Hollow Body Hold Strength Standards Calculator
Under strict Hollow Body Hold strength standards, Novice starts around 25 sec for men age 20-29 and 20 sec for women age 20-29, while Elite starts around 2:00 for men and 1:40 for women.
Enter your sex, bodyweight, age, and hold time to see whether your Hollow Body Hold is Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, or Elite for your bodyweight and age.
The calculator compares your valid hold time with the Hollow Body Hold standards for your sex, bodyweight, and age. This keeps the result focused on bodyweight performance instead of load, estimated 1RM, or a different exercise.
Understanding Your Hollow Body Hold Strength Score
Your Hollow Body Hold score is one continuous valid hold time. A hold lasting 75 seconds is entered as 75 seconds, not as separate segments. The calculator compares that result with the standards for the sex, age range, and bodyweight you select.
The score is useful only when every attempt follows the same movement standard. Begin the attempt from this position: lie supine, press the low back into the floor, brace the trunk, lift shoulders, extend legs, keep feet off the floor, and set arms in the approved strict position before timing starts. Maintain the hollow position with low back contact, shoulders lifted, legs extended, feet elevated, and no hand or partner assistance.
Count the result this way: count continuous total seconds from valid start to first invalid position or voluntary stop; do not aggregate multiple attempts or count hollow rocks. The attempt ends when the athlete stops, low back arches away from the floor, shoulders drop, feet touch down, knees bend outside the standard, hands assist, or external support occurs. Keep retests comparable by using the same arm position, leg height, surface, footwear or barefoot convention, and observation standard.
Hollow Body Hold Strength Standards
These are Endura’s standards for comparing consistent Hollow Body Hold attempts. They are exercise-specific practical benchmarks, not population averages.
How Endura set these standards: The approved Hollow Body Hold model defines Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Elite valid hold-time benchmarks for men and women in five age groups. Each exact threshold and tier boundary is checked against the calculator before publication.
The tables organize Hollow Body Hold standards by sex and age. Compare your valid hold time with the Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Elite columns. A result below the Novice threshold is classified as Beginner.
Men — Hollow Body Hold Standards
| Age | Novice | Intermediate | Advanced | Elite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20-29 | 25 sec | 50 sec | 1:20 | 2:00 |
| 30-39 | 25 sec | 50 sec | 1:15 | 1:55 |
| 40-49 | 20 sec | 45 sec | 1:10 | 1:40 |
| 50-59 | 20 sec | 35 sec | 55 sec | 1:25 |
| 60+ | 15 sec | 30 sec | 45 sec | 1:05 |
Women — Hollow Body Hold Standards
| Age | Novice | Intermediate | Advanced | Elite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20-29 | 20 sec | 40 sec | 1:05 | 1:40 |
| 30-39 | 20 sec | 40 sec | 1:00 | 1:35 |
| 40-49 | 15 sec | 35 sec | 55 sec | 1:25 |
| 50-59 | 15 sec | 30 sec | 45 sec | 1:10 |
| 60+ | 10 sec | 20 sec | 35 sec | 55 sec |
For example, men age 20-29 reach Intermediate at 50 sec, Advanced at 1:20, and Elite at 2:00. Women age 40-49 reach those same levels at 35 sec, 55 sec, and 1:25. These examples come directly from the table values above.
Use the calculator to apply your exact inputs, place your result in the correct level, and see the next target without doing the table lookup yourself.
How the Hollow Body Hold Calculator Works
The calculator uses your sex, age group, bodyweight, and one continuous valid hold time. Enter the duration of one continuous valid hold; do not add separate attempts together. It compares that score with the exercise-specific Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Elite thresholds. Because higher is stronger for this test, more valid seconds can move the result to a higher level.
The result shows your standards level, entered score, the sex and age group used, and your next target. An exact threshold counts as the higher level. Using the men’s age 20-29 reference row, 50 valid seconds is Intermediate and Advanced begins at 80 valid seconds (1:20), making the next target 30 additional valid seconds. The calculator handles the tier lookup and target math automatically.
The calculator cannot inspect your attempt. It assumes the number entered follows the Hollow Body Hold Testing Rules. If the attempt became invalid before you stopped, enter only the valid time reached before the first break in the required position.
Hollow Body Hold Testing Rules
Use one continuous hold and record its valid duration. The calculator compares the number you enter with the Hollow Body Hold standards, but it cannot verify how the attempt was performed. Use the exercise-specific requirements below before entering a score.
