Toes to Bar

Muscles worked by the Toes to Bar

Primary

Hip FlexorsHip Flexor MusclesAbsRectus Abdominis

Secondary

Forearm FlexorsWrist Flexor MusclesLatsLatissimus DorsiObliquesOblique Abdominals

Also called: hip flexor, iliopsoas, psoas, iliacus, hip flexors, abs.

Equipment

Pull-Up Bar

Also called: chin-up bar, chin up bar, power tower, pull up bar, doorway bar.

How to do the Toes to Bar

1. Hang from a pull-up bar with an overhand grip, arms fully extended and body still.
2. Engage your lats and core to prevent swinging.
3. Raise your legs with straight knees, reaching your toes up toward the bar.
4. Touch the bar with your toes, then lower your legs under control.
5. Repeat for the desired reps.

Form tips

• Initiate the movement from your core, not by kicking with momentum.
• Exhale forcefully as you raise your legs to increase intra-abdominal pressure.
• If you cannot touch the bar, aim for hanging leg raises as a progression.

At a glance

Toes to Bar in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Ab Wheel Rollout
• Ball Pike
• Barbell Ab Rollout
• Bench Leg Pull-In
• Bicycle Crunch
• Bird Dog Hold
• Boat Pose
• Cable Crunch

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "toes-to-bar",
  "name_en": "Toes to Bar",
  "name_de": "Toes to Bar",
  "name_es": "Toes to Bar",
  "description_en": "An advanced hanging core exercise on a pull-up bar requiring hip flexion strength and lat engagement to touch the toes to the bar.",
  "description_de": "Eine fortgeschrittene Hänge-Kernübung an der Klimmzugstange, die Hüftbeugestärke und Latissimus-Aktivierung erfordert, um die Zehen zur Stange zu bringen.",
  "description_es": "Un ejercicio avanzado de core colgado de una barra que requiere fuerza de flexión de cadera y activación del dorsal para llevar los pies hasta la barra.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "equipment": "pull_up_bar",
  "body_part": "core",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "hip_flexors",
    "rectus_abdominis"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "forearm_flexors",
    "latissimus_dorsi",
    "obliques"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "strength"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "core_focus",
    "calisthenics"
  ],
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Hang from a pull-up bar with an overhand grip, arms fully extended and body still.",
    "Engage your lats and core to prevent swinging.",
    "Raise your legs with straight knees, reaching your toes up toward the bar.",
    "Touch the bar with your toes, then lower your legs under control.",
    "Repeat for the desired reps."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Mit Obergriff an der Klimmzugstange hängen, Arme vollständig gestreckt, Körper ruhig.",
    "Latissimus und Rumpf aktivieren, um Schwingen zu verhindern.",
    "Beine mit gestreckten Knien anheben und Zehen zur Stange führen.",
    "Stange mit den Zehen berühren, dann Beine kontrolliert absenken.",
    "Gewünschte Wiederholungsanzahl ausführen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Cuélgate de una barra con agarre prono y los brazos completamente extendidos, cuerpo quieto.",
    "Activa los dorsales y el core para evitar balanceos.",
    "Eleva las piernas con rodillas rectas llevando los pies hacia la barra.",
    "Toca la barra con los pies, luego baja las piernas con control.",
    "Repite el número de repeticiones deseado."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Initiate the movement from your core, not by kicking with momentum.",
    "Exhale forcefully as you raise your legs to increase intra-abdominal pressure.",
    "If you cannot touch the bar, aim for hanging leg raises as a progression."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Bewegung aus dem Rumpf einleiten, nicht durch Schwung.",
    "Beim Heben der Beine kräftig ausatmen, um den Bauchdruck zu erhöhen.",
    "Wenn die Stange nicht erreichbar ist, zunächst Hanging Leg Raises als Progression üben."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Inicia el movimiento desde el core, no con impulso de patada.",
    "Exhala con fuerza al elevar las piernas para aumentar la presión intraabdominal.",
    "Si no puedes alcanzar la barra, practica las elevaciones de piernas colgado como progresión."
  ],
  "met": 6.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/toes-to-bar-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/toes-to-bar-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "toes-to-bar");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.