Iron is a Girl's Best Friend! Again!

Today I'm reposting one of favourite pieces! I really enjoyed writing this one, as I was able to incorporate my own knowledge, experience and love for lifting into an article that I think is pretty interesting and enlightening to read! I'm also reposting this one because I have BIG NEWS: Small But Mighty will now be offering Semi-Private Women's Basic Barbell and Powerlifting in the Queen West area beginning Saturday November 5th! Check out all the details on the 'MIGHT IS RIGHT' program and grab your spot here! 

Photo From: www.fanpop.com

Batman is one of my favourite superheroes, not only because of his dark and stormy mystique but also because he is just a 'regular guy,' with no innate superpowers like x-Ray vision or superhuman strength. He relies on both his mental strength and physical will to defeat his enemies, and often undergoes quite a beating doing so. Every time I lift heavy, I'm reminded of a quote from the Dark Knight, when Batman and the Joker come face to face in the 'final showdown' for Gotham City: "...This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object..." It took me a few years of lifting to realize (and gain the confidence to be sure) that I am that unstoppable force, and though lifting is always a physical and mental challenge, the barbell is certainly not immovable. 

I think that the first paragraph of this post highlights one of the main reasons why I love lifting myself and programming it for my clients: confidence and empowerment! There have been too many times to count when faced with a mental or physical challenge I've thought to myself, "if I can squat 200 lbs, I can certainly do this"... And I'm not the only one! I've had clients report similar experiences in their daily lives, in situations ranging from moving furniture to surviving pregnancy, labour and delivery! With every kilo lifted, there comes a sense of accomplishment, of having done some 'work', of having put in time and effort towards a bigger goal or purpose! While you may leave a lifting session both mentally and physically exhausted, it is there, that little spark that keeps you coming back to the bar for more. 

In addition to building strength, a periodized resistance training program will also positively impact your body composition; it will help preserve your lean muscle mass, and may also lead to an increase in your basal metabolic rate (i.e. the rate at which you burn calories while resting). For women specifically, regular weight-training will also positively impact your bone health, and help prevent osteoporosis; this is very important in times of peak bone growth, as well as in the elderly.

Also, a well-organized lifting program will decrease your risk of injury by improving your balance and coordination, and may also benefit your sport-specific performance (Healthline 2013). In fact, studies have shown that in as little as 8 weeks, a heavy squatting routine can improve running economy and time to exhaustion at maximal aerobic capacity in highly-trained male and female long-distance runners (Storen et al, 2008).

With regards to sports participation, a prospective study of over 1200 high school athletes demonstrated that untrained female soccer, volleyball and basketball players had a 3.6 greater incidence of knee injuries versus female athletes that underwent a neuromuscular training program including weight-lifting, plyometric movements and flexibility training (Hewett, 1999). In the elderly, periodized resistance training has been shown to increase quality of life, improve power, body composition, and energy expenditure, and reduce the difficulty of completing acts of daily living (Hunter et al, 2004). 

Finally, on a personal note I have to say that through lifting I have met some of the most awesome and life-strong ladies I know! Girls that can lift heavy, run fast, eat burgers and rock a summer dress like the best of them! I mention this because there is an expectation that lifting will automatically make girls bulky! This is NOT true! While aesthetics is certainly the last reason I would promote as motivation to lift, resistance training is certainly figure-friendly. My female lifting pals and I get compliments on our figures all the time...funnily enough, the women providing the compliments often don't ask how I train, they only ask how-often. Its one of my favourite things to fill them in on my little iron secret! Seriously though, if you're all about that bass, squats are for you!

I also love lifting because its cathartic, quiet and focused. In the weight-room, there is no pressure to look pretty, to move in a 'lady-like' way, or even to play the most up-to-date music! There is just you, the bar, and if you're lucky, some other awesome ladies to cheer you on and spot you when you need it! In short, lifting is an awesome way to make new friends, build mental and physical strength, increase the resiliency of your muscles and joints, and improve your sport-specific performance. So head on over to your local gym, grab a rack and get lifting. If you're looking to get strong, your barbell will be your new best friend. 

Healthline, 2013: The importance of strength training for women. 

Storen 0, Helgerud J, Stoa E M, & Hoff J. Maximal strength training improves running economy in distance runners. American college of sports medicine, 2008.

