Millions of people around the world look up to the famous workout guru Hannibal Four King, but the king of the horizontal bar himself never aspired to popularity. For more than 20 years, he has been improving his skills every day, challenging himself with ever new tough challenges. But real fame came to Hannibal after 30. One day, someone posted videos of his amazing workouts on YouTube, deciding that the world should know how cool this man is. The world found out and was delighted.
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Meaning of the name
Hannibal For King is a combination of the name and the prefix For King, behind which the philosophy of our hero is hidden. For King translates as “to the king,” which reflects the constant desire to develop to the “royal” level.
Hannibal was born in 1978 in the Queens borough of New York City. And yes, that's his real name. As he himself says, his parents named him in honor of the great Carthaginian commander.
Hannibal was able to become famous only at the age of 30. Videos of his incredible workouts simply blew up the Internet, each video received 5-6 million views, and sometimes this figure reached 20 million. Lean muscles paired with outstanding strength data made him a workout icon for the entire planet.
It was Hannibal who became the one who made workout popular around the world. Every guy who trained on the horizontal bar looked up to him. Everyone wanted to know what Hannibal workout was.
Second Punic War
Soon the young commander headed for war with Rome. Hannibal conquered the remaining independent tribes. In the battle on the Tag River, Hamilcar's son showed himself to be an outstanding tactician. As his troops began to retreat, the Carpetani rushed across the river to pursue them. Hannibal's troops turned around and attacked the enemies.
The next target was the Greek city of Saguntum, allied with Rome. Hannibal acted as a representative of Saguntum's neighbors, who suffered oppression from him. After negotiations with the Romans, who demanded to leave their ally alone, war became inevitable. In 219 BC. e. Hamilcar's heir began a siege of the city. The first siege of his military career was not easy for Hannibal. At first, his warriors managed to break through the wall, but they did not have time to build on their success - the Saguntians sealed the breach. After the capture, the city was destroyed, and many residents were killed.
Preparing for war, Hannibal went to the temple of Melqart in Hades, where he made new sacrifices and made new vows. Among the soldiers of his army, rumors began to spread about the commander’s miraculous dream, which foreshadowed victory.
Before the campaign, Hannibal enlisted the support of the Gallic tribes, who agreed to let his army through. In 218 BC. e. The Spanish army of Hannibal set out on a campaign. In the Pyrenees, the Carpetans, who were called up but did not want to fight, rebelled. Hamilcar's son saved face by declaring that he was letting them and some other Iberians go home. In Gaul, he managed to convince the elders and leaders of the Gallic tribes of his benevolent intentions and pass through their land almost without war.
Difficulties arose during Rodan's transition. The wolf tribes decided to give battle to Hannibal's army. Hamilcar's son again proved himself a master of military tricks - while the main forces attacked the wolves head-on, a mobile detachment crossed the river downstream and struck from the rear.
Hannibal's army crosses the Alps. Heinrich Leutemann, 1866. (Wikimedia Commons)
In Gaul, ambassadors from the Boii from Cisalpine Gaul arrived to Hannibal. They invited the commander to Italy and promised their help. Crossing the Alps, Hannibal's warriors first defeated the Allobroges tribe that occupied the foothills. To pave the way for the army, the commander ordered to light a fire on the rock, pour vinegar on it, and then dig a passage through the loosened mass.
When Hannibal reached the Po River valley, he had less than 30 thousand soldiers left. But now the Gauls who inhabited Northern Italy joined his army. The Roman army of Scipio was also waiting for Hannibal there.
Subsequent campaigns of 218−216 BC. e. were the time of Hannibal's victories, which created his fame as the greatest commander. First he defeated Scipio at Ticinus. Then Gaius Sempronius Longus - under Trebia. In 217 BC. e. At Lake Trasimene, Hannibal destroyed the army of Gaius Flaminius.
Gall Ducar beheads Flaminius at Lake Trasimene. J. N. Sylvester, 1882. (Wikimedia Commons)
Having defeated Flaminius, Hannibal turned south. After a respite, when the Roman army was commanded by Fabius Maximus, in 216 BC. e. The Battle of Cannae took place, which became Hannibal's greatest victory. At the council, the cavalry commander Maharbal persistently advised to march on Rome. Hannibal hesitated to answer. Maharbal uttered the now catchphrase that Hannibal knows how to win, but does not know how to enjoy the fruits of victories.
