This session was all about developing compression to work towards a straddle press to handstand and learning to control our bodyweight on rings through the shoulders with straight arms. We worked a ton of mobility to open the back of our body and combined that with exercises that strengthen our ability to push forward with our arms and shoulders and fold ourselves in half at the hips actively. The straight arm ring work built on this strong protracted pushing by using more scap protraction, but this time with our shoulders extended behind us, rather than pushing up into flexion.

Focus to complete these drills with precision after reviewing the demo videos and reading the recommended reps, sets, and notes. Each linked page will contain detailed cues and mistakes to aid in understanding the proper execution of these exercises.

Any questions you have are welcome. Reach out to me via email, or direct message on instagram. If you don’t have my email you can reach me using the contact form on this website. The next session will be Nov 20th and we will repeat these exercises with greater emphasis on the finer details and points of performance.

STRADDLE PRESS SKILLS

Wrist Prep: Daily

• Wrist Series – 90-120s x 1-2 sets
  • Freestyle. Be creative and spend more time working in ranges that are challenging for you to bring them up with the rest of your positions.
• First knuckle Push-up – @20×1 – 10 x 3 sets
  • Keep the shoulders over the fingertips. Control every millimeter on the way down. Only work in the full position if you can control it legit.
• Wrist Push-up – @20×1 – 10 x 3 sets
  • Get the backs of the wrists to the floor and keep your fists. Closer to the knees with the hands is easier. Be easy on this one until you build up the tissues in your wrists.

Mobility, Compression, and Straight Arm Pushing: 2-3x/wk

• Single Leg Good Morning – slow and controlled – 10/side + 10s hold on last rep x 1 sets
  • Use your other leg lightly as possible and work towards using only the working leg while keeping the other leg low
• Cossack Squat – Low – 60-90s alternating x  1 sets
• Sumo Good Morning – Super Wide – 10 + 30s static hold x 1 sets
• Pancake Stretch – Weighted with Hips Elevated – 10 + 30s static hold x 3 sets
• Scapular Push-up – @20×3 – 10 reps x 3 sets
• Prone PVC Rollover – Weighted – 10 reps x 3 sets
  • No clicking of the shoulders with 100% locked elbows is priority. No need to add weight if you can’t do it cleanly with the empty stick
• Pike Slide – 5-7 reps x 3 sets
• Straddle Press Scaling Options – 1 perfect rep is goal
• Straddle Press – 1 perfect rep is goal

STRAIGHT ARM RING SKILLS

Skin the Cat Progressions: 2 Sessions/wk

• Shoulder Extension Scap Pull – @20×3 – 6-8 reps x 3 sets
  • Work with diligent focus on strong scap protraction and progressively load more weight into the shoulders to cue activation and warm shoulder extension up gently
• Skin the Cat – Step in from Floor – 1+30 sec hold x 3 sets
  • Use both active protraction and passive retraction to explore your mobility and gently condition your shoulders to this position
• Skin the Cat – Floor Entry – 3-5 x 3 sets
  • Deep stretch in the bottom and precision slow exit
  • No momentum
• Skin the Cat – Drop – 15-30s static hold x 3 sets
  • Work to accumulate time in both the active protracted scap position as well as the passive position to develop both types of stabilizing contraction.
• Skin the Cat – 3-5 x 3 sets
  • Straight legs in and straight legs out is the goal
  • If you can’t do these without momentum use the floor entry to build strict strength
  • It is acceptable to tuck into the entry, but it is not acceptable to use momentum
  • If you are not strong enough to do this strict you have no business upside down on the rings and are asking for injury