Pavel Tsutsouline has done some amazing shit. Once I saw his one-arm one-leg pushup, I had to add it to my repertoire. Easier said than done. Well I’m getting closer with a one-finger assist!!
double clap pushups
Just got back last week from a long trip to the west coast, san francisco, berkeley, sierra mountains, reno nevada, and of course black rock city. Never a dull moment…
Anyway, after a long hiatus, here’s a quick double clap pushup video. 10 reps. If you’re having trouble with this trick, seperate your legs more. If you’re in a complete straddle position, for instance, most people can do a double clap pushup, because you have more time in the air. Try it and see!
Freestanding Handstand Pushups
Well, this video looked a lot better before youtube got ahold of it! Moral of the story, always use normal portrait view of your camera, don’t try to do tall sideways shots. Anyway, I do six here. They’re not the cleanest, but getting there.
The Sound of One Hand Clapping
You’ve heard the riddle. What is the sound?
I’ve no idea, but I do know the sound of one-hand clapping pushups. Check it out:
Eight Tools For Training
If you’re interested in buying any of the items I talk about in this piece, head over to my list at thisnext.com: Eight Training Essentials.
Ab Wheel
This is a simple, no nonsense piece of training equipment that everyone can afford, and find space for. What’s more with regular use, it *will* give you the abs of steel you’re looking for. I also find it a safe, and injury free way to work the abs.
Camelbak
Camelbak is a recent addition to my training regimen. Why do I like it? For one it keeps you hydrated, and that keeps your energy level up. For two you can load it with small weights to give you a makeshift weight vest. Three you can carry stuff like a jumprope, or whatever else you might want to train with. And four, it makes all the bodyweight exercises I do that much more challenging. 10x 5sets of pullups? Add 10 pounds and you’ll see the difference. Clapping, fingertip, and one-arm pushups with a 10lb pack are very challenging.
Jump Rope
Weighted jump ropes are a great full body workout. Work the ankles and legs without a lot of pounding on the heels, get a sprint workout without needing much space. Jump roping can be worked forward or backward, for 30 seconds, or 5 minutes. Throw in crossed arms, or swing the rope around twice in one jump for extra challenge.
I like to train with used climbing rope. Most climbing gyms rotate their ropes every 3-6 months. The old rope is no longer good for climbing, but it makes excellent weighted jump rope. Not heavy enough you say? Soak your rope in water, and you’ll feel the burn!Door Gym
Want to integrate pullups into your everyday routine. Here’s an easy way to do it. You’re not always at the gym, or the park where you can do pullups, and this doorgym can install in most any doorway. You can also use it for pushups, and as makeshift parallettes if you don’t have those.
Doorgym
Want to integrate pullups into your everyday routine. Here’s an easy way to do it. You’re not always at the gym, or the park where you can do pullups, and this doorgym can install in most any doorway. You can also use it for pushups, and as makeshift parallettes if you don’t have those.
Parallettes
Parallettes are a portable, practical way to do gymnastics type training in your home or apartment. You can do pushups, v-sit, l-sit, planche work, handstands, and all sorts of other core strength training using parallettes.
Yoga Blocks
Yoga blocks are not just for Yoga fiends anymore. These are indispensible training tools. Extend deeper into a pushup, work a v-sit or planche with a less stable base, or do your daily stretching, yoga blocks can help with all of these.
Forerunner 305
It’s the best runners watch I’ve found yet. Tracks your distance precisely with GPS, and also knows your speed constantly during your run. The heart monitor is better than most because it has a small watch battery as power source. Less interference with other radio devices etc. If all that isn’t enough, the watch plugs into your computer via USB, to sync a ton of data about each workout. Looking at all of this later reveals a lot, and the Garmin Training Center software is very good.
Fitness Ball
Nevermind the cheesy shows using the fitness ball on FitTV. This is serious exercise equipment. Ever try to do pushups with your legs elevated, and your hands on the ball and you’ll see what I mean. Or work the gymnastics planche with the ball providing minimal support. There are lots of very challenging exercises you can do with these.
Basics – Proper Breathing Technique
You’re not alone if your yoga instructor or lifting trainer are constantly reminding you to breathe. It happens to me all the time.
Before you can practice your training with good breathing technique you’ll need to understand the what and why. When you exert yourself to lift a weight, or lift your body, you raise your blood pressure. If you hold your breath, you raise your blood pressure even higher. Not only is it an additional strain on your body, but it makes you weaker.
At the most basic level you should simply remind your self to breathe at all. Some breathing is better than holding your breath. But for optimal training you’ll want to breath *OUT* while doing the hardest part, the “positive” portion of the exercise. For a pullup this is going up, for a pushup, it is when you lift your body off the ground. For a bench press it is as you lift the weight away from your body. Conversely, you’ll want to breath *IN* while you’re doing the release part, letting yourself down from the pullup bar, allowing the barbell to come down, or easing your body towards the floor – the down phase – of a pushup.
If you’re doing yoga it may be less obvious when to breathe in and when to breathe out. Luckily most yoga classes provide the constant advice and direction that will keep you on the path to optimal breathing technique.
It is also worth mentioning that proper breathing is important to stretching and running as well. But I’ll leave those discussions to future postings.