Episode 5

[elefantinha]

Dear Natalie and everyone,

Hi there - so glad to discover this forum. Great to be able to ask questions and see what other people have asked (I had a question about the reason why we train endurance sets with back/front to the wall, but I see it's already been asked - v helpful).

I have 2 questions about episode 5:

1. Taking steps with the hands - I've only just started this episode, but I found this exercise very challenging. I do still need to work on my upper body strength reps, so I was wondering whether this was the reason I was finding it so hard?

2. Endurance exercises - is it advisable to get handstand blocks at this point in the training series, to take the strain off the wrists? Or is it too soon, as a relative beginner, to do this?

Thank you for your brilliant course Natalie - love the challenge!

Celia

[Natalie Reckert]

Hello Celia,

thank you for the lovely feedback and thank you for your question.

The steps are quite challenging, start with smaller sets if you find them difficult. Aim at 6 steps first, so that is three times left-right.

The reson why you may find this hard is also that you may be falling towards the hand that you have taken off. If that happens than that means that when you put down the hand next time you have to catch not only your body weight but your body weight plus the momentum of your body fallin towards that hand. Does it make sense?
It is the difference between pushing into the ground left right left or falling towards the ground. You wnat to think of pushing away not of catching yourself.

I think that handstand blocks are a great help for the endurance sets. I would recommend them for everyone. The strength in your wrists develops better with blocks and it makes the endurance slightly less grinding.

Let me know if I can help with anything else,
Best wishes

[Katja]

This is week 5 from 'The Ultimate 7 week handstand course' from Natalie Reckert
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/handbalancing
The numbers are minutes : seconds in the video on vimeo

What is this episode about
Core stability, Upper body exercises

Warm up (0:25), from episode 4 and other former episodes

• • • Two tennisballs in both hands, squeeze, 40 x
      Stick, outstretched arms, twist stick downwards, then upwards, both 20 x
      Fold wrists, make semicircles upwards and downwards
      Circle shoulders backwards and forwards, then with the whole arms
      Arm swings to back and diagonal, then up and down
      Curve the back and round the arms forward, then stretch back diagonally
      
      Dynamic leg stretches (3:25)

1

• Stand with legs wide, keep both knees bend
  Start with the arms swinging from lateral to medial
  At the same time one leg swings in a circular motion from medial to lateral
  Use momentum and get as much hip opening as possible
  Switch every time between legs
  10 x

2

• Kick diagonally to the side with one leg, the kick has to come from the core
  Twist the body while doing the kick
  Also use the arms swinging contralateral to help with momentum
  10 x one side, then the other

3 (6:00)

• Interlock the fingers behind your neck
  Touch the knee to the ellbow (same side) by lifting the leg up and flexing down
  Left, right, 20 x

4

• Slide the right hand down the side of the leg towards the knee by bending sidewards
  Then left
  10 x

5

• Second set of exercise 3
  20 x
  Hip mobility (8:08)
  Downward facing dog
  Step one food in a little
  Stretch the other leg above, knee can bend
  Step the hands closer to the legs to feel the stretch in the standing leg
  Know reach the upper leg (bend knee) more to the back, knee is pointint to the ceiling, while the foot is pulling sideways and to the back
  Hold for 20 sec

Ab exercise (10:06)
1

• Lay on your back, knees bend
  Interlock the fingers behind the head
  Sit ups
  15 x

2

• Still interlocked fingers, shoulders lifted off the ground
  Move to one side then to the other
  15 x both sides

3

• Hollow body shape with bend knees, shoulders off the ground
  Put the arms above the head, swing them down to the sides
  Sit up without letting the feet come off the floor and come back down (not letting the shoulders touch the ground)
  10 x

4

• Lift both legs straight and interlock the feet
  Lift the butt off to point the legs towards the ceiling
  Hands are laying on the ground and pressing
  Interlock with one foot in front 15 x, then the other foot front 15 x

5

Short rest on the belly, straightening the arms to come up with the upper body to stretch the belly, hold
6

Repeat 1 to 5
7

• Plank (18:15)
  Jump the feet in and out
  While leaning onto the hands to the front as much as possible and
  a) not letting the hips come up
  b) letting the hips coming up high to have a vertical line from wrist, shoulders, hips
  Make as little sound as possible, in a floating way
  20 x, 2 sets (first with a), second with b))

Upper body strenght (20:45)
1

• Downward facing dog
  Dive threw to do a push up, when the arms are straight leave the hips off the ground
  Bend the legs and push back diagonally back to downward facing dog
  If it's too hard, do it from your knees
  5 x

2

• Push ups (ellbows against the sides)
  10 x

3

• Plank
  Push up from the shoulders
  Ellbows pressed to the sides
  Sink down on both ellbows simutaniously (not completely to the ground)
  Come up again
  10 x

4

Do 2 sets of 1 - 3

Kick up's (26:00)

• Half a meter in front of a wall
  Keep it a slight bit in front of the centre of balance
  10 x, 3 sets
  Back to the wall (29:10)
  Max 1 hand distance to the wall

• Lean the heels to the wall
  Relaxe the neck, you can look to the front, neutral head position with relaxed neck
  Push shoulders up and down
  20 x, 2 sets
  
  Stepping with the hands (32:30)
  • Back to the wall
    Legs in a small V-position
    Move from one hand to the other in a stepping way, very quick changes
    Prepare the weight shift
    20 steps, 3 sets
  
  
  Endurence Sets (36:37)
  1
  • Chest to wall
    30 sec holds, 4 sets
  
  2
  • Back to wall
    30 sec holds, 4 sets
  
  
  Stretch
  1
  • Child position but not on your heels
    Palms pushed together, ellobws on ground (as close together as possible)
    Push shoulders towards the ground, nose to the ground
    Hold for 20 s, 2 sets
  
  2 (50:19)
  • Sit with bent legs
    Arms diagonal to the back on the ground
    Fingers pointing to the back
    Push the front of the ellbows out, opening up the front of the chest
    Lift the head up, push the chest up
    Stretch is in shoulders and arms
    Hold for 10 sec, 2 sets

[Natalie Reckert]

Thank you

Fabulous that you are at week 5 now!

[Katja]

Haha,
yes. Only now I'll continue also when I can't do the strength work entirely. I read your post for me to stress the mobility for the shoulders and torso more. So, when I feel better about that, I'll anyway go on to the next week.
Yours Katja

[Natalie Reckert]

Excellent, that sounds good.

Remember that it takes time to progress.

Learning a handstand is an exercise in patience too

Best wishes,
Natalie