I’ve been making great progress in my training recently and I figured it was time to share with you what I’ve been doing and some lessons from it. If you’re following me on Facebook then you may have already seen these. But in any case there will be many more details here.
Freestanding Handstand Pushups
Now this isn’t a new move for me but I’ve been going further with it then ever in the past. Instead of occasionally being able to do this move, I can now easily consistently do them touching my nose to the ground. And the multiple repetitions are starting to go up!
The reason I’ve been working more on this move, and other variations of handstand pushups recently, is not just to build strength, but I can foresee getting the tiger bend in the near future. When training this move I usually stick to one rep at a time and see how many total reps I can achieve, from balanced at the top, all the way down, back to balanced at the top, in a period of time. This way I’m not getting overly fatigued but get lots of practice in keeping the balance.
Once you’ve found the spot where your nose should touch down each time, it’s easy to keep the body in alignment and not need to work to balance all that much. At this point I’m hitting more reps than I’m missing.
Handstand pushups, including the freestanding ones, are covered at length in my book The Ultimate Guide to Handstand Pushups, which I’ve recently dropped the price on and also made the ebook version available.
I’ve also set a recent record for myself of 7 full range handstand pushups against a wall.
Tucked Human Flag
The human flag is a fun exercise to do. When you first get started with it it’s hard to get the feeling you know should be happening when you grab the pole. You spin out of position and just can’t seem to lock it in. Well, finally it kicked after some consistent practice.
Specifically I’m working the tucked flag position and in this picture, or maybe it was the rep right after it, I held the position for 15 seconds and could have gone longer.
I strive to get the bottom arm opened up and then pull hard with the upper arm. This stops the spinning out of place. Unfortunately the one side is feeling a lot better than the other, but they’re both progressing.
For more on human flag training go here.
One Leg Front Lever
The front lever is also making progress. The progression I’m enjoying is to keep one leg straight and the other tucked. In this position here I’ve held 15 seconds with each side. The key to this position is to pull in your tucked leg hard, plus pulling down hard with the hands.
I’m now starting work on the next step which involves gradually straightening the tucked leg.
In fact, I’ve also held a legs straight and together back lever now for 15 seconds so that one is progressing too!
Your turn. What are your recent PR’s?
Comments
Hey Logan,
Great work. These are all really cool movements that I would lie to do in the future as well. Thanks for the tips.
My training is also going really well. I’ve been working lately on Back lever, Supermans and curved handstands – made good progress in all 3.
Recently able to get both legs out fully in back lever for first time (albeit using pendulum swings to help at the moment) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqEIEspQYtc
Achieved legs straight supermans for first time as well for reps. Next goal will be holds for time and then start working on the proper human flag hand positioning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubawJsiQBfg&feature=plcp
Lastly working towards freestyle cureved handstands – only able to balance for couple of seconds at the moment but this is significantly better than 2 months ago and reckon I will get it in the next session or 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-xrSh99Jbw&feature=plcp
Keep up the good work
Gareth
@Gareth Keeping: Great progress. I haven’t tried that back lever drill myself but will give it a go in my next session.
What a co-incidence, I’ve also recently been working on these moves, I can do the freestanding HSPUs, my PR for consecutive presses are 6 in a row, usually I can only get about 4ish though. I also practice one rep at a time, another thing I do to practice them is lower myself into a headstand, then back out to a handstand, and repeat. Honestly I find consecutive L-sit to handstand and back down easier that free HSPUs. As for the levers and flags, I’m on the tuck flag, and partial tucked lever.
@Kanhaiya: Awesome work. Isn’t it funny how different moves can come easier or harder to us? I like that headstand press as well.
Awesome job bro. For a man your height doing free handed HSPU’s is just unbelieveable. Out of all the years I’ve known you, you continue to surprise me. Keep it man.