It is debatable whether Hamilcar's son had enough strength to take the Eternal City. And did he want it? After the victory, Hannibal sent a peace proposal to the Romans. It was rejected. The Romans gathered new legions and prepared to fight further. After the victory, Hannibal was joined by a number of cities of Apulia, Campania, Samnium and Brutium, as well as the Greek policies of Lokra and Croton. The Punic had to storm and destroy some cities. Capua became his strongest ally.
Connection with sports before workout
Hannibal's father was a boxer, he even managed to take part in the Golden Gloves tournament. He did not forget about his sons and taught them what he knew well, the basics of boxing. Hannibal initially wanted to become a boxer, like his father, and dreamed of winning the championship title, but the coach who trained his father and was supposed to take him on passed away.
After that he became interested in football. The sport gave him great pleasure, but he was unable to join the school team due to attendance problems. Later he was kicked out of school, and at the same time football faded into the background, giving way to workout.
Personal life
Hannibal's personal life is shrouded in mystery. Titus Livy wrote in his writings that while in Spain, the commander married a local woman. Presumably, the lady’s name was Imilka, which is what the ancient poet Silius Italicus called the Carthaginian’s wife. The couple did not live together for long - after going to Italy, the strategist never met his beloved again.
Chroniclers of past ancient centuries attributed to the warrior excessive love of love and accused him of sexual deviations. It was reported, in particular, that in the Apulian city of Salapia, Hannibal had an affair with a local prostitute.
Start of training
Young Hannibal was introduced to the sport by his older brother, who by that time had already been released. In prison, everyone trained on the horizontal bars, and Hannibal's brother was no exception. Even after being released, he did not give up workout and continued his studies, but now together with his younger brother.
Hannibal didn't like the training at first, but gradually he got used to it and wanted to go as far as possible.
He fell in love with the horizontal bar and even gave it a feminine nickname – Barbara. The horizontal bar became for him not an ordinary iron alloy, but a real friend, with his own character, his own soul. Hannibal seemed to have found the other half of his own self.
We practiced in a round-robin manner. Their workouts were a sequence of pull-ups, dips, and push-ups. The task was to complete as many such circles as possible. Hannibal says that such activities helped lay him a strong foundation for further success in sports.
Gradually, Hannibal began to experiment and add new elements - hangs, exits, and so on. After some time, my brother quit workout, and Hannibal, who had already been kicked out of school, was just gaining momentum.
From homeless shelter to world fame
For almost 10 years, Hannibal lived on unemployment benefits and often spent the night in homeless shelters. The short, lean athlete preferred to train alone and did not want to compete with anyone but himself. According to Hannibal, street training helped him cope with depression and find inner peace. He worked out in any weather and believed that the horizontal bar was the best cure for any disease. Every day the guy challenged himself and became stronger and more resilient than he was yesterday. At the same time, the pseudonym Fore King was added to the name Hannibal, in which the athlete encrypted the endless desire for perfection.
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Gradually, more and more complex elements, including those from gymnastics, were added to the standard exercises - pull-ups, dips and push-ups. Hannibal, as a matter of principle, did not engage in weightlifting and did not go on diets to gain weight, but years of daily training on the horizontal bar made his body phenomenally pumped up. Without knowing it, Hannibal Fore King became one of the founders of street workout and calisthenics - a direction of training with your own body weight without barbells and simulators.
Rumors about the unusual athlete circulated throughout New York, and dozens of people gathered to watch his training. However, Hannibal still did not monetize his talent in any way and at the age of 29 did not have a penny to his name. Everything changed thanks to his friend, who filmed For King’s training and posted the video on YouTube. Hannibal’s exercises and the results he achieved made a huge impression on users, and the little-known African-American turnstile suddenly gained hundreds of thousands of followers in different parts of the world.
