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Handstand Partner Drill for Stronger Shoulders

By admin on September 11, 2008 in Flexibility & Contortion, Handstands, Planche

I asked one of my friends, Max, who competed as a former high-level gymnast to tell me about some of the exercises and drills he and his teammates used to build the strength they required.

You can see check one video of the partner drills he showed here.

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1gHtenxGRA]

This is one of many things that he showed me on that bright, sunny day. While it’s a good one it’s not the best of the bunch.

You can do the same exercise without a partner, which is still good, though you can get more range and work a bit harder with someone’s help.

My favorite drill that Max showed me is one I’m calling the Ultimate Handstand Strengthening Exercise. This one exercise takes you through a wide range of motions and will boost your arm and shoulder strength like you wouldn’t believe.

Unfortunately, it’s a bit to complicated to get into right here.

But the full video is in this month’s Acrobat Accelerator, which you can sign up for here.

If you’re already signed up your issue hit the mail yesterday. There’s plenty of other exercises from working on the straight handstand that gymnasts use, press handstands and many more.

This is not beginner stuff, but if you’ve been in the game a little you can start using these drills to build your strength and skill.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. You can also get one of several hand balancing products that offer a one month trial to Acrobat Accelerator.

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Hand Balancing Stands Pre-Production Offer

By admin on September 9, 2008 in Uncategorized

The wood chips and sawdust flying. Loud noise as wood is sanded down and bolts are screwed in. A couple hours of work from buying the supplies to a finished product. Overall a successful rebuilding of the hand balancing stands.

Hand Balancing Stands

It’s not exactly done yet. There’s a couple changes that need to be made to the base but this is close to the final product in design and functionality.

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing

The big improvement was in making the stands at changeable heights. Currently, there is 5” and 14” possibilities. It’s a snap to change between them too. And depending on what exercises you’re doing you can change it up.

I’ve been having lots of fun using them off-set to work on the one hand handstand. Keeping one low and one high instead of at the same height.

The blocks where your hands will rest are made of quality oak, sanded down to a smooth finish and with all the edges removes to permit maximum comfort.

Another big advantage is that these are highly portable. The stands can be disassembled to save room. This also means shipping is not expensive, even overseas.

Having figured out the cost of materials (which was unfortunately more than expected) and the time and effort that goes into making the stands I am now making them available on the site.

This is a pre-production offer. If you order now the stands will be manufactured and shipped out near the end of the month at the latest. Possibly sooner.

For that reason you can order now at a discount as the initial supply is made. They’re $80 if you order now in this one-time offer. If you wait to order until they’re in full production they’ll probably be closer to $100 per pair.

Along with every order will be a guide to using the stands for the best benefit. Even including how you can make more and different heights available.

If you were one of the many who were clamoring to get your hands on these stands (no pun intended) now is your chance. Click here.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. A few people expressed interest in a how-to-build-your-own guide. Those instructions may come along with the guide on how to use them and made available separately later on. But unless you have the tools necessary to do the job and the time to do it, this is the best and only deal you’ll find.

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Planche Training

By admin on September 6, 2008 in Planche

The quality of the questions coming in has, for the most part improved.

Here’s a great one on planche training from Josh,

“hey ive just learnt about planche a few weeks back and have looked up many ways of progression towards a full planche, i know it is not an over night thing but what would you recommend to do for progression? i can just hold a tuck planche for about 10 seconds but im not very far off the ground”

There are a few different ways you can go about this.

I’ll give you one of the best ways to do it. I was just re-reading The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing and Bob Jones talks a good amount about it on the chapter about the Planche.

The planche is such a difficult feat to perform because of the enormous leverage against the shoulders. On top of this you have to keep your body completely straight with no support except by the arms.

How do you work up to this? By making it easier. And that means lessening the leverage.

Here’s two ways you can do that. Spread the legs as wide as you can. And bending the knees. Combine these to lower the leverage even more.

Even like this though, most people will not be able to hold a planche position. It still requires great shoulder and upper body strength.

So work it as far as you can go. Lower from a handstand as far into the planche as you can, with the bent and spread legs.

Work this over time and you’ll build the strength you need.

If you want more on the planche get the book here. Plus you’ll learn what a true planche looks like and why most people are doing it wrong.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Underbalancing, Learning By Yourself, and Ab Training

By admin on September 4, 2008 in Handstands

Going to answer more questions today.

Before I begin let me once again advise that when you send in your questions to to give details and don’t just ask a broad question like ‘how do I do a handstand?’

Before you ask anything look around the site, especially the articles section to see if your answer can be found there. And please make your questions readable. I can’t answer if I don’t know what you’re talking about

“when i am doin my handstand i will kick up but i am havin trouble stayin balanced. how to i keep balanced if i keep falling forward so i am facing the same way as i was before i kicked up”
Alicia

It sounds like you are underbalancing Alicia. You need to keep the balance on your hands more towards the front and your body toward overbalancing. I explain why in depth in this article on scientific hand balancing.

