Air Pushups
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
If the above photos don't load, try:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2774/4443950148_c7512c2917_m.jpg
and
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2657/4443177857_7cfc415710_m.jpg
Giuliano is a young Romanian boy living in Italy, trained by his gymnast father. Thank you reader Paul J for telling me about him.
Below is a link to the short video clip where I captured the above photos. I was not able to embed this movie, by request at the source. Click to watch 5 year old Giuliano do air pushups:
I used to teach air pushups in my yoga classes. Every class gave opportunity to see, try, and learn. I'd coach, encourage, even lift the students personally if it helped them try it, or feel the leverages needed. Were students excited? Inspired? Did they get strong and focused?
They might have if they tried it. They whine, stall, pout, refuse, and complain to management that my class is haaaard, and they had to connnnnnn-centrate. They didn't want any of that.
Each week new students arrive in my yoga class, holding expensive yoga equipment. Some are yoga instructors. They explain to me that yoga cures all back pain. I ask why they have come and they tell me all about their back pain that they have for 4 years and they do yoga every day (not curing anything evidently). They say they do yoga all the time and know all about it and how it gives you peace and love and concentration and good posture and strength and balance. Then they sit in terrible posture waiting for class. They get indignant when I tell them to sit well. They correct me that "class hasn't started yet." In the first minutes of class I teach standing on one leg. They topple over and refuse to try again. I have them stand on the other foot and they are flabbergasted that we are doing it again when they just spent all that time insisting to me that they can't (instead of trying). We do simple planks and they sag their back and lock their elbows. When we start hand balancing to learn the basics of air pushups, some of these yoginis have thrown full-out tantrums.
Then the next week, a new crop comes to class explaining to me that yoga gives you love and acceptance and peace and good posture. So I teach them air pushups.
Giuliano also does The Flag - To be covered in the future.
How To Start Learning Air Pushups:
- First learn neutral spine plank - Fast Fitness - Strengthen by Changing Your Plank
- Then a simple wall handstand - Quick and Fun Arm and Body Strengthener
- Add upside down dips while still in handstand - Fast Fitness - Add Balance, Stability, and Portability to Military Press - Handstand Pushups
- While you are doing those, learn to use your core to hold legs out straight - Fast Fitness - High Core Strength For The New Year
- Strengthen further adding - Fast Fitness - Even More Core With No Forward Bending
- Stop whining - All the More Reason To Try - Exercise to Overcome Each Difficulty
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Read success stories and send your own.
See if your answers are already here - click Fitness Fixer labels, links, archives, and Index.
For personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions.
Limited Class space for personal feedback. Top students may earn certification through DrBookspan.com/Academy. More fun in Dr. Bookspan's Books.
Read success stories and send your own.
See if your answers are already here - click Fitness Fixer labels, links, archives, and Index.
For personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions.
Limited Class space for personal feedback. Top students may earn certification through DrBookspan.com/Academy. More fun in Dr. Bookspan's Books.
Labels: abdominal muscles, arm, balance, chest, children, endurance, handstand, pushup, strength, upper back, video/movie, yoga
2 Comments:
At Sunday, March 21, 2010 5:58:00 PM,
Unknown said…
I love the way you said that. A lot of people always think that exercising is such a hard thing, but it isn't. I hope others read this. When I tell them about your exercises they tell me that what they did was said by a gym instructor from a famous expensive gym, I told him some of your exercises, but I'm not sure if he follows. I hope he does. Anyway, I think that making simple improvements everyday will help. When you lift your leg or do a plank for a minute and it is hard then it is okay. Just do what you can. Nature adjusts and when you are okay with it for a week, then it is time to extend it a little bit to let's say one and a half minutes.
I hope people realize that as one martial artist said, "A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at." everyone knows Bruce Lee. And another, "If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done." So I think the idea is just do, like Nike.
Additional Info: I just lost 14 pounds since February 2, I was 199 pounds to 185 pounds last Friday, March 19. I just did some planks to some independent sitting legs lifts . I'm doing like one minute planks but with a variation, I lift my hips up and down for a small distance up to 100 reps per minute to use some of the small muscles in there. It is working, but I'm not sure if you think it's right. I try to keep the plank position.
More power to you and I hope I could help others like what Ivy does, but I think I have to show it first in my body. :D More power and God bless!
At Monday, March 29, 2010 6:49:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
Jojo! Welcome back to the comments. That is more weight loss since your last comment. Congratulations. Send photos of your using healthy movement in your daily life and martial arts. Keep the good work coming. Stay great. Stay happy.
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