January 5th, 2008
Happy New Year! Two new videos up.
Hey guys! Hope you all had a great holiday season and are having a great 2009. If you haven't seen already, I have two new videos up.
The first one may sound like a long shot, but I know I get visitors from all over the world. If you live in Tortola, watch the video! (Plus I'm working out details for several new clinics)
And at over tens of thousands of views, this next video should get you on over to my YouTube account to subscribe. It's just me playing around on the pegboard at my gym. Hope you enjoy.
Big changes coming to the site soon guys. Check back often and good luck with your training!
December 5th, 2008
Road Trip to York, PA!
First, I hope that everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. If you don't celebrate the holiday, I hope you've had some time recently to spend with your family. To quote Don Corleone - "a man that doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man."
Had the pleasure before the Thanksgiving break of heading up to York, Pennsylvania for an IPA (International Powerlifting Association) meet. If you haven't been there, I recommend stopping if you ever find yourself driving by. It's really, really easy to spot on Route 83.
This guy is literally spinning in a circle on the roof.
No, I wasn't there to compete. I was there supporting my friend and fellow gym member, Bob Vastine. At age 71, he broke World Records for his age group in both the bench press and the deadlift!!! Here's his World Record Deadlift of 450 lbs!!!
Way to go Bob!!!
During the long day of competing, I decided to check out the weightlifting museum that York Barbell has set up, as well as get in a set of easy dumbbell curls...
All and all, a fun day.
Yes, and if you haven't seen my other latest video, here you go. It's an old-time acrobatic trick to step up and down from a bench while in a handstand. If your press is solid, then the skill isn't too difficult.
The biggest detail to watch in the video is that my chest makes contact with the bench as I bring up my second hand off the ground. This allows me to balance just long enough to catch myself and press up.
I've got a few more videos in the queue. Look for them to be posted here, or just head to my YouTube page, and see them first!
Good luck with your training!
November 17th, 2008
The Flag - A Study
I filmed this a week ago, posted it on YouTube three days ago, and here it finally is on the main page. Just playing around with the flag.
I talk about swinging the legs up into the skill as an "easier" way to progress into a full hold, as well as lowering down into the skill instead of just pressing up from the bottom.
If you want to see the videos FIRST, then head on over to my YouTube page and subscribe! I often find myself posting a new video there several days before I announce it here. (hint: like later today)
Thanks everyone. Good luck with your training!
-Jim
November 11th, 2008
Thanks to everyone who attended the seminar!
Thanks to everyone who attended last Sunday's seminar. I hope you found the three hours very informative and walked away with a lot of tips and progressions to work towards your goals.
To those at the seminar who were interested in the flag, I went back to Potomac CrossFit the next day to play around with the skill and I have some new tips you can use. I'll put up the video in the next day or two.
So, thanks again for everyone who came out! I'm already in talks of holding future seminars elsewhere around the country, but if you're interested in getting something set up, please email me here.
-Jim
November 4th, 2008
Quick Tip for Your Planche, Plus Seminar Sold Out!!!
Just a quick video showing how you can use a pair of dumbbells to do planche work. I've found this produces less wear and tear on the wrists in comparison to working the skill on the ground all the time. My planche is hovering, but strong enough right now. Maybe it's time to start working those pushups again?
And finally...
Hardly ten minutes after I put up the October 30th post and I was informed that the seminar is now SOLD OUT. Thanks to all who signed up, I look forward to helping each and every one of you this Sunday!
Good luck with your training!
October 30th, 2008
One Arm Negative Tutorial
Hey guys! Made a quick video to show you the one arm negative. This is an exercise used to get the one arm chin-up. The video shows firsthand how slow you want to descend. If you're falling down from the bar faster than this, then it's time to back up and try some easier exercises.
Also, don't forget the Beast Skills Seminar! Sunday November 9th!!
Finally, don't forget to keep on sending in pictures of your own "Beast Skills"!! I'm putting together an album for the webpage, so be safe with your pictures, and send them here today!
October 18th, 2008
Beast Skills Seminar! November 9th!
Hey Guys! For those of you living in the Washington DC area, or for those of you who want to make the trip over here, I'll be holding a 3 hour gymnastic seminar from 9am to 12 noon at Potomac Crossfit in Arlington, Virginia on November 9th, 2008.
You can find out more information and register here.
I will be covering basic and advanced handstand work and pressing, as well as basic and advanced ring work. There will be something there for everyone.
Because I want everyone to be able to receive enough personal help and coaching from myself, the seminar will be small and limited in size. There's already been a tremendous response and there are only a few spots left! As the date approaches, I fully expect the seminar to sell out.
Don't let this opportunity pass you by! Register today!
October 10th, 2008
A Video from "The Vault"
Here we go, an old clip from May 2006 of myself doing a 60 lb rope climb:
I think I posted a picture from this video way back, but never the video itself. Here you can see how "bouncy" the exercise gets on the way back down and why it was KILLER on my elbows.