“how do you learn how to do a handstand by yourself”
Felicity

Without any help the journey is going to be hard. So you should read the articles on the site or get instructions on how to do it. This will get you started – How to do a Handstand Article – and this will take your further – Secrets of the Handstand Quickstart Guide.

Anyway you do it though it’ll take a lot of practice. Be persistent.

One last question.

“I know that having toned abs helps you with balancing when doing a handstand, and since crunches don’t really work, I wanted to know if you have any exercises that I can do, that work very well. Exercises that don’t require an exercise ball, or anything like that.”
Kristina

Toned abs don’t help with a handstand, strong abs do. There are tons of possibilities. Here’s a few basic exercises that require no equipment at all.

V-ups (or any kind of sit-up)
Arms Extended Plank or Pushups
Holding an L-sit
Leg Raises and Thrusts

The important thing is to work your abs with not just high rep exercises. Do difficult ones where you can’t do more than 5 reps or a 5 second hold.

My favorite course on building strong abdominals like a gymnast is called just that, Gymnastic Abs, put out by my friend Ed. It’s a series of progressions from real basic exercises to difficult ones used by gymnasts. And you know what they can do.

If you want strong abs click here.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Hand Balancing Stands Video

By admin on September 2, 2008 in Uncategorized

As it stands right now there are over two to one people for making the hand balancing stands.

Firstly, I want to thank everyone who took the time to reply to my last email whether you were for or against the idea.

Besides the results there was lots of confusion. A number of people thought I was talking about parallettes, which is not the case. I own and use a pair of parallettes but this is different from the hand balancing stands.

Obviously, instead of trying to tell you what they are I’m going to show you.

There’s a video of me talking a bit about the stands as well as putting them into use. Then you have the straight up photo.

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiBkpPwDia0]

So once again if you didn’t already answer, whether you‘d be interested in getting a pair of hand balancing stands similar to these. You can comment below or shoot an email to [email protected].

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Hand Balancing Stands?

By admin on August 28, 2008 in Handstands

Thanks to Harley who came up with names of the athletes of those pictured in the ringless Victorian. Tibbett and Armand Bouley.

Always good to give credit were it’s due.

Now another question I’ve received a number of times over the months. And then you can answer a question of mine.

Where do you get hand balancing stands like the professionals use?

I haven’t seen much on this. Though one time I found a professional stand on an Australian website running for $5995. A bit ridiculous if you ask me. And that didn’t include shipping!

Now most people aren’t even looking for that kind of setup unless they are professionals.

Still, I’ve been talking to a couple of people who know how to build things about coming up with something usable and inexpensive.

But before I pursue this any further I’d like to know if it’s really worth the effort.

And in case you’re wondering why people use these stands. It’s actually easier to balance on stands once you get use to them. They allow a little more action and you can grip better. Plus they just have a certain feel to them. In addition they give you an added range of motion for certain feats.

So are you interested in a pair of portable hand balancing stands?

Just post a comment below. Or send an email to [email protected]. A simple yes or no would do, but if there’s something in particular you’re looking for let me know.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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The Ringless Victorian

By admin on August 26, 2008 in Rings

Victorian Hand Balance

A big thanks to Chris for sending this picture in after last weeks email on the Victorian.

Who needs rings when you’ve got a partner? This is basically the Victorian held in a partner balance.

Notice how far the false grip is used. A necessity as every little bit helps the extreme leverage in this feat.

Having not tried this feat I can’t say for sure but I imagine the partner’s hands add a bit more support than the rings would.

And for a perfect Victorian the hands would have to be brought down a little more towards the hips.

Not to take anything away from this acrobatic feat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything else like this one.

Which brings up another point. If you’ve got any remarkable hand balancing photos send them to [email protected] and there’s a good chance they make an appearance up on the blog.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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You've got Questions, I've got Answers

By admin on August 23, 2008 in Bridging, Flexibility & Contortion, Handstands, Presses & Pushup, Tumbling

Been working on a new project. Hours of filming straight at a time. It’s rough work doing that much volume but the payoff should be great.

More on that later on, plus a few sneak peak video clips.

Right now, gonna dive into the mailbag to answer a few more of your questions. We got some good ones today.

“Quick question. I’m having trouble going past 30 seconds holding a handstand. My balance is constantly improving, so is strength (i can rattle off 12-15 pressups at a time – sometimes I’ll do 3 sets of 11). Just not getting why I hit a wall around 30 or so seconds in a free handstand. gotta run, Thanks for the great info”
Andy Moose

My first impression is that your hitting a wall because you think you’re hitting a wall.

There is nothing physiologically that changes after the half minute mark. If you can’t break it you just need a few options to work through it.

