Handstand progress

I've been working on a handstand for forever. (A year and a half.)

I started doing handstands at the trampoline gym and circuit training class. That progressed to wall handstands and gymnastics classes and finally taking a handstand class.

Progress is slow but I'm getting there.

My husband snapped this one of my at gymnastics tonight.
1. Straight up and down. (I tend to tilt my hips and not form a line. Or arch my back)
2. Toes pointed
3. My hands might be a tad wide, but it's okay
4. My head might be a tad out.
5.. Fingers are tented.
I'll take it. I can tell the difference between my handstand now and last summer. 

The goal is a 10 second hold. This picture was like a 2 second hold. I have more 5 second holds now.
I've got a better idea where my balance point is and more holds and fewer junk handstands. (Still plenty of those.)

I still need to work on
• Really squeezing my quads and butt to straighten my handstand out
• Entries. Getting me head between my arms and not out.
• Holding longer. Finding that balance point and holding it—instead of kicking up too hard and falling over.

Super happy about my progress on handstands and hope to be able to hold it longer each month.

Goal: Practice at home.
I don't have a lot of space to practice in my townhouse, so I take a Sunday handstand class and Wednesday gymnastics. That's twice a week. If I can get a few handstands in at my house or at the student gym, I think I'll make more progress. I've really just been doing them once a week and that's not enough.

(What I wore: Glyder Mosiac crop and Athleta PR tank. I like tanks with built in bras that won't come up like a loose tank might for gymnastics. )

Bonus: My husband came with me to my adult tumbling class tonight  :) It was awesome. He had a blast. He said "that was a lot of fun for $10. They have all the toys. You can pick want you want to do. And there are coaches around to help you do it." He wanted to play on the bars. So Robert worked with him on basic bar work. I think he wants to do a kip.

We walked on the balance beams. I showed him the cheese wheel for back handsprings. We played on the tumble track. He played on the parallel bars and had a bar set up for him on the floor.

Lesson: You're never too old for gymnastics. (My husband is 35.) And it is fun!

Flying trapeze: Unclipping Lines and the Blooper Reel

After a miserable rainy weekend, the rain held off long enough for trapeze Sunday night. I felt lucky to not have to reschedule the class.  Also, only half the class showed up.

There were 5 of 9 people there, so the class went by super fast. I got lots of turns and was exhausted by the end.

What I learned tonight: unclipping my lines.
I wanted to learn to unclip my lines. Because all the cool flyers hand their lines back up the board. I asked Shain to teach me this. It looks easy, but it really isn't. 

So you're clipped in, one carabiner is clipped into the hook on either side of your safety belt. The carabiner is what attaches you to the safety lines. So when you're done with the trick, you unscrew the carabiner, open it. Then unscrew and open the other one. You clip them together and walk closer to the board for the staffer to catch the lines with a hook. Sounds simple! Except, you can't let go of the lines. Or they'll fly up to the top of the rig and someone will have to climb up and bring them back down. Eek!

In theory, unclipping the lines sounds simple.  Except, I am so bad at things like this. It takes me forever to unscrew them. And then do the second one, one-handed—while your arms may or may not be tired from all that hanging. Geez! All the frequent flyers make this look so easy.

It was a good night to learn this—since the class was so small, we weren't rushing and I could take my time with the lines.

Working on my swing
I kept working on my swing tonight.

I still need to work on my take-off, especially getting the bar back up to eye level.

I'm getting closer to understanding the bullet drop. I'm kicking too hard. We tried it on the practice bar. And it's kind of like a plank in that you want your body to be straight. Next time I want to try just thrusting my hips Pure Barre style and not kicking at all.

My second go-round, I kicked too hard and almost landed on my head. I somersaulted into the net. Oops.

I need to remember to arch at the end of the swing. I'm not sure they always call it. And I still need to make my swing more relaxed and less forced. Kaz even said I don't necessarily have to wait for the calls, but to feel it.

Shain started calling extend and I wasn't sure what to to there. Have I only been swinging for 2 classes? It feels like more. Maybe I'm getting used to it. (Kaz even mentioned swinging from my take-off instead of hanging straight. Does that mean progress?)

For a trick. We tried my back-end split.

The first time up, I was expecting more swinging. The trick was called after the first forward, backward, forward, and I wasn't ready for it. Oops.

