Turtle Freeze: Put Some BBoy Style in Your Hand Balancing!

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 for a quick tutorial on this great move. I’m pretty sure you’re going to have a fun time with this one! And more importantly, I hope it gets you excited about our upcoming full-length DVD on Hand Balancing!

If you haven’t already heard about it, we’re super psyched to have begun production on our Hand Balancing DVD, which will be released in early 2013. Why did we choose to focus on Hand Balancing? Well, not only is it a personal favorite when it comes to my own fitness routines, but I love how it carries over into the many different discipline within bodyweight training. Hand balancing is central to bodyweight training in general, but is also adaptable to the various techniques and practices that give each discipline its own style. Like dance, there is no right or wrong way, just different interpretations and applications (well, maybe there are some “wrong” ways of dance).

Our hand balancing video will teach the core discipline of hand balancing, while highlighting styles from three different disciplines. We’ll feature sections on Gymnastics-style balance work; Break dance balances (freezes); and Bar-style balancing for all of you bar athletes out there. We’ll start out with the basics on hand placement, developing your baseline strength, and practicing your basic balancing. And then we’ll take you through progressions all the way up to handstand push-ups, planche work, and single-arm balances. Like I always preach, if you put in the practice and master each progression in order, you will be able to achieve moves you never thought you could!

Learning from the Experts

While I love being a student of each of these disciplines, I’m no expert, so we’ll be drawing upon the talents of more advanced practitioners in each area. In my personal journey to becoming a bodyweight athlete, I’ve sought out the best in each field to learn from. That is how I came to know Kevin, who has been my personal break dance coach. The techniques I learned from him opened up my view of movement possibilities and played a huge role in creating Animal Flow. We’re psyched that Kevin will be providing the instructions for the break dance section of the hand balancing DVD. And, we’re really happy to have him teaching this week’s tutorial on a basic hand balancing introductory move to get you started!

Introducing the Turtle Freeze

In this video, Kevin provides step-by-step instructions for mastering the Turtle Freeze, which you’ll recognize as a staple hand balance used in break dancing. As I mentioned at the beginning, this move creates total body tension and is awesome for wrist, shoulder and trunk stability. Kevin shows us how to get started with the basic version, and goes on to demonstrate how to progress into the more advanced variations, including a straight-leg, single arm Turtle Freeze.

Don’t Forget Your Wrist Mobility

As with many bodyweight training exercises, hand balancing can be very hard on your wrists, so be sure to always warm up with wrist mobility exercises before your practice. You can check out our wrist mobility tutorial here. Before each hand balancing practice, I set a timer and perform each mobilization for thirty seconds. It’s also a great way to end your session. If you dedicate time to your wrist mobility, you’ll be practicing pain free for a long time. It’s made a huge difference for my own practice!

So, go throw on some music, and try adding the Turtle Freeze into your hand balance training! (And stay tuned for the full length DVD!)

Want to see some other awesome hand balancing tutorials? Check these out: