Hollow Body Hold
The hollow body hold is a gymnastics core hold where you lie on your back and lift your shoulders and legs off the floor into a shallow banana shape. It trains your abs, with your hip flexors holding your legs up. Pick it to build the body tension used in pull-ups and handstands. Bend your knees to make it easier.
Muscles worked
The hollow body hold trains the abs, with hip flexors helping.
Primary
Helpers
Weekly sets for abs
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for abs, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the hollow body hold
- 01Lie on your back with your arms extended overhead and your legs straight together.
- 02Press your lower back firmly into the floor and brace your abs.
- 03Lift your shoulders, arms and legs off the floor, keeping your lower back pressed down.
- 04Hold your legs low enough to challenge you but high enough that your back stays flat.
- 05Hold while taking short, shallow breaths into your belly, keeping tension throughout.
Coaching cues
- Lower back stays pressed down
- Long body, pointed toes
- Shallow breaths, constant tension
Common mistakes
- Letting your lower back lift off the floor means the position is too hard; bend your knees or raise your legs higher.
- Tucking your chin hard into your chest strains your neck; keep your gaze toward your toes with a relaxed neck.
- Lowering your legs too far for a harder look breaks the hollow shape; find the lowest height where your back stays flat.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Holds are logged in seconds. Hit your target and the next one grows by 5 to 15 seconds, depending on how long you already hold.
- Miss it and the next target is the time you actually held, never below 10 seconds.
- Longer bodyweight holds mostly build endurance, so once 60 seconds is comfortable the weighted version is the path to more muscle.
- Deload weeks drop the hold to 70 percent of the target so you recover.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Hollow Body Hold alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your hollow body hold free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.