Handstand skill work notes:

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Patience Holland
5 years ago
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1 Handstand skill work notes: Handstand hold position: The handstand position is hollow in the rib cage, with a rounded upper back. The arms are extended overhead, always maintaining contact with the ears. The head is neutral; only the eyes spot the ground -- don't stick the head out, but pick one spot on the ground and keep the eyes focused there. The fingers are spread wide to give a solid base, and should be used to make small balance adjustments. The belly button is pulled into the spine with an active core. The hips are open, sitting directly on top of the shoulders. The butt and quads are squeezed tight; keep the toes pointed and together to maintain balance. Handstand hold should be done on the wall to accumulate time in the position. Keep the back on the wall until you can hold for :60 at a time, then turn and face your stomach on the wall. Once you can do this for :60 intervals, work up to :60 free-standing. To scale the handstand hold, place feet on a block, creating a 90 degree angle with the hips (like you were about to do a pike push-up as HSPU progression). Hold this position, keeping the arms pressed firmly into the ears, maintaining the rounded upper back as described in the handstand position. Back facing wall: Stomach facing wall: This just shows the difference between good and bad shoulder position (when you can t see my ears, my shoulders are extended and stable; when you can see my ears, my shoulders have collapsed). Weight Transfer Progression: The key to efficient handstand walking is the ability to transfer weight from side-to-side in the handstand position. The handstand position described above should never breakdown when handstand walking. The longer the body weight can be supported on each side while maintaining a solid, stable handstand position, the easier handstand walking will be. Progressions to practice weight transfer are: 1) Shift from side to side while leaving both hands on the ground; just feel your weight move while maintaining a solid handstand 2) Shift from side to side while picking up each hand from the floor, alternately, just a couple of inches 3) Pick up each hand, alternately touching right hand to right shoulder, and left hand to left shoulder Pike drag up: Progression for press handstand. Starting in a plank position, maintaining a hollow position, drag your feet up to your hands, until you re standing in a pike position. Return to plank & repeat. v=tct4uiewua8 Press handstand: The key with the press handstand is to stack the hips directly over the shoulders. Once the hips are on top of the shoulders, extend the legs into a full handstand position.

2 Planche skill work notes: Assisted planche: Find a surface where you can rest your feet & create a level plane from your shoulders to your feet. Get in a plank position, move your hands back 2-3 steps, and get into a planche position. The angle between the shoulders and floor is ~45 degrees, as opposed to the ~90 degree angle created by the shoulders in the plank position. Maintain a hollow body, hips open, glutes squeezed tight to maintain straight, extended position. Frog stand: Rest the knees on the upper arms, lean forward, push arms into the ground, and lift the feet off the floor. Tuck planche: In the tuck planche, the hollow position should be exaggerated in order to create room to pull the knees into the chest using core strength. Round the upper back, push into the ground with straight arms, lean forward on the hands, and lift the feet off the floor. Hollow hold: In the hollow hold, maintain contact between the low back and ground. The feet and shoulders should be no more than a few inches off the ground. Arms should be neutral at the sides of the thighs or extended overhead, squeezed tight to the ears. When doing the hollow hold-roll-to-v-up, feet should never touch the ground. Initiate the roll with your feet and arms extended overhead. Arms should be squeezed tight to the ears throughout the movement. v=mc0rxaytwls Lever skill work notes: Strict hanging leg raises: Like toes-to-bar, but from a dead hang. Lower back to vertical slowly, with control. If you have a wall-mounted bar rack, use that. If not, a regular pull-up bar works just fine. Don t swing to generate momentum/no kipping. Candlestick leg raises: Lay on your back with arms extended overhead (should be completely straight). Lift toes straight up to the ceiling so you re in a candlestick position -- hips are open, butt squeezed tight. Leading very subtly with the feet, lower to the ground while maintaining completely straight line from shoulders to hips to feet. Raise the body back up in the same straight line, leading very subtly with the hips. The goal is to NOT break at the hips at any point. v=mjvwsg6hqro Skin-the-cat: Start hanging on the rings or bar (as dictated by shoulder flexibility). Perform a strict leg lift, and pass the legs thru the hands. Slowly lower down to vertical (as flexibility allows) and pause. Pull the hips and legs back thru the hands, and slowly lower back to vertical. Use a spotter to assist in pulling the legs back thru the shoulders if necessary (as shown in video). The reverse movement of the legs thru the hands is initiated by the shoulders.

3 L-sit rope climb: Same as L-sit pull-ups. Begin from sitting on the floor. Use a handover-hand pulling motion with legs held in an exaggerated L-sit position (should never drop below horizontal). Come down SLOWLY maintaining the L-sit position Stalder pull-ups: These obviously come after L-sits and levers. Accessory work notes: Pike/straddle sit leg raises: Sitting in a pike or straddle position on the floor, place your hands on the floor, and lift your legs 1-2 inches off the ground. The closer your hands are to your body, the easier this will be; the further away from your body, the harder it will be. This video explains it better than I can. watch?v=2kmknfrbljq Front raise with barbell: Standing against the wall, maintain a hollow body and keep your lower back pressed firmly into wall. Maintain a slight bend in the knees, and raise barbell from your waist to overhead, keeping arms straight and extended thru the shoulders (arms by your ears in the ending position). v=bgvyi2cajaa Inverted situps: Place the back of the knee over the bar, and have a partner anchor the feet in place. Place hands (w/ or w/o dumbbell) behind the neck. Sit up, and slowly lower back down. Don t use a swing to generate momentum. L-sit pull-up: The L-sit pull-up can be performed in a tuck position until necessary hip flexor strength is developed. Again, don t generate a swing to get momentum (no kipping!). Place a dumbbell on the lap if proficient. DB will force an exaggerated L position in order to keep it from rolling off the legs. Tuck L-sit: Straight leg L-sit: Candlestick roll-to-jump: Start in the candlestick position, roll up to perform a pistol and jump at the top; repeat on opposite leg and with legs together. Flexibility notes Pike/straddle pancake stretch with partner: Sitting in a pike position, have a super friend push down on your back as you reach toward your toes to get a deeper stretch in the pike position. Straddle your legs as wide as is comfortable, reach your hands towards your feet, and have your partner do the same in this position.

4 Shoulder extension w/ partner: Laying on your stomach, reach both arms overhead and have your partner grab your wrists. Relax forward as your partner pulls your arms back. If you re comfortable here, your partner can place their knee between your shoulder blades and apply slight pressure while continuing to pull back on your arms.

5 Weighted shoulder stretch: Can also be done w/o weight. Find an elevated surface, and place your hands shoulder width apart on it (i.e. a bench). Kneeling, press the shoulders towards the floor. For an extra stretch, have a partner press gently between your shoulders, or add a dumbbell and relax further into the stretch. Bridge hold: Press up into a bridge; using the feet, press the legs straight and stretch thru the core, feeling the stretch into the shoulders. v=g7ng4gk0xcc

SECTION 6 PERFORMANCE: EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS

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