Tag Archives | Gymnast

Great Rings Routine

By admin on August 10, 2009 in Rings

People that have never used the gymnastic rings may know they are difficult but it takes a try on them to truly grasp the strength it takes to do an impressive routine.

I came upon this video awhile back. It shows gymnast Andreas Aguilar at the 1991 World Professional Gymnastics Championships. Its most likely just an exhibition, rather then competing, due to the moves he performs.

Of particular note I want you to pay attention to the muscle up in the L-sit position. That may very well be one of the smoothest muscle ups ever. A far cry from the kipping action most athletes use.

There’s quite a few iron crosses and you’ll want to pay attention to the very unique dismount.

Good Luck and Good Ring Training,
Logan Christopher

P.S. Rings can build awesome strength and you can buy a set of gymnastic rings here.

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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.

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing

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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Paul Hamm, Olympic Gold and the Rings

By admin on July 10, 2008 in Rings

I can remember it like it was yesterday even though it was about four years ago.

Had never paid all that much attention to the Olympics before but this year was different.

My good friend and I were watching the men’s individual all-around competition. Gymnasts are truly some of the worlds strongest athletes but the Olympic level is just ridiculous.

There was some amazing competition. Of course, I was rooting for the USA and I got to see one of the most amazing comebacks ever in the history of sports.

After a disastrous fall on the vault it looked like Paul Hamm was out of the running. But two near perfect routines on the parallel bars and horizontal bar put him back in front.

Not only did he win the Gold but he was the first American to ever to so at the Olympics in the all-around competition. We were going crazy with excitement.

Yes there was some controversy behind a scoring error, but watching that piece of history will forever be burned in my mind.

It’s amazing what these athletes can do. It’s unreal.

How do they build that kind of strength and skill? One its how they train, which is long hours every single day working on perfecting their routines.

But it is also what they train with. The tools and apparatus on which they train. A big key to build gymnastic strength is to train the same way.

One of the most basic tools for the gymnast, and the one that epitomizes all that is gymnastics, are the rings.

There is nothing quite like ‘em. If you’ve never mounted a pair you’d be surprised at just how much you body shakes as you try to support your bodyweight.

Forget the iron cross or maltese. Can you manage a few pullups or dips? What about the classic muscle-up?

Well, now you can answer those questions. Now you can get started training your way to building Olympic level strength with the Elite Gymnastic Rings.

Not only that but you can get instructed by another world champion and Olympic medalist in how to use them.

And if you want to really impress someone do a handstand on top of the rings. Now that’s balance!

Paul’s performance on the rings back in 2004 was before the fall and comeback (a decent 9.587) but you can be sure I’ll be watching the gymnastics this year, especially the rings.

The difference is this time I’ll be training right alongside him. Will you?

Sincerely,
Logan Christopher

P.S. Notice that on either of the two pages as the bottom in the P.S. you can get both the Gymnastic Rings and the Ring Strength DVD in a special combo deal and save.

P.P.S. And yes, if you didn’t know, Paul Hamm will be back in Beijing. I’m rooting for a repeat.

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Handstand, Tumbling and Athleticism

By admin on May 1, 2008 in Tumbling

Wanted to start off today’s message with a powerful comment from a subscriber.

Logan,

Your website is absolutely fantastic and it has helped me learn a whole new approach to physical-culture training. Over the last few months, I have incorporated handstand push-ups and some elementary handstand training into my weightlifting routine, and the results have been nothing short of incredible.

A while back you received a comment from somebody who was upset that you are putting acrobatic videos on the Internet for all to view. He was apparently concerned that some people may develop bad form or bad training habits without direct supervision from a qualified trainer. While I’m sure this gentleman meant well, I must say that I have benefited enormously from watching the videos you have posted. I suspect that many other people have too.

Viewing your videos and reading your articles helped me to refine my views of what is possible with physical culture training. Before I made a visit to your site, I paid virtually no attention to the athletic side of physical training, and I new very little about the many benefits which can be derived from doing handstands and related movements. I have no desire to become a professional gymnast or acrobat, but I find that the type of training which you promote on your site improves my athleticism and strength tremendously.

Thanks for running a great and innovative site.

Rob Drucker

Thank you, Rob. Comments like these really make my day. It brings a smile to my face to read about the success of people like you.

Handstands have been proven over and over to strengthen the body. If you have to start against the wall, you’ll still get many of the benefits. The truth is going from handstands against the wall to free standing is the transition many people make, myself included.

As far as athleticism though, that is just the beginning. Can you imagine where you’ll be at if you add just a few of the following into the mix?

Forward Rolls, Backward Rolls, Diving, Head and Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing, Forearm Balancing, Cartwheels, Roundoffs, Head and Hand Springs, Hand Springs, Backward Hand Springs, Back Bends, Upstarts (Kips), Somersaults (Flips), Combination Rolls, Combination Hand Springs, Combination Hand Springs and Somersaults, Combination Hand Springs and Rolls, Combination Balancing and Rolls, Miscellaneous Combinations, and Novelties.

Those are the 21 chapters found in the soon to be released Tumbling Illustrated. As of writing this it’ll be available in 4 days, 23 hours, 57 minutes, 34 seconds. To find the updated time go to https://lostartofhandbalancing.com/tumbling.html

I wish it was ready now, especially since a few people have inquired about buying it already. But I’m still waiting on the printers for the main book. Plus I want to be able to ship it out the day you order it.

