Toes to the bar. The CrossFit core test.
Keep legs as straight as you can and drive your toes up to the bar with the abs.
Raising straight legs from a dead hang all the way to the bar demands a huge contraction from the entire core, first to fight the swing, then to curl the pelvis up and send the toes the full distance. The lats and grip hold the frame steady, but the abs own the movement, it is essentially the hardest strict leg raise there is. It earns its place as a benchmark of core strength, the standard test that hanging knee raises and leg raises are building towards.
The last third is a different animal. Getting toes from horizontal up to the bar requires your pelvis to curl backwards, which is pure lower-ab strength most leg raises never reach. Train the top range with knees-to-elbows and slow negatives from the bar down.
Strict. It builds the core and grip strength that keeps kipping safe and efficient later. If you can do a handful of strict reps, learning the kip becomes rhythm practice instead of a shoulder-yanking survival act.
Squeeze your glutes and pull down on the bar with your lats at the bottom of every rep to kill the pendulum. Lower with control instead of dropping your legs, the drop is what starts the swing in the first place.
