Form Anyone here do human flags?

[Kforcer]

You talking a wall ladder? The one with wooden gym bars spaced every buncha inches. Or a 6ft construction ladder, cause that would be a badass job trick.

Yeah, my gym has a wall ladder, its plastic instead of wooden. Kind of a unique set-up, its kind of like a swedish ladder in the middle, but on either side of it, it has shelves to place weights or swiss balls or whatever on and then it also has pull-up bars.

I work at a GM plant though, and there is a ladder that I've done flags on a few times. I use paper towel to make it a little easier on my bottom hand.

 

[STRYDG]

Problem I have is progressing calisthenics skills. Is there anywhere good that's not locked behind a paywall for learning? Finding calisthenics much more kinder on my body than weights lately.

 

[Kforcer]

Problem I have is progressing calisthenics skills. Is there anywhere good that's not locked behind a paywall for learning? Finding calisthenics much more kinder on my body than weights lately.

That is a big issue. One basic thing with any flag skill is starting with your legs tucked, then progressing from there. Maybe first with legs tucked towards the chest, then tucked but further out, then one leg straight, then a straddle, etc. But I will look through and see I can find some sights or sources I find helpful.

 

[Kforcer]

Problem I have is progressing calisthenics skills. Is there anywhere good that's not locked behind a paywall for learning? Finding calisthenics much more kinder on my body than weights lately.

Tyson Edwards, Dominic Sky, FitnessFaqs are all good ones. SummerFunFitness is actually pretty good too, though being a woman, of course, she's dealing with a different set of physical tools than most of us.

 

[Kforcer]

I’m just joking.
Surprised many people on here can do a flag.

I think people tend to look at bodyweight exercises as exotic and assume they can't do them at all if they can't do them immediately, instead of pursuing them in the same way they would any other goal in the gym. As strong as you guys are, I think most of you could do a flag if you worked up to it, unless there were structural, anatomical issues, injuries or maybe height or bodyweight that rendered it more challenging.

Its definitely hard, but also definitely doable with the right foundation and progressions. That said, I'm 43 and I've been working out hard since I was like, 5 or 6 and I don't remember doing them before now (though I didn't necessarily have the proper equipment). So maybe that speaks to their difficulty. But these things are also relative; there are things that have taken me a lifetime to do that seem to take others a few months and sometimes less.

The big thing, IMO, is aligning your body with your bottom arm so that it is in a position to push from the shoulder and support your weight.

 

[vision1]

I think people tend to look at bodyweight exercises as exotic and assume they can't do them at all if they can't do them immediately, instead of pursuing them in the same way they would any other goal in the gym. As strong as you guys are, I think most of you could do a flag if you worked up to it, unless there were structural, anatomical issues, injuries or maybe height or bodyweight that rendered it more challenging.

Its definitely hard, but also definitely doable with the right foundation and progressions. That said, I'm 43 and I've been working out hard since I was like, 5 or 6 and I don't remember doing them before now (though I didn't necessarily have the proper equipment). So maybe that speaks to their difficulty. But these things are also relative; there are things that have taken me a lifetime to do that seem to take others a few months and sometimes less.

The big thing, IMO, is aligning your body with your bottom arm so that it is in a position to push from the shoulder and support your weight.

I'm 6'3 with an even longer wingspan and 210 lbs.
Also have had 3 shoulder surgeries ... not something I'll try to pursue lol

 

[Kforcer]

I'm 6'3 with an even longer wingspan and 210 lbs.
Also have had 3 shoulder surgeries ... not something I'll try to pursue lol

Yeah, I hear you man. There are plenty of things that I avoid based on past injuries or just what my body is telling me. I will say, you never know, some of this stuff--to quote Brendan Schaub--you might be surprised.

But at the same time, in the name of longevity, discretion is definitely a virtue. Better safe than sorry, 500%.

 

[STRYDG]

Tyson Edwards, Dominic Sky, FitnessFaqs are all good ones. SummerFunFitness is actually pretty good too, though being a woman, of course, she's dealing with a different set of physical tools than most of us.

Thank you! Was already following fitness faqs but the others are new, will have a look through their content tonight.

Now it comes down to me putting the effort in. Keeping up on training but mostly baseline, not pushing myself.

 

[Fahcough]

Had a year old project to finish , a PVC pull-up station to drop in the pool. Needed something to assist in various pull ups, holds, levers, etc. It cuts down on bodyweight you're having to hold but the circulation of the water does make for new challenges. Haven't got to test it much, pulled bicep last year and jacked shoulder up this year so it's not been put to much use.

 

[Kforcer]

Had a year old project to finish , a PVC pull-up station to drop in the pool. Needed something to assist in various pull ups, holds, levers, etc. It cuts down on bodyweight you're having to hold but the circulation of the water does make for new challenges. Haven't got to test it much, pulled bicep last year and jacked shoulder up this year so it's not been put to much use.

Wow! That's a terrific idea!

 

[Kforcer]

For whatever it is worth, since this thread was part of my human flag journey, I figured I'd share the outcome. It was legitimately helpful to be able to have people respond constructively to the post.

 

[DEVILsSON]

Good job.