I thought that this would be a good progressive exercise to eventually conquer the one arm rope climb, but I had to scrap it for the sake of my elbow joints.
The point of all this? First, I like the video! Second, not all your training ideas end up working. That's just a fact of life. Learn from them and move on.
Good luck to everyone with their training!
October 5th, 2008
Handstands Banned?
Caught an article here that talked of an Australian school that BANNED cartwheels and handstands. Are you kidding me?? Now an education spokesman said that there's not a blanket ban, but just that kids were banned from doing unsupervised "handstands, cartwheels and other gymnastic movements" during breaks. So in other words, we can't have a kid play around unless they're strictly supervised. What a sad state of affairs.
I taught myself my first handstand by myself out in my friend's backyard. I use to go to my local school playground late at night and work back handsprings and front flips - sometimes with terrible results, but the point was that I was learning about the limits of myself.
Coddling and protecting kids too much prevents them from challenging themselves and developing a deeper level of self-reflection. We do them a great disservice. I can't imagine who I'd be today if I didn't test and challenge myself. If I wasn't able to play around like I always wanted. If I had never learned a handstand.
The one saving grace in this article is that there was a community backlash to this ban. It seems that most people have the common sense to let kids be kids.
October 1st, 2008
Did you see that???
In my last post I showed you a video of Jack Arnow and his one arm assisted machine. Did you watch the video? Quite a few of you did. Did you notice how Jack grabbed the bar? Here's a guy who was been doing one arm chin-ups longer than most people have been alive. For him, it's second nature. We should all pay attention to how he sets up a one arm chin-up.
Check his grip -
You can see he gets the bar set nice and deep into his hand. So that when he closes it around the bar...
He's got all of his fingers and the palm of his hand tightly wrapped around the bar. His forearm almost looks flexed inwards. Notice all his fingers (especially pinky) are pointing downwards. That's a tight wrap.
I point out this detail because your grip and setting your hands is very important for both the chin-up, and the especially the one arm chin-up. Your hand is literally your connection to the bar, so you need to make sure it's set as strong as possible.
And what if you can't keep this position? What if your hand slips and starts to open up when you're doing chin-ups? Then it's time to start working on strengthening that grip!
Don't overlook the grip. It's a common weakness and one that may be holding you back from your goals.
Good luck with your training!
September 26th, 2008
Jack Arnow's One Arm Chin-up Machine
I visited Jack Arnow (interview here) in his Brooklyn apartment last weekend, where he showed me his assisted one arm chin-up set up. Check out the indoor chin-up bar he has in his office! He's doing very well and is currently working up to a double bodyweight chin-up at 140 lbs. He's done +120 lbs already!
And if you don't know before, I've got an RSS feed for the site. Keep up on top of the updates!
September 24th, 2008
Another Interview!
Dan Donche of Fatal Fitness recently interviewed me for his website - read it here! In the interview I talk about what I do when I hit a plateau in training, the importance of technique, and what I think is the most underrated piece of equipment! (it might not be what you think!)
I also realized I need to take some new training pictures!! Mine are getting far too old!!
September 22nd, 2008
The Winds of Change are coming...
Just a quick YouTube video taken in the wee hours of the morning. I'm just announcing that changes will be taking place to this website. Changes that will make the site easier to navigate and improve content. All of this is an effort to make Beast Skills more useful to you.
Thanks again for the support!
September 16th, 2008
Dominic Lacasse correction
A visitor informed me that Dominic Lacasse (world record holder in the flag, see post below) is not French, but Canadian! I apologize to my neighbors to the north for the error.
September 10th, 2008
Beast Skills around the World!
The same time I was putting together yesterday's post, I received an email from Beast Skills visitor, Ted, with pictures of his "flag raising" on Yuigahama, a beach very close to Kamakura, Japan. Very impressive!
Again, very impressive! Thanks for the pictures! Ted had these words of advice:
"But just as a warning to anyone who tries it at that height, figuring out how to do the flag by kicking off the actual pole was difficult, but not as difficult as the descent! I lost quite a bit of skin by using my right arm & my chest as a brake after the dismount... Also, beware of pole wobble! If you're that high up on any pole, it's going to flex & wobble tremendously!"
Definitely good advice! Here's his last two photos showing the set-up at the top of the pole, as well as the dismount, which he said is really more of a fall than a "dismount"!
And not to be entirely out-done, here's a shot of me from a very recent trip to the Grand Canyon. Yes, I always seem to fall back on the one arm handstand for vacation photos, but that's because I love the skill so much!
All of this has put me in the mood for other amazing vacation photos. Do you have an amazing shot of yourself performing a "Beast Skill"? Send it on in right here, and you may find yourself up on this page too! Please, please, please be safe with your pictures!!!
Good luck with your training!
-Jim
September 9th, 2008
Flag World Record! 39 second hold!!!
