Started by jutajata, December 13, 2009 · 23 Replies · 8,491 Views
Hello all, ive made a video of myself with a footage from february and another i recorded today (december) showing the progress, my major acomplish for this year was the closed legs one handstand , in february i couldnt do it. I know theres a long road ahead and i will aprecciate any advices from the handbalancers of the forum.
Many thanks to Ido and Yuval Ayalon who shares they knowledge in this very special art or obsession as Ido says. 
LwfGWRHEZLo
Wow dude! Fantastic! Definately a very nice improvement from earlier in the year. Awesome!!! Congrats on all the hard work paying off. Can you talk a bit about anything specific that you think helped you get there?
jl5555 said:Wow dude! Fantastic! Definately a very nice improvement from earlier in the year. Awesome!!! Congrats on all the hard work paying off. Can you talk a bit about anything specific that you think helped you get there?
The most important training ive found during the year for the one arm handstand was the most simple one, from february until now ive started to dedicate 2 hours of equilibre training 3 times/week, doing (or trying in the begining) to do exactly what i show on the video, endless sets pulling one hand off the ground and then to the other arm and trying to hold a lot in the handstand position.
Another thing that helps a lot is to make solid static holds on the two arms handstand (someting like 3-5min freestanding) and trying to maintain correct body alignement and open shoulders during the hold.
And the last thing i implemented in my routine was the wall run handstands for 10min (im doing 10min with 4 stops now, but my goal is no stops for 10 min :roll: ) This thing gives a LOT of shoulder girdle endurance, im doing for just 2 weeks and i can feel a lot of improvement in maintaining the shoulder girdle stable during the attempts and one arm holds in freestanding.
But im sure the most experienced ones have more tips and drills for doing this special art.
Ill try to have Yuval´s feedback and ill post here.
I agree that the handstand wallruns are great. I'm down to about 8 stops for a 10 minute run, and definately see an improvement in the shoulder girldle. For my one arm practice I have been going into handstand with one hand supported about shoulder height on a box and then feeling my way into the one arm handstand. I'm not even close to yours. I noticed your split is much wider (seems to me) which might help the balance as well. And congrats on the straight leg one arm balance, amazingly difficult.
Fantastic video man, really inspired me. I should have watched it before training cuz this just made me want to get into a handstand straight away.
What's next for you man? One arm press?
Keep training and posting!
Demus said:Fantastic video man, really inspired me. I should have watched it before training cuz this just made me want to get into a handstand straight away.What's next for you man? One arm press?
Keep training and posting!
Before the one arm press ill have to make the one arm more stable, my next goal is to hold for at least 10 secs a closed leg one arm with the free arm close to body.
For one arm presses im just going negative 2 times a week but im not giving much priority for this for now.
Cheers!
And here is Yuval´s feedback from youtube messages.
Hi Arthur,
First of all great improvement from your previous videos. Your control on both hands shows the hours and effort you have put into handbalancing. continue training and setting new goals for yourself in equilibre, and I'm sure you will continue improving. The only problem (and I'm sure you know this from YOGA) is that this is a never ending journey...:-)
And now for some feedback...
1. In your large straddle position (and in General)
a. I would try aiming to stabilize your lifted arm in a certain height and not move
it too much. How high it is is more of an aesthetic issue, but still you want it to
be more of an anchor.
b. It's hard to see from this angle, but I think you have a bit of a rotation issue
(which most hand balancers , including myself deal with). I would film myself
from the profile, and make sure that the leg that goes towards the direction of
the supporting arm is basically in line with your supporting arm, as well as the
lifted arm in the other side. You can see in my video that I do the handstand
between two parallel lines. this helps me simplify the visualization of this exact
issue...
c. Other than that, it looks great, and I liked the last position with you arm up!!!
2. Feet together
a. In this position the issue of rotation is more noticeable (you are turning
inwards too much. it's very difficult to feel this (I have struggled and still do) a
lot in this particular position. and if you don't have some one to correct you on
the spot I would suggest that you film yourself from both frontally and from
profile and try to make the adjustments.
b. in this position I think that the lifted arm should be horizontal. it's just looks
better. of course eventually you want it lifted all the way along your body.
c. When you shift your weight and into the one arm. Make sure that you start the
movement from your toes. it's very subtle movement, but it helps maintaining
the correct position. another related idea, is that before shifting your weight,
while on 2 hand position, extend both your shoulders, and then when you shift
your weight to either side, you will already be in the correct one arm position...
Hope you find this helpful. feel free to contact me with any questions!
Ciao,
yuval
denys tolstov...that guy is a beast
Thanks for posting your training and results. Very inspiring. How do you incorporate your general strength training with your equilibre? Different days? Or before or after strength training?
Wolf with one Ear said:Thanks for posting your training and results. Very inspiring. How do you incorporate your general strength training with your equilibre? Different days? Or before or after strength training?
I teach yoga and started physical activites when i was 15 with yoga so relatively late from the athletes\handbalancers point of view, the method i practise dont use repetition and no dynamic movement, just static holds and passive flexibility(of course this is just an artistic aproach of physical yoga techniques because the real goal of yoga is the realization of your true self trough concentration and meditation techniques but lets stick to the physical part)
My goal is improve in this coreography (routine if you prefer) that uses yoga techniques as basis, everything has to be a flow from one position to another (no momentum is allowed) so for me the focus is maximal strength, flexibilty work and equilibre. During 3 years (before started yoga my most consuming physical actvity was videogames :oops: )i do just that everyday giving me the basis on some basic strength positions from the gymnastic point of view like handstands and advanced tuck planches.
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Then after 3 years doing solely bodyweight static holds for strength i start to know the gymnastic and circus universe trough youtube and cirque du soleil videos and of course the excelent article of Coach Sommer "Building the olympic body trough bodyweigth conditioning"(there was a time you enter "planche" on youtube and all you see is windsurfing activites from france), then i decided to implement some bodyweight strenght training with repetitions like hspu, hs press ups, planche pushups, pullups, dips, and bowers.
Then for the last 5 years i do a mix of equilibre, basic strength conditioning and yoga, i usually do workouts everyday (5/week), i train 22 hours/week in an average of 4h30 per day, i have two days (thu/tue) that i do a circuit training of strength exercises (hspu, hs press ups, planche pushups, back lever pull up, front lever, side lever) and the other three days (mon, wed, fri) i do 2h each day of equilibre training and some planche work too (straddle static holds 10x10secs) and some low intensity exercises like handstands wall runs. So i usually do equilibre and strength training everyday but of course when im tired its more difficult.
My main focus today is to put a solid one arm handstand at the end of that routine and a full planche in the begining, im training planches for 5 years and my progress is very slow cause im a little tall for that(6´1) but im almost holding some secs on full planche (not even 2 seconds now but i will improve). Heres a pic. A note is that ive never do any weight lifting exercises in my whole life, only bodyweight conditioning since 2001.
jutajata said:some low intensity exercises like handstands wall runs.
HAHAHA you are on a whole different level! Handstand wall runs kill me after like 20 seconds 
I'm 6'2, but I'm 230 lbs! I love the video, great straddle planche! You are very smooth with the movements, it's nice to see tall guys kicking some butt with this stuff!
slizzardman said:jutajata said:some low intensity exercises like handstands wall runs.HAHAHA you are on a whole different level! Handstand wall runs kill me after like 20 seconds
We suffer on leverage positions, i have a friend here in Brazil that practise capoeira and yoga, he have a very strong upper body and he is 5´2 and 142lbs. So in 2007 when i was showing the straddle planche to him in his first attempt(he never have tried anything near a progressive aproach using static holds for planche) he does a full planche and hold it for about 3 secs :shock:
Then after some months playing with the position, doing it everyday he injuried his wrist cause he was doing fingers forward, then he started to put his thumbs backwards and the other fingers forward, and he told me that this adjusment made the lock elbow issue a lot more easier (i spend a lot of time training a slightly bented elbow straddle planche and no matter what i do my elbows didnt locked fully), i decided to implement this new grip as you can see my friend doing in the picture and it really makes the elbows fully locked in position.
Now for the ring planche we tall guys will have to born again and hope that this time under the 5´5 level
You know what's funny? Ring planches are easier for me than floor lol 
I can hold a pretty solid flat advanced tuck for around 10 seconds now on the rings, and I can't even get up to regular tuck on the floor. Forearm/elbow issues hold me back on the floor. 230 lbs is a lot to hold!
jutajata said:Then after some months playing with the position, doing it everyday he injuried his wrist cause he was doing fingers forward, then he started to put his thumbs backwards and the other fingers forward, and he told me that this adjusment made the loc
What do you mean thumbs backwards and the other fingers forward? Did you mean other fingers backward and thumbs forward?
slizzardman said:Handstand wall runs kill me after like 20 seconds
Glad to hear I'm not the only one who finds those hard
Sternford said:What do you mean thumbs backwards and the other fingers forward? Did you mean other fingers backward and thumbs forward?
