Handstand Hand Isometrics

It’s been awhile since I’ve put up a full article on the site.

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

Well, there’s a new one up there now. This one shows you an exercise to build stronger wrists specifically to help you balance better.

Handstand Hand Isometrics

Give it a try and let me know how it works for you. And its just the first of many more articles to come.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. If you missed the announcement of the new Trampoline Handbook be sure to go check it out.

Comments { 0 }

The Trampoline Handbook Available Now

The new Trampoline Handbook is available now. You can skip right ahead and get it now.

Or read below to get the back story…

—–

I’m human. And because of that I make mistakes. But I like to think I quickly learn and fix them. However sometimes that’s not the case and it takes years to realize your fault.

How to do the One Hand Handstand by Professor Orlick
ow to do the One Hand Handstand on Amazon

As you may know a while back I attended an adult gymnastics class. Having no prior tumbling skills it was certainly a challenge.

But even from the time I was young I wanted to be able to do a backflip among many other tumbling skills. So I went and I slowly got better.

They had a giant trampoline as well as the tumble-track, basically a lane of trampoline leading into large pads.

Unfortunately I hardly ever used these tools.

You see, I had this idea in my mind that I wanted to only be able to do skills without the assistance of anything. I wanted to jump rather than be launched into the air by a trampoline.

And this was my big mistake!

I didn’t realize that using a trampoline I could better learn to control my body in the air. And that definitely translates to doing moves on the ground or anywhere else.

When you’re in the air you can work on flipping, twisting and many other skills. It really doesn’t matter how you got up there. Just what you do when you’re there.

But the trampoline allows you do to it easily without wasting energy. And that means more practice (not too mention safer too).

Now I’ve learned from my mistake.

I discovered this book that takes you step-by-step through the most basic moves all the way to much more advanced tricks.

The Trampoline Handbook

So that you don’t make the same mistake I did, I’ve made it available once again.

I know not everyone has access to a trampoline, but if you do I urge you to get this book. And if you haven’t used a trampoline in a while you don’t know what you’re missing.

You’ll be able to use it to build up your skills to improve your tumbling whether you do gymnastics,  Parkour, tricking or anything else.

Plus it’ll be even more fun then just a little random bouncing. So go check it out.

The Trampoline Handbook

Sincerely,
Logan Christopher

P.S. You can read more about it at The Trampoline Handbook including a list of the 50 stunts you’ll learn and when you act now you’ll get $5 off.

Comments { 0 }

Will Wall Handstands Help Balance? How Often to Train HSPU's?

I have some cool things in the work for this month. One of them is nearing completion. More on that subject later.

In the meantime let’s tackle a few more questions that have been sent in.

First off from Carol.

“If I keep practicing kicking up to a handstand against the wall, and holding it as long as I can with a tight body, will I eventually be able to do the handstand without the wall?”

The handstand against the wall is an important lead-up stunt I advise beginners to do when starting out with the handstand. It is great to work up to holding for at least one minute while maintaining a good position.

However, although you can learn how to keep your body tight and up in space you will not learn how to balance from this position. This requires a few other moves as well as practicing at the freestanding handstand itself.

And next from Ashley.

“Hi there. I consider myself to be a quite a physical culturist. I have made handstands a staple exercise in my upperbody workouts. I am currently working towards handstand push ups with my hands elevated to get full range of motion. How often would you recommend to train handstands to get to the desired standard?”

First off congratulations. Handstand pushups are often no more then a dream to most people, especially when you start going after the full range of motion.

I just happened to be working on a few myself today. In all honesty, depending on how you train with them you could do them everyday or just twice a week. And either way you can make progress.

Learn How to Back Flip in 31 Days
Learn How to Back Flip in 31 Days on Amazon

If you just do a few sets each day and none of them are an all-out effort, you could do them every day.

But in most cases I would advise two or three times a week. Train them hard and eventually you’ll be able to do many full range reps. The important thing to look at is if you are moving forward. If your are then your training is good and you should continue.

