Exercise No. 17 Hollow Back

The hollow back is a challenging variation of the handstand and can be taken to many levels. It takes time to learn, and looks pretty cool. You have to build up through variations of handstands and then variations of hollow backs to build the proper strength, coordination, shoulder mobility, and so forth. As great difficulty, this freeze as called must look good in every variation until you have it down to the full hollow back.

There really is no way of teaching this move properly without knowing how to do it. You must master it before you teach it to anybody else. So, I'm here, to teach you to spread the love of the hollow back.

   First off, you need to know how to do a handstand. No handstand, no hollow back. I have seen tutorials teach hollow backs through constant training of muscle memory to master it quickly, but they honestly never look that good, what I want to do is teach you the right way so your hollow backs can look good, and possibly be some of the best seen.

   Take into consideration that the hollow back takes a little time to learn, and get down. But it takes a very long time to look good and perform the difficult variations that are out there.

   About that handstand, learn it. Get it good, and hold it for about thirty seconds, at least. Now something about your handstand, it has to be stationary, and you can't move around in it.

   Next, learn to do a handstand with a bent back. Also known as a hollow back handstand. It's an easy, somewhat cool version of the hollow back, but isn't a real hollow back due to the lack of your head being behind your shoulders.

   So once you get this handstand and it's variations down, learn how to do some push ups and press into it as well, that helps with the strength, we will start working on your shoulder mobility. I wish I had taken the time for shoulder mobility practice, because my hollow backs didn't look that good in the beginning because I lacked in it. But! Once accomplished, they looked good.

   Also, you must learn the bridge. This helps with back flexibility, done by having your feet on the ground and pulling inwards. It stretches your abdominal muscles and causes more spinal and abdominal flexibility which you need.

   So study this move before you learn it, it's very important you do.

   Shoulder mobility comes from pectoral flexibility. It's best if you have very strong, but very flexible pectorals. This can be achieved by putting your hands against the wall, wide spread, and push down with your head behind your arms. Do this about, ten times a day, two weeks, and hold it for thirty seconds each time. Your pectorals should become flexible within that time period.

   The second step, is the head hollow to get used to the motion, and over the fear of leaning into a hollow back. Remember to keep up your handstand.

   The head hollow is easy if you're mastered these moves and sustained shoulder mobility. Stand no your head, place your hands behind your head, and lean backwards, by using your hands. Not to far out, apart, or in. Just right, so that way you can get that center of gravity, and that low hollow.

   Once you've mastered the full head hollow, it shouldn't take very long, we will now start working our way into hollow backs.

   The first would be a tucked invert. This is done, by tucking your legs in with your knees towards your chest and your feet at your bottom. Place your arms apart, fingertips facing forward, not inward or outward, and you lean backwards on your arms, as your body leans in and inverts. Get comfortable with this.

   Next would be the one tucked hollow back. One leg in, and one leg out. This makes the weight that you have to balance lighter than if you did it with both legs out, so less difficulty and more foundation since this is what you have to build to perfect the hollow back.

   This is done, by arching your back in a handstand. When you arch your back, keep the leg that is not tucked in, straight. Lean backwards with your head going behind your arms, holding tightly, until your leg is horizontal.

   Now, the full hollow back! We're here! How?

   Much like the one tuck hollow, but with both legs. So, arch your back, you can do this with bent elbows, get a wide stance on your hands, slowly lean backwards into it until your head rests behind your arms, now you must use your shoulder mobility, but lean backwards on your hands as far as possible to keep your feet off of the ground, the closer the better.

   Continuing, abdominal control is something you will be mastering in this, and you can variate further on the hollow back such as doing the reverse planche, which is much more difficult, it is done by leaning as far back as possible and managing your weight until your body is somewhat perpendicular to the ground. You'll still have the arch in your back because of where your shoulders sit, but you can work your abdominal muscles a little harder and hold your legs and stomach flat.

   

So to get this down, just make up a list or something, keep track of repetitions and such and you'll eventually get it. This is also hard on the body to begin with, but every exercise is and that's why it's good for you. Avoid bending intensely at your lower back, that's bad for your spinal health, and stretch. This move really should not be done without a good, full body stretch.

   First, stretch your shoulders. Second, stretch your wrists. Third, stretch your back by doing the bridge or yoga pose variations. You ought to be good then. So I wish you luck on this! Enjoy.

-The Fitness Cookie

How Much Do You Consume?

A big thing a lot of people succeed in neglecting during a workout program is how much you should actually eat. When you're exercising your body is going to be using a lot of energy, so you need to replace what you've used. If you don't replace that, you've got a bit of a problem. Like I've said in past posts, your body will start burning muscle instead of fat, or calories that you take in.

You need calories to burn when you exercise, take that picture of apple blueberry pie for example. It tastes really good and is a nice treat once in a while, and provides a butt load of energy and tastes really good at the same time. I verify this information from personal experience.

   Now if you're going to work out, you should also enjoy your food. Like those nasty juices and smoothies that people choke down for more, "performance energy" and more, "muscle power", yeah, I don't like that. It's my personal opinion though. If you don't see anything wrong with trying to hold your lunch down while your over at the squat rack, that's your business, not mine.

