Showing posts with label Handstand Push-ups. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Handstand Push-ups. Show all posts
Monday, January 21, 2013
The Strongest Man You Never Knew...Till Now
150 lb. dumbbell side raises...WOW!
25 modified handstand pushups at a bodyweight of 320...CRAZY!
5 time IPL Raw Bench Press World Champion...
Do you know who this is?
Meet Dru Patrick.
In this video you’ll find all about this man and the training cycle he created which has led to massive size and strength while easily avoiding (and sometimes even rehabbing) injuries.
No sign up required (but if you want even more you can grab more at the bottom of the page).
Ben Bergman
P.S. I don’t know about you but watching this makes me want to lift more and get ridiculously strong!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Building Animalistic Strength With Handstand Pushups
Today's Guest Writer is my good friend and the Renaissance Man of Physical Culture himself, I give you Logan Christopher, enjoy everyone....
The regular handstand pushup is when your head will come to the floor. The truth is this is still a partial range of movement. Some people even call this a headstand pushup because you do come to a headstand position. Still with each range of motion increase these pushups become harder and harder.
When you’ve hit the ground and can press back up you’re at a major milestone and can say with confidence you can do handstand pushups but there is further to go.
Handstand Pushups on Handles
For the next step I typically use some form of pushup handles. The reason is that these extend the range of motion to the next step. They’re also more stable then trying to now use the phonebooks to raise your hands as they could slip out. A pair of heavy kettlebells work or any pushup handles. If the increase in distance is too much, again add phonebooks under the head to lessen it.
Be forewarned. The sticking point in pressing for almost everyone is right around this level. That means this move is going to be dramatically harder then the regular handstand pushups. Of course when you master this movement you’ll be that much stronger.
Full Range
Now it’s time to move onto the last step where you actually press up your entire bodyweight along a full range of motion. For this I usually use two chairs placing my hands flat against them. If you had a parallettes these would work just as well.
Again you can take this position and also place the books under your head to make steps in between. But you may find the bottom of the press isn’t as hard as the sticking point we just worked through.
If you follow through on working these different ranges of motion in the handstand pushup as the main method of progression you will eventually achieve them all. The vast majority of people alive cannot do a regular handstand pushup let along one that is full range. Of course, there are further steps you can go from there but this is more then enough to get you started.
Logan
Handstand pushups are one of my favorite all time exercises. They happen to also be one of the very best exercises you can do. They can be used to build truly unbelievable levels of strength, and they’re not bad in the muscle building department either.
Here’s the problem. Most people can’t even do them. I know I certainly couldn’t when I started training. The handstand pushup was one of my first major goals when I got serious about bodyweight training. I could hold a handstand against the wall but if I tried lowering to my head I came right down.
In this article I’ll be showing you the most simple way you can progress from not being able to do handstand pushups at all, all the way to the full range style.
Let me also say this. There’s a certain very popular book, and rightly so, that has a progression towards a one arm handstand pushup. This is great, except that the move has never been achieved in the form promoted in the book. While moving to one arm works for many things, I think you’re much better off going to the full range of motion in the handstand pushup.
Hold a Handstand
For this progression we are only going to be doing one thing, and that is altering the range of motion. In the handstand position you should be quite strong. I’d say that you should work up to at least 30 seconds holding a handstand against a wall before you even try to work on handstand pushups. Some people may be able to do this right away, and others will have to devote some time to it.
Because your arms are locked out in the handstand you’re relying more on bone structure to keep you in the handstand, rather then strength. But as soon as you bend the arms you throw that weight onto the muscles of the arms and shoulders.
Quarter Handstand Pushup
Now what we have a good handstand position we’re going to start the first partial handstand pushup. Take a stack of books under your head. A pile of phonebooks work great. But any object which you can raise or lower the height will work.
You want to position this stack right under your head. When you kick up into the handstand you’ll lower a couple inches until your head touches the books then you press back up. If you’re going too far that you can’t press back up add another book.
Half and Three Quarters Handstand Pushup
If this is easy and you can crank out reps then you can lower down further. Try handstand pushups with half the range of motion to the floor. When that’s easy go for three quarters the range of motion. You’re almost there.
Regular Handstand Pushups
Here’s the problem. Most people can’t even do them. I know I certainly couldn’t when I started training. The handstand pushup was one of my first major goals when I got serious about bodyweight training. I could hold a handstand against the wall but if I tried lowering to my head I came right down.
In this article I’ll be showing you the most simple way you can progress from not being able to do handstand pushups at all, all the way to the full range style.
Let me also say this. There’s a certain very popular book, and rightly so, that has a progression towards a one arm handstand pushup. This is great, except that the move has never been achieved in the form promoted in the book. While moving to one arm works for many things, I think you’re much better off going to the full range of motion in the handstand pushup.
