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Introduction
This training routine is designed for people who have basic acrobatics skills. Do it once weekly for one or two months.
Takeaways
- (+++) better control of a cartwheel
- (++) entering the handstand position from a cartwheel
- (+) better control of a handstand
- (+) preparation for complex moves
Requirements
- perfect cartwheel
- medium handstand
- basic one-handed cartwheel
- medium leg flexibility (into the side split)
Routine
The routine is designed for dancers, performers, and martial artists. Use this routine to prepare your body for the core part of your training. Do it only once; you might do it two times, but it follows a single movement pattern (with a deviation in the last exercise), so it is not required to repeat it. Remember that almost all exercises are asymmetrical and must be performed on two sides.
Estimated time: 15 minutes
General training schema
- Warm-up.
- Mobility.
- Routine.
- The main part.
- Cool down & stretching.
Routine Schema
| Series | Repetitions | Exercise | Directions |
| 1x | 10x | Fully controlled cartwheel | Side to side |
| 8x | One-handed cartwheel | Side to side | |
| 8x | Cartwheel with legs joined above the head | Side to side | |
| 4x LEFT, 4x RIGHT | Half-cartwheel and come back | Sided | |
| 4x LEFT, 4x RIGHT | Half-cartwheel and come back with legs bending | Sided | |
| 1x LEFT, 1x RIGHT | Handwalk rotations | Sided |
Description
Fully controlled cartwheel
The exercise prepares the body and nervous system for the next moves in a series. It is not a dynamic move; your role is to control it. It is not throwing your body from the left to the right!
Tips:
- Fix the position of your hands; do not raise or move your palms on a floor,
- Keeping hands in one place forces you to have your head down all the time; you are not supposed to end cartwheel standing; only one leg touches the floor at a time,
- Keep your legs open during all exercise phases, and maintain an active split (feel your leg muscles are working). The less you bend your supporting leg while going up, the better,
- Your abdominal oblique muscles are the key,
- You can compensate mobility with strength (see a movie where I slightly bend my hands to gain momentum and to get back control),
- The overall goal is to avoid leg/hand bending and use your core muscles to push the body from side to side.
One-handed cartwheel
You can do it in one place, side to side, or move back and forth, with four repetitions in one direction and another four in the opposite direction. The second option is recommended for dancers and performers, introducing a slight departure from an expected route. The central nervous system has more work, and we want it!
Tips:
- Going back and forth: imagine you stay in front of a camera, and there is a straight line from your body center to the camera lenses. With each repetition, you must change the angle between the camera-line and your body to get closer to the camera. And to do it, you must place your legs in a proper position. It’s not about hand. It’s all about the starting position – see the schema below to understand better what’s going on.
Cartwheel with legs joined above the head
In this exercise, we are introducing the handstand entrance from the cartwheel. You do it as the first exercise, with a fixed hand position. The difference is in the middle: you join your legs above the head.
Tips:
- Apply all tips from the first exercise in the routine,
- You may only clasp your legs, but you should try to stop in a full handstand position. The longer you stay, the better.
Half-cartwheel and come back
Now, we are going to use even more strength than before. The movement is a continuation of controlled cartwheels, but this time, you don’t do it side-by-side, and after you reach a handstand position in your cartwheel (with legs open), you go back. This exercise and its variations may be used for oblique abdominal muscle training. It is the foundation of complex moves where your legs above are building momentum.
Tips:
- To make it easier, don’t go into the middle. You may stop and go back earlier, but force your legs to be open all the time,
To make it more challenging, try to go further than the middle and return from the other direction.
Half-cartwheel and come back with leg bending
The exercise could be easier than the previous one because it requires less strength. You should do it after the last exercise because this time you can experiment a little bit. The difference is a leg that goes as a second into cartwheel. You should bend it in the middle and then go back.
Tips:
- Experiment with timing (when you bend your second leg),
- Experiment with bending (bend the first leg, straighten it, and at the same time bend your second leg),
- Do one experiment in routine; don’t mix too much,
- The exercise introduces two concepts: one is staying in a twisted handstand (static), and another is l-kick (dynamic).
Handwalk rotations
The last exercise in the routine relies on a concept unrelated to previous movements. Why is that? At this point, your body and mind are fixed on a single axis of motion. The exercise breaks this pattern and prepares your nervous system for the unexpected. If you don’t know how to do a handwalk, skip this exercise.
Tips:
- The move is based on a handwalk. If you rotate to the right, then your left hand is responsible for supporting and does small steps on a small inner circle, and your right hand does large steps on the outer ring,
- To understand the concept, try to do it on our legs slightly open, observe the pattern depending on a direction,
- You are not going on a fixed circle. If you see the pattern on a floor, it looks like a hurricane path (see image below).
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