Couch to Handstand | DAY 20 - Core strength II | The Art of Handbalancing

[@berilcelikoglu7494]

Cute Puck is back, laughing at you pushing him. thanks a lot Natalie, Namaste💜🙏💐🌹

[@NatalieReckert]

He does not always like to go up the flight of stairs that lead to this room. Depends on his mood ;)

[@BodinhoDE]

Haha, I love how Puck does not care being pushed away. So chill this dog.

[@jochunho]

Great endurance and core strength workout, I enjoyed it especially only one day after 50km trail race.😅Thank you, Natalie, I can feel it everywhere.🤣Good to see Puck, he is so calm and adorable, and he obviously likes to listen to your voice.

[@NatalieReckert]

Great to hear that :) Always happy to hear your feedback. Wow! A 50 Km race, well done! I would not make it very far I think, running is not my strenght..

[@angeliquesellers4620]

​​​​@@NatalieReckert I'll join you Natalie. for gymnastics like exercise strong 💪🏾, & balance! 🤸🏾‍♀️🧘🏾‍♀️ I like practice!

[@panja300-0]

Thanks for keeping the faith that we can do it. Really feeling amazing. Thanks ma'am ☺️☺️

[@NatalieReckert]

Yes you can 💜

[@panja300-0]

@@NatalieReckert 🤗🤗

[@franciscaesc]

I feel how i become stronger in all of these days of practice! Its awesome! Thank you very much :3

[@NatalieReckert]

That is fantastic to hear :)

[@h2olog]

More than a month of practice, including your shoulder opening routine, failed to get me through day 13, so I cheated and moved ahead without completing that lesson. With many repeats I've managed to get through days 14 to 19, but I'm a long way from being able to hold 3 times 20 seconds, or even one time 20 seconds. In addition to shoulder mobility, my hip and hamstring flexibility have been problematic. When you ask us to raise one leg at 16:45, my foldover angle is 90 degrees at best, and I can't get my raised leg parallel with the floor. Similarly, I find the hover position at 20:19 to be excruciatingly difficult. By the time I get to the feet-on-the-wall exercise, I feel tired, sore, and a bit discouraged. Do you have any advice for a stiff old man?

[@NatalieReckert]

Hello and thank you for sharing your experience. Thank you also for trying so hard and trying out different strategies to solve the problem. There are a couple of reasons why this could be so hard for you. If your shoulders go very far over the wrists to the front to compensate for lack of mobility that's one thing that makes it hard. Some people find the actual handstand holds on the wall much easier than the prep exercises. Are you able to kick up onto the wall? The elevations I suggest may be too low for you. I believe someone here used a ladder or a chair to solve the mobility problem. Have you done much yoga before? I think yoga and especially hot yoga may help you on the way to better mobility. How are the plank holds for you? If those are ok you should have enough strength. In that case your shoulders are probably aligned too far front making you hold everything in a planchlike position making it understandably very hard. Let me know how it goes, I admire your determination :) Best, Natalie

[@NatalieReckert]

In both of the positions you describe your priority should be to keep your shoulders in line with your wrist. Try to film yourself or use a mirror to make sure you are not moving to the front too much.

[@h2olog]

Thanks so much, @@NatalieReckert, for the coaching and encouragement. I'm the one who used a stepladder instead of a chair to help me get through some of the earlier lessons! I couldn't make it through Day 13 even with the stepladder. I eventually "cheated" and moved on to the next lesson anyway. To answer your question, I've been taking yoga classes for a little less than a year. Yoga may be improving my flexibility infinitesimally, but I haven't noticed any difference yet. Planks are fine: I can hold a high or low plank for about five minutes, and I find the plank variations in your lessons pretty easy. But I really struggle with down dog! I have difficulty raising my arms directly above my head, and folding over at the waist only makes it harder. Whether I'm in down dog or doing your handstand prep exercises with feet against the wall, I can't get my shoulders to line up between my hips and my feet: they bulge outward no matter how hard I try to align them. It takes enormous effort to prevent my shoulder girdle from shooting forward beyond my wrists. Earlier, you recommended not moving ahead to the next "day" before mastering the current one. I haven't attempted to kick up onto the wall because I haven't mastered the Day 19 prep exercises. However, from the prep pose I have been able to straighten my legs upward while walking my hands in until my chest nearly touches the wall. Do you suggest that I move on to the kick-up lessons even though I can't hold the prep pose for more than a few seconds?

