GYMNASTICS | Week 24
2 Rounds:
30 Sec Lying Twist
30 Sec Standing Straddle with Alternating Bent Knees
10 Banded Pass Throughs
Lying Twist:
1. Begin lying on the floor, stomach to ground, legs together, arms extended out to the sides.
2. Press your left hand into the floor, and use it to help lift your left shoulder, and twist your torso towards the right arm. The left side of your chest should slowly peel off the floor.
3. As you are twisting your upper body, take your left foot, and place it on the side of your right knee. Allow your left knee to drop to the floor towards your right arm, which will help you twist (and thus, stretch) a little more.
4. Return to your starting position, and repeat on the right side.
Standing Straddle with Alternating Bent Knees:
1. Begin standing with your feet outside the hips; soft bend in the knees.
2. Hinging at the hips, allow your chest to fall forward, between your legs as much as possible. Allow the arms to extend down, hanging the hands towards the floor.
3. Keeping the left leg straight, bend the right knee and lift only the right heel off the ground.
4. Sink deeper into the stretch (chest between the legs). You should feel the left hamstring stretching, while the right hamstring relaxes.
5. Switch legs: Lock out the right leg, and bend the left knee, lifting the left heel off the ground.
6. Sink into the stretch as much as possible.
7. Continue alternating back and forth between both sides.
Banded Pass Through:
1. Begin standing with your feet together, quads squeezed, and glutes engaged. Round your hips under (think of yourself as a dog with its tail between its legs) to ‘turn on’ your core. Practicing this total body tension from your warm-up is going to transfer into higher level skills.
2. Grip your band (any thickness) in a wide set up for the first few reps. Usually near the ends.
3. Using straight arms, lift the band overhead and backwards, until it hits the back of your glutes.
4. Hold to maximize the stretch.
5. Return to your front starting position by repeating the same motion forward.
6. As you get comfortable, begin walking your hands in to a more narrow grip for increased difficulty.
10 MIN EMOM (Every Minute On the Minute)
10 V-Up + Alligator Roll
30 Sec Chin Above Bar Hold
SUBS
Tuck-up + alligator roll
Active bar hang / Banded Lat Pull Downs
V-Up + Alligator Roll:
1. Begin in a hollow hold, with arms extended straight by the ears, and lower back pressing into the ground.
2. Without letting your arms or legs touch the ground, complete a full, 360 degree roll to the right, unit you land back in a hollow position.
3. Keeping your arms and legs off the ground, do one V-Up, returning back to your hollow position.
4. Roll 360 degrees to the left, landing back in your hollow position, without having let your arms or legs touch the ground.
5. Do one V-Up.
6. Continue rolling back and forth, only letting your mid back and core come in contact with the ground. The goal is to keep your arms and legs off the floor for the entire set.
Chin Above Bar Hold:
1. For this hold, you can use any means to get your chin above the bar. Jump above the bar, perform a kipping pull-up, strict pull-up, etc.
2. Hands should grip the bar right outside shoulder width.
3. After your chin is above the bar, continue pulling on the bar, as if you were trying to pull it down to the floor. This will help engage the lats, making for a stronger position.
4. Keep your body as tight as possible in a hollowed position.
5. The goal is to hold your chin above the bar as high as possible.
3 Rounds for Quality
Rest as needed between rounds
5 Straddle Toe Press
5 Wall Walk + 0:05 Handstand Hold
5 Cartwheel
SUBS
Only lift heels off the ground / Only lift one leg off the ground
Short Wall Walk- Only go as high as you feel comfortable / Plank shoulder taps
Small Cartwheels- Swing legs around the side, and keep them close to the ground
Straddle Toe Press:
1. Begin standing with your feet set outside your hips, toes pointed outward to 45 degrees.
2. Hinging at the hips, drop your chest down, towards your legs. Set your hands on the ground. Pull your chest between your legs as much as possible. Hamstring mobility will be the limiting factor here.
3. Spread your fingers and grip the floor to help with stability as you begin to press. “Pushing the floor away will extend the shoulders, giving you a strong base in which to press. If your shoulders are relaxed, you will feel yourself collapsing when trying to shift forward. Extend strong!
4. To shift forward, lift both heels off the ground, and come forward onto your toes. Your shoulders will track over the front of your finger tips. Continue pushing the floor away to keep the shoulders engaged and your base strong.Â
5. As you shift forward farther (your shoulders should be completely in front of your finger tips), you will continue lifting the heels, until the toes peel off the ground, and your full bodyweight is shifted into your hands.
6. Hold your legs off the floor as long as possible, before carefully lowering them back to the ground, landing back in your starting position.
7. *Note: The closer you can walk your feet to your hands, the easier it will be to shift your weight forward. Try to start the press with your feet right outside the hands.
Wall Walk + 0:05 Handstand Hold:
1. Begin in the bottom of a push-up position, with your feet by the wall.
2. Push-up into a plank. Extend the shoulders by pushing the floor away which will slightly round the upper back, giving you a sturdy base in which to begin your wall walk.
3. Lift your first foot and press it into the wall.Â
4. As you lift your second foot to the wall, you will simultaneously step your opposite hand backwards.
5. Continue walking your feet up the wall, while stepping your hands back, towards the wall, until you finish in a handstand.
6. Being as tight as possible, hold for five seconds.
7. Walk back down the wall by retracing the same stepping movement pattern you used to climb up the wall.
8. Once you bring your feet to the ground, move through your plank position, and lower all the way to the floor to complete.
Cartwheel:
1. Begin in the universal gymnastics starting position: Stand with your full weight on your non-dominant leg, with your dominant leg extended forward, quad squeezed with toes pointed and in contact with the ground. Set arms overhead, shoulder-width apart, and extend the shoulders into the ears (there should be no space between the two). Squeeze your glutes and round your hips under to engage the core and flatten out the lower back. You should be completely tight from head to toe in this position.Â
2. Carefully shift your weight forward, into your dominant leg. Your front knee will dramatically bend, as your bodyweight travels forward, over the front of the toes. You want a big bend in the front leg in order to better control your speed as you approach the floor.
3. Keeping your arms shoulder-width apart, continue reaching your hands towards the floor. Here, your body will act similarly to a teeter-totter. As your hands approach the floor, your back leg (non-dominant) will rise off the floor, preparing for the kick to generate the full rotation over your hands.Â
4. When your hands are within 1-2 inches of the floor, externally rotate your fingers to 45 degrees, and drive your back heel (non-dominant leg) vertical.Â
5. Your back leg will initiate the the full rotation of your body in the cartwheel. You need an explosive kick-up that generates enough power to help you fully rotate in the movement.
6. As your first hand (dominant hand) reaches the floor, your first foot (non-dominant foot) will drive over the top. As your second hand (non-dominant hand) reaches the floor, your second foot (dominant foot) will push off the floor, and drive over the top. At this point, your body should be in an upside down “X†position.
7. Maintaining this X-position, pull your first foot (non-dominant foot) to the floor, and lift your first hand (dominant hand) off the floor. When your second foot (dominant foot) reaches the floor, lift your second hand (non-dominant hand) off the floor.
8. Control your landing, and make sure you are fully balanced before moving on.