Hewett T, Lindenfeld T, Riccobene J, & Noyes, F. The effect of neuromuscular training on the incidence of knee injury in female athletes. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 1999. 

Hunter G, McCarthy J, & Bamman M. Effects of resistance training on older adults. Sports medicine, 2004. 

Quick Tip: Go Mobile

Today I'm going to write about one of the most fundamental pillars of any good training routine: mobility! Like it or not, mobility has become one of the big 'hot topics' in the 'fitosphere' with a variety different opinions on when, how, and why it should be completed/worked on. However, the biggest misconception out there and the one I want to address first is this:

Mobility = Flexibility

Not to discriminate, but there have been too many times to count that 'macho' guys have told me that they aren't interested in stretching or going to yoga to work on their mobility. The good news for these guys (and everyone else) is as follows

MOBILITY IS NOT THE SAME AS FLEXIBILITY, NOR IS IT IMPROVED STRICTLY THROUGH STATIC STRETCHING

Phew! Now that we got that part out of the way, we can move on to more informative and practical information. 

So, if mobility and flexibility are not the same, what exactly is the difference? Tony Gentilcore  (one of the masterminds I follow on the interwebs) said it best in a recent post on his blog:

"Mobility: How a JOINT moves."

"Flexibility: The length of a MUSCLE."

I also like a recent quote from Men's Health to help explain why being flexible doesn't imply being optimally mobile (yes, I know...unbelievable. And as far as I know, hell has not frozen over):

"A person with great MOBILITY is able to perform functional movements with no restriction in the range of motion of that movement. A flexible person may or may not have the core strength, balance or coordination to perform the same functional movements as a person with great mobility."

If you check in regularly, you have heard (read) me rant about range of motion, compensatory movements, and risk of injury many (many) times in the past. This is exactly where having optimal mobility (and thus including mobility work in your training routine) becomes essential. Our bodies are awesome and they like to do exactly what our brains tell them to. This sounds great but the issue is as follows - our bodies focus on reaching the 'finished' product through the path of least resistance, which may in fact result in suboptimal positioning and injury. One really common example is the air squat. A full, ass-to-grass air squat requires a certain degree of mobility in the ankles, knees, hips and spine; lacking range in one of these joints often leads to compensations up or down the chain. One common 'flaw' seen in the air squat is the 'butt wink': the low back rounds out (and reverses curvature) and the bum tucks under the torso in the bottom position of the squat. Yes, you get your ass to the grass, but you do so at risk of straining a back muscle or injuring a disc. Believe it or not, this 'movement flaw' is often a consequence of inadequate mobility in the ankles or hips. Mind. Blown.... I know.

So Now What?

Scanning the web quickly as I put my thoughts together for this piece, I came across a couple great tips from other bloggers and trainers! The first came from Calvin Sun at CrossFit Invictus:

Mobility Should be a PROACTIVE approach, NOT a REACTIVE one

I absolutely love this. One of the reasons I chose to become a trainer and to go to Chiropractic school was to help people AVOID INJURY! Not only are injuries painful, they are time suckers, and often rob our bodies of their full capacity through tissue damage and scar tissue formation. Wouldn't it be great to avoid 6-8 weeks of rehabilitation work (and physio/chiro costs) altogether? You can do so for the low price of FREE in 5 minutes per day!

Video yourself doing an ass-to-grass air squat, bending over to touch your toes, completing a wall slide and attempting a bodyweight one-legged deadlift. If your form is less than perfect, you probably need to add (more) mobility work into your routine. The easy how-to: Include 5 minutes of mobility work in your warm-up and/or cool down each day. Don't wait until you have back pain, sore ankles or a torn hamstring to start working on your mobility. *NOTE* This applies to both multi-directional (such as basketball players) and uni-directional (such as runners) athletes!

The next tip came once again from Tony Gentilcore:

MOTION is needed to fix a MOBILITY Issue

Yes, tight muscles can restrict movement...but the jury is still out on whether static stretching has a positive, negative, or absolutely no effect on muscle length. What we do know is that REGARDLESS of muscle length, lack of range of motion in JOINT will DEFINITELY restrict your movement and potentially lead to injury. The solution: GET MOVING. The perfect place to do it: your DYNAMIC WARM-UP.

As an example, on squat day, you might include knee to wall drills and ankle walks in your warm-up if you're lacking dorsiflexion range, or finding that your ankles lock up at the bottom of your squat. 