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Life before popularity
Hannibal trained every day of the year, often even 2-3 times a day for 1-2 hours, and in between training sessions he recovered and slept. This schedule was possible due to the fact that he lived on money paid by the state as unemployment benefits.
Hannibal liked to train alone more, but gradually other people began to appear on the site, inspired by his example. And one day a guy came with a camera and began filming Hannibal’s training. It was thanks to this accident that Hannibal was able to conquer the whole world.
There were times when Hannibal had to live on the streets. Then the street playground was a real home for him, he lived, slept and trained there. He always stopped for the night where there were horizontal bars and parallel bars.
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- Buxton, Mark (30 October 2015). "The 31 Best Marvel Monsters." Den of geeks. Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. It can be argued that King was Marvel's first vampire hero and used his undead powers in an attempt to destroy Dracula himself.
Hannibal now
Hannibal is the father of three girls and one son, who is named after his father. He continues to train on the streets of New York, but fame has irrevocably changed his life.
Now Hannibal is a man whose name is associated with workout, a representative of the famous sports nutrition brand, and also a personal trainer. He became the idol of many street athletes, most of whom were teenagers. He was able to achieve this through hard training for 20 years. What used to be his hobby has now become his favorite job.
Hannibal never sought popularity, he just wanted to prove to the world that it is possible to achieve excellent athletic shape without a gym and sports nutrition.
He plans to continue to develop in this direction and motivate the younger generation, helping novice athletes with his advice.
Farm support
According to Hannibal, he is a natural athlete and has never handled any drugs that accelerate muscle growth. He even started using sports nutrition only because of the terms of the brand he started working with.
These fantastic muscles are the result of constant training for 20 years. The most interesting thing is that Hannibal does not adhere to any diets and does not limit himself in nutrition. For him, junk food is an additional incentive to train. So he has to train even more to burn extra calories.
Gym
It’s surprising that Hannibal never worked out in the gym in his life, and achieved such a body only by doing bodyweight exercises. He does not visit the gyms because he does not like the competitive spirit of those present there. He also never trained with additional weight, he achieved everything through only bodyweight exercises, horizontal bars and parallel bars.
His source of inspiration was not Arnold Schwarzenegger or Ronnie Coleman, but gymnasts who had incredible strength, without the huge muscles of bodybuilding. This influenced Hannibal’s choice in favor of horizontal bars and parallel bars.
Workout
Hannibal's training program is reminiscent of drop sets in bodybuilding, only here the weight does not change, since all exercises are done with your own weight, only the number of repetitions in the approach is reduced, according to the principle of a ladder in the opposite direction.
The program includes 4 exercises that make up 1 circle - there are 11 circles. Rest between exercises and circuits is minimal. According to the setting, the rest is 30 seconds. Such a slight rest is necessary to fulfill another very important condition of the workout - it should be completed in 45 minutes.
“Hannibal” himself does the entire program without interruption. He doesn't rest between laps or sets. There are rare exceptions, but only when Hannibal was feeling unwell. So, he moves from one exercise to another, without stopping for a second until the plan is completed.
Lay the foundation and follow the path of a true workout legend!
The main goal of the Hannibal Fore King training program is to develop strength endurance, which is clearly evidenced by the volume of load and the duration of the lesson itself, as well as maintaining general physical fitness.
The Hannibal program is designed for a 39-day period. You will have to train intensively and often - every other day.
The work scheme will resemble a standard ladder, performed in the reverse order - from largest to smallest. The descending ladder effectively strengthens overall muscular endurance and physical performance, and this is the main condition for high-quality work with heavy weights.
It is quite possible that it will not be possible to meet the specified period of time the first time or even the second time. To complete a total of 42 sets, the athlete must maintain a roughly consistent tempo throughout the entire training session, with a 30-second rest period provided - and this is truly a challenge even for an experienced athlete.
The maximum task in this case is faced by the strength athlete - after all, they have to sharply switch their muscles to a more functional mode of operation.
It is possible to perform the proposed exercises with different positions of the hands - this will allow you not only to vary the load, but also to target individual muscle groups.
