Lost Art of Hand Balancing Blog

Been working on a new project. Hours of filming straight at a time. It’s rough work doing that much volume but the payoff should be great.

More on that later on, plus a few sneak peak video clips.

Right now, gonna dive into the mailbag to answer a few more of your questions. We got some good ones today.

“Quick question. I’m having trouble going past 30 seconds holding a handstand. My balance is constantly improving, so is strength (i can rattle off 12-15 pressups at a time - sometimes I’ll do 3 sets of 11). Just not getting why I hit a wall around 30 or so seconds in a free handstand. gotta run, Thanks for the great info”
Andy Moose

My first impression is that your hitting a wall because you think you’re hitting a wall.

There is nothing physiologically that changes after the half minute mark. If you can’t break it you just need a few options to work through it.

Set a goal to make 40 seconds. Maybe even visualize yourself doing it. But most importantly believe in your ability to do it. Do not think you’ll fail at 30 but that you can go on to 60 and eventually you will.

“how do you go back into a crab and flip over sucessfuly”
Gabrielle

I put out a video a while back showing how to do a similar move from the bridge position. If you haven’t seen it you can check it out here - Gymnastic Bridge Turn-Over.

The short answer is that it requires strength and flexibility in the shoulders to do this move. You have to be able to post your weight on the one arm while you rotate your body around.

“HI Logan,
A skill that I’m working to regain is the backward rolling summersault. I  think I did it as a kid, but it is escaping me now. Any suggestions to implement the back roll without risking neck strain?”
thanks
Jeff

Many people can’t do a backwards roll because it hurts their neck. The problem lies not in the move itself but in weakness.

If you build up your strength this move will not be a problem. In Tumbling Illustrated there’s even a back extension roll up into the headstand without the use of the arms. How’s that for neck strain?

In my opinion the best exercise to strengthen the neck is the wrestler’s bridge. Tried and true. And if you move from a laying down position to the top of the bridge you cover the same angles of pressure you need for the backwards roll.

You can avoid the problem by doing backwards rolls over the shoulder or you can address it and make you neck strong. Your choice.

And if you want to have a really strong neck (when most people don’t even train theirs) stay tuned to what’s coming soon.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

Have you been watching as much of the Olympics as I have?

Honestly it’s a bit tiring staying up until the early morning hours since they take place halfway around the world from where I am. But what can I say, they only come around every four years.

And its always a pleasure of mine to watch the best in the world do what they do.

There’s been exciting matches, close calls and comebacks all around. Plus new world records are broken everyday. (Did you see Jamaica’s Usain Bolt on the 100m dash?)

Great events in gymnastics and they aren’t done yet. One problem I have with professional gymnastics is the judging because it’s not perfect. Since it’s done by humans it doesn’t always seem fair. But that’s how it is.

It shouldn’t take away from the pleasure of watching the athletes.

One exercise I’ve been seeing a lot of in the Men’s Floor Routines is a straight arm straddle press from a crucifix position. Also known as a Maltese Press to a Wide Arm Handstand or a Swallow Press to a Japanese Handstand.

Considering this is a D skill it may be out of your range but that doesn’t mean you can’t try the wide handstand itself.

Place your hands wide on the ground, with the hands out and the thumbs pointing forward. Kick-up into position and attempt to hold.

Alternatively you can jump from a normal handstand into the wide handstand. With a little push on the hands slide them outward in position.

Just another variation you can have fun with. And thanks to the Olympics for reminding me of it.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. You need to master the regular handstand before you attempt any variations. Get step-by-step handstand instructions here.

I’ve received quite a few questions lately, so today I’m going to dive into the proverbially mail bag. Remember you can submit your hand balancing questions here.

Here’s a few different questions from Cheryl.

“Which part of my body to focus for balancing when i hold a handstand. Do I use my backbend to balance? Do I inner or outer rotate my thighs to balance? Do I grip my fingers to balance? thank you very much.”

“How to lift to handstand as each time i kick up I will either past centre or cant reach the centre. Which part of my body should I engage and how? Thank you very much.”

These are good questions Cheryl and they actually overlap a bit.

You want your entire body to stay tight, from you toes through your back all the way to your fingers. At no point (except when doing certain tricks) should you be balancing by using your legs or back.

