Human flag

The full human flag: legs together and your whole body straight and horizontal to the side like a flag — the final step, demanding top-level straight-arm and side-trunk strength.

How to do it

1. 01Grip the pole as for a vertical flag: top hand overhand above, bottom hand lower, hands a little wider than your shoulders.
2. 02Jump up, lock your bottom arm, pull with your top arm and bring your body out sideways through a tuck or straddle.
3. 03Bring your legs together and straight so your body forms one horizontal line from shoulders to heels.
4. 04Push hard into the pole with the bottom arm, squeeze the side of your trunk, glutes and abs, and keep your shoulders and hips stacked with your chest facing forward.
5. 05Hold for a few clean seconds, then lower your feet under control; finish one side, then switch your hands and do the other.

Common mistakes

• Sagging hips with the legs below the shoulders — check it on video and go back to the straddle until you are horizontal.
• A bent bottom arm or a collapsing bottom shoulder — lock that arm and keep pushing into the pole.
• Adding volume too fast — build hold time slowly, as with every straight-arm skill, and train it early in the session while fresh.

In the Human flag progression

1. 1Vertical flag
2. 2Human flag negative
3. 3Tuck human flag
4. 4Straddle human flag
5. 5Human flag

Standard to move on: 3 sets × 5s, two sessions in a row.