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: