Are tight and weak shoulders impacting your handstands - Part 2
In part 1 of this post I talked about how a lack of shoulder flexion affects our handstand alignment. Often, this presents itself as a banana handstand.
As a quick recap, tight pecs, biceps, lats and teres major are the main muscles that impact shoulder flexion range of motion.
Foam rolling and stretching can help to lengthen these muscles and improve our overhead flexibility.
However, we can also add strength training to speed up the process while increasing shoulder strength and stability.
If the above muscles are short and tight, the opposing muscles may be weak.
Are tight and weak shoulders impacting your handstands - Part 1
A common problem adults experience when learning to handstand is a lack of shoulder flexion. They lack the strength and/or flexibility to open the shoulder angle to 180 degrees of shoulder flexion.
This affects the alignment of the handstand.
The workaround is to arch the spine.
This allows us to align our wrists, elbows and shoulders and balance our hands, resulting in a banana handstand.
A banana handstand isn't wrong, but it will limit your handstand progress.
The first 3 milestones to unlocking your first strict pull-up
A lot of adults want to do strict pull-ups, but they lack strength and don't know where to start.
Unlocking your first strict pull-up can be tricky. It can feel like you'll never have the strength to do strict pull-ups.
It's frustrating.
Over the last three weeks, I've shared the 3 key milestones that I like to use for helping adults unlock their first strict pull-up. In this post, I will recap these milestones so you can hopefully see the method to my madness.
How to increase forward fold flexibility?
Forward fold flexibility is pretty much the same as core compression strength. We’re trying to close the angle between the torso and the legs. But instead of focusing on the anterior chain strength, we’re talking about the posterior chain length.
Forward fold flexibility is about stretching the posterior chain muscles - soles of the feet, calves, hamstrings, glutes, back, and even neck muscles.
Most adults find it hard to touch their toes. Bringing your nose to your shins often seems like an impossible feat.
This is where choosing the correct progressions is critical to your success.
How to increase Core Compression Strength
When we talk about core compression strength we often think of movements such as seated leg lifts or hanging toes-to-bar. Both are core compression exercises, but they’re not the best starting place for building core compression strength.
So where do start?
Unlocking Your First Pull-Up: Why Ring Rows Might Not Be the Best Path to Building Upper Body Pulling Strength
Both ring rows and supine rows are great exercises for working out the muscles in the upper back, shoulders, and arms, including the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, and biceps. However, they have distinct mechanics and benefits.
If you're new to working out, starting with supine rows on a bar is generally a better option. Here's why:
Emphasising Eccentric Training Phase
A training phase focusing on eccentric training is one of the most productive ways to build strength, increase lean muscle, prevent injury, and even improve flexibility.
The saying, "I'm going to the gym to lift some weights to gain strength and size”, should be "I'm going to the gym to lower some weights to gain strength and size” because the eccentric phase delivers better results.
I've just completed a phase of 5/4/3/2/1 strength, and now I will move into a new phase of emphasising eccentrics. I'll share my new strength program at the end of this post.
Specific strength qualities for unlocking gymnastics skills. Part 4: Strength Endurance
Being strong can solve a lot of problems.
As we age, it’s become significantly harder to build and maintain strength and lean muscle mass.
So while we're young, fit and capable, it makes sense to train for strength.
Strength and lean muscle mass give us independence and freedom, and that’s why strength training is one of the most beneficial things we can do to increase our healthspan.
But, the biggest problem with training strength endurance is its negative impact on strength.
It's a common thing. People fall into the trap of thinking more volume equals better results. But it’s a lie.
This is a BIG deal because we often see callisthenics and bodyweight enthusiasts pumping out high volumes of pull-ups, push-ups, rows and more. So many wasted reps!
It doesn't make sense because it's detrimental to the goal of building strength and mastering our body weight.
Specific strength qualities for unlocking gymnastics skills. Part 3 : Functional Hypertrophy.
To succeed at gymnastics strength training, you need to build strength and size. Most bodyweight programs focus on high volumes of work, which doesn’t deliver the adaptations we need to succeed.
If your goals are to unlock gymnastic skills, you will want to explore low-volume, high-intensity training methods that help you build strength.
This is where functional hypertrophy can be helpful.
Specific strength qualities for unlocking gymnastics skills. Part 2: Hypertrophy
Do you want to build lean muscle, shred body fat, tone up, and increase strength while also working on your gymnastic skills?
If so, you’ve come to the right place.
Welcome to part two of the specific strength qualities for unlocking gymnastic skills series.
Today's discussion is about hypertrophy strength.