Hold a Handstand
For this progression we are only going to be doing one thing, and that is altering the range of motion. In the handstand position you should be quite strong. I’d say that you should work up to at least 30 seconds holding a handstand against a wall before you even try to work on handstand pushups. Some people may be able to do this right away, and others will have to devote some time to it.
Because your arms are locked out in the handstand you’re relying more on bone structure to keep you in the handstand, rather then strength. But as soon as you bend the arms you throw that weight onto the muscles of the arms and shoulders.
Quarter Handstand Pushup
Now what we have a good handstand position we’re going to start the first partial handstand pushup. Take a stack of books under your head. A pile of phonebooks work great. But any object which you can raise or lower the height will work.
You want to position this stack right under your head. When you kick up into the handstand you’ll lower a couple inches until your head touches the books then you press back up. If you’re going too far that you can’t press back up add another book.
Half and Three Quarters Handstand Pushup
If this is easy and you can crank out reps then you can lower down further. Try handstand pushups with half the range of motion to the floor. When that’s easy go for three quarters the range of motion. You’re almost there.
Regular Handstand Pushups
The regular handstand pushup is when your head will come to the floor. The truth is this is still a partial range of movement. Some people even call this a headstand pushup because you do come to a headstand position. Still with each range of motion increase these pushups become harder and harder.
When you’ve hit the ground and can press back up you’re at a major milestone and can say with confidence you can do handstand pushups but there is further to go.
Handstand Pushups on Handles
For the next step I typically use some form of pushup handles. The reason is that these extend the range of motion to the next step. They’re also more stable then trying to now use the phonebooks to raise your hands as they could slip out. A pair of heavy kettlebells work or any pushup handles. If the increase in distance is too much, again add phonebooks under the head to lessen it.
Be forewarned. The sticking point in pressing for almost everyone is right around this level. That means this move is going to be dramatically harder then the regular handstand pushups. Of course when you master this movement you’ll be that much stronger.
Now it’s time to move onto the last step where you actually press up your entire bodyweight along a full range of motion. For this I usually use two chairs placing my hands flat against them. If you had a parallettes these would work just as well.
Again you can take this position and also place the books under your head to make steps in between. But you may find the bottom of the press isn’t as hard as the sticking point we just worked through.
If you follow through on working these different ranges of motion in the handstand pushup as the main method of progression you will eventually achieve them all. The vast majority of people alive cannot do a regular handstand pushup let along one that is full range. Of course, there are further steps you can go from there but this is more then enough to get you started.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Captain America & How You Can Become Your Own Super Solider
I was watching the First Avenger movie last night with my girl and I couldn't help but be in awe of how powerful the character is and how strong he became. The movie was awesome and I'm always looking for what others can do to become a very strong individual. In the film Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans) starts out as this skinny little kid from Brooklyn who wants nothing more then to tackle bullies and do something that's more then himself. Unfortunately every time he enlists, he always gets turned down. He's too small, has symptoms that army recruiters laugh at and just let the kid go. That's similar to what young boys back then were like and hated being small and weak. With guts and the right people to look up to they became strongmen and got what they always wanted and more. Stories like this are from men like Charles Atlas, John Grimek, The Mighty Atom and one of the most fascinating from weak to strong stories of the great Doug Hepburn.
The Army in the film are looking to build a new breed of super soldiers and they found someone to experiment on and that's little Steve. The night before the procedure one of the Doc's who discovered Rogers sat down with him and told him why he was chosen. Doc believed in him because he sees whats in his heart. If someone was big and powerful, he may take that strength for granted and lose value but if a weak man wants strength he values its gift as he learns to be strong. The next day Rogers is put into this little capsule with wires and other stuff strapped to him. He's injected with a certain serum that can turn him into a very powerful man. The experiment works and Rogers transforms into this mountain of muscle. With this he can regenerate quicker, has the metabolism 4x higher then the average human and has the speed of a cheetah.
One of the exercises I learned about Evan's training for the film was doing Handstand Push-ups as one of his primary exercises for bodyweight training. This exercise alone can build killer upper body strength in ways that cannot be done by any other exercise. You are practically in a vertical position upside down and pushing your whole body up. I've always liked this exercise and it made me feel good and admire that an actor trained on that exercise and got super results from it. Now he did do other forms of exercise to get beefed up for the film but its good to know that some trainers know the value of functional strength.
