What's Restricting My Overhead Mobility?Ī perfectly straight handstand requires the flexibility to have your arms straight overhead, but also the mobility to get your arms there without any external assistance. You can go much deeper right? That's your flexible range. Use the wall to push your arms back overhead. Lean forward and bring your hands to the wall. Bring your arms overhead as far back as possible. Stand up straight, with your tailbone tucked, belly in and lower ribs down. A person can have excellent flexibility, but poor mobility - for example, if one's stabilising muscles are weak, they won’t have the strength to move themselves into their flexible range. But what does that mean? A lack of mobility will be a combination of instabilities across the entirety of the joint and associated areas of the body. So you understand now that flexibility is only one of numerous aspects of how a joint functions. Mobility is the ability of the entire joint (muscle, tendons, ligaments, soft tissue etc.) to move actively through its intended range of motion. Flexibility is the ability of a muscle to stretch or lengthen.Ģ. We generally use these terms interchangeable, but the reality is a little more intricate, and there is certainly a distinction.ġ. He clearly adored bananas but could pull off feats of balance and strength that even the straightest of handstanding humans could never hope to achieve.) What’s The Difference Between Mobility & Flexibility? Check out Professor Paulinetti, the Godfather of hand balancing. A straight handstand isn’t necessary to attain high level skills. If your answer is to have fun or develop a new skill and nothing more, then by all means stay fruity. If your answer is to attain a press to handstand or one arm handstand, then working on the straight handstand is of huge importance. You need to ask yourself why you want to become better at handstands. It’s argued that the modern gymnastics handstand evolved as a simple case of aesthetics, though we would dispute that after feeling the pressure exerted on one's lower back. ![]() We must at this stage say that there is nothing inherently wrong with a banana handstand - in fact, it’s the way old school hand-balancers and yogis have done it for centuries gone by. The banana handstand is epitome of this in action and can be characterised as chest and ribs protruding, back arched, hips over shoulders but legs and feet far over your head. If you don’t have the adequate overhead shoulder mobility to actively put yourself in this position, in order to be upside down, compromises must be made elsewhere. Handstands are all about stacking - elbows over wrists, shoulders over elbows, hips over shoulders, toes over hips and so on. We hate to tell you, but you're a banana. ![]() Your chest and belly are thrusting out, your back is arched and your toes are flung over your head. ![]() Yet when you consult your audience or check out the photographic evidence, your spirit is crushed. You kick up into a handstand, feel strong and straight, and come down feeling confident and adept. Why You Need Overhead Mobility for HandstandsĪllow us to paint you a picture.
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