Tag Archives | Weight Training

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing

For many people, today is a special day. I’m not going to get too deep into it, but it does involve a heart, candy, and maybe some stuffed animals.

What I am going to get into is a book on hand balancing that can be used as a starting point to learning the handstand correctly as well as a look into the history of hand balancing. This book is called The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing.

The authors of the book, Professor Paulinetti and Robert L. Jones, have a combined experience of 70+ years practicing and teaching hand balancing and gymnastics. In the 1940’s they wrote THE book on this art.

Walking and Jumping On Your HandsWalking and Jumping On Your Hands on Amazon

Although we have many guides of information here, this book gives you an inside look at how this skill gained a following in the earlier years. This book is filled with information and insight on hand balancing

Happy Valentines Day and pick up The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing today!

Stay Inverted!
-Jonathan Magno

 

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Refining your Handstand Push up

Earlier we talked about the two types of handstand presses. Today, we’ll go a bit more into an often utilized bent arm version. The handstand pushup.

Many people begin their hand balancing against a wall. This was the case for me and I know its the same for many others.

On top of that holding a handstand while doing pushups is one of the ultimate bodyweight exercises for your upper body; with or without a wall.

Think of the upper body strength attainable by being able to rep out a freestanding handstand pushup. You can find many admirable people with supreme strength attain this move. These range from the different BAR groups like the Bar Brothers to the movement groups like GMB.

Whichever method you choose, one thing is for certain. Strength and balance are key.

One thing I noticed that tends to throw people off is their hand and arm position.

If you were to kick up against a wall to do pushups what position would you take? Is this the same position you’d take away from the wall?

Play around with the width and angle of you hands and arms and you will find you can change the difficulty of handstand pushups considerably

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing
The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing on Amazon

Discover the newfound strength in your presses with our Ultimate Guide to Handstand Push-ups Bundle.

Stay Inverted!
-Jonathan Magno

 

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The Division of the Handstand Press

When you finally understand the mechanics of the handstand, it no longer takes that much strength to perform it. But if you want to start building some inverted strength, start progressing to the handstand pushup.

handstand pushup variation

Handstand pushup demonstrated by Logan Christopher of Legendary Strength

 

Handstand Presses can be broken down into two main groups. The straight arm and the bent arm press.

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.

Hand Balancing Made EasyHandBalancingMadeEasy_on_Amazon

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 strong 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 true mastery comes from being able to do both. In order to do this you must train for both.

Presses are not easy, especially if you haven’t been training as a gymnast. 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.

If you need some help in getting started with presses, why not check our Ultimate Guide to Handstand Push-ups Bundle.

Stay Inverted!
-Jonathan Magno

 

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Do you Roll Forward or Reverse Engineer it?

Rolling on the floor. It seems like a simple task. But many people seem to have a tough time with it. The simplest reason why is because they dive straight into it without the right body feel.

When somebody is  initially taught the roll, they start off in a kneeling position, and the first point of contact tends to be their shoulder. Following the contact with the shoulder the next point of contact tends to be the lower back or rump. This is usually exemplified by a large thump or possible yell.

So why does this occur? The two culprits are body kinesthetic and flexibility. When a person is rolling they need to be able to feel the connection of their back to the floor. On top of that, they need to be flexible enough to round out their back to create the shape necessary to roll.

Hand Balancing Made EasyHandBalancingMadeEasy_on_Amazon

Where does a person start to gain the tools necessary. They should begin at the point of contact that most of the issues occur. That point would be the mid-back. Build the right body feel and flexibility in that area and the roll will be an easy task.

A great example on building this body feel comes from Ryan Hurst of GMB Fitness.  Below, he demonstrates a set of progressions that you can use to develop the right feel to easily develop your rolling skills.

If you found this tutorial useful. Check out the GMB Vitamin Course to gain more skills similar to the roll.

Stay Inverted!
-Jonathan Magno

 

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Hand Balancing and Cross Training with Weights?

Will weight-lifting help you with your hand balancing skill? That’s a tricky question, although not too difficult. The answer is YES and NO.

I’m going to expound on the idea. First off, weight-lifting is a ranged term which can involve power lifting, olympic lifts, bodybuilding, or old-fashioned strength training. A big qualifier on your results is in how you lift.

Certain exercises are going to help you out. And others won’t do much for you.

Specifically for pressing movements. It requires a tremendous amount of strength to be able to push your own body overhead. You need strong triceps, shoulders, and core.

Since many of the inverted presses take you through different planes of movement; not strictly overhead work, like the frogstand press, you will also need strong pectoral muscles in addition to the core.

So strengthening these muscles will make your stunts easier.

Then again hand balancing takes a huge degree balance. While weightlifting can help your coordination, it is nothing compared to what you need to stand on your hands.

Being able to press a heavy barbell overhead has no carryover to being able to hold a handstand.

A handstand is a skill and needs to be practiced in order for you to get good at it.

These days many people are moving away from weights because they think they are not functional. You know what? It just depends on what you’re doing with them.

Whether you decide to build you upper body strength with barbell presses or with handstand pushups is up to you. They both build strength.

So in short, look at what your own goals are and see what will work best for your situation.

If you need some help in getting started, why not check out our Handstand Mastery Course.

Tumbling Illustrated
Tumbling Illustrated on Amazon

Stay Inverted!
-Jonathan Magno

 

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Hand Balancing Interviews, T-Shirts and VIP's

There is a lot going on here in this message.

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

Hand Balancing Made EasyHandBalancingMadeEasy_on_Amazon

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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