The Tulum Handstand Progression...or What I Did on my Summer Vacation

[Grog]

Compliment a woman on her body... surely she'll find something to talk it down a little. This being said, I like the idea of a Big Ribcage Club...

You look wonderful yellow, your quads and biceps are spectacular, and you are really cool, standing on your hands. It is indeed contagious!!!

[OakLeaf]

I've never even been able to stand on my head.

And I wish I looked half that good upside down or right ways up

Yellow, you rock!

[yellow]

Secret? Some of it is genetics (I'm a pear, and I have never carried weight around my middle), a lot of it is high mileage trail running with lots of steep downhills (hence the giant quads), but I think the primary thing that has "helped" me over the years is something an old whitewater kayaking friend hammered in to my head: put your "stress" in your core...not your neck, not your shoulders, not your jaw...your core. It was very helpful to ground myself using my abs and glutes when I was boating. And I think since then I've always carried "stress" in my abs (I don't boat any more...got too old and scared, but I loved it when I did it). I suck at all of the trendy core exercises. I'm not that strong right now, due to several months of general slacking.

OK, but seriously, this is about HANDSTANDS, ladies. I never realized it required so much finesse. It's pretty magical when you hit that balance point and can stay there.

They have a handstand pushup video on the Crossfit website. Whoa. This is the handstand video that I've been studying most. I still have too much of a "bend" in my spine.

Who went out and did a handstand today?

[snapdragen]

Who went out and did a handstand today?

With my wrists? Not gonna happen!

Where were you vacationing?

[Mr. Bloom]

Who went out and did a handstand today?

Rephrase: Who went out and got a bump on their head trying a handstand today?

[Andrea]

Crossfit is pretty "fun"

I plan on starting it up once I hit the racing off-season (I "discovered" it back in February, but didn't have a chance to really get into it before I had to start spending 200+ miles a week on my bike).

Congrats on the rockin' bod and the handstands!

[Zen]

I'm just impressed that somebody can afford a vacation.

[Irulan]

With my wrists? Not gonna happen!

Where were you vacationing?

Tulum, a small community about two hours south of Cancun,just south of Playa del Carmen, on the Yucatan Peninsula. The whole coast three is lined with little beach places just like the one pictured. We spent part of our honeymoon there.

[yellow]

Tulum, a small community about two hours south of Cancun, just south of Playa del Carmen, on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Exactally. It's on the edge of the Caribbean. The beach places in Tulum do not have electricity; most use solar and a few operate with generators. Once Tulum beach gets power, it'll probably be doomed to looking like Cancun and Playa del Carmen.

Zen, this is the first vacation longer than a week that we've been on in the 16 years we've been married (we were out 10 days total). Long overdue. Mexico (and places like Belize, which is about 150 miles to the south) is incredibly cheap compared to traveling to, say, Europe (where we originally were going to go until we decided the whole Euro-USD business made it infeasible). We saved for a long time and used points from our Am Ex for airfare. The whole trip cost less than my last mountain biking trip with someone whose initials are SK (although I believe a large portion of the cost for THAT trip was Chimay Grande Reserve ).

Here you go, Snap:

Mayan ruins on the beach



And here's one for MP:

[indigoiis]

That is way cool. I'm inspired.
But I think I'm going to need a wall, cuz I'm scared of the dread "aaaach-ovah."
I just don't bend that way too well.

[Irulan]

So did you go inland to the ruins at Coba? They are really, really cool. We rented beater mountain bikes for a couple of pesos and rode all around the site.

We spent two weeks down there last time - Tulum, Valladolid ( inland) and a week on Cozumel diving.

[indysteel]

I've been working on handstands in yoga. My biggest issue is mental, not physical. I can do a headstand with no problem, but handstands mess with my head. I'd really like to take an arm balancing workshop one of these days
so that I can, hopefully, get over my fears.

In any event, great job Yellow!

[Possegal]

Next step = walking on your hands. talk about an arm workout!

I was a gymnast in a former life (not with the current body, that's for sure), but I've never lost my handstand abilities. Now my flips and handsprings, well that is another story. I'll have to do some on the beach when I go next month, though there is a 'no cameras allowed' rule when I'm near a beach.

[maillotpois]

Thanks for the sign!!

[Tri Girl]

Ha! I have trouble standing on my feet some days- let alone upside down on my hands. You rock, yellow!!!

And yes, I was checking out your bod along with your handstand technique. I'm very impressed with both. I've got nice calves and a nice head. It's the part in between that requires lots of clothing coverage.

And I won't be trying one anytime soon. My bones are far too breakable to be trying shenannigans like that nowadays.