Hollow Body Hold Testing Checklist
| Testing rule | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Exact test | Timed strict supine hollow body hold with the low back pressed to the floor, shoulders lifted, legs extended, and body held in a controlled hollow position. |
| Start | Lie supine, press the low back into the floor, brace the trunk, lift shoulders, extend legs, keep feet off the floor, and set arms in the approved strict position before timing starts. |
| Valid range or position | Maintain the hollow position with low back contact, shoulders lifted, legs extended, feet elevated, and no hand or partner assistance. |
| Count or time | Count continuous total seconds from valid start to first invalid position or voluntary stop; do not aggregate multiple attempts or count hollow rocks. |
| Tempo and pauses | No movement tempo applies; small positional corrections are allowed only if the low back stays down and the athlete remains inside the valid hold standard. |
| Assistance | No external load, partner help, hand bracing, wall support, bands, straps, or props that reduce leverage or help maintain the hollow position. |
| Stop | The attempt ends when the athlete stops, low back arches away from the floor, shoulders drop, feet touch down, knees bend outside the standard, hands assist, or external support occurs. |
| Retest consistently | Keep retests comparable by using the same arm position, leg height, surface, footwear or barefoot convention, and observation standard. |
What Counts and What Does Not Count
Enter only the exact Hollow Body Hold test described in the checklist. The examples below separate that test from common substitutions that use different loading, assistance, range, position, equipment, or counting rules.
| Attempt or variation | Enter it? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hollow Body Hold | Yes | This is the exact exercise when it follows every start, range or position, counting or timing, assistance, and stop rule above. |
| hollow rock, dead bug, tuck hold | No | These are nearby movements or positions, but they are not the same test. |
| weighted hollow hold, plate-loaded hollow hold, band-resisted hollow hold | No | Added resistance changes the exercise and the meaning of the score. |
| bent-knee hollow regression, tuck hold, hands-under-hips hold | No | External support changes the work required and makes the result noncomparable. |
| low-back-arched hold, shoulders-down hold, feet-on-floor hold | No | Altered range, position, resets, or counting can inflate the entered result. |
| benches, straps, bands | No | A different setup can change support, leverage, range, or difficulty. |
When a call is borderline, stop the time at the first break in the required position and enter only the valid duration. That keeps Hollow Body Hold results useful for comparison over time. Apply the same checklist every time you retest.
Elite Hollow Body Hold Strength Levels
Elite begins when your continuous valid hold time meets or exceeds the Elite threshold for the applicable sex and age group. Because the tier boundary is lower-inclusive, a score exactly equal to the threshold counts as Elite. The table shows every public Elite starting point for Hollow Body Hold.
| Reference group | Elite starts at |
|---|---|
| Men age 20-29 | 2:00 valid hold time |
| Men age 30-39 | 1:55 valid hold time |
| Men age 40-49 | 1:40 valid hold time |
| Men age 50-59 | 1:25 valid hold time |
| Men age 60+ | 1:05 valid hold time |
| Women age 20-29 | 1:40 valid hold time |
| Women age 30-39 | 1:35 valid hold time |
| Women age 40-49 | 1:25 valid hold time |
| Women age 50-59 | 1:10 valid hold time |
| Women age 60+ | 55 sec valid hold time |
An Elite result still has to follow the same Hollow Body Hold Testing Rules; if the attempt became invalid earlier, use only the valid time reached before the first break in the required position. After Elite, the calculator can show a separate hold-time stretch target when one is available, but that target does not replace or redefine the Elite threshold.
Milestones and Next Targets
Your next Hollow Body Hold target is the first strength-level threshold above your current valid hold time. The calculator uses your selected sex, age group, bodyweight, and one continuous valid hold time, subtracts your result from that threshold, and shows the exact additional valid seconds needed.
The table shows the complete jumps between level starting points for the age 20–29 reference group; your personal gap may be smaller because it begins from your current result rather than the previous level’s minimum.
| Progression | Men age 20-29 | Women age 20-29 |
|---|---|---|
| Novice → Intermediate | +0:25 | +0:20 |
| Intermediate → Advanced | +0:30 | +0:25 |
| Advanced → Elite | +0:40 | +0:35 |
Related Tools
| Related tool | What it measures and why it’s useful |
|---|---|
| Forearm Plank Hold Strength Standards | Hold a strict forearm plank for one continuous valid attempt. This gives you a simple anti-extension core-endurance benchmark that is easy to repeat. |
| Sit Ups Strength Standards | Count full-range strict sit-ups completed in one continuous set. This provides a familiar trunk-flexion endurance benchmark for tracking repeatable rep capacity. |
| Hanging Leg Raise Strength Standards | Record controlled hanging leg raises completed without swing or shortened range. This tests trunk and hip-flexor endurance while grip and hanging control remain part of the task. |
| Inverted Row Strength Standards | Track strict horizontal-pulling reps to benchmark back and arm endurance. The result helps you see whether pulling strength keeps pace with your other bodyweight exercises. |
| Glute Bridge Hold Strength Standards | See how long you can hold the top of a strict glute bridge. This gives you a repeatable hip-extension endurance benchmark with minimal equipment. |