If it's not broke, don't fix it

Mobility is NOT a general trait. One single person could for example, have poor shoulder mobility, awesome thoracic mobility, good hip mobility and pathetic ankle mobility. When we're lacking sufficient/optimal mobility in a joint, we refer to that condition as 'HYPOmobility'. This is bad and increases your risk of injury. However, Hypomobility's evil step-sister HYPER-mobility is also bad (unless you're in the circus), and can also increase your risk of injury. As humans, we really like to do what we're good at, so it's in our nature to keep practicing touching our toes to our nose if that's what we're good at. However, it is from these areas of 'excess' mobility that we are likely to 'steal range' when we're lacking it somewhere else. Too much range/lack of stabilization in a joint, for example the ability to hyperextend the knees or elbows, changes the way force distributes up and down our 'chains' and may also allow increased contact between bony joint surfaces -- both of these are potential mechanisms of injury, particularly in chronic or repetitive stress situations. So, if you can already touch your toes to your nose and hit a perfect straddle split it's time to shift your focus to maintenance (vs increasing) mobility in your lower body and to meet mobility's soul mate...

Mobility + Stability = The Ultimate 2-man Wolfpack

When you hear the word 'Stability' the first images that probably come to your mind are standing on Bosu Ball or holding a plank. While these are definitely exercises to promote 'core' stability, they aren't necessarily specific to a given joint. When we talk about joint stability, we're referring to the ability to properly coordinate your muscular recruitment to move a segment through the full range of motion of the joint while maintaining optimal alignment and relationship between joint segments. For example, being able to complete a full shoulder pass without having the head of your humerus (upper arm) slip forward, up or back in a pathological manner, OR having 'hijacking' muscles taking over the movement (e.g. upper traps turning on and shrugging the shoulders up to the ears because you're lacking in other areas). Together, mobility and stability ensure a full range of motion, optimal coordination and muscular recruitment, and a decreased risk of injury. 

So how Do I do it?

As I mentioned earlier, your dynamic warm-up and cool down represent ideal places to work mobility into your training routine. If you're a little lost on exactly HOW you should go about increasing your mobility in a certain area, there are various reputable online resources such as MobilityWod and Agatsu to help you along the way. HOWEVER, nothing beats hands on, supervised experience! With that piece of information, I'm excited to announce that I'm teaming up with my girl Paluna Sanatamaria to offer a SPECIAL mobility class this Saturday October 1st from 12:30-2 pm at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts: Mobility and Stability for Running and Athletics: Foot and Ankle Mobility to Optimize Performance and Avoid Injury #startedfromthebottom! Join us for an informative and active class (for $10!) that will help get your race and sport season off to an awesome start! Grab your spot here!

Quick Tip: Set Yourself Up for Success

It's hard to believe that we're already nearing the end of August #wheredidsummergo? Often at this time of year, as vacations and memories of hot summer days melt away and we start to re-focus on work or school our fitness and wellness routines start to FALL (see what I did there) by the wayside. Here are a few tips to help keep you on track with your training:

Set Some Short- and Long-Term Goals

These goals should be realistic and specific and your short-term goals should be conducive to your long-term goals. Make sure you have identified some sort of measurable outcome that will allow you to identify when you've reached each goal for example: hitting a specific squat PR, running a specific 5 km time, or even fitting into a smaller dress size.
 

Create a REALISTIC Plan to Reach Your Goals

Without a plan to reach them, goals are just wishes. Create a training plan that is directly conducive to your goals; make sure it is realistic in terms of training volume, time commitment and scheduling. Need help with this? There are plenty of trainers that offer online or distance programming to help you reach your fitness and wellness goals!
 

Prepare!

Whether this means laying out your training clothes and gear the night before, meal prepping your pre- and post-workout fuel, or even pre-entering your gym's address into iMaps, try to set yourself up for success today, by doing something you'll thank yourself for tomorrow. 
 

Hold Yourself Accountable...Or Find Someone Else To!

There are a variety of ways to hold yourself accountable to your training program such as setting alarms on your phone, downloading a training app, or wearing a fitness tracking device. You should also be keeping track of your performance in each workout, either during or immediately following your session to be sure you're on track and your programming is working for you! You can do this in a notebook, on a spreadsheet, or through a specific app. Again, if you need a little bit more 'support' find yourself a trainer or a training buddy! Your plan will only be effective if you actually stick to it!

