Gymnastics #3

[flexagon]

2 minutes of jumping jacks = my calves are going to be nonfunctional tomorrow.

10 pushups, then 10 seconds in down dog, then 9 pushups, then 10 seconds in down dog, then 8 pushups... = OH MY GOD. I was still going, very slowly and on my knees, when they told everyone to stop, but my pecs may be nonfunctional tomorrow too.

Back handspring drills on the trampoline track just made me pissy. I wasn't ready for them, and anyway, I don't care about back handsprings. Why they're trying to teach them to me is a mystery... certainly not based on my saying I wanted to learn the stupid things. Also, I react badly to being told to hit the mat harder ("Harder! Harder!"). Ugh, shades of tae kwon do. I was beginning to think things like waste of a nice Monday night and maybe I'll just stop wasting my time here.

So, I wandered away to where the other teacher was working with our token dorky 13-year-old on handstands. There, where I could fall onto an air mattress if I went over, I worked on straddle-ups to handstand and... they clicked. It was not very dramatic. I did one and then another and then, was that five in a row? six? what's happening!? seven! I got too into counting and messed up the eighth. The other teacher (who is very tall, black and chill) noticed me after a while and we talked about them a bit. Also about tuck-ups (I did one) and pike-ups, and a drill involving alternating straddle-ups and forward rolls. Now that they have clicked, assuming the click sticks, I can work on that next time. :)

When they work, they feel more like "rock and press" than they do like jumping much.

Comments

[nevers.livejournal.com]

see, pushups are a totally adequate form of pec work!

back handsprings are easier to learn than roundoffs because they're much simpler (no twisting), which is probably why they're starting you on them. i'm surprised you don't think they seem like fun. i think being about to do a standing back handspring would be ace.

yay straddle-up click!!

are you still not comfortable cartwheeling/twisting out of an overbalanced hs? if not it would be good to get someone to work with you on them there.

i found out i can do kicking headstand-to-handstand pushups from my head on a mid-level yoga block (on its long, narrow side) but not from my head on a low-level yoga block (on its long, wide side). also, failed attempts when my head lands back on the yoga block? not so comfy.