Need a customized framework for training? Try Autoregulation!

In the last post, I covered overcoming hurdles and changing things up. There was even talk about an interesting buzzword; autoregulation.

I didn’t want to get too deep into autoregulation at that point because I wanted to keep things simple...

BUT!

Today might be the day to tell you what this whole autoregulation thing is about.

Autoregulation is basically a way of being able to adjust the training session to the body’s needs at that point in time. First off let me say that this doesn’t mean to jump into every session without a plan, blindfolded, hoping something sticks. That's a bit off course from what we are looking for in our own training, although having time to play while you train has its merits.

What I'm talking about is having an adjustable framework to work from.

Lets take our wall assisted handstand as an example. To add to this, lets set a simple baseline to follow while your understanding this method. There are many methods to autoregulation including those from our friends at Gold Medal Bodies.

To start off, lets take the ideas of quality, quantity, and time. Say that our chosen training activity, the wall assisted handstand, will be given a time frame of 20 minutes. In that 10 minute time frame, I set a goal(quantity) of a 30 second handstand with a quality of a controlled kick-up lightly touching the wall and straight line. I have an added base point of stopping after not being able to hold a quality 20 second handstand even if its before the 20 minute time frame ends.

So what I’ve done is set up some “soft” parameters that i can play with in order to adjust my body accordingly to the task. This is important when building a skill, because you are learning to utilize your body. We have the added biological mess, that your bodies current state is a result of stimuli received previously.

You can look up more on the subject by doing a quick google search. But if you want to get a taste of auto-regulated skill training and mindfulness, test out one of the Gold Medal Bodies Elements programs.

Stay Ninja!
-Jonathan Magno

CONTACT US FOR MORE INFO ON SESSIONS!

Need a Different Result, Make a Change!

The last entry I posted was about adding weights to your hand balance training. Its a great way to build up the necessary muscles and stimulate the right activation.

But, what do you do if you keep training in the same manner but reach a standstill.

I can get into processes like autoregulation, but I’m going to make this simple and say just change things up!

Take a look at the video below for example. One of the things I focus my training on is boxing. But that's not all I work on. Every now and then I like to mix things up to see what I need to work on and test other things like kickboxing or mma. Throwing yourself in the fire can surprise you sometimes, as long as its within a range you're capable of handling.

Question of the Day: Why am I so short! Lol

A post shared by Hyper-Active Monkey Fitness (@hypermonkey1) on Feb 8, 2017 at 4:27pm PST

Now lets place this thought into more familiar territory. Handstands.

There was a time when I would spend about 30 min 5-6 days a week on my hand balancing. Not including the periodic times during the day.

Luckily, I have a nice open floor to train without many restrictions, so I had quite a few opportunities to practice my freestanding handstand. Although working on the freestanding handstand is great, constantly working on your bailout isn’t. In other words it doesn’t help if you cant keep the hold.

Whenever I would attempt and start to lose the hold, I would just bail. I could have tried to power through and waste energy, but I try to think of myself as more of technical guy than anything else.

So I decided to test and change things up. I tried variations off the fall, different surfaces, and even stalling from cartwheels.

This creates the dual effect of shocking your body and refreshing your mind. If you ever feel tired and stuck, a small or even big change-up might be what you may need.

Just keep it simple, stay consistent with your training, then alter things now and then. A change will happen!

Stay Ninja!
-Jon

So in short, look at what your own goals are and see what will work best for your situation.

If you want another way to crosstrain your body, check out the  GMB Vitamin Program!

CONTACT US FOR MORE INFO ON SESSIONS!

Can you Crosstrain for your Handstands!?

Will weight lifting and cross-training help you out with your handstands? 

Depends!

Still a bit different back in 2013. Cross-Training with Boxing and Calisthenics lol.

I’m going to expound on the idea. Weight-lifting is a ranged term that can involve power lifting, olympic lifts, bodybuilding, or old-fashioned strength training. A big qualifier on your results is in how you lift.

Certain exercises are going to help you out. While others will probably only add small gains towards your end goal.

Specifically for pressing movements. It requires a tremendous amount of strength to be able to press your own body overhead. You need strong triceps, shoulders, but more importantly a strong core.

Since many of the inverted presses take you through different planes of movement; not strictly overhead work, like the press from the frogger, you will also need strong pectoral muscles in addition to the core.

So strengthening these muscles will make your varied progressions easier.

Then again hand balancing takes a huge degree of balance. While weightlifting can help your coordination, it is nothing compared to what you need to stand on your hands.

Being able to press a heavy barbell overhead has no carryover to being able to hold a handstand.

A handstand is a skill and needs to be practiced in order for you to get good at it.

These days many people are moving away from weights because they think they are not functional. You know what? It just depends on what you’re doing with them.

Whether you decide to build you upper body strength with barbell presses or with handstand pushups, its really up to you. They both build strength.

So in short, look at what your own goals are and see what will work best for your situation.

If you want another way to crosstrain your body, check out the  GMB Vitamin Program!

CONTACT US FOR MORE INFO ON SESSIONS!

Get Your Fingers to the Floor!

Handstands, Cartwheels, the Crow and more

It will probably come as no surprise that out of all the body weight styles of training from bar work, to rings, and even all the tricky stuff; my favorite sets will always revolve around floorwork.

My basis for this is probably another unsurprising fact. You really don’t need any other piece of equipment other than your body using this style of training. To top it off, it creates a nice strong foundation for the other body skills. Even if you’re having an issue with a move through either fear or even sloppy form, you can practice a lateral skill progression on the ground to build up that kinesthetic or confidence. I do this all the time.