Now can anyone do this type of exercise? A good percentage can but some people lack the structure and body-weight ratio no matter what they do. Those that can practice it can go here at Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups and for advanced trainees can go here at Gymnastic Handstands. This exercise was practiced by the old-school bodybuilders and strongmen of the 30's and 40's and they all had great successes and results from doing this. If you want to do weights along with bodyweight exercise then look no further then here at Strongerman.com where you'll find the very best at learning how to create massive functional muscle without the use of drugs or supplements.
Remember what I said about the Captain's speed? Well you can also do this type of training as well as Sprinting builds lung power and strength in the whole body unlike anything else. You don't need to do a vast amount of time to do this, go to a track or park or better yet find a hill and sprint hard for 8-15 seconds, take a few minutes rest and sprint again, no need to do more then 10 sets of this. If you're a beginner take it easy on this an progress. Do a powerwalk and each session increase the speed. 2-3x a week is all you need to burn off fat like crazy and increase your HGH Levels 10x more then the leading supplements or injections. This helps keeps you fit, young, vibrant and full of energy.
Now we all can't be like the Iconic Capatain but we certainly can become much more powerful then the average human and build a body that will have heads turning. It takes practice, patience, goal-setting and the will to keep driving. Build your foundation and never give up. Just like Captain America the hero that never gives in. For encouragement picture as if the Captain himself is cheering you on and pushing you to get better. If you can keep that in mind you may find yourself looking like him and being as powerful as a grizzly bear.
The Army in the film are looking to build a new breed of super soldiers and they found someone to experiment on and that's little Steve. The night before the procedure one of the Doc's who discovered Rogers sat down with him and told him why he was chosen. Doc believed in him because he sees whats in his heart. If someone was big and powerful, he may take that strength for granted and lose value but if a weak man wants strength he values its gift as he learns to be strong. The next day Rogers is put into this little capsule with wires and other stuff strapped to him. He's injected with a certain serum that can turn him into a very powerful man. The experiment works and Rogers transforms into this mountain of muscle. With this he can regenerate quicker, has the metabolism 4x higher then the average human and has the speed of a cheetah.
One of the exercises I learned about Evan's training for the film was doing Handstand Push-ups as one of his primary exercises for bodyweight training. This exercise alone can build killer upper body strength in ways that cannot be done by any other exercise. You are practically in a vertical position upside down and pushing your whole body up. I've always liked this exercise and it made me feel good and admire that an actor trained on that exercise and got super results from it. Now he did do other forms of exercise to get beefed up for the film but its good to know that some trainers know the value of functional strength.
Now can anyone do this type of exercise? A good percentage can but some people lack the structure and body-weight ratio no matter what they do. Those that can practice it can go here at Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups and for advanced trainees can go here at Gymnastic Handstands. This exercise was practiced by the old-school bodybuilders and strongmen of the 30's and 40's and they all had great successes and results from doing this. If you want to do weights along with bodyweight exercise then look no further then here at Strongerman.com where you'll find the very best at learning how to create massive functional muscle without the use of drugs or supplements.
Remember what I said about the Captain's speed? Well you can also do this type of training as well as Sprinting builds lung power and strength in the whole body unlike anything else. You don't need to do a vast amount of time to do this, go to a track or park or better yet find a hill and sprint hard for 8-15 seconds, take a few minutes rest and sprint again, no need to do more then 10 sets of this. If you're a beginner take it easy on this an progress. Do a powerwalk and each session increase the speed. 2-3x a week is all you need to burn off fat like crazy and increase your HGH Levels 10x more then the leading supplements or injections. This helps keeps you fit, young, vibrant and full of energy.
Now we all can't be like the Iconic Capatain but we certainly can become much more powerful then the average human and build a body that will have heads turning. It takes practice, patience, goal-setting and the will to keep driving. Build your foundation and never give up. Just like Captain America the hero that never gives in. For encouragement picture as if the Captain himself is cheering you on and pushing you to get better. If you can keep that in mind you may find yourself looking like him and being as powerful as a grizzly bear.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Bodyweight Exercises: Putting The "Fun" In Functional Strength!!!
In many circles around the web you'll hear quite a few people giving Bodyweight Exercises a bad rap and thats just not right on so many levels. First off whoever thinks bodyweight sucks is their business and their opinion but lets get the facts straight here. This type of training has given many people the world over an awesome body, great strength, surreal flexibility and insane endurance. I say this as a point with the right amount of training. Am I saying weight lifting sucks? Hell no man I just prefer bodyweight because it saves me money, time and I can do it anywhere I want.
The real keys to having a solid program is using your imagination, being creative, find goals and mastering basic exercises. Just like weight lifting, work the basics and soon enough you'll find thats all you need to build a solid foundation for sheer strength, muscle-building and all the good stuff that comes with them. It does piss me off sometimes when these morons don't know the real side of a good solid training program. Example would be some people think that bodyweight training is only good for endurance and doesn't build muscle or strength but it can give you flexibility. Ok in some cases they're right it does build flexibility and can give you great stamina but heres a kicker here folks. For those that don't know i'm 5'10 and 242 lbs. My main training is pretty much all bodyweight and so I have built strength from this type of training um lets see....
