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Strength, Disrespect and Fear

By admin on October 23, 2008 in Handstands, Presses & Pushup, Tumbling

Going to answer a few more questions today.

“I can do a handstand for about 15 seconds now and I can also walk on my hands a bit thanks to this website but when I try to press into a handstand my arms die on me. is they any good exercises that will help me build up to a handstand press. btw this site rules lol”
Mellon

First off your welcome for the help. It really doesn’t take much strength to balance on the hands, but pressing up into a handstand is another matter. And of course, the amount of strength you need depends on the type of press you’re doing.

There are several ways to build up your strength. Really any manner of pressing. Any exercise that strengthens your arms and shoulders can be beneficial.

It’s a good idea to make sure you are strong enough before really working on the skills of doing handstand presses. If your max is somewhere around your weight you aren’t going to get much practice as you’ll be too fatigued.

“Well, I’ve been following your videos for a little while, particularly the handstand videos. The video to learn to do a handstand was what got me started and I’ve been doing them since. “Unfortunately, I don’t understand why, but I get a lot of disrespect when I do them in public places (I.E. School (High School Senior)), but I’m still sticking to them proudly. Handstands for life, thanks for ultimately opening me up to the art of them!”
Greggory

Yeah, kids can be cruel. But don’t worry about what others think. After all is said and done, they’ll likely be jealous of the skills you’ve gained from your practice.

“How can you do a handstand if your scared.”
Quade

Get over the fear. How do you get over the fear? it’s a matter of working at it step-by-step doing easier skills until you feel comfortable with the handstand.

That’s why I created the Secrets of the Handstand Quickstart Guide. To give you the lead-up stunts that will build your abilities so that you can handle the handstand.

I didn’t think of it before but these same skills are going to get you comfortable being upside down and ease your way up to the handstand.

Often times its just a matter of doing it. I was at the beach the other day and decided to do some backflips which I hadn’t done in over a month. That period of time had made me a little rusty and brought back a bit of fear in me.

What did I do? I warmed up with a few back handsprings and other drills then moved on to the back flips. No problem after that.

And if you want to find out more about these and other tumbling drills get your copy of Tumbling Illustrated.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Joe Nordquest

By admin on October 17, 2008 in Bridging, One Hand

Joe Nordquest was a classic strongman back in the early part of last century. He was the brother of ‘The Young Sandow’ Alfred Nordquest.

Joe Nordquest Hand Balancer

Here are some of his hand balancing exploits. From Klein’s Bell in November of 1931:

Joe Nordquest performed a one hand stand and with the free hand lifted a 100 pound dumb bell off the floor and held the balance. He also has on numerous occasions done 28-30 hand stand press ups in succession on the floor.

From David Willoughby’s The Super Athletes:

He later put on some weight moving up from 168 pounds to 190. Even at this size he was capable of jumping off a 30 inch table onto the floor while staying in a handstand.

Joe Nordquest Shoulder Bridge

Here he is pictured pressing 388 in the shoulder bridge. This was before the bench press ever came to be. You think his success and strength in hand balancing helped him get to this level?

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Straight Arm Press Tips

By admin on October 10, 2008 in Flexibility & Contortion, Presses & Pushup

Time to answer some of your questions again. What with the new site and new releases I’ve let some of these pile up.

Here’s two asking the same thing.

“How do you do a lever up handstand. Starting feet on floor in straddle. Used to be able to do it when I was training 10 years ago-but even then it was a struggle & a skill I lost quickly. There’s got to be a technique I’m missing. can lever down but not up from feet on floor. Wait to hear…”
Chrissie

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing

“I would like to learn how to go into a handstand the way gymnasts usually do by leaning over the hands with legs straight until the feet lift off and the legs hang then lifting up the legs into a sort of planche then straight up. Can you do this and what would be the stages in learning it? Surprisingly, I couldn’t find any information on this on the site.”
Ross

Thanks for asking. With a bit of different language both these questions are asking about the same thing. And that is the straight arm press.

It will be easier if the legs are straddled, but once that becomes easy you can keep them together in the pike position.

This move not only takes strength in the arms, shoulders and abs but a big degree of flexibility as well. You have to get the center of you mass over your hands if you want to have any chance of succeeding. This means your shoulders will come far over your hands.

Chrissie was on to something when she said she could lower down. Work the negative, staying under control and soon you’ll be able to lift up into the handstand.

Another way is to hold a Jack-Knife handstand. When you can hold this position low pressing up into the handstand should be no problem.

Some people have no problem doing this move. Others will have to do tons of work to get it based on there body leverages. If you fall into the later group just keep at it. A bunch of negatives, holds, and isometrics will get you there faster.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. Bob Jones has some big tips for learning this move, found in the Chapter 8 – Pressing Up Into A Handstand of his book.

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The Biggest One Hand Handstand Tip

By admin on October 1, 2008 in One Hand

The one hand handstand is probably the most amazing skill in hand balancing. Sure there are more difficult ones and variations of the move but everyone can understand just how remarkable the one hand handstand is.

If you can hold a one armer you’re doing something right. If you can’t do it, you’re likely dreaming of the one day when you can.

On the following page you’ll find Bob Jones biggest tip for accomplishing this goal. Too many people gloss over this as it seems too simple (myself included).

Tips on the One Hand Handstand

This is just the tip of the iceberg. In fact The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing has not one but two chapters on this one arm balancing.

I received several comments from people who are loving the videos. If you want to add your name to the list you can go directly to the youtube pages and post your comments there. And while you’re at it, give it a good rating for me.

Here’s the videos from the previous three days:
One Hand Handstand
Handstand Pushup Tips
Handstand Shoulder Weaving

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Shoulder Weaving for Strength and Balance

By admin on September 29, 2008 in Handstands, Planche

This little drill has kept popping up in different places. Alright, I get the message. And I hope you do to.

I didn’t really ‘read’ it the first three or four times I read The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing but the fifth was different.

This exercise is going to build your strength and your balancing skills.

If you’ve ever wondered what’s really inside the hand balancing book here’s a sneak peek. Go check it out.

Even if you own the book its worth looking over again. And then put it into practice.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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100-day Handstand Challenge

By admin on September 22, 2008 in Handstands, Uncategorized

September 22nd marks a special day. From here there are exactly 100 days left in the year.

Think about what can you accomplish in 100 days?

Here is my encouragement to set a big goal for the end of the year. Pick one thing and go after it with a fury. One hundred days may seem like a long time but it’ll pass quickly. You can use that time to do the same old thing every day or set a new lofty goal to conquer.

I am issuing a challenge to you who have not yet held a free standing handstand. If you’ve been thinking about starting to give it a try, or have only dabbled in the exercise, now’s the time to go after it full force.

Get my Secrets of the Handstand Quickstart Guide now and by the end of the year you’ll be holding the handstand with ease.

If you follow the system you will get there. I guarantee it.

And if for some reason you don’t succeed in just over three months, you can get a full refund. I’ll even let you keep the guide for giving it a shot.

It takes work to master the handstand, but more than that it takes an intelligent program to get there.

The Secrets of the Handstand Quickstart Guide has that intelligent program. The handstand itself is too difficult to do in the beginning. You need other exercises that lead up to it to build your strength and skill.

You’ll also get this month’s Acrobat Accelerator featuring some of the best drills and exercises I’ve learned from an accomplished gymnast.

If you can’t do the handstand take me up on my challenge.

If you already can choose your own goal and use this last 100 days of 2008 to make a difference.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. A new version of The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing will be in stock soon. Just placed a large order at the printers today after seeing the proof copy. I’ll be holding something of a special event to celebrate the re-launch.

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Hand Balancing at an Airport

By admin on September 17, 2008 in Handstands

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU1WPB2a6kU]

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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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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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