No, not by me, but I did come across some videos of French acrobat, Dominic Lacasse, setting the world record for holding the flag. 39 seconds! This was shown on the German Edition of "Guinness World Records", and you can see the videos of part 1, part 2, and part 3 (Dominic breaks the record in part 3).
The funniest moment of the videos? One of the announcers explains the flag - complete with dowel rod and toy man!
Congrats to Dominic for an amazing accomplishment!!
And one final note, just wanted to remind visitors that the page does have an RSS feed, with link located at the bottom of this front page. Stay informed of all the updates at Beast Skills!
August 28th, 2008
One Arm Pushup Tutorial!
This tutorial is months overdue, but here it is. The one arm pushup. Please feel free to email me here if there is anything unclear about the tutorial, or if there are any broken pictures/links.
Thanks for all the support. Good luck with your training!
August 27th, 2008
One Arm Pushup Tutorial posted tomorrow
Thanks to all who continue to visit the site, despite the severe lack of updates. It's been sitting on the back burner for ages, but I'm going to get the one arm pushup tutorial wrapped up and posted here tomorrow.
August 12th, 2008
Michael Phelps on 10,000 calories a day
(picture courtesy, Speedo USA/Michael Muller)
I've been reading and watching a lot on the Olympics lately and one statistic that I read over and over again (in articles like this: http://outside.away.com/outside/bodywork/200801/wellness-michael-phelps.html) is the number of calories Michael Phelps puts down in a day. During training, he strives to get 8,000 - 10,000 calories in a single day. I doubt that some people get that in an entire week!
Of course, Phelps is training harder than you or I could imagine - swimming miles upon miles every week, in addition to supplementary dry-land work. If he didn't consume this many calories, his body simply wouldn't recover properly from this level of training.
And this brings me to the point of this post. Focusing on proper recovery is just as important as focusing on working hard in the gym. Many times this requires eating a lot of food. If your progress in the gym has stalled, look toward your diet and make sure that you're feeding the machine that you ask so much from.
We don't need complicated equations or scales to determine how much more to add, just simply eat an extra snack during the day, or add a 1/2 serving to several meals throughout the day. Keep these additional calories in your diet for a couple weeks and take note of your strength and energy levels, weight, and bodyfat percentage. You may be surprised in how your body reacts. A bit of extra food is often the "kickstart" your body needs to start back towards its goals. If nothing happens, don't be afraid to add a little more.
This little experiment holds true for people building muscle AND losing fat! I can't tell you how many times I've seen a client come into the gym and when we go over their diet log, they're hardly eating anything all day! (nearly always skipping breakfast) You'd think someone on a low calorie diet would be thin as a rail, but this is often not the case! The body will go into starvation mode and slow down your metabolism. Your body doesn't care that you want to look good naked, it's just trying to survive!
And of course if you want to build muscle, you have to give your body the "bricks" it needs. Muscle doesn't appear out of thin air from wishes and good intentions, we have to supply the body food!
So eat, drink, be merry, and eat some more!
-Jim
July 15th, 2008
New personal best!
I've been working to get some of my numbers up in my lifts, and just got a personal best in the weighted chin-up! Read about it in the training log.
June 8th, 2008
Thanks to everyone!
Thanks to everyone who supported the Pushing Past Autism event through direct donation or the purchase of a t-shirt! 100% of the profits with be donated to Autism Society of Connecticut.
Best of luck with all your training!
June 1st, 2008
Charity Event for Autism - June 7th
plus new t-shirt design!
This Saturday, June 7th, at the O’Neill Center of Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT, will be a charity event for children with autism -- it is a pushup event! - try to do as many (or as few) pushups as you want to do in four hours. If you can't make it to the event or find sponsors, a flat rate donation is also perfectly acceptable.
Money raised goes to the Autism Society of Connecticut and to the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism. Check out all the information here - Pushing Past Autism
And as part of my contribution, I will be donating 100% of the profits from my t-shirts this week to this event. Feel free to make a straight donation to the charity, but also know that a t-shirt purchase this week will help out the cause as well.
This is the perfect time to announce a new t-shirt for the store! What better picture than a gorilla doing a one arm chin-up?? The design below was drawn by the very talented artist, John Amore. You can check out his myspace site here - http://www.myspace.com/ortprod or his website (and further examples of his amazing artwork) here - http://www.airdrawn.net/~evilgummy/omegaredtooth.html
Thanks for contributing to such a great event. Good luck with all your training!
May 5th, 2008
NEW! FRONT LEVER TUTORIAL!
The front lever tutorial is finally done.
I appreciate everyone's patience with my severe lack of updates and tutorials for the site for the past year and a half. The whole situation frustrates me just as much as it frustrates you. Trust me.
I'm working to fix things to be able to update more frequently. Thanks for your continued understanding. Your emails and support mean a great deal to me.
Train hard.
-Jim
Looking for old news? Check the archives.
All materials on this website © Copyright 2005-2008 Jim Bathurst. Please ask for use of any of it. Thanks. XML