Travellettes training

[samurai69]

American-Gymnast Travellettes ($39.95)
www.american-gymnast.com Going with the theme of this issue, I thought I would review a product that is extremely useful for any aspiring gymnast, or anyone just looking to add a potent new weapon into their fitness ****nal. Parallettes are a very popular training aid amongst gymnasts because it allows them to practice many gymnastics skills and build strength while they are away from the gym. They are similar to Parallel Bars (or P-Bars, as gymnasts say), except they are much lower to the ground and shorter. The American-Gymnast Travelettes are designed with portability in mind. They are very lightweight and disassemble quite easily. However, do not assume that this portability comes at the price of function. On the contrary, I think they are better than the ones at my gymnastics gym. For one, they have rubber end caps, which prevents them from sliding out from under you. This is an important consideration for those of you who do not want to be putting a chiropractor's son through college. They also have special connector that allows you to take the feet on and off easily, and it also keeps the feet square with one another. My homemade ones do not have this feature and it's somewhat of a nuisance. All I can say is that the Travellettes are very well designed and are the envy of anyone who decided to build their own.
There is also an excellent training guide on the American-Gymnast website. It has three levels of difficulty and a huge variety of exercises. Most people will be humbled at the beginning level. Two sets of 5-7 handstand pushups are considered "beginner". If you have ever tried handstand pushups on parallettes, they are surprisingly difficult compared to doing them on the floor. Another staple in the program is the L-Sit, which is one of my favorite ab exercises. I really like this particular exercise because it engages a lot of other muscles. As you move into the V-sit, it becomes a demanding active flexibility exercise. Handstands become pirouettes and pushups become planches. Everything about this program is very progressive in nature. It is so challenging in such a variety of ways that it will keep you interested for a very long time. If you can complete the advanced workout, consider yourself superhuman.