Supporting your weight on your hands is easy: manipulating your body into the various positions (handstand, planche, one-arm etc) however needs a great deal of practice, with advice from those who have already achieved it... and it also needs good core strength to hold decent shapes, and reasonable shoulder and upper-body strength.  There is one 'core' principle: in any hand balance, your centre of gravity has to be directly above the supporting hand(s). You may well need help from your coaches or friends to get the 'feel' of that, and to keep it steady (that's where the core strength comes in). Expect many failed attempts. So: some examples to enthuse you. Some drills demonstrated by young gymnasts: (Moral: if at first you don't succeed... ... have another go!) Back with the young gymnasts:    ...and don't let the weather get in the way of your training... The crucial points for perfect handstand shape (on two hands) are 'open' shoulders, tight glut...

"Time On Our Hands!" One of those 'double-meaning' post titles. In this post-festive period, a lot of you will have time on your hands. Use it sensibly - get some serious exercise in after the indulgence of Christmas Day and the aftermath! But, as gymnastics coaches, we always say to gymnasts (and their parents) - the more time they spend on their hands, the happier we will be, and the gymnast should be getting proud of their handstand shape and endurance. Today's post is all about guys spending time on their hands, in various positions, demonstrating their balance skills and their core strength in keeping a great body shape (well, in most cases, but not all!).   Yep, start him young, dad!     And don't let rain put you guys off, either: Keep trying... 

A long while back we found a webpage called "The Lost Art of the Handstand" - it no longer exists, so don't bother looking! Every gymnast and many circus performers need handstands, which come in many forms: one two hands, on one arm only, high on top of another performer... count the ways! In this bonus post - and don't miss today's EARLIER ONE - we include training tips as well as artistic hand-balance examples (and sometmes less artistic one but good tries!). All in the interests of promoting the fitness and training needed to perform them properly. New resolution to get stuck in for 2024?  We cover many positions in these examples including planche - anything where all the weight is mantained on the hands in balance and during movements. Let's go. But wait: some training tips: Yes, shape matters a lot. More... When you are skilled in acrobatic gymnastics, all things are possible and there is fun to be had too: Obviously muscle strength is required as well...