The second time up, my hands were too narrow for the split. (Kara called this down to me from the board.) After weeks of straddles, this makes sense. It's muscle memory. But wrong trick. Oops.

Then it was time for catches.

My first time up was one for the blooper reel. On my swing I bumped the board with my butt, which got my timing all off. Then, we practiced the trick. Something happened (not sure what!) and I was dangling one arm from the bar. I pulled my other arm up as quickly as I could. And the trick was over. Not sure why that happened. But good to know, I can survive a one-armed hang. However brief. I'm not counting this run ;)

(I tried to calm down after this trick, to take deep breaths so it wouldn't happen again. One of the other ladies made sure I was okay and to not be too hard on myself. It was really nice of her. Thankfully, I wasn't pouting, just trying to chill.)

(Sorry you really can't see me, I was wearing purple that just didn't show up.

 Will try to wear neon next time ;) 

My second first time up was my best trick of the night. I swung into my trick. First (one leg straight, thigh on the bar, one leg with knee bent, foot near the bar) and final, go into the split and arch. I reached to catch and we touched and I fell. The catcher said his timing was off. It was probably me, but oh well.

The last time up, I was a second late in my swinging back and that threw the timing off for the whole trick. Another miss for me.

Blooper reel:
Tonight I managed to
• Somersault out of a bullet drop. I kicked my feet too high and almost landed on my head. Oops.
• Hit the board hwile swinging. Oops. I have lots of padding in my butt so this didn't hurt.
• Let go of my hand instead of swinging up for my split. So I was hanging one handed from the bar.

Class finished 15 minutes early. I was too tired to try again. With five people I was constantly climbing the ladder. My shoulders were super sore towards the end of class. That's a lot of holding your body weight.

All in all, a solid class (despite my bloopers)  I didn't catch my trick, but I felt like I'm getting used to my one-handed take-off, my swing. I learned unclipping my lines. I'm really learning a lot.

I still need to learn working-in-hands. We couldn't do it this class because I didn't catch my trick, but Wednesday for sure.

Trapeze hands. Working on building my calluses.
You know you're legit when you tear your hands. 

Year midpoint goal check

Half of 2015 has flown by. How is this possible?

But what a great time to look at my fitness goals from January and see where I am.

1) Get my left split.  Done.

Doing a split at Pure Barre. 

2) Front tuck on the floor (with a spring board is acceptable).  Haven't tried. I can't figure out run, run punch. 

3) Climb once a month. I got certified to climb in February and have climbed twice and mean to go this weekend (before even looking at this post.) I miss climbing.

4) Keep trying new classes (once a month if I can find something new).

Have tried trapeze, a new barre class, a different Pure Barre, a SPARC class, fitness class at Rush, ninja course at Rush and took up running. I'd say good progress is made on this.

Taking a class at SPARC.

5) Take a class at Leap Flying Trapeze school.  Done. Obsessed.

6) Try the 6 a.m. Pure Barre class. Have yet to do.

7) The the vertical pole class at Canopy. My goal to do this summer maybe this month. 

8) Hold a handstand for at least 5 or 10 second. I'm still working on my handstands but think I've gotten a five second hold a few times.

Handstand on the beach.

9) Buy something from Lululemon. (Maybe a cute top for my birthday). I have 20 or so pieces and am a total Lululemon addict. I've spent my lulu budget for the month and aren't allowed to buy anything else.

10) Keep working on 6-pack abs. (One day!). My abs are looking good from Pure Barre. Not six-lack, but it's a something pack when I suck in ;) 

So, four of these goals I can check off as done, with two in progress and four to work on. I'd count this as progress.

Maybe I should even add a few goals. (Not necessarily by the end of the year.) 

1) Bump up running to twice a week.

2) Run a 5k. Before next summer.

3) Run a 5k in under 25 minutes.

4) Get a fitness tracker.

5) Touch my feet to my head. (Handstand scorpion).

Working on my scorpion. I can hold my
 own weight for about two seconds! Will get this trick. 

6) Do body composition testing.

7) Make a fitness plan for the fall.
8) In 2016, find some relay races to run in like the Chick Fil-A Half or the All Comers Track meet.
9) Take a class at Blast.
10) Try a pilates class.