A great first class!

Congratulation to those of you that made it to the first class on Monday. To recap, after a brief warm-up we started covering the basic progressions of gymnastics's most fundamental skill: the handstand. These progressions included: 1) tripod with feet on ground, 2) tripod, 3) tucked headstand, 4) straight-leg headstand, 5) frogstand, and 6) handstand against the wall.

For the second half of class we broke into some conditioning. The exercise prescription for Monday was a circuit of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 squats. I challenged everyone to see how many rounds each participant could do in 20 minutes (actually, the energy was fading so we only went to 15 minutes. After all, I wanted you guys to be able to get out of bed in the morning=). The rounds per 15 minutes for each participant are listed below. We'll be able to compare them down the road as everyone's fitness improves (don't worry, it's not a contest).

Amy: 5 complete rounds

Chiara: 6 complete rounds

Christina 1 complete round, 3 incomplete rounds

Jodi 6 complete rounds

Good job everybody. For this week, I would like you to find some time to practice all of the progressions that you feel you can safely do by yourself or with a partner (don't hurt yourself please!). Strive to do these skills for the given periods of time:

Tripod w/ feet: 1 min

Tripod : 1 min

Headstand, tucked or straight 1 min

Frogstand 1 min

Handstand against the wall 1 min

These times should be cumulative. They can be broken up into sets if you you are currently unable to hold them for the allotted duration. Again, do only the ones that you feel comfortable trying on your own. Increase the practice time of  the skills you can do to make up for those you can't (i.e. if  can only do up to the tripod do 2-3 minutes total practice time for the both the tripod with feet and regular tripod). For all of these skills, focus on stacking your body. Think about getting you hips balanced above your shoulders and your shoulders balanced over the hands. Keep you the muscles of your torso/core very tight and rigid throughout.

More homework for the week includes drinking lots of water, get as much rest as possible, stretching and of course more conditioning!!! Here is what I'd like you to do before I see you next time:

Do a total of:

30 pull-ups/rows (If you can find something to do them on. Be creative!)

60 push-ups

90 squats

Again, these do not need to be done all at one time. They do not even have to be done all on the same day. Just fit them into your life as you choose and find a way to keep track of your numbers (I like to keep a workout journal). Just make sure you DO THEM and do them with attention to good form. Hundreds of sloppy push-ups will not compare to the 60 I know you will strive to do before I see you again. As aspiring acrobats we need to identify our weaknesses so that they won't keep us from what we want to do with our bodies. Fell free to call me or email me if you have any questions. Take care everyone and have a good week.

Ramman

dustdancer@gmail.com

503-880-6586