Thus, performing “wide” classic pull-ups will widen your back, and an exercise performed with a narrow grip will form the volume of the muscles, that is, increase their diameter. Reverse grip pull-ups included in the complex will work the biceps well.
Traditional push-ups are a mega-effective exercise for a complete chest workout. Changing the position of the hands allows you to selectively work on certain areas: a wide grip affects the “external” areas, and a narrow grip distributes the load on the internal and upper areas.
There are also several options for dips. By slightly tilting the body forward, you shift the load to the pectorals; with a strictly vertical position of the body, the triceps do the main work.
The simplicity and simplicity of Hannibal's training program is deceptive - performing combinations of seemingly primitive exercises will make your muscles burn with fire.
As you can see, Hannibal Forking’s training is entirely focused on working the upper half of the body. Therefore, in order to avoid imbalances in muscle development, it is recommended to strictly adhere to the designated time limits for using the proposed Hannibal training program.
Good news for real sports fanatics! Hannibal’s author’s set of exercises is convenient to use in the field, far from an equipped gym - when going on vacation or to visit your grandmother in the village, feel free to take the “suitcase” program with you and spend every day benefiting your body.
Training scheme
Schematically, Hannibal’s training program looks like this:
- Push-ups: 30/29/28/27/26/25/24/23/22/21/20.
- Pull-ups on the horizontal bar (regular grip): 10/9/8/7/6/5/5/5/5/5/5.
- Dips: 20/19/18/17/16/15/14/13/12/11/10.
- Pull-ups on the horizontal bar (reverse grip): 10/9/8/7/6/5/5/5/5/5/5.
At first glance, the program looks very simple and uncomplicated, but this is its main advantage, because strength lies in simplicity - Hannibal’s appearance once again proves this.
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About the exercises
Before moving on to the training scheme according to the Hannibal program, it is worthwhile to dwell a little more on the technique of performing the exercises. Despite the fact that they seem too simple at first glance, they are the ones that help achieve your goals. But in order for them to work 100%, they need to be done correctly.
Pushups
This is the conventional name of the exercise. Since Hannibal's training takes place outside, you need to find a suitable surface. This can be a well-compacted sand or asphalt area. Be careful not to injure your palms by pressing into the ground. Another option is to use a low bar for push-ups. It increases the range of motion, thereby providing a powerful load.
Starting position - the position of the hands can be any. The choice depends on the comfort of performing the exercise, the degree of load and the level of physical fitness. The narrower it is, the more difficult it is.
The correct upper position is full extension of the arms.
The correct bottom position is to lower yourself until your chest lightly touches the “floor” (or bar).
Dips
One of the most powerful exercises in the Hannibal training complex. In order for it to achieve the desired results, it is important to monitor the trajectory of the body, which should be a strictly straight vertical line.
The correct lower position is that your arms are fully straightened.
The correct upper position is that the elbows are bent and form 90°.
If you make mistakes when performing this exercise, the elbow joint may be injured. In this case, you will have to give up workouts for a long time.
Pull-ups (straight grip)
The correct starting position is to grab the bar with your hands so that your palms face the same direction as your face, and the distance between them is slightly wider than your shoulders.
The correct lower position is that your arms are fully straightened, your knees are bent, your gaze is directed forward. If you need additional leg training, straighten them in front of you.
The correct upper position is that the elbows are bent and form 90°, the chin touches the bar.
Reverse grip pull-ups
The correct starting position is to grab the bar with your hands so that your palms are turned towards your face, and the distance between them is equal to the width of your shoulders.
The correct lower position is that your arms are fully straightened, your knees are bent, your gaze is directed forward.
The correct top position is with your elbows bent and your chest touching the bar.
Many who start training according to the Hannibal program make one significant mistake, which is too expensive - failure and termination of training. They become fixated on the 45 minutes they need to complete. This is the wrong approach. First you need to focus on the technique of doing the exercises. Carefully watch the video of how the famous workout artist does it, and try to exactly repeat his every movement. Let it be slow, but competently and beneficially for the body.
This is interesting. Hannibal himself performs 3 such workouts a day. Moreover, the first of them occurs at 5 o’clock in the morning. He chooses the most difficult exercise variations to regularly increase the load.