I can hold a handstand on the wall for more then a minute
I have Deadlifted nearly 400 lbs. without almost any training on it in the last 5-6 years
Easily can press a 88lb. Kettlebell
Bend Steel short and long
Held a 125 lb. Dumbbell w/ a 2 inch thick handle for 10sec.
I think I've made my point here. Will this type of training do the same for everyone like it did for me? No theres no way not because i'm dissing your abilities its because I chose to try these things and my structure is different then others. That shouldn't mean you can't take a shot at them or whatever you want to do but with a good structure and leverage with your body-to-weight ratio you'd be surprised how strong you can get. So I really don't give a flying you know what about people who say you can't be strong on this type of training.
Man I sound like an a**hole right now don't you think? Sorry guys I tend to do that every now and then. Back to why it puts the "Fun" in Functional Strength. Its fun in my opinion cause you get to be free to do what you want for exercise. When they say the best things in life are free I'd put exercise right near the top of the list in my opinion. You get to be creative and try things at different angles and for the most part you're always isolating muscles.
Working the whole body as a unit is far better then doing a ton of other exercises for specific muscles. When you work the body as One, you're putting on more muscle, burning more fat and your muscular strength & endurance go through the roof. It also saves you time from going to the gym and training in your own home, how many people at the gym can say they trained while they played video games or trained while commercials are going instead of their favorite tv show or better yet train with the music they want to listen to with no one around. That's one reason why I find Bodyweight Exercises fun.
I feel that when Jack Lalanne pioneered his fitness tv show way back in the 50's and 60's he wanted you to get up and start your day with a smile, laughing and feeling good like you were a little kid. He was the guy in my opinion that made exercise fun and enjoyable instead of being hardcore and rough and making you feel that exercise is just horrible. He wasn't just a pioneer in the fitness industry, he was also one of the most intelligent men of his generation because he not only made you bust your ass but you enjoyed it and kept coming back for more with a smile and a thirst for life. That was his true genius and no one should ever forget that.
One of my favorite forms of bodyweight training is being out in the wild and being an animal that is strong, powerful and graceful. This is where another form of freedom comes into play. You don't feel like working out but playing and having fun moving around. Theres something for everyone that can do bodyweight exercises, you can be 10 or 100 and still find a way to do great exercise to keep you young, vibrant and healthy.
Back in the early eras of Physical Culture of the 20th Century, many strongmen on the vaudville circuit, circuses and competitions actually did Bodyweight Training to help gain an advantage for what they did as performers. Many of them were wrestlers, boxers, gymnasts, acrobats and just flat out very powerful men. Otto Arco for example was a superior acrobat who can not only do great hand balancing feats but was one of the first of three men to lift double-bodyweight overhead in the clean and press or jerk if I said that right. John Grimek who has been known as the greatest bodybuilder in the non-steroid era of the sport who can vouch for bodyweight exercises as part of a token of his successful career as a bodybuilder and Olympic Weightlifter. Those 2 were examples of among many others that have used bodyweight with sucessful results.
Heres one final thing about why bodyweight exercises are fun to do for functional strength and that's being able to play with your kids. Children start the first few years of their lives doing bodyweight exercises, whether they're running, jumping, playing on the monkey bars or climbing up to go down the slides they're using nothing but they're own Bodyweight and some of them are very strong for how small they are. Makes you think doesn't it? When you learn to train like a child it can give you a whole different prespective about training. As adults we may not have the same energy as a young child but we can adapt and learn to enjoy being there and playing with them. When you train as a family, you create a certain bond and learning from each other. I want to be able to do that with my own kids one day and be able to have fun with them.
If you're looking for some awesome courses on Bodyweight Exercises then look no further then below.........
Gymnastic Abs
Animal Kingdom Conditioning
Advanced Bridging
Body Sculpting Bodyweight Exercises For Women
Pain Killers
Gymnastic Handstands
Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups
Hand Balancing Mastery Course
Animal Kingdom Conditioning 2: Call Of The Wild
Wild Animal Fitness For Kids
Ultimate Bodyweight Conditioning-Squats
Ultimate Bodyweight Conditioning-Push-ups
The real keys to having a solid program is using your imagination, being creative, find goals and mastering basic exercises. Just like weight lifting, work the basics and soon enough you'll find thats all you need to build a solid foundation for sheer strength, muscle-building and all the good stuff that comes with them. It does piss me off sometimes when these morons don't know the real side of a good solid training program. Example would be some people think that bodyweight training is only good for endurance and doesn't build muscle or strength but it can give you flexibility. Ok in some cases they're right it does build flexibility and can give you great stamina but heres a kicker here folks. For those that don't know i'm 5'10 and 242 lbs. My main training is pretty much all bodyweight and so I have built strength from this type of training um lets see....
