Monday, August 08, 2011

More Jockery


Got a nice link to my site from a guy who coaches gymnastics and who has a book on how to get strong using the principles, Building the Gymnastic Body. 


Coach Christopher Sommer, who has been teaching Junior National teams for decades, knows his stuff, and offers books, vids, and like that on his site. You can get it from Amazon.com, but you get a better deal direct, since he will do packages.


If you are interested in getting strong, there are a ton of things you can do with no gear save your body and the floor that will get you moving in that direction, and adding a bar or rope will do the rest. This is apparently the new standard reference work.


And obviously Sommer is a man of good taste, since he likes my books ...


I did a little gymnastics when I was young, hung out with a guy who was a junior AAU champ–our junior high coach went on later to become the Women's Olympic coach one go-round, and I've always thought that gymnastics were near the top of the chain for physicality, and none better in the strength/flexibility ratio. They are incredibly strong, gymnasts, men and women, and they mostly get there using bodyweight, which shows that you don't have to push heavy iron to get fit and powerful. 


Anybody who doesn't think so? Try holding an iron cross on the rings. Then do that upside down ...


Gymnastics, parkour, martial arts, dance, swimming, high diving, they tend to have a lot in common, in that they are applied arts, i.e., they work for whole-body ability rather than isolation. 


Want to feel like a wimp? Watch this:


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

SP, $139 per copy on Amazon? Am I reading that right?

Steve Perry said...

Yep, that's what it says. One of the reviews allows this:

"This book is available with the 5 accompanying DVD's directly from the website for $89. Just the book is $44."

Which is why I pointed at Sommer's site.

Todd Erven said...

I've read his book and have been working on some of the basic gymnastic static positions. They are definitely more challenging than they look.

Unknown said...
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Randy Packer said...

His book is awesome. It completely transformed me and my students. It's given me crushing power in wrestling and more mobility than a 43 year old should have! And now that I see Coach Sommers has excellent taste in fiction as well, it all makes so much more sense...We've been using the BtGB workouts as the basis of our own personal Sumito. ;)

Anonymous said...

SP, sorry, it was early AM when I looked it up on Amazon and were trying to get out to attend a fencing coach class. Thanks for the info about the book - sounds worth a read.

Anon Y Mouse.