If you’ve been training handstand pushups whether just starting out or doing them with ease I’d love to hear about your training. Send in questions, concerns, workouts or specific exercises you’ve come up with. Just hit the reply button up above.

That’ll wrap it up for today.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. About that first thing I mentioned. If you’re following me on facebook or twitter there was a big hint just put up there in the form of a question. If you aren’t already become my friend on facebook or follow me on twitter by clicking the links.

Comments { 0 }

Straight Arm Pressing Tips

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

Learn How to Back Flip in 31 Days
Learn How to Back Flip in 31 Days on Amazon

P.S. If you haven’t got your copy of The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing you can grab it here.

Comments { 0 }

Hand Placement in Handstands

Here’s an interesting question.

“I can only hold a handstand for about five seconds, with all fingers spread out, but when I bend in my right index finger I can hold for 15 seconds on up.  What should I do?”
Matthew Romero

If you can hold it longer with your fingers bent then that’s probably what you should do. I’m not to sure why bending that single finger helps you so much but here’s a more general reason why you should bend the fingers.

Hand Balancing Made EasyHandBalancingMadeEasy_on_Amazon

Because balancing on the hands can be difficult to do you want to give yourself the widest base possible. This means you spread your fingers out. As in spacing your fingers and not keeping them together.

But you don’t want them fully extended. Keep your fingers slightly curled and this helps you to grip the ground harder. With more grip you can balance easier.

By using your hands in this way you’ll have more control and that means you stay up in a handstand longer.

On a different note, I’m going to be having a few important announcements in the next couple of weeks. Make sure you stay tuned.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. If you need help getting started with your handstand check out my Secrets of the Handstand Quickstart guide.

Comments { 0 }

Handstands When Your Wrists Hurt

A common problem many beginners have with handstands is that their wrists can’t take it.

Hand Balancing Made EasyHandBalancingMadeEasy_on_Amazon

I know the feeling. From a football injury back in high school my right wrist has never been the same. Its less flexible and even hurts when too much pressure is put on it in certain ways.

Actually working on handstands to regain that flexibility has helped a lot over the years. But recently, due to some other work its been flaring up again.

This means any handstands I do, I’m favoring and leaning to my left side which isn’t good. But there is a way to work around the problem.

And that is doing handstands on bars. Many objects will work; parallettes, pushup handles, kettlebells and more. As long as its stable you can do hand balancing on it.

At first you may have difficulty balancing since it changes the way your hands have to move, but with a little practice it’ll get easier, even more so than balancing on flat ground since you can grip it hard.

So if you have any wrist troubles hop on some bars to give your wrists much needed relief. Even if you don’t use these tools to change up the feel of your handstands.

And if you’re doing advanced moves where the wrist must bend even more, like in a planche or some presses, again the bars can be a big help.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. I write more about wrist issues in a special report you can find in the Hand Balancing Mastery Course.

Comments { 0 }

More Handstand Q&A

Gonna dip into the mailbag today and answer a couple questions.

——

I had a question that relate to both my bridging, and hand balancing. When I do either, the blood rushes to my head very soon, not letting me hold either very long. Is this normal? Will it go away after more time? Are there any special ways to get around this? I would like to be able to work on both more than I am able to now because of that. Thank you for you great websites and emails!
Thank you,
Justin

That’s just a sign of gravity doing its job. The human body is not normally use to being upside down so when you start out it can cause you to feel like your head is about to explode.

I would guess that this happens to most people in one degree or another. And it will get better with time just as you become accustom to the position.

In addition, here’s two things to try out. Holding your breath compounds this problem. Make sure you are breathing easily while you bridge or do handstands. It can be tough in the beginning but you need to breathe for best results.

Second you can do an exercise specifically to get yourself familiar with being upside down. Just go up into a headstand (against a wall or not) and hold for a long time. With practice you’ll be able to do this for minutes at a time. And then you’ll be able to deal with blood rushing to your head.

