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“1 Min Tip”: Acrobatic Attributes: A-Frame Leadups

By Jon Magno on February 22, 2016 in Acrobatics, Flexibility & Contortion, Hand Balancing, Handstands, Mobility, Uncategorized

Hey Guys! In today’s post, I’m going to be expanding on the A-frame position. Each move in the GMB Elements program works on multiple attributes that one needs to develop for acrobatics.

Specifically today, I’ll be talking about how the A-frame teaches one to utilize the hip while either walking up or kicking up while utilizing the wall!

In the first position, drive up from your hips and try to align your hips above your shoulders. This will make it easier to get into the handstand than creating an arc from your feet to the wall.

If you utilize the same hip drive in the reverse wall handstand, you can create an angle where you can fully extend your legs and really stabilize your body.

Check out the full video below!

Also if you are looking to really develop your foundation in any acrobatic endeavor check out the GMB Elements program here: https://lostartofhandbalancing.com/go/elements/

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AcroYoga Beginner Tutorial – Therapeutic Flying

By Jon Magno on February 15, 2016 in Acrobatics, Flexibility & Contortion, Gymnastics, Hand Balancing, Hand-to-Hand, Mobility, Yoga

Hey Everyone! You know that there have been quite a few posts on Acroyoga this month. With it being Valentines (and Deadpool for those of you who caught my Saturday email) month we felt it would be great to showcase a different type of hand balancing with a partner. In today’s post, Noga is going to go over a more therapeutic side of acroyoga involving thai massage!

The first position has the base posting on the hips and shoulders of the flyer. They then bend their knees independently or together to open up the flyer’s hips. The flyer should stay relaxed the entire time.

Up next are flyer circles. The base will take the flyer into forward and back circular pattern to open up the shoulder and hips with increasing leverage.

In the next position, Noga runs her flyer through a spinal twist to gain an inverted thoracic stretch.

Another stretch is to have the flyer elongate their spine while the base lengthens their position from the ground,

Noga goes through many more positions in the video that you can catch below!

One last thing! Flexibility and core stabilization is key for both the flyer and the base. So don’t forget that Logan and I have a special February deal for the advanced bridging course. Increase your core strength and mobility by going here!

Stay Inverted!
-Coach Jon

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Acrobatic Attributes: A GMB Elements Review

By Jon Magno on February 12, 2016 in Acrobatics, Gymnastics, Hand Balancing, Handstands, Mobility, Other Skills, Parkour, Tumbling, Uncategorized

So, we’ve been talking a lot about foundation recently. Especially on how to get your body accustomed to all types of 3d movement. It can be scary, I won’t lie. Its a constant cycle, but after the initial work gets easier like the progress from walking, to running, to sprinting. Take myself for example, when I started on this journey of movement I was just like how most of you probably were in the beginning. NO IDEA what to do or which direction to take. Even with all the quick info out there, its hard to pull everything together in an easy to follow manner. Luckily you’ve got people like Logan who’ve done the hard work and can help you reach that level that you want to achieve.

The work is consistent but its a gratifying journey. The reason I’m talking about this is because i want to open you up to a way of making this body skill passion easier. As you know, our friends over at Gold Medal Bodies have been at the body skill game for multiple years. In their big pot of experience and talents, they’ve narrowed down the necessary attributes needed to develop any acrobatic skill. This information is compiled together in their Elements Program. Which we use of inspiration for our evolving outlook on handstand and hand balancing development.

I’ve always been a person about simplicity and the Elements Program accomplishes this by having you focus on 3 movement patterns in a progressive fashion over the course of 7 weeks. Even after a few days, I began to understand the value of the information. Although not just myself; my own clients have benefited with their own hip mobility and stabilization, which for some of them has been 2 years of work. Every piece of information is meticulously detailed and compliments each other.

As I said, the program is broken down into 7 weeks with 6 days of training. The main goal is to build necessary strength and conditioning, but more importantly to understand your body. As the weeks go by, Ryan and the GMB team start adding more tweaks as well as give you the guidance to work on your own free flow floor work.

If you’ve never been inverted or have never tried any acrobatic feat, be sure to pick up the GMB Elements Program. I can’t recommend it enough!

Stay Inverted!
-Coach Jon

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AcroYoga Beginner Tutorial – AcroYoga poses (with instructions)

By Jon Magno on February 10, 2016 in Hand-to-Hand, Uncategorized, Yoga

In today’s post, Noga goes over a few different Acro poses that you can do with your partner. Its going to take a lot of coordination, flexibility, and stabilization to put them together so make sure you have a comfortable foundation before you get started!

The first Pose is the Bird to Full Bow. As you are going through the pose, be sure to keep your arms extended in case your flyer loses balance during the transition.

Next up is the Throne to Mermaid Pose.

You can also get more detailed info on these as well as catch the other poses Nataraj and High Flying Whale by watching the clip below!

Don’t forget guys, we’ve got a great deal on the advanced bridging program this month. If you’re looking to really increase your flexibility, check it out here!

Stay Inverted!
-Coach Jon

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1 Min Tip: Acrobatic Attributes – Shoulder Opener

By Jon Magno on February 8, 2016 in Acrobatics, Flexibility & Contortion, Hand Balancing, Mobility, Uncategorized

Hey Guys! Here’s the next update to our Acrobatic Attributes series of videos to help give you a better foundation! One of the keys to that foundation is to have loose muscles that can react and move in 3d. The Shoulder Opener Stretch is a great way to open up your shoulders and increase mobility to your posterior side while up in an inverted position!

The Shoulder Opener is a great way to open up your rhomboids, traps, scapula, and lats.

One of the key factors to doing the move correctly is to make sure the shoulders stay in a neutral position. You can easily accomplish this by placing your shoulder blades on a wall and using that as a focus point.

Pull one arm across the mid-line of your chest and use the opposing arm to pull it in place. Rather than pressing the arm towards your body, think about pulling your arm to the opposite side.(For my martial arts folks, think sticky hands!)

You can watch the 1 min tip here!

Don’t forget a lot of these great tips were inspired by our friends from Gold Medal Bodies. So if you are looking to really develop your foundational range of motion and flexibility for acrobatics, check out the GMB Focused Flexibility program here: https://lostartofhandbalancing.com/go/focusedflexibility/

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1 Min Tip: Acrobatic Attributes – The A Frame

By Jon Magno on February 5, 2016 in Acrobatics, Gymnastics, Hand Balancing, Uncategorized

Logan and I are always looking for ways to increase the effectiveness of you training with handbalancing and luckily we’ve found a great resource from our friends at Gold Medal Bodies. This new set of videos that were inspired by the wealth of information in their foundational programs will simultaneously develop your strength, mobility, and biomechanics needed for acrobatics.

Here is the first video in the Acrobatic Attributes Series: The A Frame

The A Frame is a great position to work on in order to build your hip and back strength and mobility. It will teach you how to use your hips for lead up stunts like the kick-up wall handstand or the kick-up in general!

You want to start out in an Athletic Stance and then bring your hands to the floor.

How to do the One Hand Handstand by Professor Orlick

One of the key components you want to pay attention to is the straightening of your legs and back while keeping your biceps by your ears and driving your hip up!

Be sure to check out the full 1 min. tip below.

Also if you are looking to really develop your foundation for anything in your acrobatic skillset check out the GMB Elements program here: https://lostartofhandbalancing.com/go/elements/

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AcroYoga Beginner Tutorial – Straddle Bat

By Jon Magno on February 3, 2016 in Acrobatics, Hand Balancing, Hand-to-Hand, Yoga

Ok guys! In today’s post, we’ll be jumping once again into the AcroYoga series with Noga. Today Noga will be working with the Straddle Bat or Back to Bat Position.

She starts out by placing having her flyer rest their glutes on her feet. The flyer leans back and clasps the hands of the base.

Next the flyer releases the hands of the base and stabilizes on the feet.

The flyer slowly leans back and the base creates a new post on the flyers shoulders.

Finally the Flyer becomes inverted into the straddle position. (Note the change in foot placement.)

To get the full tutorial with tips, watch the video below!

Allright guys! As you can see flexibility on the part of the flyer is important for this position. If you want to build a strong back with mobility and stability check out our Advanced Bridging Course here!

Stay Inverted!
-Coach Jon

P.S. Stay tuned for Friday as we’ll be unveiling our new set of 1 min tips that will help you build a strong foundational base for your acrobatic skills!

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AcroYoga Beginner Tutorial – Throne

By Jon Magno on February 1, 2016 in Hand Balancing, Hand-to-Hand, Yoga

In today’s post. We’ll be revisiting Beginner AcroYoga with the The Throne Tutorial. Noga runs you through four different variations as well as spotting tips.

1) The first position is the Basic Mount.

2) Next Noga runs you through the Straddle Throne position.

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing

3) Followed by it’s opposite, the Reverse Throne.

4) Finally, she takes you through your first transition with the Bird to Throne position.

Take a look at the full video below!

If you want to get better at hand balancing with a systematic approach, check out our Handstand Mastery Course!

Stay Inverted!
-Coach Jon

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AcroYoga Beginner Tutorial – Front Bird

By Jon Magno on January 22, 2016 in Acrobatics, Hand Balancing, Hand-to-Hand, Yoga

For today’s post, we’ll be looking at the Front Bird Tutorial. Noga goes over quite a few tips involve safety and balance. Be sure that you are ready we the base, the flyer, and the spotter. Watch the video below to learn your first move!

Increase your flexibility and stabilization with the Tiger Bend.

Stay Inverted!
-Coach Jon

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Happy Hump day and what would you like!?

By Jon Magno on January 20, 2016 in Acrobatics, Gymnastics, Hand Balancing, Handstands, Uncategorized

Happy Hump Day everybody! As you all know we have been working hard making Lost Art of Hand Balancing bigger and better! A part of that process is in seeing what you guys are interested in. Which tips you found the most benefits in and also what you would like to see in the future. So, with that said, we’d appreciate it if you send us a shout and let us know what YOU WANT!

Stay Inverted!
-Coach Jon

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