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Benefits of the Basics

By admin on March 24, 2010 in Handstands

I got an email the other day from a student who had purchased the Hand Balancing Mastery Course.

I’ve started dreaming about holding handstands, which for me is good sign that I’ll eventually get it, LOL!

I teach a Crossfit-style strength and conditioning class at a Krav Maga school in Dallas, and I’ve added 1 minute of crow stands to our warm-up every time. It is working nicely. A few students have remarked how their striking has improved with the enhanced wrist/forearm strength. People are kicking up into handstands against the wall, and showing progress in their handstand pushups. I have a yoga instructor as a student who has some amazing handbalancing skill, so everyone sees what is possible. Granted it will be even more impressive when I get it at 225lbs! My class is kick butt and your handbalancing course is one of my secret weapons.

Best regards,
Jon Burroughs

Crowstand AKA Frogstand or Knees-on-Elbows Stand

Thanks Jon. Its amazing what even the most basic hand balancing skills can do for people.

Not everyone may want to be able to do a one handed handstand or a planche, but I think everyone should be capable of holding a handstand at least against a wall. And with a bit more practice the free standing handstand is not too difficult.

The benefits of working on these basic skills make them worth it for virtually anyone.

This is something I discussed in the teleseminar with Jim Bathurst last night.

You need to choose how far you want to go. You can reach the basic skills in a relatively short time, especially if you train smart. It also won’t take much time. But if you want to go for the advanced skills, realize that you’re going to have to prove your dedication. (The proper roadmap and coaching on these is now next to essential.)

For the basics or advanced skills I try to offer the best resources available. There may even be some more personal help available soon…

Stay tuned for that and I’ll also be providing a few more takeaways from that call soon.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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High One Arm to Arm Handstand

By admin on March 8, 2010 in Hand-to-Hand, One Hand

Rafael's High One Arm to Arm

Here is another great picture from Rafael Guerrero. It’s an interesting hand to hand balance. Similar to a one arm handstand but at still quite different.

Regardless, its a balance you don’t see very often. For those of you who are experienced hand balancers give this one a try if you have the partner to do it.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing

P.S. Don’t forget the Free Success in Hand Balancing Teleseminar I’m doing this Wednesday night with Beast Skills’ Jim Bathurst. Sign up and ask your questions here.

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Handstand Muscles

By admin on February 23, 2010 in Handstands

Today’s post will answer another question from the many I regularly receive.

“Hey I am Stefan I am now starting out with doing the handstand, but my question is what muscles are involved in doing the handstand and what exercises can I do to improve it?”

Let’s start with the first question, what muscles are involved in the handstand? And the answer is all of them.

When you’re starting out you need to be able to keep your body tight if you want to have any chance of staying upside down. This means every muscle must be engaged from the tips of your fingertips down to your toes.

This doesn’t mean you flex everything as hard as possible but you must stay tight. As you advance you’ll learn how to use only as much tension as is needed and no more. This allows you to go for longer periods. But to start out with squeeze all those muscles, arms, back, abs, legs and even the toes.

Now onto the second question. There is a rule of thumb in training. In order to get good at something you must do that thing. So if you want to get good at handstands you must do a lot of handstands. There is no way around this.

This is true but in some cases you’re better off working on easier skills. Do skills that are easier then the handstand itself that build up the same abilities that the handstand needs. For the handstand these include a wall handstand, frogstand, forearm stand, and headstand. All the details and proper progression for this is laid out in the Secrets of the Handstand Quickstart DVD.

Work on easier skills that lead up to the harder ones. For anything else in hand balancing check out the Hand Balancing Mastery Course.

As an analogy, if you wanted to learn the piano you wouldn’t start out with the Rach 3 but instead focus on scales and simple songs first. This concept holds true for all skills you desire to build.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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One Arm Handstand Lead-Up Stunt

By admin on February 12, 2010 in One Hand

The One Arm Handstand

Today I’ll be giving you a tip towards working on a one arm handstand. I’ve been doing this hand balancing skill a lot lately.

Professor Orlick lists it as one of the lead-up stunts to the one arm handstand. And this one utilizes both arms. What is it? It’s the handstand done on the fists.

