A tourniquet instead of a cure. How Hannibal King became the king of floor exercise

Millions of people all over the world look up to Hannibal For King, the guru of vorkout with the big name, but the king of the tourniquet himself has never sought popularity. For more than 20 years he has been improving his skills every day, throwing himself new tough challenges. And the real fame to Hannibal came after 30. One day someone posted clips of his amazing workouts on YouTube, deciding that the world needed to know how tough this man was. The world found out and came to love it.

Training without a purpose

A dark-skinned boy from New York’s Queens neighborhood owes his unusual name to the great African warlord Hannibal. Father from childhood accustomed his sons to sports. The youngest, Hannibal, boxed and played American soccer, but the coaches did not see much talent in the boy. His love for tourniquets did not appear at once either. His older brother became addicted to outdoor exercises while serving time in prison, and after his release he kept the useful habit and began to involve Hannibal in training. Vorkout guru recalls that at first he practiced through force, but gradually got involved and could not live a day without push-ups and pull-ups.

After a while, his brother stopped practicing, but it didn’t matter to Hannibal. Fascination with training on the bar and bars so absorbed the guy that he dropped out of school and fully focused on sports. He did not set himself any professional goals, but just two or three times a day performed exhausting one and a half hour workouts.

From a homeless shelter to world fame

For almost 10 years Hannibal lived on unemployment benefits and often slept in homeless shelters. The short, lean athlete preferred to train alone and did not want to compete with anyone but himself. According to Hannibal, street training helped him cope with depression and find inner peace. He practiced in any weather and believed that the tourniquet was the best cure for any illness. Every day the guy challenged himself and became stronger and tougher than he was yesterday.
At the same time to the name Hannibal was added the pseudonym For King, in which the athlete encoded the endless pursuit of perfection.

Gradually to the standard exercises – pull-ups, push-ups from the bars and from the floor – added more and more complex elements, including from gymnastics. Hannibal fundamentally did not do weightlifting and did not sit on diets to gain mass, but years of daily training on the bar made his body phenomenally pumped. Without knowing it, Hannibal Fore King became one of the founders of street vorkout and calisthenics – the direction of training with the weight of his own body without a barbell and exercise equipment.

Rumors about the unusual athlete walked all over New York, and dozens of people gathered to watch his training. Nevertheless, Hannibal still did not monetize his talent and at the age of 29 did not have a penny. All that changed thanks to his buddy, who videotaped Fore King’s workout and posted the video on YouTube. Hannibal’s exercises and the result he achieved made a huge impression on users, and the little-known African-American tourniquet man overnight gained hundreds of thousands of followers in different parts of the world.

Training principles of the world’s vorkauter

For King’s training is considered a tough test for any master of vorkout. Working out an average of 3 hours a day without a day off for more than 20 years, Hannibal has mastered the most complex elements and brought the technique of their execution to perfection. The man prefers circuit training, within which he does 10-15 repetitions of each exercise. In this case, the number of circles is not limited – Hannibal trains to exhaustion and works continuously for at least an hour. During such a workout he performs:

• 275 push-ups from the floor;
• 70 pull-ups on the bar with a reverse grip;
• 70 pull-ups on the bar with a straight grip;
• 165 push-ups on the bars.

Between rounds, the athlete improvises by performing more difficult exercises, such as various hangs and exits.

For beginners, Hannibal King advises focusing on basic exercises. His workout for entry-level athletes looks like this:

• 5 pull-ups on the bar;
• 10 push-ups from the floor;
• 5 push-ups on the bars.

This cycle should also be performed for an hour.

What is Hannibal For King doing now?

Despite the collapsed popularity of Hannibal Fore King remained true to his philosophy. In 2012, videos with his participation collected more than 20 million views. The unofficial title of king of street vorkout helped Hannibal to improve his financial situation. He began traveling to seminars around the world, giving private lessons and advertising famous brands. Now, one of the founders of vorkout is already 42 years old, he lives in his own house in New York and takes an active part in raising his four children.

Hannibal still trains in a daily regimen and keeps a great shape. And even though new stars have been lit up in the sky of street training, and Fore King is increasingly being called the grandfather of vorkout, this strong-willed athlete with an unusual name has already taken his place in history.