Coach Jess has a secret to share…

Well, I finally achieved a goal that I think everyone has seen me struggle with. I handstand walked my way into 25 feet land. It’s a huge accomplishment for me that I have been striving for since I started. Getting upside down in the first place isn’t easy, but adding walking to it seems impossible and only reserved for the elite at our gym. Do you want to know how I did it? No, it’s not because I did gymnastics. That was a million years ago and truthfully I am better at handstands now than I was then. Drills are the answer! I know, not the answer you wanted to hear. Yes they are super monotonous and not sexy. We don’t need sexy, we need effective. I can’t help but watch athletes do handstand work. Its my addiction and man, do I love to discuss it, lol. I have a few favorite drills and I can share them with you here. My personal favorite is to do a handstand facing the wall. Simple is effective guys. All you have to do is do a handstand wall climb and get as close to the wall as possible. You honestly don’t even have to have your nose to the wall. Once you get as close as you can you pull your body as tight as possible. You can find your natural balancing point this way and practice gripping the floor with your hands. The idea is to pull into a hollow body position, which pulls your body into a stacked position and off the wall. If you are afraid of falling please, please, please don’t let that stop you. Grab a mat and get uncomfortable! Another fantastic drill that has really worked on my stability (stability is the enemy of tall people everywhere in case you didn’t know) are shoulder taps. Get upside, whether that’s on the wall or toes on a box and shoulder tap your life away. Focus on keeping a tight core and shifting weight onto one side. Remember simple is effective. The last drill I will leave with you is not even a drill. Don’t be afraid to scale back. A lot of times these drills are harder than the actual skill you are trying to achieve. Even though I could easily walk five feet at a time, I usually didn’t walk in workouts or even the EMOM’s. I knew I would get more benefit in the drills building my shoulder strength and core. Good luck in your handstand walking adventures! Don’t worry, I’ll be watching, lol.

Workout of the Day

Strength

15 Minutes

Front Squat – build to a heavy single with a 2 second pause – as in 1 asparagus, 2 asparagus….peppermint, orangutan…snagglepuss…we will leave it up to you.

Conditioning

AMRAP 9

3 Wall Ball Shot 20/14

3 Pullups

6 Wall Ball Shot 20/14

6 Pullups

Continue up by 3’s