[@NatalieReckert]

@@h2olog I see! You are the one with the ladder :) Ok! So... this course goes out to a lot of people and the exercises are chosen according to what helps most people. In your case - now judging from everything you told me- I would chose a different route. I would say you can disregard the order of exercises proposed in this course and rather try to build your own practice routine according to what exercises work for you. Or supplement/leave out exercises while following the course (requires a bit of individual judgement and self coaching but I think you can do it) Try to do handstands instead of the halfway holds similiar to these here kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJ-zpqyqp9SVg9k Doing yoga is a great start but invest some time into learning about active and passive flexibility and mobility to find suitable exercises for you kzbin.info/www/bejne/hH_ceZxjqbigmqc Focus on mobility exercises that move your scapula. Invest and hour every day into mobility. This will be key to your handstand progress. You have enough strength. It is absolutely possible to become more mobile and flexible but you need to invest the time and be very patient. Progress will show itself after a few months. That will be the way forward. Lengthy process but worth it. Try it :) Best wishes

[@h2olog]

@@NatalieReckert, thank you for the individual attention and recommendations. You've made me feel as if I have my own private handstand coach! It looks as if there's a long road ahead, but you've mapped it out clearly for me. Much appreciated!

[@sahai007]

Such nice intense today, dog is so cute.

[@Juzztop22]

My arm muscles where killed after class 19 so I took the free day yesterday. Today was hard as hell. I think Im gonna repeat this class till I could follow you along. Definetly feeling my muscles growing

[@NatalieReckert]

Take as many rest days as you need and listen to your body. 2 days in a row may be good too. No need to do this in 30 days. At your own speed. Keep up the good work :)

[@annacieplinska1463]

Suuupeeerrrrr!!!! :):):)

[@panja300-0]

And lots of love to puck ❤️❤️

[@eimxar.x3566]

Hi Natalie, just curious about something. When were bearing weight on our hands and raising up one leg at 16:51 I tend to get cramps in thigh that I'm standing on. Is that normal or is it a lack of flexibility or strength?

[@NatalieReckert]

Hello and thanks for sharing. It is not uncommon in handstand training to get leg cramps, I am not sure why that is. Magnesium apparently helps with cramps. I got foot cramps only while being on stage for a while. Then it went away. If it is painful though, stop and ask a doctor!

[@VipanSIngh-Architect]

Doing from India 🇮🇳 , Sunny day 😊

[@NatalieReckert]

Yay! Well done for making it all the way until day 20. I hope the rest is going well. Waving to you from London.

[@seripanther]

Still hanging in there, despite lack of time and spoons! Freaking January. I suspect my hands are still too far away from the wall but time will tell.

[@NatalieReckert]

Great for sticking to the programm, feel free to repeat days to build more stregth and confidence.

[@anthonycraig274]

I had to rest yesterday. From now on, my routine will include 5 bridge attempts and 10 kick ups at the end.

[@rasha7762]

Love youu ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@jochunho]

The visualization of hands as feet really helped me with sense of alignment, but then I think my arms are much too weak to compare with my legs. Still lots of work and training to do, but I like feeling stronger as I do the training. Do you think push-up is good training to come in if I haven’t started it already? Thank you Natalie.

[@NatalieReckert]

Hiya, yes I think push ups are great! I do not inlcude them here yet, as they can seem a bit daunting if you are not used to strenght training but I do include them in most beginners classes. Dont forget to stretch the pectorial muscles and front of your shoulders when you do lots of push ups.