—–

Handstands are really frustrating to me.  For a while now I’ve been having consistent 3 sec handstands and it hasn’t been improving. I’m also a bboy and my planches are better than my handstands, I can hold a planche-ish thing with my body horizontal and my back bent with my legs slightly at an angle. Kinda like this \_.   Any tips?
Nate

I think the fact that you are strong from break dancing may actually be holding you back on the handstand. The handstand is really a balanced position. You don’t want to have to rely on your strength to hold you there, unlike the planche.

Professor Orlick use to say that it was easier to teach a little kid the handstand than a strong weightlifter because the kid would have to find the balance, while the weightlifter would try to use his strength. If you want to hear more from Prof. Orlick check out the Hand Balancing Mastery Course.

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

Its hard to say without some more details but give either of these techniques a try. If you are underbalancing, going toward that planche, push back upwards into the handstand. If you find yourself overbalancing correct yourself and get back to neutral.

But the main thing is to just keep working on it. Set a goal to hit 5 seconds and work on that. Really get a feel for the position. In time it will come.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

Comments { 0 }

Sig Klein Tribute


Video of Sig Klein

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.

Not the least of which were his hand balancing abilities. In The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing Bob Jones compliments Sig on his planche, saying it’s the best he’s ever seen of a man of Klein’s size.

A few of Sigmund Klein’s favorite skills were the Tiger Bend and handstand press-ups, usually done between two chairs.

Hand Balancing Made EasyHandBalancingMadeEasy_on_Amazon

This video is a tribute to a few of the things he did.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

Comments { 0 }

Videotape Your Handstands and Acrobatics

“Whoa, that’s what I’m doing? No wonder I‘m not pulling it off”

It wasn’t the first time I said that phrase and it wouldn’t be the last.

Back in gymnastics I liked to bring in a digital camera to take video of myself performing moves. I’d leap upwards to do a back flip and land it real low.

After seeing the film I knew my takeoff was too far back and not straight up where it needed to be. Even though I THOUGHT I was jumping straight up.

Especially when you are starting out it can be difficult to tell what you are doing. You are concentrated on just completing a move without hurting yourself that you can’t tell exactly where you are in space.

But when you watch yourself from the outside you can see it with ease. You can see the little details of what you’re doing. And this makes it easy to correct most of the time.

I’ve used it a lot for acrobatic moves but it’s equally helpful for hand balancing.

Even just a picture can help. Because you can compare your position to a picture of someone who is much better and find out what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong.

Most of the time what you think you’re doing is not what is actually happening. And that can be the difference between pulling off a move and failing miserably.

Trampoline Handbook
Trampoline Handbook on Amazon

Even if you don’t personally own a camera, you probably know someone who does. If you want to get better and do it faster using a camera is a must-use tool.

The tip for today is to start recording yourself.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. If you need a video to compare your handstand to, not to mention a step-by-step plan to get there, check out the Secrets of the Handstand Quickstart Guide.

Comments { 0 }

Injury-Proofing Your Ankles

A subscriber wrote in after the release of the Parkour Tutorial DVD with a warning. Thanks again Adam for bringing it to my attention.

Tricking, Parkour, even gymnastics can be rough on the ankles. Sprains, strains, and broken ankles are unfortunately not that uncommon.

In order to avoid this you want to do two things. First off, you want to make sure you can do moves within your capabilities. Don’t start off jumping off of two story buildings.

Secondly, prepare for the worst. Make your body more resilient. The stretches on this video will help prepare your feet and ankles for landings and all the impact.


Injury-Proofing Your Ankles

And if you take part in running, these same moves will injury-proof you so that no pot-hole is likely to roll your ankle.

Just add a few of these moves to your regular routine and you’ll be better off no matter what you do.

Ultimate Guide to Handstand Pushups
Ultimate Guide to Handstand Pushups on Amazon

Good Luck and Good Training,
Logan Christopher

P.S. Of course you need to know how to do the moves properly. If you want to get started in Parkour this is the video for you.

Comments { 3 }