I can hold a handstand on the wall for more then a minute
I have Deadlifted nearly 400 lbs. without almost any training on it in the last 5-6 years
Easily can press a 88lb. Kettlebell
Bend Steel short and long
Held a 125 lb. Dumbbell w/ a 2 inch thick handle for 10sec.
I think I've made my point here. Will this type of training do the same for everyone like it did for me? No theres no way not because i'm dissing your abilities its because I chose to try these things and my structure is different then others. That shouldn't mean you can't take a shot at them or whatever you want to do but with a good structure and leverage with your body-to-weight ratio you'd be surprised how strong you can get. So I really don't give a flying you know what about people who say you can't be strong on this type of training.
Man I sound like an a**hole right now don't you think? Sorry guys I tend to do that every now and then. Back to why it puts the "Fun" in Functional Strength. Its fun in my opinion cause you get to be free to do what you want for exercise. When they say the best things in life are free I'd put exercise right near the top of the list in my opinion. You get to be creative and try things at different angles and for the most part you're always isolating muscles.
Working the whole body as a unit is far better then doing a ton of other exercises for specific muscles. When you work the body as One, you're putting on more muscle, burning more fat and your muscular strength & endurance go through the roof. It also saves you time from going to the gym and training in your own home, how many people at the gym can say they trained while they played video games or trained while commercials are going instead of their favorite tv show or better yet train with the music they want to listen to with no one around. That's one reason why I find Bodyweight Exercises fun.
I feel that when Jack Lalanne pioneered his fitness tv show way back in the 50's and 60's he wanted you to get up and start your day with a smile, laughing and feeling good like you were a little kid. He was the guy in my opinion that made exercise fun and enjoyable instead of being hardcore and rough and making you feel that exercise is just horrible. He wasn't just a pioneer in the fitness industry, he was also one of the most intelligent men of his generation because he not only made you bust your ass but you enjoyed it and kept coming back for more with a smile and a thirst for life. That was his true genius and no one should ever forget that.
One of my favorite forms of bodyweight training is being out in the wild and being an animal that is strong, powerful and graceful. This is where another form of freedom comes into play. You don't feel like working out but playing and having fun moving around. Theres something for everyone that can do bodyweight exercises, you can be 10 or 100 and still find a way to do great exercise to keep you young, vibrant and healthy.
Back in the early eras of Physical Culture of the 20th Century, many strongmen on the vaudville circuit, circuses and competitions actually did Bodyweight Training to help gain an advantage for what they did as performers. Many of them were wrestlers, boxers, gymnasts, acrobats and just flat out very powerful men. Otto Arco for example was a superior acrobat who can not only do great hand balancing feats but was one of the first of three men to lift double-bodyweight overhead in the clean and press or jerk if I said that right. John Grimek who has been known as the greatest bodybuilder in the non-steroid era of the sport who can vouch for bodyweight exercises as part of a token of his successful career as a bodybuilder and Olympic Weightlifter. Those 2 were examples of among many others that have used bodyweight with sucessful results.
Heres one final thing about why bodyweight exercises are fun to do for functional strength and that's being able to play with your kids. Children start the first few years of their lives doing bodyweight exercises, whether they're running, jumping, playing on the monkey bars or climbing up to go down the slides they're using nothing but they're own Bodyweight and some of them are very strong for how small they are. Makes you think doesn't it? When you learn to train like a child it can give you a whole different prespective about training. As adults we may not have the same energy as a young child but we can adapt and learn to enjoy being there and playing with them. When you train as a family, you create a certain bond and learning from each other. I want to be able to do that with my own kids one day and be able to have fun with them.
If you're looking for some awesome courses on Bodyweight Exercises then look no further then below.........
Gymnastic Abs
Animal Kingdom Conditioning
Advanced Bridging
Body Sculpting Bodyweight Exercises For Women
Pain Killers
Gymnastic Handstands
Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups
Hand Balancing Mastery Course
Animal Kingdom Conditioning 2: Call Of The Wild
Wild Animal Fitness For Kids
Ultimate Bodyweight Conditioning-Squats
Ultimate Bodyweight Conditioning-Push-ups
Monday, August 15, 2011
Guiding Your Way To Handstand Push-ups
In any form of training we all have to start somewhere and that's at the basics. Building foundations are keys to successful training with learning the basics comes with intelligence. When you start out its new and sometimes difficult to understand but as time goes on you become smarter and smarter.
