Yes, it involves a lot of momentum but this is one of the most impressive feats I have ever seen. A one arm muscle up into a one arm half-planche into the one arm handstand.
Isn’t it amazing what people can do these days? After this holding a regular handstand or a normal muscle up just seems easy.
Good Luck and Good Handbalancing,
Logan Christopher
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.
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
Sig Klein has to be one of my favorites of the old time strongman. He was just such a perfectly developed athlete. And he did it all from weightlifting, various feats of strength, to muscle control and more.
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.
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.
One of the moves that got me into hand balancing in the first place was the freestanding handstand pushup. I had built up to doing handstand pushups against the wall and I always wanted to do them balancing on my own.
Well, having the strength to press yourself up and the balance to maintain the handstand are two completely different things. And to do the free handstand pushup you need both.
I hadn’t practiced this move much, at least not in recent times. But, just over a month ago I decided to really go after it. In my training I used three different methods to work on the move. Below you can watch one of those three.
This clip is from the December issue of Acrobat Accelerator. On top of the three primary methods of training you’ll learn about little shifts you can do in your position to make this move much easier or harder to suit your level.
I wouldn’t say I completely mastered the move yet, but that’s just a matter of more work. Stay tuned for next time when I’ll be sharing a story of someone who has.
Plus in this month’s Acrobat Accelerator, I share a warm-up routine I’ve been using everyday before hand balancing. Plus some startling studies on stretching that may have you re-thinking what you’ve been doing.
If you’re not already a member you can get this month’s issue for free with any of the following products:
