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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Training without a goal
A dark-skinned guy from the New York borough of Queens owes his unusual name to the great African commander Hannibal. The father taught his sons to sports from childhood. The youngest, Hannibal, boxed and played American football, but the coaches did not see much talent in the boy. He also did not immediately develop a love for horizontal bars. The older brother became addicted to outdoor exercise while serving time in prison, and after his release he retained the healthy habit and began to involve Hannibal in training. The workout guru recalls that at first he worked out by force, but gradually got involved and could no longer live a day without push-ups and pull-ups.
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After some time, his brother stopped studying, but for Hannibal it no longer mattered. The guy was so engrossed in his passion for training on the horizontal bar and uneven bars that he dropped out of school and focused entirely on sports. At the same time, he did not set any professional goals for himself, but simply performed grueling one and a half hour workouts two or three times a day.
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Types of grips for pull-ups
The grip allows you to change the emphasis on certain muscles, evenly pumping the entire upper body.
Types of grips:
- Narrow grip . Hands are located as close to each other as possible. The emphasis is on the latissimus muscles and shoulder muscles.
- Medium grip . Hands are shoulder-width apart or slightly wider. The arms are slightly bent at the elbows. The exercise evenly involves the muscles of the core, back and shoulders. The most popular grip.
- Wide grip . Hands are as wide as possible. The emphasis is on the latissimus dorsi muscles.
- Reverse grip . You need to grab the horizontal bar with your palms facing you. Place the hands slightly narrower than the shoulders. This is an effective exercise that focuses on the biceps.
Types of pull-ups:
- Straight pull-ups. The palms look straight, the hang is standard. The back and legs are in a static position. The abs are tense, the arms are slightly bent at the elbows, the grip is as desired. The peak of the positive phase is reached when the chin is above the bar. The negative phase is performed a little slower than the positive phase until the arms are fully extended at the elbows.
- Reverse pull-ups. Okay, they look at the face. The desired grip, body position and phases are similar to straight pull-ups.
- Parallel pull-ups. Palms facing each other. The body is straight, legs can be bent at the knees. The peak of the active phase is reached when the elbows form an acute angle. The negative phase lasts as long as the positive one.
In the event that an athlete is unable to perform an exercise correctly, he must have insurance either in the form of a partner or an elastic band. For the best effect, grips and pull-ups need to be combined.
Interesting! There is often controversy on the Internet regarding the correct grip (thumb position). In fact, it does not affect anything; you can hold your thumb both above and below the crossbar.
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.
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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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Strength training
There can be two such TRAININGS: aerobic (endurance) and anaerobic (strength). I’ll say right away that both bodybuilding and workout are classic strength training. Both muscle strength and endurance are physical QUALITIES. For maximum development of each quality there must be maximum sports specialization. Training all qualities at the same time leads to the development of a weakly expressed average result. This translates into Russian as follows: if you want to be a champion marathon runner, get ready to be weak; if you want to be a champion powerlifter, get ready to have poor endurance.
Both can be developed. Moreover, in many sports (for example, in all martial arts) this is exactly what they do. BUT... the maximum for each parameter will not be achievable for a particular athlete, because each muscle quality requires the development of its own ENERGY SUPPLY, firstly, and DIFFERENT MUSCLE FIBERS, secondly (although these two parameters are inextricably linked).
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I have already said enough about muscle energy. To put it very briefly, the stronger the muscle fiber, the more and faster it spends energy, and the less suited it is for long-term work (weak endurance). And vice versa.
Strictly speaking, there are not only two types of muscle fibers (fast and slow). There are also options with mixed properties. But for the essence, this is not important, because the more endurance a fiber demonstrates, the less strength it is capable of.
This is very important for us because it affects the style of training, and specifically the number of repetitions.
Required number of repetitions
Often, adherents of a particular sport like to prove the superiority of their hobby with foam at the mouth. “How much do you press, little guy?” And the “trash” echoes him: how many times can you do pull-ups, you unfinished himeg?
Sound familiar? If we put aside the skills to perform each exercise, then the debate is most often about the size of the load (muscular qualities to overcome it). And the size of the load is measured either by WEIGHT or the number of REPEATS in an exercise with weight. The strength man will shout about WEIGHT, and the turnstile man will shout about the number of repetitions. Yes, this is not surprising. Everyone is grist for their own mill. Everyone trains different muscle qualities. Bodybuilder strength and ability to withstand high volume strength training. Turnikman strength endurance and strength. And it all depends on the number of repetitions.
Muscle qualities in strength sports
Weightlifting (TA) – STRONG, but in one repetition. Very EXPLOSIVE (performs movements very quickly). Trains: very few repetitions (2-3...sometimes 6), rests a lot between sets. Moderate number of approaches. No stamina.
Powerlifting (PL) – VERY STRONG for one rep, moderately STRONG for several reps. Very SLOW (movement is done slowly to show maximum strength). Trains: few repetitions (3-8), a lot of rest between approaches, few approaches themselves. No stamina.
Bodybuilding (BB) - moderate STRENGTH, but in several repetitions. AVERAGE speed of movement (depends on the individual athlete, but more often slow than fast). Trains: moderate number of repetitions (6-12...), LITTLE REST!!! Between approaches. A LOT OF APPROACHES AND EXERCISES! Endurance is much better than that of TA and PL.
