A handstand (or a hand-balance position) is needed on every apparatus a gymnast encounters. For acrobatics, of course, all manner of handstand positions and other ways of demonstrating strength on the hands - like the planche - are essential components of the performance. Pretty much everyone can do this stuff if they are willing to put in the hours of training - like the professional acrobats and gymnasts do. We start this post with examples of such training, demonstrated by upcoming young gymnasts and older guys too - the handstand positions are not always ideal, but the muscle training achieved in moving between the positions is a vital part of the art.  Those two younger lads, Aleksey and Alexander, are from Russia and Ukraine respectively. I've featured them before and will do so again. Now for some still photographs: these will include upcoming gymnast lads from Italy, UK and Russia again as well as professional performers - and guys just having fun. Do't forget to check

Nearly forgot... shoujld have posted this yesterday. Another update of a great contact sport.  

Too many guys just want big muscles and nothing else. That's rarely good for sport (except perhaps power lifting!) - in most cases you need flexibility and endurance as well. For gymnastics, acrobatics, dance and most combat sports, good flexibility is essential. So I thought that we would show off some great examples today. There's one amusing photographic trick in this set - but the stretching is genuine. See if you can spot it. There are also a couple of kewl video clips at the end.     And finally, over to Ukrainian gymnast Alexander Z who shows us his special techniques for combining flexibility and strength training: