The dreaded L

So today was entertaining in that I was reminded by how much time slows when you’re upside down.   The closest memory I have is being bucked off a very large and very athletic 4yo year old horse years (decades?!?!?) ago.   He’d only been under saddle a few weeks.  He spooked while I was mounting and shot forward, resulting in me somehow being on but *behind* the saddle.  You know - exactly where a lion would latch on in the wild.   I sat the first three broncs trying to figure out how to get back IN the saddle when physics kicked in and I was thoroughly launched.   I vividly recall flying though the air thinking “well, if he threw me this far, he’s not likely to step on me” lol.  And being in my 20s, I dusted myself off, and remounted without the drama this time - although definitely horrified the poor woman in the ring w me at the time lol.

So fast forward - I don’t get to ride very often these days, but am actually having a disproportionate amount of fun being upside down.   Except, when upside down is in an L shape.  lol idk why, but this one still freaks me out.  And yet, it’s arguably the position I’m most successful at balancing in.  Classic.

So hands on ground, shoulders over wrists, hips over shoulders, hips w a 90 deg fold, legs straight to the fence.   Builds strength and alignment w/o needing balance.  Bonus points for one leg straight up in the air.  All good right?  And then on top of it - if you do it right, you’ll be well balanced enough to peel gently off the fence.

So I got that for the first time a couple days ago, and seriously felt like I could’ve stayed there for ages.  I couldn’t lol - came down in seconds.  But it *felt* incredibly secure.

Now fast forward a bit and Elaine had recommended some exercises for me for lower core, as she’s identified that as a key weakness in my current position.  So we have Boat / Hollow Body Hold, the classic strength builder for lower core.  Nothing new or exciting.  Except that I’m old now and it took me almost two months to build the strength to lower my legs enough.   Front Body Line Drill, which I’d never heard of before and did NOT understand how it could do anything…. Until I tried it lol.   Essentially lie on your stomach and then with your chin, chest, and hips on the floor lift your stomach off the ground.  Bonus points for arms over your head and off the ground.   So I could do this, and I could tell it was really helping my body learn the position it needs for handstands without the balance requirement.  Win.  (For the horse people - the feeling in some ways is v similar to a half halt.  And for the record - it’s *really* hard to half halt upside down for some reason).   But then when Elaine saw that one, she sent over a video of another exercise not for learning the position but for building strength.   Since I didn’t have sound at the time, only visuals, I promptly named this one Floppy Fish.   Essentially also on your stomach but with hands behind head, lift both feet and chest off the ground (the actual gymnasts in the vid were rocking - hence the floppy lol). I honestly didn’t think I could do it cause I have very little back flexibility.   But turns out I can!  Win lol.  Except that in about 1.5 seconds, I felt a definite twing in the sides of my lower back.   I’d always taken that to be a sign of poor flexibility but finally clued in that it’s strength.  Cool.  I’m much better at fixing strength than flexibility, even when it’s a muscle I never knew existed ;)

I swear there’s a point to all this!

So today I got into the L (which is somehow way more terrifying w both legs on the fence than with one up?!?!   I don’t get it.  And my legs do NOT want to straighten - which is definitely fear-based because while my hamstrings are tight, they’re not so tight I can’t do a straight L right side up lol.   Anyways got my balance and stuck.  Like really stuck.  It felt awesome.  Like “hey now I’m starting to get bored, I wonder if I could lift my legs together without cartwheeling?”   And as I was feeling this, I suddenly had very insistent twinging of the floppy fish muscles.  “Hmmm more proof Elaine was right.  I sense this could set me way back or end very badly if I don’t listen to those muscles.  I should step down now.” And then a conscious decision for the First. Time. Ever. to voluntarily leave a balance position.   I was sooooo proud of myself lol.   

If you zoom in, you can see my foot is NOT on the fence.  
Sasha, as always, supervising ;)

Now remember, I video everything.  Partially as the most super useful self training tool ever.  Partially so I can send to Elaine w a WTF?!?! Or a “yeah me!!!” And she can help or celebrate as needed ;).  And partially so that when I invariably seriously injure myself pretending to be 10 again it’ll simplify the job for whoever has to figure out what happened.   So - who wants to take a stab at how long this forever handstand was while I had this conversation with myself?   Anyone?!?   It certainly felt impressively long.

The time-stamped reality?  Greater than three but less than four seconds.   Like handstand time is literally slower than plank time.  But a lot more fun ;)  Lol I wrote a story about slow time and long time once - just reminded me.  It’s here http://laurencude.blogspot.com/2010/03/flash-fiction-27-one-more-minute.html) if you’re interested.  And there are a lot of websites which state that apparently the fun part is also true?!?!  They suggest that being upside down apparently releases happy chemicals in your brain (amongst other physical benefits).   However, due diligence required since everything I could find was either posted by a yoga-connected person, or about inversion therapy.  The closest I got to a "reputable" source is WebMD.  And, I mean, by that site I have at least half a dozen fatal illnesses so (for comparison, according to my real-life doctor, I'm in excellent health, so I'm gonna stick with that).  Anyways, IF there's actual accuracy to it, it could be part of why even when it’s beyond frustrating, I’m still enjoying this.   And have always liked being upside down so not shocking.  Usually by end of wk 6 in ANY fitness program the novelty has worn off and I’m bored.  I generally complete them - out of stubbornness more than anything.  But this might be the first one ever that I’ve actively looked forward to almost every day.

Anyways - as for frustrating - while the L was awesome, I couldn’t do a fence or freestanding stand to save my life today.   I think ALL the muscles are down.  Tomorrow is a rest day where I think I’ll actually need to rest.   Boooo

Here's the two side-by-side;
The straighter back in today's is 100% thanks to those lower-core exercises.