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Turnikman (TM) – low strength, high STRENGTH ENDURANCE in a large number of repetitions. Moderately FAST (depending on the individual's training style). Trains: usually a lot of repetitions (10 and above...). Little rest between approaches. Quite a lot of approaches. Endurance is better than that of BB, and of course better than that of TA and PL.
CrossFit (CF) - low strength. MONSTER STRENGTH ENDURANCE for high reps. Very fast. Trains: a lot of repetitions and exercises in a CIRCLE without rest. Doesn't rest between sets. Many approaches. The best endurance.
Now tell me: which is better, honey or jam? What am I talking about? Moreover, everyone chooses what to train based on their inner beliefs. Some people like to feel the floor bend when they squat with a barbell, while others are thrilled that they can do twice as much as a trained Marine. And some people don’t care at all: he only trains his liver to decompose large quantities of alcohol. Well, who is closer to you? This is nothing to argue about. What about women: who is better, blondes or brunettes?
No one can lift more overhead from the ground than a weightlifter. And a powerlifter will bench and squat the most. No one can demonstrate high strength performance for as long as a bodybuilder by lifting heavy weights over and over again with minimal rest between sets. The turnstile man will reduce the weight, but will be able to do as many repetitions in a set as are beyond the understanding of other strength athletes. A CrossFitter will lose weight, but will work like an energizer battery without rest. It’s just that whoever trained what got it. The principle of “specification” has not been canceled. What goes around comes around.
Principles of training for the world workout artist
Four King's training is considered a tough test for any workout master. Practicing on average 3 hours a day, seven days a week, for more than 20 years, Hannibal mastered the most complex elements and brought their technique to perfection. The man prefers circuit training, in which he does 10-15 repetitions of each exercise. Moreover, the number of laps is not limited - Hannibal trains hard and works continuously for at least an hour. For such training he performs
:
- 275 push-ups;
- 70 pull-ups on the horizontal bar with a reverse grip;
- 70 pull-ups on the horizontal bar with an overhand grip;
- 165 dips.
Between circles, the athlete improvises, performing more complex exercises, such as various hangs and exits.
For beginners, Hannibal King advises focusing on basic exercises. His workout for entry-level athletes
looks like that:
- 5 pull-ups on the horizontal bar;
- 10 push-ups;
- 5 dips.
This cycle should also be performed for an hour.
Lesson program
The training program includes various pull-ups. Mainly the grip and the interval between the hands change. There are other variations that are used by more experienced practitioners.
Negative pull-up
Helps beginners master the technique in a short time, develop the necessary grip strength, and “develop” joints and ligaments. Here, the back is mostly involved; the forearm and biceps are also pumped on the horizontal bar. The exercise is performed like this:
- Jump or use the help of an assistant to take the upper position (as if the student has already pulled himself up to the crossbar). The grip of the hands is slightly wider than shoulder width, closed.
- Descend as slowly as possible, resisting gravity. Perform a kind of push-up from the bar downwards.
What is taken into account here is not the number of repetitions, but the smoothness of movement. Muscles should be loaded for as long as possible. Usually the approach lasts 40–45 seconds, during which time they manage to lower themselves 3–4 times.
It is recommended to practice the exercise until the student learns to pull himself up on his own.
Jumping
A “lighter” option is a pull-up with a jump. It is practiced by both beginners and experienced athletes, when the muscles are already “clogged” to the limit and it is impossible to perform the classic exercise. These pull-ups are good for the pectoral muscles, and they also help work out the shoulders, biceps, anterior thighs, and buttocks.
The algorithm of actions is as follows:
- Find a suitable platform - if you stand on it, your straight arm raised up should be higher than the bar.
- Grab it (your hands are slightly wider than your shoulders), bend your knees slightly, and jump to push your body up.
- When the bar is approximately at eye level, begin to pull yourself up not thanks to inertia, but due to the strength of your arms.
- Slowly lower down.
The main nuance is that a new upward movement must begin as soon as the feet touch the support, otherwise the pace is lost and efficiency decreases.
With rubber shock absorber
Mostly the arms and back work here, but this exercise on the horizontal bar for the pectoral muscles is no less effective. The rubber band in the form of a ring is easy to attach to the crossbar. Its contraction “compensates” for part of the body weight, facilitating the process of pulling up. Technique:
- Place your feet or knees in the loop, stretching it to the limit with your own weight and straightening your elbows.
- As you exhale, using the resistance of the band, begin to bend your arms, “pushing” yourself up.
- Return to starting position.
Particular attention is paid to the choice of tape. Its colors, regardless of the brand, are unified and are determined by what mass is compensated during lifting.
What is Hannibal Fore King doing now?
Despite the collapse in popularity, Hannibal Fore King remained true to his philosophy. In 2012, videos with his participation collected more than 20 million views. The unofficial title of the king of street workout helped Hannibal improve his financial situation. He began to travel to seminars around the world, give private lessons and advertise famous brands. Now one of the founders of workout is already 42 years old, he lives in his own house in New York and takes an active part in raising four children.
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Hannibal still trains daily and remains in excellent shape. And even though new stars have appeared on the horizon of street training, and For King is increasingly called the grandfather of workout, this strong-willed athlete with an unusual name has already taken his place in history.