Now how does this help with the one arm handstand? As explained in How to do the One Hand Handstand:

Handstand on Fists

“Now, lean forward and very carefully kick your feet up into the handstand position. Do this easily and gently because your base will be even smaller than before and you won’t have the use of your fingertips to help hold you up. If you kick too hard you are liable to topple right over. At first, the weight of your body resting on your knuckles will probably hurt but just grin and bear it for soon you will get used to it. Once again be sure to stretch up as high as you can and lock-out at the elbows and shoulders and point your toes up toward the ceiling. The position is shown quite clearly to the right in No. 22. Like the others, this too is a fine lead-up stunt so keep it up until you master it.”

The reason this can help move you toward the one arm handstand is that you’ll get use to balancing on a smaller base of support. You just can’t apply the hand pressure you can in a normal handstand when you’re on your fists. A small amount of wrist pressure can be used but you must learn to keep your body stable and balance from the shoulders.

Mixed with other lead-up stunts and the proper progression this will help you eventually reach the one arm handstand. For much more check out the Hand Balancing Mastery Course.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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More Questions Answered

By admin on January 25, 2010 in Handstands, One Hand

I figured I’d dive into the email file and answer a few questions today.

“I’ve been working on the one armed handstand pushup and have gotten one armed handstand planks. Do you have any tips for faster progression with the one armed handstand pushup. I’m at partial ROM at the moment.”
Jesse

First off congratulations Jesse, you are much further along then most everyone, including myself.

I can’t give you my personal experience as I haven’t got to that point yet. But I can offer what others have said will work.

The basics of progressing from two hands to one would be to use your off hand less and less. You can do this by raising it on an object or just using less pressure (like going on to the fingertips. This way your ‘working’ arm must do more work.

For more on the one hand handstand pushup I recommend you check out the book Convict Conditioning by a man who was able to work up to this awesome move. You can read my full Convict Conditioning review here.

“I only started hand balancing because I thought it will make me taller??? I’m 16 and 5’9 will I be 6 ft if I do hand balancing???”
Naqib

This is the first time I got this question. And its interesting. Does hand balancing make you taller? Probably not. Hand balancing and inversion can offer many benefits and keep the spine straight and aligned. This probably won’t make you taller but it certainly won’t make you shorter. Considering that you’re young its likely that you’ll still keep growing.

“I have been practicing handstands for 3 years. I probably practiced it the wrong way because I can barely hold it for 5 seconds. What can I do to extend the life of my handstands?”
Brian

Don’t mean to be harsh but yes you must be doing something wrong. It took me about a year to work up to thirty seconds and I think that was too long!

You must be neglecting something basic like keeping the body tight. Without seeing you do a handstand I can’t advise you better than that. No matter what it is though, I encourage you to revisit the lead-up stunts as described in the Secrets of the Handstand Quick Start Guide.

Sir I am practicing yoga since 1 & 1/2 years. I can do difficult postures excluding this handstand. In yoga all boys generally perform curved Handstand instead of straight Handstand. Sir I have one question, What is the role of our back while performing handstand? Is it responsible for balancing Or Handstand is only depends on power in our hands? Also I am 20 year old. I listened that age is one of the barrier in practicing the handstand. Is it true? If possible Please tell me sir, at what age you have started the Handstand?
Aniruddha

Whether you have a straight or curved handstand the back is not involved in the balance. IT is used to keep you stable, but you do not arch more or less in order to stay balanced. Balancing comes from the hands and also the shoulders. (For beginners I recommend keeping the shoulders immobile and focusing on the hands.)

As for age there’s a few things going on. Kids are better off at gaining skills. They have more myelin which allows them to gain skills quickly. And by starting early you have more time to build your skill. (Full details on this can be found on the Skill and How to Build It CD found in the Hand Balancing Mastery Course.)

They also weigh less and are closer to the ground. So yes, younger people are much better off at hand balancing. But age is no barrier. You can become good, even great, if you’re dedicated.

That’s enough questions for today. Pay attention to the next post for something special. Until then…

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Planche Progression Video

By admin on January 20, 2010 in Planche

The planche is one of hand balancing’s most advanced moves. In this video you’ll discover one tip on planche progression.

This is just one of four methods that is included in the Hand Balancing Mastery Course. Be sure to check that out for many more details on not just planche progression but so much more.