The balance should be maintained with pressure of the fingertips. You can maintain balance with your arms and shoulders but for a beginner you should get these just as locked out as the rest of the body and use only the fingers.

The kick-up is a skill in and of itself that must be specifically practiced like the handstand. Improve your kick-up and getting into the handstand becomes easy.

It’s really a matter of kicking up with the same amount of force each time so that you hit the sweet spot, not overbalancing, not underbalancing.

And like stated earlier when you are in position your whole body engages.

These are the basics of the handstand. Get them down and you’ll be holding handstands effortlessly.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. If you want more help on how to do maintain the proper position, how to train the kick-up and extra exercises check out The Secrets of the Handstand Quickstart Guide.

I hope you’ve been enjoying the Olympics. Although I’ve been traveling around, now that I’m settled back in I’ll be watching a lot more.

And it just so happens that today is when the finals for gymnastics start. Which as I said before contain some of my favorite events. There are others but I think Gymnastics tops them all.

If you live in the US and want to know what’s going on I recommend you check out www.nbcolympics.com for tons of coverage, details and everything else you need.

On top of that I got the new article and video up on the site.

This one covers a few tips on walking on the hands. Including one of the best methods to develop real control while doing it. Walking on the hands that will make your stationary handstand better.

You don’t need to be an Olympic level athlete to do this! Learn how to Walk on Your Hands here.

The video is just a piece of the DVD coming with this month’s Acrobat Accelerator. There is still time to get your hands on it. But there are only 17 left. Once its gone its gone.

And remember from last time it includes my biggest tip on learning to balance on your hands.

If you are just starting out I recommend you go with the Secrets of the Handstand Quickstart Guide. You’ll get everything you need to do a handstand plus this month’s tips and tricks.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christophe

Handstand pushups. I don’t know if anyone would deny this as a great exercise.

It’s amazing when someone tells you they can do 15 handstand pushups. But what KIND of handstand pushups are they talking about, assuming they are even telling the truth?

There are many ways to skin this cat, so to speak.

The thing is almost every handstand pushup is a partial rep. Do you touch your head to the ground? Some would call that full-range but it is far from THE full-range.

In fact, it’s only about half. Full-range is down to your shoulders.

Now, if you don’t have something raised off the floor to place your hands on you won’t be able to do a true full-range handstand pushup.

But here’s a tip to increase your range without anything but the floor.

Touch your nose to the floor rather than the top of your head. That’s about a 3 inch difference.

And trust me, those three inches make a big difference. Because that range is right near the sticking point for most people.

Go ahead and try to max out each way and see where your numbers lie.

That’s just one way of many you can change the handstand pushup to make it harder or easier.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

I didn’t know what I was going to write to you about today. So I decided first to do a little hand balancing to generate a few ideas. Some one hand handstand practice.

About three minutes in I slapped myself in the forehead because I should do as I tell you to do.

So I stopped for the moment and played my handstand visualization track. Really getting that feeling of easily standing on the hands.

After I finished I decided to put it to the test. How long could I hold a handstand right now?

Now I hadn’t just done free handstand hold for time in probably two months. My record then was exactly one minute.

I put my watch on the ground (hint: counting in your mind is seldom accurate) in plain sight of where I’d be going for the attempt.

After I kicked up I did just as I had visualized. Standing tall with minimal movement.

Around 40 seconds it became difficult. Here’s what I didn’t mention. I had already done a grueling weight lifting workout earlier in the morning and on top of the previous few minutes of hand balancing I was pre-fatigued. Didn’t know if I’d set a new record.

But I wanted to. Not only had I visualized myself doing it, but I wanted to write and tell you about it.

Funny how time seems to slow down those last few seconds. It was rough but I passed the minute mark. 1…2…3 and down.

63 seconds a new record for me. And this was when I wasn’t fresh.

You may not be there yet (or you could be further along) but the lessons here apply to everyone.

And there’s still time to get my handstand visualization for a few minutes of your time. Head on over to the survey and fill it out to get it.

The answers have been very helpful so far. Thanks to all who’ve taken the time to answer (and to you who are about to). I hope you get the most out of your gift.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher