Pretty cool,
@Steve Freides ! I've been playing around on the rings myself. Question for you - have you tried back lever's? Much of the info I read on rings seems to say that the back lever is a good intro after the skin the cat working on the way to the front lever.
@wespom9, I have not. My particular back doesn't like a lot of extension but loves the hollow position, so the back lever seems scary to me, and I'd rather master the front lever first.
We all have to know our own injuries and history. E.g., there are some pistol drills I cannot do because my spine won't tolerate them, but I can do an actual pistol. I remember talking about this at a bodyweight workshop with
@Rif, and his comment was, "If you can do the skill, don't worry about the drill" or words to that effect. If the back lever is a drill on the way to a front lever, I suspect it will be a drill I don't do.
For anyone who's curious, the drill I cannot do is: from a deep, narrow-stance, two-footed squat, taking one leg out and moving it to the front..
I have no clue what the abs have to do with a skin the cat.
Ask someone who's had, e.g. recent surgery for a belly button hernia to do a StC - they can't. Pull-ups are another exercise that some people don't think of as using the abs, but they do.
From the "chandelle" (when you are straigth, but upside down), you place one of your leg on your chest, while maintaining the other one straight. Then, you go for the 1 leg front lever position pretty slowly to be sure to control the move.
Thank you - I am aware of this progression but it's also not one my lower back likes very much, so I'm going to avoid it for now.
Regarding all this, I will note that I've been working on my one-arm pushup, and I feel this has increased my lower back strength in ways that may allow me to try some of these drills that my back hasn't tolerated well in the past. If any of this changes, I will report back.
And I'm not trying to complain here. For those of you who don't know, I had a pretty severe lower back injury that's coming up on its 20th anniversary this coming Fall. Keeping my lower back working well is Job #1. Becoming stronger has been my main tool in doing that job, and the reason I learned to do things like splits is because having mobile hips and hamstrings helps. I have strong and mobile hips and hamstrings, and a strong lower back, but I do very little lower back mobility and stretching because that's what works for me.
And turning around on semi tensed arms is not a good idea. Steve uses lots of tension throughout the body, then skinning the cat is just awesome as none.
Yes, I agree. BTW, Harald, please post a link - if you don't mind - so that people can follow your Instagram account. I've been seeing what you've posted via your Facebook page, and it's great.
-S-