You don’t have to be a professional gymnast or acrobat to get the benefits of this training. (If you are though, more power to you.) Even if you work on just a few of the 248 different moves you’ll learn how to control your body to a extraordinary degree.

Tomorrow I’m going to reveal a few details on the companion workbook to Tumbling Illustrated and how you can use this workbook will increase your skills even faster.

Good Luck and Good Tumbling,
Logan Christopher

P.S. I’ll try to get another video up showing some acrobatic conditioning in action before the launch. Maybe even a sneak peak of the workbook.

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Handstand Press

By admin 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.

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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You Need Strong Abs for Hand Balancing

By admin on January 15, 2008 in Uncategorized

Let’s face it, you will NEVER become an excellent hand balancer or acrobat without having incredibly strong abs. Powerful statement but true.

Have you neglected training this area with the same kind of force you train the rest of your body? I know I did for a long time but that has changed.

One of the presenters at a seminar I attended last year led us through a long series of abdominal exercises. Many of which I had never done or heard of before.

These exercises were for the abs but they used the whole body. And after doing a few of them I could feel it everywhere.

You will be teaching your body how to act as one unit. Does this sound familiar? It should because that’s exactly what you need do pull off any hand balancing stunt.

It turns out the guy teaching us, Ed Baran, had started gymnastics at the age of 35. In order to get better at hand balancing and tumbling he was told he needed to strengthen his abs. These are the exercises he used and some he developed along the way.

And now he can do incredible things like hold an awesome v-sit. That’s a long way from not being able to hold a regular handstand against a wall.

If you want to build gymnastic abs like this then you need to check out the following – Gymnastic Abs

I only wish my gymnastics class had taught me these moves. During the conditioning I was often left wondering why are they doing crunches?

I’m sorry but no matter how many crunches you do you will not build the strength, flexibility and coordination you need for hand balancing or real gymnast strength.

What we learned at the seminar was just a sneak peak of what he was planning on releasing. He has an entire course available now. Unfortunately it took me seeing the course to remember what I had learned and put everything back into action.

No matter what your abilities are now there are progressions to take you from the beginning to advanced levels in moves like hollow position rocks, l-sits, leg raises, compressions and more.

In just a couple weeks of following these exercises the way he laid out I have seen phenomenal benefits. I highly recommend it. Go find out more details – Gymnastic Abs.

Good Luck and Good Ab Training,
Logan Christopher

P.S. That picture of Ed holding a v-sit was enough incentive for me to interview him for the Hand Balancing Mastery Course. Follow his step-by-step progressions and you too can be pulling this one off – Gymnastic Abs

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Death Defying Handstands

By admin on December 22, 2007 in Uncategorized

Here comes another story from Acro-chat magazine. This one was written by Ray Van Cleef.

Flirting with death yielded the “Open Sesame” to Inguar Anderson’s zealous desire to become a circus performer. His efforts to secure an opportunity were repulsed until he resorted to death defying stunts to gain recognition.

This daring 27 year old gymnast performed a series of hazardous feats, including a handstand on a tight rope suspended 800 feet above a rocky terrain. The risks he assumed were rewarded with offers by several circus managers who witnessed this perilous display. “Where there is a will there is a way” is an apropos summary of this plucky Swede’s success.

Inguar Andersson Handstand

Sure its a good way to grab attention but don’t be trying this one out when you’re just starting out. In fact wait until you have at least 10 years of experience under your belt.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Hand Balancing Interviews, T-Shirts and VIP's

By admin on November 15, 2007 in Uncategorized

There is a lot going on here in this message.

First, here are details about the interviews included in the Hand Balancing Mastery Course.

I conducted three interviews with hand balancing experts to see how they trained, what there thoughts were on the subject, and everything else. We went from beginning to advanced stuff.

Jim Bathurst is the first one. One of the main things we covered was how to mix weight training and hand balancing successfully. If you‘ve seen his site, Beast Skills, then you know what this man is capable of. I‘m talking planches, and real one-arm chinnups. But that’s only scratches the surface.

Ed Baran came next. Ed joined an Adult Gymnastic class for the first time at the age of 35 (you know the age when most other people give up on all physical activity). We went over a lot but had many tips on getting the straight body style of handstands like kicking up in the hollow position and more.

And last but not least is Mark Reifkind. Mark was a former all star gymnast who was on the path for Olympic Gold had it not been for debilitating injuries. If you want to learn what it takes to compete on that level you need to hear this.

It was good to hear three different people because each one had there own take on the best way to go after these goals. I took a lot from each one to incorporate in my own training and you can do the same.

Now, you may have been wondering what’s up with the subject line.

It just so happens that the Lost Art of Hand Balancing T-Shirt is now available. You can check it out here: Lost Art of Hand Balancing T-Shirt. But don’t order yours right now.

Here’s why.

In addition to all the great information inside the course I will be giving away a few fast-action bonuses for those that act quick in claiming their copy. One of which happens to be a few T-shirts.

The official launch date is the 21st but here is how you can get in even earlier. I have set up a VIP list that will get early access to the Hand Balancing Mastery Course and snap up the extra bonuses.

Go to Hand Balancing VIP List to sign up.

Look for a great tip on hand balancing from the course coming at you this weekend.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. Don’t forget the contest is still in effect but closes up this Monday. Get your success story in and win. Details can be found on the blog at the Lost Art of Hand Balancing Blog

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