Stalder Press

[gymnasticslvr21]

I really want to get my stalder press. I can do one standing with out jumping but I can't seem to do one sitting. I think it might be a combination of strength and troubles with opening the shoulders. Any drills or conditioning would be helpful.

 

[Bobby]

Try doing stalder rolls first. Maybe it's just the rhythm you're missing. But if the momentum of going from roll through stalder straight into another f/roll doesn't get your butt over then I guess you need more conditioning.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

practice X 1000.

 

[gymnasticslvr21]

practice X 1000.

ya, I guess thats really what I need to do. I just wish there was a quicker way.

 

[Stretchsportguy]

There are many drills you can do to speed up your progress with a stalder press. Stand in a medium to narrow straddle, bend over head in to hands on the floor, lift (not jump) your toes off the mat and press in to a very high straddle "L" level with the floor.

Try this as a drill starting in a standing pike. Lift to a straddle and press down to a high straddle "L" level with the floor. No jumping.

Sit on floor in straddle and lift to a high straddle "L" level with the floor. Repeat.

Get in a high straddle "L" and lower the heels to the floor touch the floor without putting weight on the floor. Go back to the high straddle "L"

Do straddle forward rolls as slow as possible and keep your feet (heels) from touching the floor finishing to a press straddle with your legs hanging down feet off the floor. No handstand. The momentum of the roll with help you get upside down. Arms straight.

Stand in a wide straddle and bend over hands on the floor. Lift your toes off the floor and close to a pike with your legs hanging down feet still in the air. Finish back to the standing straddle placing your feet down as late as possible.

All these drills are with perfect form legs straight and head between your arms when conducive.

 

[Stretchsportguy]

There is a conditioning drill I forgot about...from a push up position but you put your hands next to the lower rib cage area on the floor or as low down as you can handle. Push up to a high pike all the way up till you are on your toes and your arms are straight. Your butt will be high in the air because you will be doing a push up not to a level position like in a normal push up. Instead, you will push up to what ends up being a stretch like bending over with straight legs and touching your toes. Then go back to the flat position you started in and do not lay on your stomach. Stay off the ground and repeat as many as possible. These are called, push pike ups. Yes, there are variations. Straddle, different hand positions and hand placements (close arms, wide arms). Different foot positions. You can do this on a two handled wheel. You can change speed. You can lay down or stay off the floor never letting your belly touch. You can do this on your finger tips instead of palms.

 

[BlairBob]

StretchSportsGuy pretty much covered it all.

Of course, you have to be able to hold a straddle-L/lever on floor of course.

 

[triptwister]

The threshold may be reached by any one of or combination of three target areas. Flexibility. Strength. Balance.

Flexibility:
The emphasis is on three types of flexibility that help perform this skill. Static active, dynamic active, and contraction strength. Choose stretch positions that simulate the stalder presses and rolls and maximize those positions.

Static active...practice holding suspended stretched positions for targeted periods of time. Static Active stretching involves suspending the limbs in their stretched positions using no assistance from props or your hands. The limbs may be moved into position using various techniques. Once the limb is at its intended coordinates, the subject holds the pose with the limbs unassisted for a time. The limbs remain unassisted during suspension.

Contraction Strength...starting in a passively stretched position such as a Japanese split or pancake for example, lift the legs up off the floor without assistance and keep them up off the floor as high and as long as possible. Contraction strength is the ability to shorten and contract the agonist muscles. These are the opposite muscles that are being stretched. This is an intrinsic part of static active stretching except that the emphasis is not on the muscles being stretched. The emphasis is on the muscles that need to do the lifting and they are the ones that compress or shorten.

Dynamic active...practice moving through the stretched positions using momentum to achieve the range of motion desired. Dynamic stretching involves controlled movement using your own efforts with no props or assistance. The limbs being stretched are moving during these exercises. The parameters of this style require that you remain within the limits of the range of motion of your joints. The speed may increase during these exercises.

Strength:
The more a gymnast planges (leans the shoulders forward) the less room there is for the feet to the ground. The more a gymnast leans forward to balance, the more strength she will need to keep the feet from touching the floor. Also while the legs are hanging down, if the gymnast cannot maintain or lift the hips up so that the torso is in the vertical position then strength is even more necessary to get the feet past the floor. In order to reduce the amount of strength required by the shoulders that the gymnast uses she should use static flexibility and contraction strength to angle the legs as close as possible and lift the torso and hips to eliminate any plange or avoid leaning the shoulders forward of the hands.

Conditioning:
Arm lifts using light weights (dumbbells). The key here is to develop the type of shoulder strength that is useful for gymnastics. These are simple exercises lifting very light weights straight up overhead with straight arms. Use weights that permit a starting set of a minimum of 50 repetitions and over time build up to 150 reps. At 150 reps the weight should be increased to where the gymnast goes back to 50 reps to repeat the cycle. The arm lifts can be performed with various hand positions and use various arm angles. The arm lifts can also be done from a supine position laying on your back. Muscle endurance training creates vascularity in the tissues and tends to elongate the muscles. Low sets of repetitions with heavy weights tends to keep the muscles short and does not build up as much blood supply. Blood supply equals increased ability to oxygenate the tissues, better ability to control movement (coordination), and a surprising increase in strength that is much above the amount of weight being used.

Balance:
There will be a need to counterbalance the weight of the legs when they are hanging down. Therefore plange and arching the hips over may occur but should be kept to a minimum. The idea is to avoid the need to lean the shoulders forward of the hands into a plange. The idea is to also avoid arching the back and so that the hips do not move beyond vertical. Some gymnasts are capable of using flexibility to straddle the legs out to the sides sufficiently so that the torso and/or shoulders do not need to counterbalance the legs.