Give Yourself a Break!

This may sound a little counter to what I've been suggesting so far, but nothing derails a training plan more than an overuse injury or training burnout! Even though it is great for us, physical activity is in fact a physiological stress. And, when we try to 'force' a session into an already packed or sleep-deprived day, it can become a mental/emotional stress as well. The last thing you want is to start resenting your training program and goals. So...give yourself a rest day when you need it, throw in a cheat meal every once in a while, and don't beat yourself up if you really legitimately have to skip a session. 

If you are interested in committing to a regular training routine, check out the Small But Might Build and Burn program; the next cycle begins Sept 2nd! Also, be sure to sign up for our newsletter - all the details of our fall #sweatacrossthe6ix tour are being released tonight! 

Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself My Name is Build & Burn

Helping You Build a Health and Fitness Focused Habitus

What the heck is a Habitus you ask?

'Habitus' actually has 2 separate and distinct meanings, which is part of the reason why I love this word/concept so much. In a medical or physiological sense, 'Habitus' refers one's general constitution, especially their physical build (endomorph, ectomorph, or mesomorph) (1). In a sociological sense, one's 'Habitus' is a structuring feature of their life and is determined by a number of influences on the individual including their socioeconomic status, their peer group, and their religion; these influences are internalized and result in the individual forming certain attitudes, actions and habits (2). 

You've probably heard at some point in your life that "Abs are made in the kitchen" and that "You can't outrun a bad diet". Though often bastardized, the concepts at the root of these statements are ultimately true. Speak to any high level or professional athlete about keys to their performance, and they'll likely mention sleep quality, diet, training, equipment, great coaching and the support of their teammates as pivotal to their performance. Talk to any accredited health expert and they'll highlight the importance of each of the above factors, as well as stress management, social support, and outlook as important facets in determining health. The point I'm trying to make here is this: 

Achieving health and fitness relies on more than a great training program or a few supplements. If you want to truly meet your health and fitness goals, you need to develop an entire Health and Fitness Focused Habitus! 

Your social group, your training schedule, your diet, your stress management techniques, your work schedule... each and every one of these factors influences your health and fitness! Don't believe me? Have you ever skipped a workout because your friends peer pressured you to go out with them? Given up your workout time to deal with an extra-heavy workload? Am I saying you have to be perfect? Certainly not! But your chances at achieving your goals are much greater if you set yourself up for success by, for example, surrounding yourself with others than understand your training and dietary choices, choosing a trainer or program that is safe, efficient and conducive to your goals, and developing wellness strategies. 

I personally choose to believe that health is not merely the absence of illness or disease, but rather also includes feeling amazing, energetic and enthusiastic EVERY damn day; while the definition of fitness may vary between people (e.g. being able to lift heavy stuff vs being able to run a marathon) for most I think it can be summed up as optimum performance. Either way, with the Build and Burn Program, my goal is help YOU achieve optimum health and fitness, by helping you develop a Health and Fitness Focused Habitus!

So How Do We Do It?

Get Up. Get Moving. Get Nourished. Get to Work! 

You might have noticed a few repetitive factors mentioned above...I did that on purpose (I swear). What I listed above as key facets of health and fitness are those parts of our life and training that we have control over! Each of the factors listed above, like dietary choices and stress management techniques are modifiable, and boy do they have a powerful influence on our overall health! The Build and Burn Program has a number facets designed to address each of these health influencing factors!

High Quality and Consistent Programming

Training is obviously pivotal to reaching your fitness goals. The Build and Burn program is primarily bodyweight training designed to help you build efficient and safe movement patterns, to develop certain (awesome) movement skills such as pistols and L-sits, and to build capacity (i.e. Build 'Cardio or Get Better Conditioned'). As a side-benefit to Smart and Consistent Training many women often see an improvement in their body composition: They may build muscle or lose fat or inches! To show I'm serious about the thought and preparation that goes into programming, go ahead and check out the registration page -- you'll notice the main focus of each workout for the entire month is listed! On Mondays we BUILD: we work on bodyweight strength including unilateral movements (your cortisol levels are high enough on a Monday morning; we don't need to destroy you with a heavy conditioning workout). On Wednesdays we BURN: A thorough warm-up and strategically planned Metabolic Conditioning Workout is programmed. On Fridays we BUILD, BURN & RESTORE: After a long hard week, we spend some focused time on a 'cool' bodyweight skill, do a little bit of conditioning to release some endorphins, and then send you floating into your weekend on a cloud of restorative mobility. 