With the case of Handstand Push-ups, you are learning the basics of Hand Balancing in this manner with using the wall. Now contrary to popular belief this type of training does not mean its working just your arms but the entire body and with good reason. You are practicing your body as a unit and with the arms you have to use the stabilizing muscles such as your core, chest, shoulders, back and yes even your legs.
When doing push-ups in this manner yo have to use the body as one solid piece just like a steel rod. If you don't master this first, you won't have much to do and holding the position won't help either. Once you have mastered this there are many ways to do Handstand Push-ups.
Take for example your hand placements can determine whether the exercise will be easier or harder. Even shifting your head from looking at the floor to looking forward will make a huge difference to see how far down you can go. The ability to overcome these differences is up to you and see how far you're willing to go to create awesome push-ups.
If you're a weight lifter, Handstand Push-ups can help increase your pressing power because this type of training increases your awareness on how you apply the body and its also a full body press. Because of this type of training I'm able to press a 88lb. Kettlebell without that much effort and even did it the first time I picked one up. Will that hapn with you? Maybe, maybe not but when you practice this regularlly you can rest assured your pressing strength will go through the roof.
Now that the physical part is out of the way you still have to learn how to use your mind. At first it can be scary being upside down and not know what the hell to do. This is one of the true tests of mind over matter.
The ability to overcome fear to increase your strength. Take into consideration the olympic gymnasts and acrobats on how they do their hand balancing stunts. They make them look easy as if they're a cake walk but deep down they are just like you and me. They started out fearful and learned to practice over and over again to overcome that fear and become strong and powerful. Now does this mean you have to be a gymnast or acrobat to understand this? No. You just need to learn to infuse your mind with your body and develop the way its meant for you.
Learn to become im"press"ive with Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups and learn the basics that has taught some of the strongest men on the planet on how to become strong and powerful.
With the case of Handstand Push-ups, you are learning the basics of Hand Balancing in this manner with using the wall. Now contrary to popular belief this type of training does not mean its working just your arms but the entire body and with good reason. You are practicing your body as a unit and with the arms you have to use the stabilizing muscles such as your core, chest, shoulders, back and yes even your legs.
When doing push-ups in this manner yo have to use the body as one solid piece just like a steel rod. If you don't master this first, you won't have much to do and holding the position won't help either. Once you have mastered this there are many ways to do Handstand Push-ups.
Take for example your hand placements can determine whether the exercise will be easier or harder. Even shifting your head from looking at the floor to looking forward will make a huge difference to see how far down you can go. The ability to overcome these differences is up to you and see how far you're willing to go to create awesome push-ups.
If you're a weight lifter, Handstand Push-ups can help increase your pressing power because this type of training increases your awareness on how you apply the body and its also a full body press. Because of this type of training I'm able to press a 88lb. Kettlebell without that much effort and even did it the first time I picked one up. Will that hapn with you? Maybe, maybe not but when you practice this regularlly you can rest assured your pressing strength will go through the roof.
Now that the physical part is out of the way you still have to learn how to use your mind. At first it can be scary being upside down and not know what the hell to do. This is one of the true tests of mind over matter.
The ability to overcome fear to increase your strength. Take into consideration the olympic gymnasts and acrobats on how they do their hand balancing stunts. They make them look easy as if they're a cake walk but deep down they are just like you and me. They started out fearful and learned to practice over and over again to overcome that fear and become strong and powerful. Now does this mean you have to be a gymnast or acrobat to understand this? No. You just need to learn to infuse your mind with your body and develop the way its meant for you.
Learn to become im"press"ive with Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups and learn the basics that has taught some of the strongest men on the planet on how to become strong and powerful.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Powerful & Graceful....The Handstand Is
Over the last 100 years, hand balancing has been one of the most impressive sights to see when it comes to bodyweight training. Some of the strongest men in the world have had experiences in hand balancing such as Bob Jones, Otto Arco, Charles Atlas, Sig Klien, Bert Asserati, Maxick, Earl Liederman, Doug Hepburn and Jack Lalanne to name a few. Talk about big names but the list goes on and on but the point I want to make here is being able to stand on your hands is one of the most powerful things you can do with your body.
Building a foundation takes tons of practice and the right kind of practice. Where your hands should, arching the back or not and keeping a solid base of where you want to be. Awareness is one of the major keys to doing hand balancing. Doing a handstand against the wall is a great way to start. Begin to feel aware of your surroundings and tap into that mental block that has kept you from getting strong in that position. It is scary at first no question but you learn to practice it over and over with the right steps.