In relation to your floor work; having strong, flexible, and coordinated fingers is a top priority. This is because in certain maneuvers, you are basically replacing your feet with your hands, which should have a similar level of control.

Before we move forward, lets build out on this idea by touching on the feet for a second. Specifically we’ll focus on your toes.

I want you to try something without getting too deep into it. But before you do this make sure that you are in a safe area where you won’t hurt yourself.

I want you to lean your shoulders forward as far as you can until your shoulders get past your toes.

Did you notice something? Were your toes gripping for dear life so that you could try and stay upright? Did you also take steps or shift your feet so that you could find your balance again? My guess is yes.

You can go ahead and do the same laterally to the left or right and even backward if you like.

Its the same thing with your fingers and hands while you are doing floor work. Your fingers are like your toes gripping on to the floor to give stability and balance. If your body starts shifting forward, your fingers can grip the ground and act as your breaks. In a similar fashion, your thumb can slow you down if you start falling back to where you started. Your fingers are intergral in maintaining that structure. Especially in the beginning of your handstand journey.

A final way that your fingers can enhance your floor work is by relieving stress on your joints, and pulling the wrists out of full flexion thereby reducing the load on them. I’m all about testing. Try running through your floorwork with your fingertips gripping and see if it changes your stability and balance!

If you get some good results, be sure to let me know!

The HyperMonkey
-Jonathan Magno

PS If you want to become more skilled and develop your floor work, check out GMB Floor 1!

CONTACT US FOR MORE INFO ON SESSIONS!

Coach is Sparring??? and the Benefits of Boxing

Am I sparring?

Actually I spar quite a bit. What type of sparring do I partake in?

Boxing!

It's one of the oldest sports and forms of combat in the world. The earliest known evidence of it comes from a Sumerian relief form the 3rd Millenium BCE. Boxing can be found all over the ancient world. Its honestly still a thriving form of exercise, sport, and combat.

So, why am I talking about Boxing? It’s one of my favorite pastimes. But even if you don’t want to “fight” or test yourself, its one of the best ways to get your body in shape and gain some internalized strength.

Lets take a look at some of the benefits of just the fitness portion:

• You can burn around 700-1500 calories in an hour and that isn’t a bad thing.
• You get a great metabolic workout and steady state depending on what you’re focusing on.
• You run through multiple movement patterns.
• You build skills while testing your brain with a variety of mental exercises.
• Finally, its a solid form of stress relief because you get to hit something.

So whats the point of this post?

It becomes an excellent choice for you to get active and I get to include you on a piece of my life outside of movement and handstands.

If you are interested in what boxing looks like or want to see me actually spar, check out the video below!

If you liked the video and want to increase your conditioning, check out the   GMB Integral Strength Program!

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My GMB Vitamin Work a Year Plus ago!!??

Its Thursday and i haven't added to this blog in over a year! So I asked myself what would be a great way to start?

Showing off some antiquated crap!

In the past year, I became a full-fledged GMB trainer, went through some ups and downs, and now I'm back.

Time to kick things into gear and start adding cool crap to this sucker!

Enjoy the video!

If you liked the video and want to enhance your movement ninja moves but can't train with me personally, check out the GMB Vitamin Program!

CONTACT US FOR MORE INFO ON SESSIONS!

Hypermonkey 1 Min Tip: Lateral QM Strides and Your Handstand

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Happy Tuesday Hypermonkeys! Its been a while since I've done a tutorial video for you. So today, I'm coming at you with Lateral QM Strides! This lateral movement pattern is going to you keep your balance as well as to feel the hold on the top end.

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The first thing you are going to do is sit into a deep squat and shift your hips side to side so that you can open them up a bit before you start moving.

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Start the actual movement pattern by extending your hands and placing them to your sides. You’ll then elevate your hips and land them next to your hands!

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Move in both lateral directions and see if you can start driving your hips higher with each pass. Don’t forget that you should do this within the range of your comfort levels!

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Finally, see if you can slow the movement at the top end with your hips above your shoulders so you can simulate the handstand hold!

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Check out the full video here!

Do you want the quickest way to develop your handstands?
Then go to our Handstand Mastery Course at:
http://www.handstandmastery.com/

TRY OUT ANY OF THE COURSES AT THE LOST ART OF HAND BALANCING WEBSITE TO INCREASE YOUR INVERSION SKILLS!

CONTACT US FOR MORE INFO ON SESSIONS!

Hypermonkey 1 Min Tip: Reverse Shoulder Roll

Ok Hypermonkeys! For today's 1 Min Tip, I’ll be going over an easy stretch that everybody does, yet with a little more detail than the usual. The move we’ll be working on today is the reverse shoulder roll. It’s probably something you all have done since your school days, in sports, or physical education(if you had it).

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The first thing to keep in mind while doing this combo is that your main focus in on the lats and the traps. You want to pay attention to keeping the shoulder neutral and in a relaxed position.

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Once you begin your reverse shoulder roll. Pay attention to your arm when it gets behind your back. From personal experience with clients, I found that once they finish getting their hand overhead they completely relax their arm and let it drop behind their back. Lets not try to do that and be more mindful of our movement!

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As your bicep lines up with your ear, outstretch up to activate the lat and keep it activated during the rest of the rotation.

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Catch the full video here!

Also if you are looking to really develop your foundational range of motion and flexibility for acrobatics, check out the GMB Focused Flexibility program here: http://www.lostartofhandbalancing.com/go/focusedflexibility/

Try out any of the courses at the Lost Art of Hand Balancing website to increase your Inversion Skills!

Contact us for more info on sessions!