Take a look on the hand position of the picture in my last post. Thats what i mean with thumbs backward and fingers forward. :wink:
jutajata said:Sternford said:What do you mean thumbs backwards and the other fingers forward? Did you mean other fingers backward and thumbs forward?Take a look on the hand position of the picture in my last post. Thats what i mean with thumbs backward and fingers forward. :wink:
Ohhhh, I thought when you said, "i started doing with this new hand position" you meant it was different then what was described. Nevermind!
jutajata said:Sternford said:What do you mean thumbs backwards and the other fingers forward? Did you mean other fingers backward and thumbs forward?Take a look on the hand position of the picture in my last post. Thats what i mean with thumbs backward and fingers forward. :wink:
Also, called being on your "first knuckle." Its good for middle split hold progressions and L-sit progressions if you cant quite get your butt off the floor and need that little extra height. I have never tried that hand position for planche work, so I guess thats another thing to try out! 
Your handstands are great by the way!
I think these palm off the ground, first knuckle type of support would have to be trained for quite a while to build the proper strength. The DeRose yoga methodology that jutajata uses shows that they use this support consistently in their practice which I'm sure helped to transition to it.
Bodyweight has quite a lot to do with it as well You're never going to see a 230 lb guy like me do a one finger pushup, for example. There are some seemingly inviolable limits to human tissue
jl5555 said:I think these palm off the ground, first knuckle type of support would have to be trained for quite a while to build the proper strength. The DeRose yoga methodology that jutajata uses shows that they use this support consistently in their practice which I'm sure helped to transition to it.
Took me an entire month to adapt the hands and wrist into the new position of the fingers.
Jutajata,
Wonderful videos and impressive results. Actually very impressive.
I also appreciate your sharing your training schedule with us. It continues to amaze me more and more as I get older how much physical progress can be made by simply being patient and persistent.
The only technical issue which jumped out to me was the slight arm bend during the press HS in your routine video. You are obviously strong enough to perform press HS with straight arms, if your technique were to be tweaked just slightly. During the press to HS, strive to keep the shoulders directly above the hands and the hips directly above the shoulders. This will result in your back "curling" up to HS one vertebrae at a time. While you will be physically pulling your hips up, it will feel as though you are trying to pull your shoulders under your hips. During this "pulling" under of the shoulders, it should also feel as though you were trying to pull your neck up into your chest.
Once again, nicely done.
Yours in Fitness,
Coach Sommer
Coach Sommer said:Jutajata,Wonderful videos and impressive results. Actually very impressive.
I also appreciate your sharing your training schedule with us. It continues to amaze me more and more as I get older how much physical progress can be made by simply being patient and persistent.
The only technical issue which jumped out to me was the slight arm bend during the press HS in your routine video. You are obviously strong enough to perform press HS with straight arms, if your technique were to be tweaked just slightly. During the press to HS, strive to keep the shoulders directly above the hands and the hips directly above the shoulders. This will result in your back "curling" up to HS one vertebrae at a time. While you will be physically pulling your hips up, it will feel as though you are trying to pull your shoulders under your hips. During this "pulling" under of the shoulders, it should also feel as though you were trying to pull your neck up into your chest.
Once again, nicely done.
Yours in Fitness,
Coach Sommer
Thank you so much for the advice Coach! This press up at the end of the routine is my nightmare, i think its because im tired from the previous positions.
Ive posted a reply in the handstand wall runs that ill paste here regarding this issue.
"Maybe this is my weak link(shoulder girdle endurance). I can do 8 straight arm press up from straddle L to handstand but in my act i have this press up at the end of my routine and there i cant do without benting my arms cause my shoulders get messed up by the previous positions and movements.
This will certanly increase the endurance for my press up at the end.
Maybe this will increase the control and balance for the one arm handstand too Coach?
BTW Ive tried the 10min wall runs and have to stop 6 (now im in 4 stops ) times before i reach 10 min of worktime! God im feeling so weak when you tell your athletes do that without break. Im gonna insert 2x week and in 3 months ill return the results.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge Coach Sommer ill never figured that this non technical element will be so precious."
Jutajata, how much do you weigh?
Astronominoff said:Jutajata, how much do you weigh?
Its in my signature :wink: