Rectus Abdominis
Handstand Drill
The Key Component for Control
abdominals
RECTUS ABDOMINIS HANDSTAND DRILL
This rectus abdominis handstand drill takes the fear out of inversions. That may be a bold statement to make, but it’s true. If you don’t have prior experience and/or training in any inversions, fear can be one of the most common barriers. The drill that Matt presents in today’s video is about intention and focus. You may have done the drill before, but have you done it like this? Drills offer an opportunity to focus on an action in your body. However, this doesn’t mean that you no longer require focus, attention, and effort as regards the other areas of focus, and drills provide more than just the development of a certain skill. They offer the confidence to move forward and progress in other ways.
BREATH OF FIRE
- Moderate Vinyasa-style classes
- Core strengthening & integration
- Master your breath with pranayama practices
- Access your core in arm balances, heart openers, twists, forward folds, inversions, and more
- Learn where and how to breathe in challenging postures
- Each class will include one pranayama (breathwork practice) and several core strengtheners
- Access your core muscles: deep, superficial, anterior, posterior, and lateral
- 12 Classes: All levels appropriate
- Lifetime unlimited access to all
- Attend the livestream OR practice the replays any time that’s convenient for you
$148.00
WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH THE RECTUS ABDOMINIS?
The rectus abdominis is a flat muscle and is the most superficial of the abdominal layers. It runs from the bottom of the sternum all the way down to the pubic bone. Its central role is to create spinal flexion. In your yoga practice, the use of the rectus abdominis shows up in forward folds. The muscle also supports your ability to stay stable in balancing and plank postures, although the deeper muscle layers take on more of that responsibility. This doesn’t mean that it’s not essential, and we are centering our focus today on the rectus abdominis handstand drill. As previously mentioned, it’s about intention and awareness and about the specific actions you take that bring the rectus abdominis more to the forefront. For example, the amount of engagement, or activation, of the rectus abdominis depends on what’s required in a specific movement or drill.
WATCH THE VIDEO
RECTUS ABDOMINIS HANDSTAND DRILL: THE KEY COMPONENT FOR CONTROL
HANDSTANDS
You can think about what’s required in Handstand in a number of different ways. Handstands are referred to as both arm balances and inversions, and the list of what’s required may seem lengthier than for other arm balances. You can be sure, however, that Matt always has a phenomenal way of breaking things down into tiny bits so you can work through the process. Some of the areas of focus are your hands, which grip the ground; the wrist flexors; or “joint stacking.” In one of my previous articles, L Pose Handstand Training, I outline more details about the core and about how Matt shows you how to utilize your hip flexors. The conversation surrounding the rectus abdominis is another important one because it’s another opportunity to intelligently call upon a “simple” action in your body to get you closer to Handstand.
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UNDERSTANDING THE DRILL
The simple action in this rectus abdominis drill is to bring your ribs and pelvis closer to one another, but the action is more deliberate than simply leaning forward and allowing gravity to do the work. A level of activation is required to utilize the strength necessary for the inversion. You’ll see in the video that Matt encourages you to prioritize this action over stacking the hip and shoulder joints. This stacking can be quite intimidating at first, and the rectus abdominis drill removes this barrier. Executing this drill with a wall behind you offers even more encouragement and permission to explore kicking up into Handstand with more confidence and control. Keeping your front body shortened trains you to stay away from relying on the wall. The action may shorten your hops, but this simply means that you are successfully keeping your awareness on the rectus abdominis.
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- Learn anatomy, biomechanics, asana techniques
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WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?
Yes, going upside down is more than front-body awareness and activation; it’s also about connecting the dots. Taking an approach like this one helps clarify what’s required in Handstand as a whole posture. You are not only training your physical body but also creating an indelible mark on your nervous system that you’ll be able to call upon naturally and intuitively. In other words, the approach goes beyond being just a rectus abdominis Handstand drill. It is something you can rely on in your approach to other inversions and to how you go about putting the pieces together when exploring postures that are challenging for you.
Matt’s current Breath of Fire Immersion goes further into how to intelligently utilize your core within your yoga practice.
See you on the mat!
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Article by Trish Curling
Video Extracted From: Breath Of Fire Immersion
BREATH OF FIRE
- Moderate Vinyasa-style classes
- Core strengthening & integration
- Master your breath with pranayama practices
- Access your core in arm balances, heart openers, twists, forward folds, inversions, and more
- Learn where and how to breathe in challenging postures
- Each class will include one pranayama (breathwork practice) and several core strengtheners
- Access your core muscles: deep, superficial, anterior, posterior, and lateral
- 12 Classes: All levels appropriate
- Lifetime unlimited access to all
- Attend the livestream OR practice the replays any time that’s convenient for you
$148.00
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