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The Flexed Roll is a great way to build a foundation for performing a solid roll, an incredibly useful maneuver that crosses many bodyweight disciplines. While creating the GBT and Animal Flow systems, I was inspired by many different disciplines like Parkour, Gymnastics and Break Dancing. As a student of these different avenues of self …
Continue reading “The Flexed Roll: Roll Your Way to a Stronger Core!”
The 6-Point Pull-Up Variation is a great sequence of pull and chin ups that I put together to make use of the typical Pull-Up bar set up you find on most cross-over cable columns. I began doing this while trying to make the most of spotty access to good pull-up bars when traveling so much …
Continue reading “The 6-Point Pull-Up: Making Use of the Cable-System Pull-Up Bar”
The pistol squat is the essential leg exercise for the Bodyweight Athlete. For strength and stability there’s no other movement that compares. The Walking Pistol Squat takes your pistol training to a whole other level. The mechanics of this movement create a serious balance challenge as well as some hip and ankle mobility. Check out …
Continue reading “The Walking Pistol Squat: For Even More Complexity and Balance!”
The Hip Hinge Forearm Push-Up is another great bodyweight conditioning movement that serves as an awesome exercise by itself, while also preparing your body for more advanced progressions. The human body is an incredible network of levers that act together to create movement in all directions. We can change the leverage at a joint to …
Continue reading “The Hip Hinge Forearm Push Up: Bodyweight Leveraging at its Best!”
Parallel bars are an awesome bodyweight training tool for practicing your hand balancing, and this week we’ve got two incredible exercises for you to try out: the L-Sit to High Hip Tuck; and the L-Sit to Straddle Press-Up Handstand. Whether you are a gymnast, bar athlete or general bodyweight enthusiast, Parallels are an excellent place …
Continue reading “Parallel Bars: From L-Sits to Tucks and Presses and More!”
The Turtle Freeze is a staple hand balancing move in break dancing. But it’s more than just a fun dance move – it’s also an incredible exercise for creating total body tension as well as wrist, shoulder and trunk stability. This week we stopped by the practice spot of our boy Kevin “New Cre†Sanchez …
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This week’s exercise brings us back to a Horizontal “Pushing†Pattern (ie Push-Up category): The Archer Push-Up, which is a great total body exercise that is also helpful for training for a Single-Arm Push-Up. In most cases if I asked someone to get down and perform a Single-Arm Push-Up (SAPU), what I usually see is …
Continue reading “The Archer Push-Up: You’ll Love This Variation!”
Wrist mobility exercises and stretches are an important tool for anyone who is into bodyweight training, hand balancing, or, of course, Animal Flow. This week’s video was inspired from a recent experience in my own personal journey. It’s fair to say that if you plan on dedicating yourself to practicing bodyweight training, you will be …
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Rope climbing is one of my favorite alternatives for your vertical pulling patterns (after all, you can’t do pull-ups all the time!). It can be extremely challenging to work your way up to climbing using only your arms, so today we’re going to start at the beginning, with the S-Hook. I love rope climbing because …
This week’s video tutorial is a double feature, covering two Parkour essentials: the Wall Run and the Cat Leap. And we’re super excited to have Professional Parkour athlete and American Ninja Warrior David “Young Flip†Rodriguez teach us how to master them. Both of these movements are not only great exercises, but are also two …
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The Tornado Pull-Up is a great variation on the timeless pull-up exercise. It’s no secret that Pull-Ups and Chin-Ups are one of the best exercises around. Sure, it might be impressive to see someone grunt out a ton of weight on a lat pull down machine, but the simple Pull-Up will always be a display …
Continue reading “The Tornado Pull-Up: Strength With a Twist”
Hand balancing is an incredible practice and a huge part of bodyweight training. Not only is the work great for increasing your shoulder girdle stabilization, but it can also be a killer way to challenge your entire body and improve your neuromuscular connectivity. And, way beyond your basic handstands, the opportunities to challenge your strength, …
Continue reading “Static Frog with Back Extension: Turning a Classic Exercise Upside Down”
The Band-Assisted Muscle-Up is the next step in our Muscle-Up tutorial series, where we’re working toward achieving the incredibly challenging and super-impressive Slow Muscle-Up. Our ultimate goal with the traditional Muscle-Up is to get to the point where you can perform the exercise slowly, without requiring any momentum. Practicing with the Assistance Bands can get …
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The Plyometric Body Row (also known as an Australian Pull-Up) is a great way to build speed and power in your horizontal pulling pattern. The Body Row overall is an extremely versatile exercise that can be used to develop strength, endurance and muscle mass. The specific effects you achieve from the exercise depend on the …
The 90 degree Pike Push Up plays a major role in our journey towards the Handstand Push-Up. Not only is this exercise great for building shoulder stability and strength, but it puts us in a position that closely mimicks a complete “Vertical Pressing†pattern. As I describe below, Vertical Press exercises are central moves in …
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The Band-Assisted Plyometric Push-Up provides a great way to learn the Plyo Push-Up, a killer horizontal pushing pattern that can be used to develop explosive strength. And, this gives us the perfect opportunity to introduce one of the many ways we use “Assistance Bands†in the GBT gym. So I’m really psyched to bring you …
Continue reading “Band-Assisted Plyometric Push-Ups: Defy Gravity!”
I’ve been putting a lot of time into my Hand Balancing practice lately and just can’t say enough about how much it contributes to a bodyweight workout routine. Our Advanced Frog Stand tutorial that we posted a year ago this week turned out to be one of more popular videos, exceeding 30,000 views. So, we …
Continue reading “Advanced Frog Stand Variations: Fun With Hand Balancing!”
The Swiss Ball Back and Hip Extension is a great trunk exercise for any level Bodyweight Athlete. This is a fantastic “extension†exercise that works everything from the hamstrings and glutes, up through the spinal erectors. The Swiss Ball adds an unstable factor that is great for lateral and rotational stability. Complement Your Flexion with …
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The Tuck Front Lever is more than just a great static or isometric exercise – it is also the starting point for progressing towards the Fully Extended Front Lever with its impressive show of strength and endurance. You’ll find that the Tuck Front Lever is an incredible exercise for a lot of different muscle groups, …
Continue reading “The Tuck Front Lever: Intro to Static Exercises!”
The Negative Handstand Push-Up (wall assisted version) is yet another step in our quest to master the Unsupported Handstand Push-Up. Bodyweight training is all about systemic progressions, and the Unsupported Handstand Push-Up is one of the monster bodyweight moves that makes a great goal, but may take many steps to work your way up to. …
Continue reading “The Negative Wall-Supported Handstand Push-Up”
