The importance
of handstands. I recently emailed one of my former (and favorite) gymnastics
coaches and teammates for advice on conditioning. I decided that I want to
start conditioning like a gymnast again. That was undoubtedly when I was at my
most muscular and strongest. As a gymnast, you use so many muscles that you
would never know existed until you try to flip, twist, and do various other
crazy things with your body. I remember some of what we used to do but I wanted
to know more about the latest and greatest. Turns out, the advice was pretty
simple: focus on the basics. My coach said that 80% of your strength comes from
20% of your basic moves. She also mentioned the importance of handstands.
Handstands use all of your muscles. Perfect, that’s what I’ve been focusing on.
I mainly asked about the conditioning because I want to be strong as I start
back with my triathlon training. I plan to ease back into it as I feel better
and my hope is that the stronger I am, the more likely I will avoid injuries.
Also, I of course need to condition in order to do this press handstand.
I realized just
how important handstands are to me the other day when I was apartment hunting.
I found this very small studio, basement apartment (like 200 sq. feet
small). I had to duck a little to get
through the doorway and then the ceiling wasn’t much taller than I was. My
first thought, I can’t do handstands in here! Kind of a silly thought, but
handstands are important to me! So I didn’t take the apartment (it had several
other downfalls besides the ceiling height) and continue to look for a place
with ceilings high enough for me to spend ample time upside down.
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