Is hand balancing the greatest bodyweight feat of all-time? Well thats hard to say but it is one of the most coolest feats there is and whoever says handstands are for gymnasts and acrobats only is full of it. The men I have mentioned above, some of them are big dudes and one weighed over 250 pounds. Can you guess which one though?
If you check out Lost Art Of Hand Balancing.com you will find the best info on how to become a master hand balancer and you will find the true secrets to this great art that has amazed people from all walks of life fot 100+ years in the circus, backyards, parks, vaudville, film and pictures. Help carry on a tradition that has been passed on from one generation to the next. Become a master on your own two hands. I highly recommend these courses especially these two....
Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups
&
The True Art & Science Of Hand Balancing
Building a foundation takes tons of practice and the right kind of practice. Where your hands should, arching the back or not and keeping a solid base of where you want to be. Awareness is one of the major keys to doing hand balancing. Doing a handstand against the wall is a great way to start. Begin to feel aware of your surroundings and tap into that mental block that has kept you from getting strong in that position. It is scary at first no question but you learn to practice it over and over with the right steps.
Is hand balancing the greatest bodyweight feat of all-time? Well thats hard to say but it is one of the most coolest feats there is and whoever says handstands are for gymnasts and acrobats only is full of it. The men I have mentioned above, some of them are big dudes and one weighed over 250 pounds. Can you guess which one though?
If you check out Lost Art Of Hand Balancing.com you will find the best info on how to become a master hand balancer and you will find the true secrets to this great art that has amazed people from all walks of life fot 100+ years in the circus, backyards, parks, vaudville, film and pictures. Help carry on a tradition that has been passed on from one generation to the next. Become a master on your own two hands. I highly recommend these courses especially these two....
Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups
&
The True Art & Science Of Hand Balancing
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Handstand Push-ups For Total Upper Body Strength & Power
When I got into bodyweight training I started doing it for recovery in my legs and build up to a ridiculious number of squats. After that I began finding exercises that were very difficult to do and getting up past 15-20 would be in the realm of dreams for most people so I gave the handstand push-up a try. At first I couldn't hold a handstand on the wall for more then 5 seconds before I fell on my ass. I kept at it and learned various techniques and in a short period of time I was hitting numbers that most people at my size can never imagine. It is difficult to hold a handstand let alone do 1 rep of a handstand push-up. After getting stronger in this I did a little research.
For the most part if you want to get good at start something you have to start with the basics. Some people think they're more advanced but if you asked them to do a basic thing they won't get within an inch of what they say they can do. Learning a foundation is a key to great success if you want to go beyond what you're capable of. Take my friend Logan Christopher for example, here is a guy who looks like he can be a very limber individual but if you put the 2 of us together most likely at first you'll probably guess i'm the much stronger one right? I mean hell i'm 240+ pounds and can do things not many people in the world can do but I hate to disappoint you guys but the truth is, Logan is actually pound for pound stronger then I'am and I'm not ashamed to say this.
Back to my research, I discovered many techniques on how to do handstand push-ups and tried many variations but nothing has come close to what Logan teaches in his Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups Course. This book will take you through all you need to start learning the basics, intermidiate and advanced variations of the handstand push-up. After learning just a few techniques from him I've become much more aware of where I'am, where my hand placements need to be and how to make the exercise harder or easier within seconds. As far as I know I'm one of the strongest men in the world to press up his own bodyweight at a considerable heavyweight level being 240+ lbs. but that still doesn't make me the smartest man in strength and conditioning. You can be strong but in order to get there you must learn balance,corridnation, flexibility and a good amount of strength.
I will tell you right now Logan & I weren't the best at what we do at first. We had a tough road to go on but with will power and a constant founding of determination and motivation we made it through but yet we still have a lot to learn. Thats the thing with all of us is that we all have a road to go through and we all need to find a source of motivation to keep us going. Why not start with a great teacher who can help you and encourage you to do the best you can be.
In the course there will be chapters on......
Basic Handstands
Handplacements For Targeting Either Shoulders Or Arms Or Both
Wrist Exercises To Warm Up
Advanced Techniques
How To Build Iron Claws For Handstands On The Fingertips
Isometric Techniques If You're Stuck
Frequency In Doing Handstand Push-ups
Specific Workouts
& More..............
I encourage you to pick up The Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups. This book will help you skyrocket your strength and it can help your pressing movements in the weight room. I firmly believe that Handstand Push-ups are one of the best exercises for gaining massive strength in the upper body and building mental toughness with your awareness and sense of Kinestetics.
