Gymnastics
A combination of inverted, bent arm and straight arm pushing and pulling strength. With progressions that cater for all abilities, it’s impossible to not be challenged. The great thing about gymnastics strength training is you can easily increase or decrease the intensity by lengthening or shortening the length of your body. You also have the option to use the floor, wall, rings, Trx, pull ups bar, boxes, kitchen bench, dining chairs- anything at all! Get creative and move your body through range.
Bicep Curl
Using a pair of rings, straps, bar or tree branch, walk your feet backwards and lower yourself to a hanging position. Keeping your body completely straight, using the bicep bend your arms and pull yourself upwards towards the rings or bar until your face is slightly below the rings, pausing at the top before returning back to the hanging position. To increase difficulty, walk your feet forward, Be sure to prevent the elbows from flaring out when you pull yourself upwards
Body Row
Using a pair of rings, straps, bar or tree branch or door frame, walk your feet backwards and lower yourself to a hanging position. Keeping your body completely straight, retract (squeeze) your shoulder blades, pulling yourself upwards by bringing the elbows back and down next to your body. Pause at the top before returning back to the hanging position. Keep your legs straight, butt squeezed and ribs down throughout entire set. To increase difficulty, walk your feet forward or elevate the feet by placing them on a box or ledge
Tricep Extension
Place hands on wall at chest height and walk backwards until your arms straight and shoulder in line with the hands. Keeping shoulders protracted (shoulder blades spread) and body hollow, bend at the elbow until it gently touches the wall before extending arm and returning to starting position. To increase difficulty, walk feet backwards and lower hands on the wall until you’re able to do sets on the floor
Pull Up
Using a pull up bar, tree branch, rings or swing set, hang so your arms are fully extended and your legs are straight with feet together. If your bar isn’t high enough for you to straighten your body out, tuck your feet behind you by bending your knees. Keeping your body rigid, pull yourself up until your chin goes above the bar before lowering yourself back down. Focus on retracting and depressing the shoulder blades and keeping elbows tight to the body. To mix this up, turn hands around and complete with a chin up grip or to decrease difficulty, if you have access to a band you can use, or complete the negative; jump off box or the ground, hold your chin over the bar and lower with control back to the bottom
HSPU
Place hands underneath your shoulders approximately 1 palm length away from the wall before kicking up into a handstand. Keeping your feet together, legs straight and ribs in, lower yourself to the floor, gently touching your head before returning back to a solid handstand. Just like the pike HSPU, we want to load the shoulders by moving out head in front of our hands and we also want to avoid arching on the press
Pike HSPU
Place hands approximately 1m in front of feet with your hands underneath your shoulders. With straight arms, press through your shoulders bringing your head back between your arms, pushing your but up in the air and remaining light on your toes. Shift your weight slightly forward so that your shoulders are over the wrist before loading the shoulders by moving head forward to the floor creating a triangle shape between your hands and keeping your elbows stacked over the wrists. Without flaring the elbows out or arching your trunk press back to starting position. To increase difficulty, walk feet towards your hands, bringing hips closer to the shoulders before eventually elevating the feet onto a box or ledge
Bench Dip
Sitting on a box, lounge or ledge, with hands shoulder width apart, walk feet forward until legs are straight and shoulders slightly in front of the hands. Lower your bum down towards the floor by bending the elbows until your shoulder is at least parallel to your elbows. Press into box returning to an extended arm position. To decrease difficulty, bend the knees to keep more weight in the legs
Dip
On a couple of boxes, bars, dining chairs or corner of kitchen bench, place hands under the shoulders before pressing yourself up into an extended arm position. Bend the elbows, lowering yourself with control until your shoulder is at least parallel with your elbow. Keeping your elbows over the wrist the entire rep, press yourself back up to the starting position. To increase difficulty, add some resistance or move your hands wider
Pike Handstand
Position hands underneath your shoulders with middle finger facing forward. Place your feet on box, ledge or lounge before walking your hands backwards, pushing hips in the air. The goal is to achieve a straight line from the hips to the hands- stacking all joints, with the elbows straight, ribs in and shoulder active.T o increase difficulty, elevate the feet as it will shift more load into the upper body. However, if the lower height is necessary for you but you’re tight in the hamstrings, move your feet wider apart
Wall Facing Handstand
Wall Facing Handstand
Using the wall for balance and a guide, either cartwheel into position or walk yourself up. Once you get there, your hands should be underneath your shoulders, elbows locked, shoulders active, ribs in, but squeezed, legs together and toes pointed. From head to toe you’re stretching your body in a vertical line and remaining tight. Your hands should be about a palm distance from the wall and everything should be in a straight line e.g. if your hips are on the wall but your chest isn’t
Handstand
Handstand
All the points of performance from the wall facing handstand remain the same. However, now you’ve got to balance without any assistance! If you’re in between the two progressions, you may want to practice your kick up with correct alignment and continue with your wall facing holds to build capacity and awareness, or if you’re lucky enough to have someone around, you can ask them for a gentle spot
Planche
As you can see in the planche, as the difficulty increases so does the amount of lean i need to find the balance point. Start off in a push up position with your hands underneath your shoulders and hands turned outwards. Keeping your shoulders protracted and body hollow, lean your shoulders over the wrist and walk your feet an equal distance. Once you build enough strength doing this movement, you want to begin playing with the elbow stand. This requires a lot more strength so just be careful and patient and remember this is a STRAIGHT arm movement so continue to protract the shoulders and press through the floor. Eventually you will be able to bring the knees off the arms and place them inside the arms so all weight is loaded in the upper body
Elevated Push Up
Place hands underneath the shoulders on a bench, elevated barbell or anything off the floor. Externally rotate the elbows (elbow crease forward) and protract the shoulders. Once you’ve done this, move your feet back until your body is hollow, legs extended and stand on your tip toes. Maintaining the same position, lower your body until your chest lightly touches the object before pressing up to the starting position. Aim to keep the elbow stacked directly over the wrist the whole time. A common fault is allowing the elbows to flare out or backwards which will hinder progress and prevent you from doing push ups on the floor. Lower the object to increase the difficulty of the movement or elevate the hands to make it slightly easier
Push Up
Kneeling down, place hands underneath the shoulders, externally rotate the elbows (elbow crease forward) and protract the shoulders. Once you’d done all this, move your knees back, pull your ribs in tilt your pelvis (pubic bone towards chin) and straighten the legs. Maintaining the same position, lower your body until your hips and chest lightly touch the floor before pressing up to the starting position. Aim to keep the elbow stacked directly over the wrist the whole time. A common fault is allowing the elbows to flare out or backwards which will hinder progress and prevent you from doing more complex exercises like the dip and Psuedo Planche Push Up
Pseudo Planche Push Up
From a Planche Lean position, bend your arms and lower your body towards the floor whilst maintaining the hollow position. Where the planche push up differs to the conventional push up is how far forward you load your shoulders past the hands e.g hands next to hips is the goal. Maintaining protracted shoulders, press yourself up to the starting position. Make sure you don’t press your shoulders back over the hands- keep the lean