Set a goal to make 40 seconds. Maybe even visualize yourself doing it. But most importantly believe in your ability to do it. Do not think you’ll fail at 30 but that you can go on to 60 and eventually you will.

“how do you go back into a crab and flip over sucessfuly”
Gabrielle

I put out a video a while back showing how to do a similar move from the bridge position. If you haven’t seen it you can check it out here – Gymnastic Bridge Turn-Over.

The short answer is that it requires strength and flexibility in the shoulders to do this move. You have to be able to post your weight on the one arm while you rotate your body around.

“HI Logan,
A skill that I’m working to regain is the backward rolling summersault. I think I did it as a kid, but it is escaping me now. Any suggestions to implement the back roll without risking neck strain?”
thanks
Jeff

Many people can’t do a backwards roll because it hurts their neck. The problem lies not in the move itself but in weakness.

If you build up your strength this move will not be a problem. In Tumbling Illustrated there’s even a back extension roll up into the headstand without the use of the arms. How’s that for neck strain?

In my opinion the best exercise to strengthen the neck is the wrestler’s bridge. Tried and true. And if you move from a laying down position to the top of the bridge you cover the same angles of pressure you need for the backwards roll.

You can avoid the problem by doing backwards rolls over the shoulder or you can address it and make you neck strong. Your choice.

And if you want to have a really strong neck (when most people don’t even train theirs) stay tuned to what’s coming soon.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Victorian on the Gymnastic Rings

By admin on August 21, 2008 in Rings

Back for a little more Olympic Coverage.

Did you catch the Men’s Gymnastic Rings final the other night?

For anyone who has never mounted a pair of rings its hard to comprehend the difficulty of even basic moves.

But when you have, no matter your skill level or lack there of, you’ll have a greater understanding of what these Olympic athletes are going through.

It’s not just one move they do, but to string several highly difficult strength moves together flawlessly for close to a minute straight. Whew! Gets me tired just thinking about it.

But this Olympics saw something new. (Not 100% sure on this but I believe it was a first for the Olympics.)

That is the Victorian. Also known as an Inverted Maltese Cross.

Once thought to be an impossible move. Essentially it’s lying back so that you’re horizontal to the floor. You hold the rings near your waist with the arms not contacting the body. Kind of like a front lever except that your arms are to your sides instead of out front.

I have to give it to the French here. Their Danny Rodrigues performed the Victorian not once but twice in his routine. It wasn’t perfect but pretty close.

My guess is that in 12 to 20 years it will become a common move in the Men’s gymnastic Rings event at the Olympics.

Danny didn’t score too high overall but it was fun to watch. I’m glad he went for it.

We also had Jordan Jovtchev up once again most likely for his final Olympics. Unfortunately a couple mistakes put him out of the run for any medals.

That’s how it goes in the Olympics. To win you have to be close to flawless.

To get to that level takes years of practice. Hours and hours in the gym training for a few minutes in the spotlight. You probably don’t have aspirations of Olympic Gold but what’s important is to train to get better.

Fortunately for you, you can still have Jordan teach you how to build up the strength and skill in the Ring Strength DVD.

Mastering the Victorian isn’t important. Improving from where you are is. Learning from the best is a big step in the right direction.

Good Luck and Good Ring Training,
Logan Christopher

P.S. If you want crazy bodyweight strength than you should be on the gymnastic rings. If you don’t have a pair you can get the Elite Rings

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Handstand Stunts from the Olympics

By admin on August 19, 2008 in Handstands, Presses & Pushup

Have you been watching as much of the Olympics as I have?

Honestly it’s a bit tiring staying up until the early morning hours since they take place halfway around the world from where I am. But what can I say, they only come around every four years.

And its always a pleasure of mine to watch the best in the world do what they do.

There’s been exciting matches, close calls and comebacks all around. Plus new world records are broken everyday. (Did you see Jamaica’s Usain Bolt on the 100m dash?)

Great events in gymnastics and they aren’t done yet. One problem I have with professional gymnastics is the judging because it’s not perfect. Since it’s done by humans it doesn’t always seem fair. But that’s how it is.

It shouldn’t take away from the pleasure of watching the athletes.

One exercise I’ve been seeing a lot of in the Men’s Floor Routines is a straight arm straddle press from a crucifix position. Also known as a Maltese Press to a Wide Arm Handstand or a Swallow Press to a Japanese Handstand.

Considering this is a D skill it may be out of your range but that doesn’t mean you can’t try the wide handstand itself.

Place your hands wide on the ground, with the hands out and the thumbs pointing forward. Kick-up into position and attempt to hold.

Alternatively you can jump from a normal handstand into the wide handstand. With a little push on the hands slide them outward in position.

Just another variation you can have fun with. And thanks to the Olympics for reminding me of it.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. You need to master the regular handstand before you attempt any variations. Get step-by-step handstand instructions here.

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