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Dynamic strength

Windshield Wipers

Hang from a bar, lift your legs straight up and swing them under control from one side to the other like a wiper. One coach calls it an advanced exercise for turning and holding the trunk.

Seen from the front, the legs swing like a wiper in the plane of the picture. The legs are drawn as one line. The picture cannot show the turn of the trunk that one source asks for, or the torso, which points away from you. The legs pointing up and 'about level with the floor' come from Everett; the drawing itself is this page's model.
Difficulty
Advanced
editorial estimate
Steps to it
2 steps
Intermediate → Advanced
Usually done on
Pull-up bar
Start with the first stepHow it is done

Prepared by Calisthenics Balkan. Not yet reviewed by a qualified coach. 5 sources

The road at a glance

A short overview with links. Every step is explained in full under Progressions.

Helps to have first

This skill

Windshield Wipers

Leads towards

No movement in the Atlas builds directly on this one yet.

01

What it is

Greg Everett describes the windshield wiper as an exercise that trains both turning the trunk and holding it still. You hang from a bar and lift the torso to horizontal. You flex the hips to 90 degrees and straighten the legs so they point up. Then you rotate to one side, keeping the spine straight and horizontal and the legs straight, until the legs are about parallel with the floor, and reverse to the other side.12

Catalyst Athletics, which is Everett's company, calls it an advanced trunk rotation exercise and describes another version that starts from a straight hang: you lift the straight legs up to one side, bring them round in front past the bar and down to the opposite side. StrengthLog describes it more loosely: a hang with straight arms, the legs lifted to parallel with the ground or higher, and a rotation as far as you can go without losing control. It does not say where the torso is. This page follows Everett, the only source that gives the positions.23

Steven Low's chart puts 'windshield wipers / 360 HLR' on a hanging leg raise ladder, after toes to bar with straight legs. He marks that ladder as proposed, not from his book, and the cell has no description. Everett suggests building the needed strength with front lever type holds.15

All the sources here are coaching or exercise-library pages, and two of the three that describe the hanging movement come from one author. None is a study, none gives an angle other than the 90 degrees of hip flexion Everett and Catalyst describe and 'about level with the floor' for the swing, and the mistakes sources are about the floor version. This page says where a point comes from.134

Legs straight up, torso level, then turn to each side slowly with the spine and legs straight.

02

How it is done

  1. Hang and lift the torso to horizontal

    Hang from the bar and lift the torso to horizontal. Everett says bending the arms to get there and stay there is fine, and that straight arms, as in a front lever, can bring the legs too close to the bar and what is around it.12

    CueBend the arms if you need to.1

  2. Point the straight legs up

    Everett says to flex the hips to 90 degrees and straighten the legs so they point towards the ceiling; pointing the toes makes it slightly harder.1

  3. Turn to one side

    Rotate to one side, keeping the spine straight and horizontal and the legs straight. Everett stops where the range of motion ends, probably when the legs are parallel with the floor; Catalyst says until the legs are horizontal.12

    CueSpine straight and horizontal, legs straight.1

  4. Reverse and go to the other side

    Reverse the rotation, pass through the middle and go to the other side. Everett says to start slow and controlled and that speed can be added later; Catalyst asks for a controlled tempo; StrengthLog says to rotate the legs back through the centre.123

03

Progressions

These steps let you record the version you do now. They are not compulsory unlocks or a repetition programme.

What to have first

  • Strength in the hanging position first

    Everett builds the strength with front lever progressions: hang with the knees bent to the chest and curl the torso up until the hips are level with the shoulders, holding it for about 30 seconds in total. Then he straightens the torso, and says that when you can hold a straight, horizontal torso for 15 to 30 seconds you should be able to do at least a few windshield wipers. These are one coach's numbers.1

  • Where it sits on a ladder

    In Steven Low's proposed ladder the wipers come after hanging toes to bar with straight legs. StrengthLog says the hanging wiper needs grip strength and upper-body control.35

  1. Step 1Intermediate

    Hanging with bent legs

    If the straight-leg version is too hard, Everett says you can begin with the knees bent. He says they will probably need to be pulled in towards the chest, which prevents lengthening the lever and increasing the load on the shoulders and spine, and that you straighten the legs step by step as you get stronger. How far in the knees can go depends on the bar.