Time to work on mastering planches, HSPUs, front levers, dragon pistols, etc

 

[Kforcer]

Good job.

Time to work on mastering planches, HSPUs, front levers, dragon pistols, etc

I do handstand pushups (handstand pushups I've been doing since I was a kid) and front levers, but dragon pistols and planches, no. I should get on planches...my inability to straighten my right arm sort of annoys me for stuff like that. Its annoying that the form will never be perfect. I should definitely do them anyways though. Dragon pistols would be awesome but I think I'm a long way off from doing them.

 

[Fahcough]

For whatever it is worth, since this thread was part of my human flag journey, I figured I'd share the outcome. It was legitimately helpful to be able to have people respond constructively to the post.

Excellent work! Wasn't a recoil hold either, that was legit flying lol . I'll shoot you a follow on IG if i ever get back on. Like this kinda stuff in feed over the same boring ass SBD vids with 45 seconds breathing before doing anything.

 

[usernamee]

I do handstand pushups (handstand pushups I've been doing since I was a kid) and front levers, but dragon pistols and planches, no. I should get on planches...my inability to straighten my right arm sort of annoys me for stuff like that. Its annoying that the form will never be perfect. I should definitely do them anyways though. Dragon pistols would be awesome but I think I'm a long way off from doing them.

can u do full ROM HSPU (on parallettes or boxes all the way down until your shoulders touch your hands basically and without banana back etc)

that's really fucking impressive if you can!

 

[Kforcer]

can u do full ROM HSPU (on parallettes or boxes all the way down until your shoulders touch your hands basically and without banana back etc)

that's really fucking impressive if you can!

I definitely "can" but I haven't done handstand pushups in a long time. I did do them recently to help get my hand placement for the human flag. In that case, I was doing them off the floor. I will say, when I did do them banana back was an issue for me, at least at times. I think it was more of an issue when I did them on the rings though and probably a matter of just trying to find my balance where I ended up arching a little more than I should have. My older brother still does them all the time and he does them much like you describe.

 

[Kforcer]

Excellent work! Wasn't a recoil hold either, that was legit flying lol . I'll shoot you a follow on IG if i ever get back on. Like this kinda stuff in feed over the same boring ass SBD vids with 45 seconds breathing before doing anything.

Thanks brotha!

 

[usernamee]

I definitely "can" but I haven't done handstand pushups in a long time. I did do them recently to help get my hand placement for the human flag. In that case, I was doing them off the floor. I will say, when I did do them banana back was an issue for me, at least at times. I think it was more of an issue when I did them on the rings though and probably a matter of just trying to find my balance where I ended up arching a little more than I should have. My older brother still does them all the time and he does them much like you describe.

Did you do wall supported of freestanding?

I've only done wall supported because I don't care about freestanding, I'm only after those gainz

They're no fucking joke, I'm weak as fuck in my tris and shoulders too, never been able to do a full ROM rep

One time I figured I try full ROM on the rings, just because I'm a retard and hoped that magically the rings would make me do the full ROM even though it's for sure harder

damn near killed myself on the first try

 

[Fahcough]

Did you do wall supported of freestanding?

I've only done wall supported because I don't care about freestanding, I'm only after those gainz

They're no fucking joke, I'm weak as fuck in my tris and shoulders too, never been able to do a full ROM rep

One time I figured I try full ROM on the rings, just because I'm a retard and hoped that magically the rings would make me do the full ROM even though it's for sure harder

damn near killed myself on the first try

Anyone who's tried Rings Handstand has ate shit. Practiced with them inches off the ground and it was still scary falling. Got to maybe 24 inches off ground attempting, never any higher. The crashes are brutal and you instinctively put your arm out. But pushing out of the hole is easier on rings than it is on parallette bars . Might be because you can turn hands until you find your strongest push position.

Or its being able to cheat the handstand, keeping your feet on the straps so you're only focusing on pushing and not falling over.

 

[Kforcer]

Did you do wall supported of freestanding?

I've only done wall supported because I don't care about freestanding, I'm only after those gainz

They're no fucking joke, I'm weak as fuck in my tris and shoulders too, never been able to do a full ROM rep

One time I figured I try full ROM on the rings, just because I'm a retard and hoped that magically the rings would make me do the full ROM even though it's for sure harder

damn near killed myself on the first try

Free standing, it was sort of a trademark of mine growing up. I got them from my older brother and when I was in high school, that was sort of my big trick that people knew me by. People would be like, "You're the guy who does the handstand pushups!"

I might go back to them, I don't know. Sometimes I get away from doing things for whatever reason and move onto other things. For example, I never dig flags until fairly recently and I was always doing muscle-ups to handstands up rings or similar things and now I never do that anymore. I definitely think there is something very beneficial in terms of body placement, so-called "proprioception" with handstand push-ups or handstands period.

For me, the older I get, there becomes certain exercises I might phase out even if I phase them back in, probably something like overuse or burn out. But I definitely think the exercise has some great uses.

BTW--you can't be weak in your shoulders or triceps, because otherwise you wouldn't be able to do them wall-supported. You considered tiger bend push-ups though? If you feel like your tris need work, I found those gave me great results.