Planche Progression Video

Even beginners can get started working on the tuck planche. Once that’s stable its just a matter of opening up the hips more and more each time.

But don’t think you’ll master this skill overnight. It takes tremendous strength all across the body.

For more details on this be sure to check out this other post on planche progression.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Gymnastic Handstand

By admin on January 8, 2010 in Flexibility & Contortion, Handstands

The gymnastic handstand or straight handstand is a more difficult move then the natural or curved handstand. For that reason I believe a beginner should work on the curved handstand first and once they become proficient at that then they can move onto the straight handstand.

Working on the straight handstand will take a good bit of dedication as you must learn to maintain a straight body while upside-down, something that certainly doesn’t come natural. As with any move its best to learn it in the easiest possible way first. For that reason we go to the wall.

Gymnastic Handstand

When working on the gymnastic handstand it is better to face the wall with your body rather then have your back to it. This makes it easier to get into the straight body position. You can cartwheel into position or walk your feet up the wall.

Once you are in the handstand get your hands as close to the wall as possible. Stick your head through your arms. This alone will help your back to stop curving. While keeping the arms locked push through with your chest to open up the shoulders. If this is difficult you may need to work on shoulder flexibility.

Another key part is the lower body. You want to maintain what is known in gymnastics as a hollow body position. That is you tuck your pelvis in. Think as if you were trying to reach your tail bone to your navel and shorten that distance. You may need to practice this position while not in a handstand if it is unfamiliar to you.

Once you have a good position hold for time against the wall. Work up to 2 minutes for multiple sets. If you can do this you have good endurance not just to hold the handstand but to keep your position while you do it. At that point the gymnastic handstand should feel natural to you.

The next step is to transition to freestanding. Instead of just kicking up out in the open start in the straight handstand against the wall and come off a little bit to find your balance. But that will have to be an article for another time…

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Biggest Hand Balancing Tip

By admin on January 7, 2010 in Handstands

I was hand balancing for a long time before I realized this tip. And when I did I immediately improved my abilities.

We’re talking about almost doubling the amount of time I could hold a handstand. Being able to do multiple complete pirouette turns versus falling after just turning 180 degrees.

Biggest Tip for Handstands

By paying attention to the furthest point from where you are balancing (i.e. your toes) you’ll be able to correct any shift in your balance before its too late.

To really drive this home do a little experiment with me. Go ahead and try a handstand while putting all your attention on your hands.

Now try it while paying attention to your feet.

After you’ve done that report your results by commenting below.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Recent Results

By admin on January 4, 2010 in Handstands

A little while back I told you I was getting back into a regular practice of hand balancing. Well, its been a couple weeks and despite holiday craziness I’m happy to report great results.

I quickly did the lead-up stunts found in the Secrets of the Handstand Quick Start DVD before jumping right into the handstand (just like I recommend to anyone starting out). After I hit my goals there I moved on to another series of exercises.

And about that wrist pain I’ve been having? I’m doing something new that is blowing that out of the water. I’ve got a bit more experimentation and research to do before I report on that later.

One of my main goals this month was to hit a 60 second freestanding handstand again. Guess what? I did 63 seconds this morning. That puts me ahead of schedule.

I’ll be telling you a bit more about my training, my goals and how I’m going after them soon.

It looks like this whole email is about what’s coming soon, so I’ll end it by saying there’s two new videos coming later this week.

One is on the biggest tip I can give you for hand balancing success.

The other is on what to do if you want to achieve a straight handstand.

And soon the best resource, short of a personal coach, will be available to anyone who wants to MASTER hand balancing.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Planche Progression

By admin on November 7, 2009 in Planche

Here you’ll find tips on planche progression.

“I’m 21 years ( physically strong ) I do need to get into Planche. Can you advice me on something to start with ???”
Kenji

I have not built myself up to doing the planche. Haven’t really worked on it much.

But I can give you a variety of drills and methods to build it up, proven by a number of other people who have had success. The basic planche progression is to increase the leverage of the movement little bit by little bit.

That is going from a tucked position to a straddle and finally a complete planche. When you get good at one position, building the strength and skill to do it, you move onto the next.

I first learned about this method from Coach Sommer. In his article below you’ll get many more details on this planche progression. Plus it also covers the front lever.

Check it out here.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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