    Technical note: From the front the bent knees can only be shown as a shorter line for the legs.12

  2. Step 2AdvancedGoal

    Windshield wipers

    Hang, lift the torso to horizontal, point the straight legs up and rotate to each side until they are about parallel with the floor.

    Technical note: Full describes the movement, not a number of repetitions; the sources' repetition ranges are not repeated here.12

04

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05

Common mistakes

  • Letting the spine bend during the turn

    Everett asks for a straight, horizontal spine and straight legs while you rotate. His article does not list mistakes, so this is the opposite of what it asks, not a sourced error.1

  • Straight arms that bring the legs too close to the bar

    Everett says that trying to keep the arms straight, as in a front lever, can bring the legs too close to the bar and the surroundings to finish the movement, and that bent arms are fine.1

  • Swinging instead of controlling it

    Lohre warns that swinging the legs takes the tension off the trunk, for the floor version. Everett starts slow and controlled and says speed can be added later.14

  • Arching the lower back (on the floor)

    In the floor version Lohre says the lower back lifting off the floor puts the strain on the spine, and advises pressing it down and lowering the legs only as far as it stays down. This is not a statement about the hanging version.4

  • Holding the breath (on the floor)

    Lohre tells you to exhale as the legs come back to the middle and inhale as they go to the side, for the floor version.4

06

Variations and related skills

  • Lying on the floor

    Lie on your back with the arms out to the sides and the legs straight and lifted vertical. Rotate to bring the legs down to one side, try to touch the floor with the foot without resting on it, and go to the other side. Everett uses it when holding the torso is the limit; Lohre asks you to keep the lower back on the floor and the opposite shoulder down.124

  • From a straight hang

    Catalyst describes another version that starts from a straight hang: lift the straight legs up to one side, bring them round in front past the bar and down to the opposite side, then reverse. It does not give more detail.2

  • Legs lifted to level

    Range

    StrengthLog hangs with straight arms and lifts the legs to parallel with the ground or higher before rotating as far as you can with control. It does not say whether the torso is lifted.3

  • 360 version

    Steven Low's chart writes 'windshield wipers / 360 HLR' in one cell. The chart does not define the 360 version and this page does not describe it.5

Related skillsL-SitDragon FlagFront Lever

On Calisthenics Balkan

07

Sources

5 sources

What this page relies on. Titles and publishers are written as published.

The small numbers in the text point to the entries below

  1. Windshield WiperGreg Everett, owner of Catalyst Athletics · The Performance Menu Journal, issue 22, November 2006; read 19 Oct 2026; the one source that describes the hanging movement in detail, written by a weightlifting coach; no list of mistakes, no study (research S-0234)
  2. Windshield Wiper (Exercise Library)Catalyst Athletics · exercise library entry; read 19 Oct 2026; the same site and author as the article above, so it is not a second voice; adds a version from a straight hang (research S-0235)
  3. How to Do Hanging Windshield Wiper: Muscles Worked & Proper FormStrengthLog exercise directory · no author or date; read 19 Oct 2026; five steps and a one-line comment, no mistakes, regressions or safety text (research S-0236)
  4. Windshield Wiper ExerciseJulie Lohre, certified personal trainer · last modified August 2026 per the page; read 19 Oct 2026; describes only the version lying on the floor, for women over 40 (research S-0237)
  5. Overcoming Gravity 2nd Edition: progression charts (public spreadsheet)Steven Low · read 19 Oct 2026; the cells of the Hanging Leg Raises ladder only, no technique text; the chart marks this ladder as proposed progressions that are not in the book, and the book was not read (research S-0093)

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