Carryover from Handstands and Presses to athletic ability

[Alex Dienaar]

Hey everyone,

I've had this question that I've had in my head for quite a while now :

In the book Coach states that the Handstand and Press Handstand variations give the best bang for the buck for the beginning athlete. Would it then be beneficial to in the beginning focus on obtaining a handstand, presses and eventually pushups and L/straddle L's ? And what carryover does it have exactly ?

(Wondering, since some other exercises seem a bit easier now that I've started involving handstand and press work in my handstands)

Thanks in advance ^^

[Blairbob]

I would say L-sit and straddle L are basics crucial to success in gymnastics, especially straddle L for developing a press handstand.

I think this will be answered in the Handstand Chronicles. Rather, I hope it will be.

If you aren't doing handstands and are doing gymnastics, you need to rethink what you're doing or tweak it.

[Alex Dienaar]

I see, L-sit and Straddle very important.

Hope so as well, it's been bugging my curiosity even since I saw it.

And I'm guilty of that Have been kind of neglecting handstands (with the excuse of *nowhere to train it*) while I could just have been practicing against the wall for the last 6 months I've been here ><.

And I'm not in gymnastics, want to, but I'm not in my home country at the moment and can't find anything here in Sweden :<

Thank you for the clarification on the L and Straddle ^^

[Farago316]

I was unaware that straddle L helped with handstand presses. Out of curiosity, how are the 2 connected?

[Alex Dienaar]

Not sure myself (So, this might be a useless post, better wait for Blair or another superperson to answer ^^) but :

Straddle L helps with the compression and hip flexor strength and it's the starting position for the most basic full ROM press(Straddle L to Handstand Press).

[Coach Sommer]

In this instance, the straddle L in and of itself is not nearly as important a consideration as the straddle L being an integral part of the press handstand. For a weight lifter, the hip girdle is of supreme importance; hence their focus on squatting elements. For a gymnast, the shoulder girdle is of supreme importance. To this end, there is no other SINGLE movement more beneficial to the shoulder girdle overall then straight arm and bent arm press handstand variations; especially for beginning athletes.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

[Alex Dienaar]

Thank you for the response Coach, that really clarified things for me ^^