Tag Archives | Balancers

Sig Klein on Handstand Presses

By on December 29, 2008 in Presses & Pushup

Klein trained in a very precise, scientific fashion. He reminded Jim of an Old World

Of all his exercises, Klein’s Handstand press-ups were the most remarkable. Jim had never seen anything like it.

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Klein performed the exercise on an old piano bench. He began placing his hands in the center of the bench. From there, he leaned forward and effortlessly kicked up into a free-standing, unsupported handstand. Klein had begun his career as a hand-balancer and stage performer, and he had no difficulty in maintaining the handstand position for as long as he wanted.

Once in the handstand position, Klein bent his arms and slowly lowered his body until his upper chest touched the edge of the piano bench. He then reversed the movement slowly and effortlessly, pushed himself back to the handstand position. He performed 15 reps with ease.

“What’s your best in that?” asked Jack.

Klein wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Nineteen,” he replied.

“That’s a lot of press-ups!”

“I believe it’s more than anyone else has ever done in that style. I’ve often wondered how many reps Maxick or some other old timers could perform.”

“You’re awfully good at them, Sig.”

“Thanks, Jack. It’s like anything else – it’s just a matter of practice. Press-ups are one of my favorite exercises, an I include them in almost all of my workouts. They’re one of the very best for pressing power.”

—–

This is an excerpt from Brooks Kubik’s new book Legacy of Iron, which I just finished this morning. If you want to learn how many of the old-timers trained this book is for you. While most of it is concerned with weightlifting and competitions surrounding the York Barbell Club, you get a mix of all the various means of physical culture.

Back in that day hand balancing went right along with lifting iron. Even Bob Jones makes an appearance earlier in the book as one of the contest’s judges along with a few other famous hand balancers.

If you want to read more go check out the new book, Legacy of Iron at www.BrooksKubik.com and prepare to get transported back in time.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. Just a few issues left of December’s Acrobat Accelerator where I cover free-standing handstand pushups in depth. If you want one you have to order before the new year comes in. Get it along with one of several other hand balancing courses.

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Handstand Press

By on January 29, 2008 in Flexibility & Contortion, Presses & Pushup

Another thing I’ve devoted more of my time to recently is the handstand press. While a normal handstand does not take very much strength many of the presses do.

Handstand presses can be broken down into two main groups. Those done with straight arms and those down with bent arms.

The various bent arm presses take a high degree of strength in the shoulders, triceps and also the chest in many cases.

Straight arm press-ups still take strength but in different areas. Also you will need flexible wrists, hamstrings, and the ability to compress your body in half. In fact the more flexibility you have the less strength you will need.

For all these reasons most people will be better at either straight arm or bent arm presses. There are many people who can do the straight arm variety but will fall on their face if they have to bend their arms.

On the other hand most stronger people can do many bent armed presses. These take tremendous arm and shoulder strength to pull off successfully as you have to hold your entire bodyweight in mid air for a length of time. But for these people the straight arm presses can be elusive.

In the end you want to be able to do both. In order to do this you must train for both.

That’s why there’s chapters on the pressing in all the main books like Hand Balancing Made Easy and The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing.

Presses are not easy, especially if you’re not of the average gymnast size. But it can be done.

If you’ve ever wondered why hand balancers are so strong this is one of the major keys. So start pressing.

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Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. There are so many ways you can press up into a handstand. Have you mastered them all? Start where you can and work from there.

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Routine for Abs

By on January 17, 2008 in Uncategorized

Here is a routine for abs especially for people who want to be strong for acrobatics and hand balancing.

A couple of you went ahead and purchased Gymnastic Abs and that may be one of your smartest moves. But I figured you might be one of those people sitting on the fence about it. Let me tell you about my current routine I have put together using this course. Some of these moves you have undoubtedly heard of, but others may be new to you.

Leg Raises. Usually 3 or 4 sets of these either hanging or on the parallel bars. It’s a matter of increasing reps and then increasing height until you get your legs all the way up.

The other exercises are done in a circuit fashion. V-Ups, Russian Ballet Thrusts, Side Plank Raises, and Compressions.

One of the biggest things I picked up from Ed’s course is these compressions. Of course there are different ways to do it but it’s an isometric contraction that will work everything. Not only does it strengthen your abs but it builds your ability to compress them, hence the name. This one alone is worth the price because it will make straight arm handstand presses easier. Unfortunately this move has alluded me for a long time, but not too much longer. I then finish of with hollow body rocks and arch rocks. These act as great finishers especially done ‘til you can’t do anymore.

Whether you get the Gymnastic Abs program or not just make sure you train those abs hard and with your whole body.

Good Luck and Good Ab Training,
Logan Christopher

P.S. If you’ve got any questions about the course I’d be happy to answer them for you. Shoot your question to me here.

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing
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Leg Raises

Leg Raises

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The Secret to Hand Balancing is…

By on December 4, 2007 in Handstands

Some people say that there are no secrets left in the world. If you ask me, that is pure B.S. If you don’t know something then that something is a secret to you. If there were no secrets in hand balancing then no one would be buying The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing.

If you want to get good at anything, learn from the experts. Professor Paulinetti and Bob Jones would certainly fit under that definition.

Actually there are many secrets to hand balancing. Today, I want to cover just one of these so here it is.

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing
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It is called ‘hand balancing’ for a reason. I have watched many people kick up into a handstand only to be on the ground moments latter. One of the major points they lack is the sensitivity in the hands that is required.

Don’t miss a word of this, you must balance by the action of your hands. No flailing of your legs or weaving your body back and forth. Its all in the hands.

Take a moment right now to step away from your computer and kick-up into a handstand. Get a feel for the control in your hands.

This kind of control is why great hand balancers have not only strong and muscled arms, but forearms to match.

When you take this little key and master it, staying in a handstand becomes a simple task. Just imagine that…

This is just one piece of advice that can help you in a big way. To learn many more secrets from true masters of this art get your copy of The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing

Sincerely,
Logan Christopher

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