foot in front of you. 

Put your head between your hands, and then push your feet off the floor so that your hips go over your head. As your feet travel over your head, push off your hands and use your momentum to stand up on your feet.

Every gymnast needs to be able to perform a split. “But learning how to do one can be a slow process,” says Speer. “It requires consistency, not intensity.” 

So why should you work toward a full split? It’ll increase the flexibility of your hamstrings and hip flexors, and make you more athletic, explains Speer. 

In most men, these muscles are usually tight due to the long hours spent sitting on the couch, behind a desk, or in the car. The more mobile they are, the stronger you’ll be in almost every lower-body exercise. (For more mobility movements that'll increase your strength, check out 4 Daily Exercises Every Navy SEAL (and Every Fit Guy) Should Do.)

Do it: Important note: Don’t push yourself at any step during this exercise. Only go as far as you feel comfortable, and then spend the next few days increasing your flexibility at that point. If you feel pain, immediately stop.

From a standing position, step one foot forward and lower your body until your back knee hits the floor. Keeping your torso upright, slowly straighten your front leg and slide your front foot forward as far as possible. 

Gently encourage your hips to fall closer to the floor. Place your hands on low boxes, benches, or yoga blocks for assistance.

The scale is the standing balance move required in a gymnastics floor routine. “While there are several scale variations, the quintessential one is the “Y” version,” explains Speer. “To perform it, you need to be able to do almost a full split.” 

That’s why he recommends starting with a front or back scale. They’ll still boost your balance, single-leg strength, hamstring flexibility, and hip mobility—without doing a split.  

Do it: Front scale: Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart. Bring your arms straight out from your sides so that they’re in line with your torso and parallel to the floor. 

Without changing your posture, raise one leg as high as you can in front of your body. Squeeze your quads and brace your core. Don’t let your hips shift—keep them even the entire time. 

Back scale: Instead of raising your leg in front of you, bend at your hips and lower your torso until it’s parallel to the floor. Lift your leg behind you so that it stays in line with your body as you lower your torso. Your body should look like a tabletop.

Handstands are to gymnastics as free throws are to basketball: They’re a necessity to the sport, and they take a ton of practice. 

Putting in the effort to master the move is time well spent for you, too. Handstands come with bragging rights, and numerous other benefits like better balance, core strength, overhead mobility, proprioception, and shoulder and scapular stability.  

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Do it: Place your hands on the floor 6 to 12 inches in front of a wall, spreading your fingers as wide as you can. Kick one leg at a time up into a handstand against the wall and hold that position for as long as possible. 

If you can hold the position for at least 30 seconds, try doing it without a wall. Just make sure you are on an open, soft surface so that you can roll if necessary.