Ultimate Guide to Handstand Pushups
For the most part if you want to get good at start something you have to start with the basics. Some people think they're more advanced but if you asked them to do a basic thing they won't get within an inch of what they say they can do. Learning a foundation is a key to great success if you want to go beyond what you're capable of. Take my friend Logan Christopher for example, here is a guy who looks like he can be a very limber individual but if you put the 2 of us together most likely at first you'll probably guess i'm the much stronger one right? I mean hell i'm 240+ pounds and can do things not many people in the world can do but I hate to disappoint you guys but the truth is, Logan is actually pound for pound stronger then I'am and I'm not ashamed to say this.
Back to my research, I discovered many techniques on how to do handstand push-ups and tried many variations but nothing has come close to what Logan teaches in his Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups Course. This book will take you through all you need to start learning the basics, intermidiate and advanced variations of the handstand push-up. After learning just a few techniques from him I've become much more aware of where I'am, where my hand placements need to be and how to make the exercise harder or easier within seconds. As far as I know I'm one of the strongest men in the world to press up his own bodyweight at a considerable heavyweight level being 240+ lbs. but that still doesn't make me the smartest man in strength and conditioning. You can be strong but in order to get there you must learn balance,corridnation, flexibility and a good amount of strength.
I will tell you right now Logan & I weren't the best at what we do at first. We had a tough road to go on but with will power and a constant founding of determination and motivation we made it through but yet we still have a lot to learn. Thats the thing with all of us is that we all have a road to go through and we all need to find a source of motivation to keep us going. Why not start with a great teacher who can help you and encourage you to do the best you can be.
In the course there will be chapters on......
Basic Handstands
Handplacements For Targeting Either Shoulders Or Arms Or Both
Wrist Exercises To Warm Up
Advanced Techniques
How To Build Iron Claws For Handstands On The Fingertips
Isometric Techniques If You're Stuck
Frequency In Doing Handstand Push-ups
Specific Workouts
& More..............
I encourage you to pick up The Ultimate Guide To Handstand Push-ups. This book will help you skyrocket your strength and it can help your pressing movements in the weight room. I firmly believe that Handstand Push-ups are one of the best exercises for gaining massive strength in the upper body and building mental toughness with your awareness and sense of Kinestetics.
Ultimate Guide to Handstand Pushups
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Push-ups!!!!!!!!
It doesn't cease to amaze how many people are missing out on the wonderful benefits of push-ups.........If there was one type of calisthenics that could give you strength, flexibility and endurance plus not to mention an awesome physique it would be the push-up and its variations. Many physical culturists around the globe for the last thousand years made the push-up they're ideal training exercise.
Now a lot of people plus the "experts" say the push-up only works the triceps, shoulders, upper back and chest and if they want to be stronger they should do the bench press. Now if you really looked beyond then just running your mouth you would know that the push-up actually works more muscle groups then the bench press.
It takes good strength/endurance to work all those muscle groups at once. There are hundreds and hundreds of variations of push-ups and even the most basic ones can turn you into a beast of a man, for women your working the muscles you wanted toned. When you hear someone say "when you do 50 or more push-ups you're only building endurance not strength" well how many people can actually do 50 push-ups even better how many can do 50 push-ups using a different variation, like:
Handstand Push-ups
Planche Push-ups
One-Arm Push-ups
Fingertip Push-ups
Superman Push-ups (Arms Extended)
Now point someone to me who can do any one of these 50 times in one set full range......
Never fall for the "push-ups are ok but Bench will make you stronger." You can get strong on the bench no question but with a heavy price, the heavier you lift the more prone to injury then doing push-ups.......When you master the push-up and the way you are comfortable positioned you can have not only an awesome physique but the strength, flexibility and endurance to show it.
Now a lot of people plus the "experts" say the push-up only works the triceps, shoulders, upper back and chest and if they want to be stronger they should do the bench press. Now if you really looked beyond then just running your mouth you would know that the push-up actually works more muscle groups then the bench press.
It takes good strength/endurance to work all those muscle groups at once. There are hundreds and hundreds of variations of push-ups and even the most basic ones can turn you into a beast of a man, for women your working the muscles you wanted toned. When you hear someone say "when you do 50 or more push-ups you're only building endurance not strength" well how many people can actually do 50 push-ups even better how many can do 50 push-ups using a different variation, like:
Handstand Push-ups
Planche Push-ups
One-Arm Push-ups
Fingertip Push-ups
Superman Push-ups (Arms Extended)
Now point someone to me who can do any one of these 50 times in one set full range......
Never fall for the "push-ups are ok but Bench will make you stronger." You can get strong on the bench no question but with a heavy price, the heavier you lift the more prone to injury then doing push-ups.......When you master the push-up and the way you are comfortable positioned you can have not only an awesome physique but the strength, flexibility and endurance to show it.
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