Second HSPU Update

It’s only been two weeks since my last HSPU update, but I feel like I have made good progress. For the first week, I continued as planned in my last update. Then I stopped for the second week. I think I only went to the gym once in the last week, if at all.

So at the two-week point since my last update, I completed another HSPU practice session. The supported HSPUs felt easy, so I decided to try some against the wall, facing towards the wall. I completed four, right down to the ground. A few weeks ago I couldn’t manage one down to the ground.

Next, I tried frog stands. I’m getting better at balancing, but I really need to start with my back almost pointing vertical (rather than almost horizontal) before trying to lift/throw my legs up. When my back is vertical, it’s quite easy just to raise the legs. With my back almost horizontal, I have to first lift my back and legs as one unit, using mainly my triceps.

Moving from a static frog stand into a HSPU isn’t part of the list item, but it falls under the “it would be cool if I could do it” category, so I will continue practising. Also, it should help build up my muscles and balance for the main goal.

After the frog stands, I tried kicking up against the wall while facing away from the wall, then moving my feet into an unsupported handstand. Unsurprisingly, my balance needs a lot more work. To stop myself falling onto my back, it was fairly easy and effective to dig my fingers into the ground. I have yet to find a simple way to stop myself falling towards my stomach, though. On the plus side, I had plenty of strength left to get back up and try again a few times.

Last for this practice session, I found a spot in our house where there are two close but opposing walls. I climbed up into a handstand position and used the walls (rather than the floor) to recover when I started to lose my balance. This arrangement works well, so I’ll add it to my HSPU practice sessions in future.

I’m very pleased with my progress. Maybe it was due to the lack of training, which I’ve noticed can help get me past learning/physical plateaus in other areas of my life. With that in mind, I’ll practice every three days instead of every two.

As before, I’ll post another update in a couple of weeks.