Mastering Handstands, Muscle-ups and Strict Gymnastics with Powerful Monkeys

By djpope

April 24, 2017

7.0, camp, Clean and Jerk, dan pope, fitness pain free, handstand, muscle-up, olympic lifts, power monkey fitness, snatch, squat

Hey all,

This week I’m at Power Monkey Camp again.  It’s always incredibly fun and a great learning experience.  You really can’t get such an all-star cast of fitness pros anywhere else in the world.  I’ve been to all 7 camps so far and don’t plan on stopping any time soon.

In honor of camp this week I wanted to put together a little compilation of great resources I’ve learned or taken from camp over time.  Some of these little videos have been monumental for me in terms of coaching and rehabilitation.  As therapists I think sometimes we gloss over drills like these because they don’t seem applicable to our patients.  I’ve got to say that if you have a patient that wishes to return to any of these skills and you aren’t regularly utilizing drills like these then you’re missing a major part of their rehab.

1) Barbell Shrugged Podcast Video of myself and Dr. Dave Tilley with some of what we go over at camp:

2) Kipping and Body Position Drills for Muscle-ups, Pull-ups and Toes to Bar

3) Muscle-up Skills, Strength and Position Work

3-position Paused Eccentric Muscleup Drill. People tend to have difficulty during the transition portion of the Muscleup as well as the ring support at the top of the dip. I like this drill because it helps to build athlete comfort and strength in these challenging positions. 1) Bottom Left – Easiest variation, jump and hold each position for 1-2 seconds 2) Top Left – Second easiest, slowly descend and pause into each position utilizing your feet to help as needed 3) Mac daddy hardest variation on the right. Slowly descend and pause into each position without support. Try this out and let me know how it goes. I get some many athletes struggling to get strict strength in those challenging areas of the Muscleup and this drill has really helped! #Twitter #muscleup #rings @powermonkeyfitness @shift_movementscience @davedurante @rupert.egan @colinpgeraghty @vanvleetd @drmelzar @bimflip @modernmanualtherapy @barbellrehab @thebarbellphysio @themovementfix

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4) Olympic Lifting Drills

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTIIoi4lmys/

Good tension and lack of tension is a concept that needs to be drilled. You should be learning, practicing, and strengthening this in a foundational movement such as squats. But seeing where it translates into the lifts is also important. This video is intended to give some insight into the value of having some external rotation in your hips during your start positions, very similar to that of your squat movement pattern ?? This tension allows for the proper stacking of joints and placement of weight and pressure in your feet. Working on your mobility, comfort, and then strength in all barbell components will allow for this synergy between movements and positions. Click the link if you want to find more info, free videos, programming, etc from @powermonkeyfitness and our Monkey Method® #weightlifting #oly #powermonkey #technique #movement #physique #crossfit #monkeymethod #fitfam

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One last quick one for fun:

There you have it.  Hopefully you gleaned some good info from these videos.  If you haven’t already check out the power monkey fitness site.  Follow all of the guys in these videos and keep up the learning and doing.

Talk soon,

Dan Pope DPT, OCS, CSCS