Get Those Kips Adults

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If any adult gymnasts are working on getting a strong kip on bars, here are some helpful suggestions.
If you can do the typical V-Up conditioning exercise, try turning it up a notch to really gain strength for a kip.
Using a dowel stick, with an ankle weight (or two) secured around the center of it, lay on your back holding the dowel over your head with straight arms, elbows locked. You may also add ankle weights to your ankles if you're strong enough, to make it harder and gain more strength. Do the V-Up with the dowel with weights and on ankles with weights, bringing the dowel to your ankles. Lay down and repeat. Do about 7 reps, 3 times. Work your way up, over time, to 12 reps, 3 times. Most bar routines have at least 10 elements so this is a good goal.
Another exercise is to lay on your back in a L position, feet pointing towards the ceiling. Lift your hips off the floor, pushing your feet towards the ceiling. Lower and repeat. Do about 10 reps, 3 times, if you can. If not, lower the amount of reps, working your way up to 12 reps, 3 times, over a period of time. When this becomes too easy, add ankle weights to make it harder. This will strengthen the lower abdominal muscles so necessary for the a kip action.
These are some suggestions that may help you attain not only a kip, but a strong one! :)
 
Suprisingly my kips are very strong on bars. I've been told they're better then a lot of the kids kips on bars but I struggle ending the kip in the right position for a good cast to connect the next skill like a cast handstand or free hip, especially when I do a long hang kip. Do you have any suggestions for this or will that drill help with that too. It does sound like a great conditioning exercise but what is a dowel stick (I guess I'm supposed to know what that is but I'm clueless :confused:).
 
A dowel stick is a round stick you can buy at any hardware store. They're really inexpensive! A cut off broom will work just as well, seeing the broom stick is a dowel stick. As for getting over the bar to prepare for a cast handstand, you need to keep your body position somewhat closed after the kip action, for a proper cast. Shoulders should be over the bar (hollow position) and as the cast happens, the arm action, (simultaneously with the cast) to open to a handstand is made. A good exercise for the strength on that arm pull to open to the handstand, or a good cast, is to stand upright with a dowel stick (with ankle weights wrapped around the center) held down on the thighs and lift it with straight arms overhead. If you become as strong as a monster, use dumbbells! Most gyms have exercise bands or bicycle tubing for this, but this is the method I used at home since I had the materials. Just make sure at the gym when you do your kips, that you kip late, not too early, so your body is in a hollow upper body position over the bar with your body NOT opened all the way! You have no way to cast from that.
One tough drill my coach made me do, which I HATED, was, from a front support on the bar, drop backward and bring my shins to the bar and try to kip from that. It was so hard to get a kip that way! I dreaded the drill. Major UGH! However, it made me stronger and helped me out a lot! When you can do many of those in a row, you know you're strong!
 
One tough drill my coach made me do, which I HATED, was, from a front support on the bar, drop backward and bring my shins to the bar and try to kip from that. It was so hard to get a kip that way! I dreaded the drill. Major UGH! However, it made me stronger and helped me out a lot! When you can do many of those in a row, you know you're strong!

Ah, a drop kip. My coach had us do those, AND cast handstand out of them, with a spot of course for most of us. Very hard!
 
Ok Nicci. For a Backward Pullover, a lot of gymnasts learning it make the mistake of separating the leg kick over the bar with the arm pull. These two should be done simultaneously. Watch your feet as you kick/pull, because throwing your head back will impede the rotation. When you kick with your leading leg and pull with your arms, you should attempt to bring your hips close to the bar. Your arms should NOT be straight on the pull. They should be bent as if doing a pull up. Exercises you can do to gain strength for this element are pull ups to your chin, the exercise laying on your back with feet pointed towards the ceiling and lifting your hips off the floor and lowering and repeating. You will need strong lower abdominal muscles. Sometimes gymnasts get kinda "stuck" 1/2 way through the pullover and fall back down. Try strengthening your upper and lower back for the second 1/2 by laying on your stomach on the floor with hands behind your head. Lift your chest off the floor as far as you can, lower and repeat. At the gym, have a coach hold your legs while you lay on your stomach on the vault and do the same upper body lifts. These exercises are very important and will help you get that strength you need for Backward Pullovers and many other gymnastics elements. Happy training, Nicci!
 
I still need to work on my glide swings. Soon I plan to get some ankle weights and I'm going to work on glide swings with the ankle weights, so doing nice glide swings without them will be cake!!

~Katy
 

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