[@jochunho]

Dear Natalie, thank you for your advice, I have include push-ups in my training, and sometimes do them in the warm up, very good reminder for the strength in core and arms. They work wonder, I can feel myself building up strength and confidence. Thank you, love from Jill.💕

[@NatalieReckert]

Awesome ! Great to hear how you are progressing in your training, I hope you will master your handstand soon! Wave

[@JoeMightyWarren]

Day 20 ✅

[@greenjake3518]

😀😀😀 🐶 🤗🤗🤗 👍👍👍

[@asimagiri7152]

Day-20✅

[@loue496]

Day 20 🤙🏻

[@NatalieReckert]

Ohoh? Struggling? Repeat a session if it gets too difficult :) At your speed.

[@beyondhumas5668]

😍😍😍❤️

[@kaushikdr]

It feels like my feet are slipping during the 20 second holds - I am curving my back and -am trying to put my hips above my wrists. I tried to increase the friction by increasing my force on the wall but this causes me to feel my shoulders go over my wrists. Is this a common problem that gets better with time or is there something I should be specifically practicing?

[@NatalieReckert]

Hello, maybe you found the solution by now. Yes it is quite common. The L shape holds can be harder for some people than the actual handstand shape. I ususally recommend you bring the feet up higher on the wall, quite a bit higher, and that solves the problem.

[@benspencer8783]

Hi Natalie, I tried to contact you about handstand lessons on your website form. Just checking if you received my message? Thank you Natalie.

[@NatalieReckert]

Hello Ben, no I did not, please try again under nataliereckert (Ät) hotmail . de

[@benspencer8783]

Hi Natalie, I’ve emailed you at this address now. Please let me know if you didn’t receive it. Thank you Natalie.

[@irena3407]

Why do I find the 1 foot on the wall exercise for 10 sec harder than both feet on the wall for 20 sec 😅

[@NatalieReckert]

Depends on the angle of your back. The more you are in a handstand position, the more you are in a handstand position, the easier it is. But with these prep exercises you build confidence, even though they are harder to hold.

[@matchasource]

Day 20: !

[@crossfitexercisesrishu2972]

Mam my forearms always go backward during handstand how i can fix this....and also my legs gets bend after some seconds going into the handstand.....i m totally pissed of with this handstand from 2 years.....otherwise i can do many yoga poses but dont know how i m not able to do handstands....and a big thanks for the video mam....

[@NatalieReckert]

Hiya, Thank you, it sounds to me like your are probably bending your arms because you don't have enough shoulder opening? And it sounds like your legs bend because you are losing control over the core and you go into a banana shape? It is hard to tell from a distance, but my guess is you need to work on not arching your back and on shoulder flexibility. You may also have your arms too wide. Lack of shoulder mobility and having the arms too wide are the main causes for bending the elbows in a handstand. Handstands take a lot of time, patience is part of the journey and managing your frustration is part of becoming a handbalancer :) That is the beauty of handstands.

[@lakshmis1610]

Hi mam . My hands were bent and my head hit the ground. I still cannot stand.what will I do mam?.my big dream to do handstand and balancing.can I do that mam .plz reply me.plz tell me a way to do that.can I contact u in an another way.and I want also study cartwheels and flips so,plz help me .here is no centers to study anything.so I am doing all things in home so plz help me mam..

[@NatalieReckert]

Hello Lakshmi, great that you are trying to do handstands. If this video is difficult for you I suggest you go back to day one of the 30 day course and start slowly, day by day to build your strength. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4KwfpmHepWAaZo There is no secret "trick" to learn handstands, you need to put in the time and the practice. For your arms, do the test handstand first where you only put ne foot up on the wall, that way you can always come down if you cannot keep your arms straight. Always try to keep your arms straight. All the best for your training!

[@nikajin2851]

Thought I was going to pass out when the screen started slow-zooming after the first wallstand xD

[@NatalieReckert]

Oh now :) Hope you are doing ok.

[@GabrielSilva-mv4fm]

I was missing the dog ❤️

[@NatalieReckert]

He is naughty sometimes and escapes. Those days he couldn't be one the videos ;)

[@lakshmis1610]

Mam plz reply me.....Plz