My Equilibre (Hand Stand) Training

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Impressive!

Nice job! Keep up the good work. The little kids made me lol I need to get some blocks like the ones you used. They looked thicker than a 2x4 are they a 4x4 or 3x4 cut to length or what?

Very nice! I'm jealous of your splits.

REallly impressive of course. Your determination is obvious.

I liked the work, including the walks you did, on your elbows. I think elbow stand is one of those moves that people working on their handstand seem to bypass. Doing elbow stand is a great way to understand the back involvement during inversions. Not to mention the increase flexibility. I'm going to try walking on my elbows, I only hope my old bones are up to the task...

niftyvt said:

Nice job! Keep up the good work. The little kids made me lol I need to get some blocks like the ones you used. They looked thicker than a 2x4 are they a 4x4 or 3x4 cut to length or what?

They are 3.5 inch width, 5 inch length, 2.5 inch height. The size seems to work great for most adults, but for children a bit smaller might be better, perhaps 3 width, 4 length, 2 height.

They're wooden, but I'm considering trying to make them with a different material that way they can be stacked without sliding from each other. Maybe plastic? Or maybe if it was covered in a felt material?

By the way, thanks everyone for the nice comments. I'm always open to criticism too. Particularly, I don't seem to be progressing very well on the manna. Should I just keep doing what I'm doing and be patient or is there anything else I could be working on to get results?

For stacking, you could use iron on velcro. I'd staple it just to be safe, but I think that'll work the best for a solid hold.

I DID notice your manna is still HMSH, but then Coach does say that many people stay there for well over a year before they start being able to lift up.

I would think that if you can do a V-sit you could start from there and then practice pushing your hips forward and toes down towards your head, but I don't know. Spot yourself with bands and a belt/harness! Rock climbing harness if you have one would be good, that'd help you get the feel for lifting your hips.

slizzardman said:

For stacking, you could use iron on velcro. I'd staple it just to be safe, but I think that'll work the best for a solid hold.

I'd want them to stay still when stacked, yet still be movable while in the hand stand if voluntarily wanted to be moved. Wood seems to slip, unless mine are just too polished. That's why I thought plastic would be better. Felt can kind of stick, without being too attached like velcro, which is why I thought that might work.

Thanks for the manna tips.

Yours might be a bit to polished or you just need more practice. I have seen many handbalancers work with just plan old wooden blocks with out a problem. Check out Ido Portals videos, he does a little block work in one of them.

AH! I see. Velcro wouldn't work very well for that lol! Maybe weak magnets?

Let me know if the belt idea helps!

Great work.

I was waiting for you to grab one of those kids when you came out of handstand.

Jamesters,

Nice work! I especially enjoyed the emphasis on the negative PL work.

Remember however that straddle & pike press handstands should have a "curled" back rather than a flat extended back like a PL and that the shoulders should remain over the hands as much as possible.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thanks Coach Sommer! I actually trained planche long before presses so I think my strength is developed much stronger that way so I have a tendency to planche my presses, haha. I'm aware of it though and am working on getting it better.