Tag Archives | Amount Of Time

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

Comments { 6 }

Straight Arm Pressing Tips

By admin on March 31, 2009 in Flexibility & Contortion, Presses & Pushup

Having safely returned from my trip its time to get back into regular emails to help you go further in your hand balancing and acrobatics. I received a number of excellent questions while I was gone so I figured I’d start there.

“How should your hands look when there on the ground for a handstand?”
Genoman

While it can change up depending on which hand balancing move you’re doing, for the normal handstand you want your hands flat on the ground with the fingers spread as far apart as possible. The middle or index finger should be pointing directly forward.

“I’ve been doing hand balancing for a while now. I’ve developed quite a strong upper body. I do hand-stand push-ups with ease. I kick up successfully more times than not and can hold the balance for a considerable amount of time. That is why I’m so perplexed as to why I cannot even come close to doing any of the stiff armed lever up exercises. In doing exercise #2 in “The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing”, The best I can do is on push-up bars, hold myself with my knees still under me, but when I try and lever up, I barely budged, literally about an inch or so. If I were to do this with bent arms, I do it with ease, same with all lever ups like with split or even straight legs. What makes stiff arm so difficult? What are the muscles being stressed most in a stiff arm lever up and how can one train them to get to do it? I feel I’m not even close to getting anywhere with them. Again, I’m extremely strong in the upper body. Is it possible I’m doing something wrong, or possibly I have neglected to train a certain muscle or muscle group?”

Thanks,
Francis Ford

Straight arm presses are a different beast then bent arm presses. While you are having problems of this sort there are many people that can do straight arm moves but would fall flat in a bent arm press because they lack the strength.

Because of different body leverages the straight arm press may take you some time to get to, where others can do it almost immediately.

The straight arm press, in its various forms, requires strength in different areas as well as flexibility. You have to be able to get your center of mass over your hands. This requires your shoulders to go far out in front.

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing

One method you may want to try is to do a bent arm press except try to bend your arms a little less, and gradually work up to a straight arm press. From the handstand you can do negatives lowering yourself down on straight arms.

Also having someone else to spot you can be a big help. They stand in front of you, your shoulders coming to meet their legs for support, and they assist you by raising your hips as much as you need to do the move.

And lastly I recommend you re-read Chapter 8 on pressing in the book for even more info. Most important is to just keep at it. If you find it difficult, it’ll be that much more satisfying when you finally make it.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. If you haven’t got your copy of The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing you can grab it here.

Comments { 0 }

Handstand Hold for Time

By admin on October 3, 2007 in Handstands

Here is a great way to finish off your workouts whether you are doing just hand balancing or anything else by doing a handstand hold.

Its really simple, too.

Just kick up into a handstand against the wall and hold it there for as long as you can. Try to stretch your toes upward and maintain good posture the whole time.

If you want you can even do a couple sets.

This is great because it will build your endurance in your arms, shoulders, back, everywhere.

As you steadily increase the amount of time you can hold a handstand you will find you get less fatigued when you practice your hand balancing.

It will test your mental toughness too. You can always stay up one more second if you really wanted to. A great way to finish off your training is to leave it all behind.

Good Luck and Good Handbalancing,

Logan Christopher

Comments { 1 }

Make Haste Slowly

By admin on September 14, 2007 in Handstands

If there was a pill that you could take, that would immediately transform you into a world class hand balancer, would you take it?

YES I would! Sadly, there is no such pill.

Becoming great hand balancer requires work. Lots and lots of work.

The problem is that the more you want it and push for it sometimes the farther away it seems.

The worst part of learning any new stunt is the frustration when you just can’t get it right. So you keep on pushing and only get worse it seems.

When you are going after a handstand, and mind you this applies to any trick, as soon as you fall out of balance you may want to kick right back up again. Trying to force the situation will never help.

Whenever this happen take the time to step back. Take a deep breath and think about how you can do better. Don’t over think the process, but analyze your technique and realize if you are doing things correctly.

Now go at it again with optimism.

If you throw yourself into a hand balance you may feel like you can get more work in a shorter amount of time. Perhaps you get one in ten to stick and you feel like you are progressing.

The question to ask yourself is do you want to go about this haphazardly or in the correct manner?

I am hoping you answered with the second option. You need to start slowly in order to make progress in the long run.

Going after the handstand with no prior skills is a hard way to do it. Learning the position and hand control with exercises like the Frog stand and Head Stand will give you two steps in the right direction.

Don’t just go after the One Hand Handstand by getting into a normal handstand and raising one hand off of the floor quickly. Practice handstands with a smaller base of support or with one arm elevated up.

Don’t be too anxious to get to your goal or you are putting obstacles in your own way.

If you needed to cover a distance of 30 feet would you try a broad jump or walk each step at a time?

I am as guilty of this problem as any of you. What we need to do is realize how much assistance exercises and lead-up stunts can help, use them, and in the end we will make progress faster.

By breaking your goal into easier steps along the way you will get there with haste.