Stretching tips from Pavel Stankevich

[Redwan Haque]

Not sure where to post this, but considering Pavel is a pro handbalancer and there's some pretty sweet handbalancing at the end I figured I'd post it here.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJOVAvHJpxU

 

Unfortunately it's in Russian but here's a rough translation of the main points from reddit:

 

He wanted to be an Olympic gymnast, however his city didn't have any gymnastics section except for circus gymnastics so he went there. Afterwards he studied in Kiev for 4 years with a professional trainer.

 

Now he's a professional artist working across Europe and has worked with Cirque du Soleil as well.

He uses some sort of cold&hot ointment to warm up his muscles. He says his training sessions are everyday and around 4 hours and the warm up is extremely important.

 

Flexibility advice for beginners: Start with easy cardio, not a bicycle as it tightens your quads but with simple fast tempo walking on a treadmill. Then start your stretching.

 

He drinks protein, sometimes creatine, collagen and omega-3 supplements.

 

Start the stretching on a pull up bar the way he shows. During pike and pancake stretches always make sure your back is flat and not arched. He incorporate weights in his training occasionally but personally he found that it decreases his flexibility. Beginners should stretch everyday at least 30-40 minutes.

 

Rotational stretches are also very important. He shows some after 10 min mark. He demonstrates the cat-camel and says it's his favorite exercise to maintain his back. Then some additional stretching for his back and spine.

 

He used to come in and go into heavy stretching without warm up until he had some sort of tear and knows better now. Started circus training at the age of 15 and is now 24. Before that he played soccer and did some karate.

 

He tried heavy weights for his legs but it reduced his flexibility considerably so as long as he is a professional artist he'll stay away.

 

Around min 21 he shows more exercises he likes for the lower back, abs and obliques that help support his spine.

 

 

Edit: Not sure if post was moved or if I posted it in Mobility without realizing...

[Randeep Walia]

Awesome.. Pavel is a remarkable athlete. Wish I spoke Russian tho, sounds like there are some gems here

[David McManamon]

Thank you for posting.  I have enjoyed following his work over the years, worth checking out his Instagram account too:

https://www.instagram.com/pavel_stankevych/