Get'er Done Early

Even though I absolutely love training, when it hits about 3 pm, if I haven't yet been in the gym, getting my training in starts to weigh on me; I start getting stressed about whether I'll make it to the gym and be able to work as hard as I usually do. I have spoken to a number of women in this program, as well as men and women in other early morning classes I've taught, and some of the main feedback I hear is:

By working out early, I feel like I've accomplished so much by the time I get to work.

I leave the class feeling happy and energized

I feel great because I don't have to stress about getting my workout in in the afternoon. I have the whole evening to myself. 

Pump the endorphins and dump the stress early to set yourself up for a fantastic day!

COmmunity

By keeping the Build and Burn program small (12 participants max.) I've been able to help foster a supportive, encouraging and accepting atmosphere among the participants. In addition to attending the Build and Burn classes together 2 or 3 times per week, there is also an online (Facebook) group community where I post updates on equipment, programming, and upcoming events. Any current or past Build and Burner is free to comment or post in the group, and the gals often let each other know when they'll be missing a class (a few different participants walk or cycle to and from class together). Community support within and outside the classroom is a really positive influence on health and fitness behaviours! 

Additionally, I maintain a light, fun, and positive atmosphere within the classroom, focused on quality of work, rather than quick results! I won't yell at you, although I will tell jokes and sing! I can (almost) certainly promise you'll leave each class with a smile....unless you hate hollow rocks, then all bets are off!

Food

Yes, I have been known to bring baked (and no-bake baked) treats into class, but I'm not trying to bribe you here with these (even thought they're delicious lol). Starting in August I'll be teaming up with a local small business to offer HEALTHY Breakfast delivery to the studio for the end of class, to help you build your Habitus and to remove another common stress from your work day! Even better news: I'll be working with the business owners (including a Naturopath) personally to help develop meals tailored to optimizing your recovery from each workout each week! 

Keep an Open Mind and Do You

While there are other early morning classes and women's bootcamps in the city, there are very few teachers/trainers I would recommend without reservation. Lucky for me, one of the bestest female trainers in the city also happens to be super lovely and a close personal friend! Her name is Paluna Santamaria and she runs One Word Club, a skill focused women's training program at YogaSpace M/W/F from 7-8 am. Now it might sound counter-intuitive for me to be promoting another morning women's training program, but I did tell you earlier that I want to help YOU build YOUR OWN Habitus, and that means finding the program, or mix of programs that works best for your goals. And for this reason, I'm super excited to announce the

Build & Burn x ONe Word Club August Exchange program

What does this mean? Sign up for a month-long cycle of either Build and Burn or One Word Club and you can try a class in the opposite program for FREE! All you have to do is email either myself (if you're visiting Build and Burn) or Paluna (if you'll be visiting OWC) with the date you wish to attend and Presto Changeo, YOU'RE IN! 

Choose your Schedule

Joining a new training program should be an amazing experience, not one that creates stress. For this reason, I offer 2 or 3 day a week memberships for Build and Burn so you can choose a commitment level that fits in your schedule and doesn't overwhelm you! Changing a number of habits is not going to be easy, so keep it manageable! If 2 days a week seems like the best fit for you right now, that membership option is there for you! Want to jump in with both feet? We'll see you bright and early M/W/& F mornings, ready to #riseandshine!

The Ball is In Your Court

Want to join us? Build bodyweight strength and skills, burn away stress and amp up your conditioning? The August cycle begins Wed August 3rd at 6 am! Click here for all the nitty gritty details and registration! Hope to see you there! 

(1) Habitus. Accessed at http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/habitus on July 25, 2016.

(2) Habitus [sociology]. Accessed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitus_(sociology) on July 25, 2016.

Quick Tip: Drive Slow Homie...

"Don't rush to get grown, drive slow homie..."*

More than being from an awesome and totally underrated Yeezy track, these lyrics carry a super important message that is so applicable to movement and training. Too often we see an insta-famous trainer or athlete do something impressive on social medial and rush into trying to replicate that movement or skill without knowing anything about it, skipping all the baby steps that will help us develop the movement properly, safely and efficiently. For example, I often see people trying to kick up into free-hold handstands without having first learned about hollow body positioning or the role of the hands in maintaining balance. Most often this results in the person flailing around, trying to stay inverted by throwing their legs back and fourth, before they fall out of their "handstand" +/- a proper dismount. In a world full of YouTube Fitness Instructors and Social Media All-Stars we seem to have forgotten one really important fact:

When it comes to movement and skill training, much of the value lies in the learning process, not solely in performing the movement itself.

A really great teacher (Shawn Mozen at Agatsu Fitness) once said during an Indian Club workshop I was taking:

"If you want to get better at learning new things, you have to practice LEARNING new things". 

This seems pretty self explanatory, yet still so many of us approach new skills with a 'meathead mentality', trying the full, most advanced version of a skill without knowing any of the points of performance. Another common example of this lies in the Pistol Squat. All the time I see people collapsing into and bouncing out of the bottom of  pistol without having the slightest bit of awareness of what their hips and spine are doing.... It hurts my heart (and brain). So, to put this warning as bluntly as I can here is what I have to say: 

Throwing yourself into a movement won't get you anywhere fast, except maybe your Chiropractor's office.

On top of this, rushing to perform a 'pinnacle movement' (to borrow a term from Mike Fitch) without taking time to learn the basic principles and groove the movement patterns robs your conscious mind of the chance to learn so much about your current abilities and areas that are lacking or need improvement (which may in fact help you improve other movements as well) in addition to robbing your central nervous system of the opportunity to learn the sequencing and patterning of the skill. 

Slow and controlled movements, especially when it comes to gymnastics and bodyweight skills are far more impressive and they give our bodies time to collect feedback about how we're moving and where our body is in space, allowing us to 'code' a complete and error-free program! For the most part, the value of learning a new skill properly revolves around using the right muscles in the right way, at the right time, and once again we're circling back to the concept of motor learning and neuromuscular control. Based on these concepts, I use a 3-step sequence that I have found to be pretty effective for learning new movements, as well as teaching them to others:

1. Prime the Movement
2. Groove the Movement
3. Do the Movement

Prime the Movement

Priming the movement involves waking up the main muscles or systems that are crucial to proper performance of the skill you're going to be working on. Often, this part of the sequence can be included toward the end of your warm-up. For example, I might use hollow rocks or holds before a handstand practice, monster walks on a single-leg squat day, and scapular pull ups on a pull up day. 

Groove the Movement 

Grooving the movement involves taking our body through a range of motion or a movement pattern that mimics the skill that is being worked on, often under lower threshold conditions. This helps our nervous system and muscles learn what needs to be done under a lower stress or weight than the 'pinnacle' version of the skill to avoid the development of compensations. For example, on a handstand day I might use tuck ups (shorter lever = less stress) or wall walks (weight support + inclination = less stress); on a muscle up day it might be kneeling or banded transition work. 

Do the Movement

Please note: This is NOT me giving you permission to try a full muscle up or kick up to freehold handstand out of the blue/with no experience!!!!! Rather, this step involves completing repetitions of the most advanced version of the movement skill that YOU are CURRENTLY capable of performing with PERFECT form, timing and tempo. For a total beginner working on handstands, this might include something as simple as pike holds on the ground or with the feet elevated on a box. The KEY here is:

Do what your body is CURRENTLY capable of and not one ounce more! 

Why? Going beyond your capabilities will likely lead to compensatory muscle recruitment or movement patterns, and on top of being extremely hard to un-learn, movement compensations predispose us to injury like woah; whether it be an immediate acute injury, or one that occurs as a result of repetitive strain. Do yourself a favour:

know your limit and play within it**

The moral of today's story: SLOW DOWN! Deciding to learn a new movement or skill is an AMAZING GOAL and you should be applauded for having the guts to be open to something new. BUT you need to do your homework. Find a trainer or movement coach that is qualified to help you develop that skill safely and efficiently and/or do a whole whack of research on prime movers, fascial slings, muscle recruitment patterns and joint positions (& common flaws). Don't rush to the full advanced version of the skill; take your time to learn the baby steps and enjoy the process. Believe me, you'll be much more fulfilled when you can hold a perfect handstand for 60 seconds, rather than kicking up and flopping over like a wet noodle! 

Happy training friends!

J 

*Kanye West

**Ontario Gaming Commission