Building Straight-Arm Scapular Strength Part 1: Awareness
I thought I was strong when I first started Gymnastics Strength Training (GST). I'd been lifting weights in the gym for years and increasing my squat, deadlift, chin-up, overhead press and bench numbers.
But it didn't prepare me for GST, especially Straight-Arm Scapular Strength (SASS) movements.
I couldn't hold a Tuck Planche.
I couldn't Skin The Cat or hold a Back or Front Lever.
I couldn't hold a Handstand.
I was strong. But what was I missing?
Why Gymnastics Skill Seekers should Skin The Cat.
As a gymnastics skill seeker, one of my goals was to master the back lever. In Gymnastics Strength Training (GST), the back lever is one of the first static straight arm strength-based movements to learn.
Working towards a full back lever prepares the body for many more advanced gymnastics movements. So, I set to work training back levers.
The back lever isn't a movement to launch into without preparation. Many gymnastics skill seekers experience elbow and shoulder pain or even injury when they fail to build the foundations of strength and flexibility required for back lever training.
One of the best exercises for hip mobility and strength.
A lot of gymnastics skill seekers want to have strong and flexible hips. We want to perform a chest-to-floor pancake, chest-to-thigh pike, L-Sits, V-Sits, strict toes to bar, gymnastic bridge, and all the sick gymnastics skills.
Gymnastics Strength Training (GST) is full of movements that require strong and flexible hips.
So, where do you start?
There are literally thousands of strength and flexibility drills you can choose from.
What's the best bang for your buck?
If you've been doing a lot of Yoga, you might already have flexible hips but not very strong hips.
If you've been doing a lot of weight lifting, you might have strong hips but not very flexible hips.
Is there an exercise that can help build both strength and flexibility?
Popeye was a gymnastics skills seeker
Today, I wanted to talk about forearms.
Whenever I think of forearms, the first character that comes to mind in Popeye.
I'm not going to tell you to eat your spinach so you can grow up to become a big and strong gymnast. But if you want to be able to perform sick gymnastics skills like handstands, planche, muscle-ups and forward rolls, you'll need to train your forearms.
How to develop the strength to perform gymnastics skills?
One of the things we often see with gymnastics skill seekers who are trying to progress through their gymnastics movements is a lack of strength strength through a full range of motion.
What dose it mean to lack strength in full range of motion?
Let's use the ring muscle-up as an example.
Bodyweight Rows are The Foundation to pull-ups and rope-climbs
Bodyweight rows, also known as an "Australian Pull-up” (your down-under the bar/rings), are an exercise that is often overlooked. Chin-ups and pull-ups often take centre stage when it comes to bent arm pulling strength. Gym rookies are on a mission to get their first pull-up, while the intermediate and advanced strength athletes are looking to increase their total number of repetitions and their weighted chin-up numbers.
6 Steps to Mastering the Push-up
The push-up is one of the most common bodyweight exercises in the gym, but are you doing them properly? How many strict gymnastics push-ups can you do? How many should you be aiming for? When you're ready to stop being weedy and start being strong, you can begin by accomplishing a strict gymnastics push-up.
In bodyweight training and gymnastics, the push-up is viewed as an entry-level upper body pushing exercise. The strict push-up is used to build strength and movement awareness for more advanced pushing movements such as dips, ring dips, handstand push-ups, planche push-ups, and more. Mastering the strict push-up with perfect technique is an essential step in the journey of bodyweight training. Although the push-up is often seen as a foundation movement, there are push-up variations that can challenge even the strongest athletes - we'll save that for another post.
How do you build the strength to get your first chin-up?
Are you trying to get your first chin-up?
Are you trying to improve your chin-up or pull-up numbers?
Are you strong enough?
If not, where should you start?
Here are the TSTMethod’s eight steps to getting your first chin-up:
Spine Health and Awareness Part. 2
In our previous blog ‘TSTM monthly challenge: spine awareness’ we discussed some of the main functions of the spine from a movement perspective and common problems associated with them as seen with the general population. We then explored how we address spinal health from a movement perspective with health and longevity in mind. Using the cat/ cow segmentation exercise for you to self-assess, self-manage and begin to regain control of your spine.
If you have begun the practice you most likely found the process to be challenging and tedious to say the least. In this blog I will share some more exercises to help you develop the practice. but first i wanted to bring you in on a personal reflection of mine when it comes to spinal health and another reason why being able to control all movable joints of the spine is important to me.
Pancake Mobility Training Program
Are you working on your pancake mobility?
Are you struggling (like me) to make progress?
I’ve been “training" pancake mobility on and off for years, and I’ve not made very much progress. to be honest, I’ve not dedicated enough time to it. I’ve done the odd training block and thrown in a few stretches here and there, but its not enough.