   There are foods that a lot of us don't like but we have to eat if we want those essential vitamins. I have my certain foods that make me want to beat my uncles '51 GMC pick up with bat just like any other person. I could go on about foods I hate, but I'm talking about how much you should.

   People are always talking about how they need to get those, "six pack abs!" (Yeah? Well I have an eight pack! :)~) Anyways, if you want your stomach to get flatter, you need to eat breakfast, and a lot of it. A cup of yogurt, and a little granola or toast, no, that won't do it. You need food that is going to sustain you in your morning activities with good energy to last all day long, not right until you can't bear being hungry any more right around lunch.

   I come in contact with a fair deal of people who talk about how, they can't get strong! Or, they can't get skinny! And when they tell me they don't eat breakfast, or they don't eat much, the entire problem can be solved by simply, eating breakfast. I emphasize on this a lot, because every bit of it is true! If you disagree with me, I recommend you read up on it because every professional who studies these kind of things for a living is going to say, "BREAKFAST IS GOOD FOR YOU!!!" 

   A good breakfast will also speed up your metabolism. Making you burn your food better and get more energy out of it.

   Breakfast should be a large meal as I have just stated. It should consist of foods that are rich in good carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and a fair source of salts.

   Lunch should be a medium sized meal, consisting of nutritious foods as well, and if your starving from strenuous work, don't be afraid to have the occasional large lunch.

   Dinner, shouldn't be all too much food, because apparently for some people too much food can make sleeping a butt for them. It's also healthier since a lot of people form the habit of a large dinner and a small or no breakfast and talk about how losing weight or keeping off the extra inches is so hard.

   Read up on this, it's important you know your dieting and meal facts, the right diet can make you strong healthy and full of energy, the wrong diet will leave you not as strong and not as energetic. Stay healthy in the right way and you'll be good for a long time.

Power Transfer

When becoming fit, you're learning and teaching yourself how to transfer the power from your muscles into force to move your or hold you in a position or to move something else as well as ongoing movement for long periods of time. Let's talk about that.

Power transfer can be handled delicately, but if you desire to do so, it may not end up in the area you'd like it. So take it where you want to go, work yourself up to those good movements and into things like one hundred push ups all at once and a nicely weighted press.
   Power transfer has to be properly done and come from all of the places you need it to come from in your body. It's important to understand just how much energy you need to generate, because if you have that energy but generate it in the wrong way, whatever you're doing won't end up coming out like you know it can.
   There are so many ways the human body can generate power, so why not learn how to use it in all of those ways? You can learn from one category or another. I would like to say for power transfer that there are different genres. I'll give you some examples.
   You have weightlifting, when you lift weights, your power transfer is the force you are applying against an object to make it move. Barbels, dumbbells, cable machines, ect... Therefore you work hard in power transfer against objects to make them move and make you stronger.
   Then you have body weight. Some people really go to town on this one. I've seen people get pretty big off of body weight exercises because they do them right. The idea of body weight training is that you work to move your body weight against the force of gravity making you stronger and lighter against the resistance of your body, and since you have strength to move your body weight in such way, you'll have little problems with the weight of other objects.
   And then you have endurance. Runners and people who do things like ride their bikes for miles and miles. I really don't like running long distances, I do on the other hand have a love for cycling, all kinds. Your body is trained to transfer a certain amount of power for a long period of time to make it move a good distance in a good time.
   So there you go, ways of power transfer, go figure out what yours is.

The Power of The Mind

Sometimes it's hard to make yourself do something like pull off a very challenging exercise that takes a lot of time to accomplish. That's okay though, a lot of us who exercise and set goals to get somewhere usually have a hard time getting to them if we have just begun.

   So if you will, start out with smaller goals, ones that you know you will be able to reach within one or two, maybe three months. Once those are reached, you can start working on your long term goals as your body continues to grow stronger.

Now yes I do understand, it's hard to get somewhere that you're trying so hard to get to and you're nowhere near there at the same time. You will be somewhere, and people will see what you're doing and say, that you are far better off in your position of fitness than they are.

   If you're one of those people who are sitting over there saying, "Oh, no! I'm too weak to exercise!" Go find another corner, and start looking though a workout program. It's really not a matter of the fact that you're too weak, it's a matter of the fact that you need the motivation to get into something like a work out program.

   Now for those of you who are naturally strong, starting a workout is no problem. If you're one of those people who doesn't really have strength to spare, then a rough workout might be an issue. So like I tell a lot of people, you need to start off easy if you're just getting into it.
   Now if you've been into it for a while, and are having trouble with certain movements or lifts or something, the thing is, those will come with practice and hard work. It took me a while to get to the point of dead lifting over three hundred pounds at least once. Same thing went for hand balancing, it was a while before I could even press from a head stand to my feet. The thing is, I put my mind to it and I'm standing one hand and doing push ups and planches, and trust me, I wasn't talented in the beginning. The only thing I had was some power from push ups and balance on my head.
   You have to put your mind to something if you want to be able to do it. That's how you get somewhere, the more mental power you have, you are going to be rewarded with more physical power.
   It's important to realize as well, you've got a lot of muscles when you become strong, (no duhr) if you don't know how to use them, then you've got a bunch of muscles at your disposal and you're not seeing what they can do. If you know how to use them with the power of your mind, you know what you're doing and you will see what those muscles can do.