The human flag - a study

[dazzelya]

Hi. I'm bored of my normal gym. What is this kind of gym called?

[trampoline1996]

i can do a human flag for 3 seconds, 4 if im lucky. l-sit for 12 seconds and v-sit for 6 seconds and im still skinny,where did i go wrong?

[TheAragus]

@trampoline1996

Eat more, to bulk, but that'll also make your movements harder.



[leeblck22]

That is awesome!

[ayumiiineko]

ezt a tesitanárom is megtudja.. :D

[kreriko23]

How do i hold it longer? i can do it like less than 5 seconds only. :|

[FXh0mer]

omg , i would feel SO sorry for a guy/guys if they ever got in a fight with this machine ! or some big jerk at a bar who wanted to arm wrestle (although it would depend on technique too)

imagine what would happen to them :D .

keep up the amazing work dude !!

[mikronator]

Good one.

I found your site about 2 years ago, and it is damn good.

just thought of searching you in youtube and I did found you channel :)

So far I managed the one arm pull up, and now I'm going for the flag (now 2 seconds). It will be nice if you could assemble a workout for getting there.

I build one on my own, but I start to try now.

Thank you.

[Y3KBeats]

What muscles are need to do this?

I know you have to have a STRONG core but what else?

I want to know, so i can prepare myself by exercising those specific muscles.

[3MESSIAH]

How much gap should there be between two hands(approximately) ????

[CPHComputerHelp95]

Hey man, all I'm able to do atm is the cheater version of the flag. I've tried the proper version but I'm just not strong enough yet. Could you recommend some workouts that I could do (Without equipment) that would build my strength to do this?

[shotbboy]

y dont u hold it?

[sum182wrestling]

do you think it;s possible for someone who weighs like, 200lbs at 6 foot to get this strong?

[ChaimTaylor]

@sum182wrestling Alexey Voevoda is 277lbs and 6 foot 4 inches and he can do it, search youtube search "Human flag and one handed chin ups at 277 pounds (126kg)"

[JacksonRich69]

If this helps anyone I built up to this by doing the flag with my top arm wrapped around the pole and eventually I got to where I could do it the correct way.

[addicted2you20]

have you ever seen a chick be able to do this? i would love to be able too, but i know i'd have to work on my obliques more before attempting this. is it possible anyways?

[BeastSkills]

This is more shoulder than oblique. I haven't seen a girl do this, but I have seen variations done by girls. No joke, do a search for pole dancing competitions.

[ericcman22302]

@addicted2you20 women can do anything a man can, just might have to work harder. Anything is possible though.

[FuegoJaguar]

@addicted2you20 I've seen females do this before - it's a part of a few cirque du soleil routines. They were relatively shortish, but there were like 5 of them and they held it for quite some time.

[houdiinii]

@addicted2you20 thats a good question...but i think that its possible if you have the perfect power to weight ratio. please send me a message if you can do it one day ;)

[metalpk93]

hey can u help me with my flag i hold up to 7 sec but with a bend leg check my video respnse pls

[TheVideosBlaster]

where u should put your stronger arm?

[MrMuscleMacho]

skillz but its not that long

[thehotbanana2]

thats what she said :)

[1982yota]

I've always wanted to master this skill, this vid really helped. Thanks for posting!!!!

[osiris8190]

this video was very helpfull... i atempted the flag for the first time yesterday and got no where ... but today i held the flag for 7 seconds straight ... thanks for posting the vid bro and keep up the good work

[Thehamez]

You seem like the perfect person to ask. I'm really interested in learning to do this but I'm not sure. Is training the core more important or like training the arms to support you body weight in that position. And any workout tips to train for it?

[ElevationVertical]

so im female, have probably got a few extra pounds on you and teach pole fitness/dance.. i can hold the flag for like, a few seconds with feet just off the floor but thats it, i use a titanium covered metal 50mm pole...yours looks much thinner, do you think this could make a difference as i have smaller hands????

[BeastSkills]

If the pole is bigger or the hands are smaller, you'll just have to take a thumbless grip on the top position. A bit tougher, yeah.

[acfsipwns]

my elbow (bottom arm) tends to be rather painful after attempting the human flag. i end up holding the flag for a few seconds with my knees bent (makes it a bit easier) and find my elbow pain sets in 5-10 minutes after releasing. any ideas?

[BeastSkills]

Rolling out your triceps and forearms with a tennis or lacrosse ball, and you could get ART massage. Both those things will release soft tissue restrictions in your arms and possible relieve your elbow pain. Just a quick solution off the top of my head.

[jasonnteo]

Hey beastskills, is it more difficult to do the human flag with the grip with both thumbs down OR the bicycle grip?

[BeastSkills]

I find bicycle to be a bit harder than thumbs down. Palms facing (like if you were grabbing the rungs of a ladder) always seems easiest to me.

[jasonnteo]

Thanks.

[pinkhey]

1. So which grip is the easiest??

2. Where should my stronger arm be? Top or bottom?

[SmackingYouUp]

strong - up

weak - beaneth

[r3v3lati0n]

I know his secret, he puts glue on his hands ! :P

[twee881]

It's chalk; I use it for rafter chin ups

[ziga112]

will you do any new tutorials and if wath is going to be the next one?

[hympa30]

what muscles does this use other than obliques? any ideas as to what i should do for training to do this?

[BeastSkills]

Shoulders, shoulders, shoulders

and triceps too, of course. All your pushing muscles.

[dJoeG111]

Does the lat strength of the top arm not account for anything?

[smoochf]

hey jim ! finally got the vid up ! if u wanna c a 6ft 200lb guy do a flag with someone stood on him for 12 seconds check out 'francis flag' ;-)

[40football40]

yh i saw that it was awesome

[Halogen360]

I can only do the cheat version of this one.

[123Chriss321]

I can sort of do the human flag but after I get up my body swings in a horizontal way - not that my legs are lowered but my body is sort of rotating around into the side wall - if you understand what Im saying. And I have only tried the human flag in the wall bars at my gym and at school cause I haven't seen poles like those around. Is it easier/harder to do it on an actual pole rather than in the wall bars??

[BeastSkills]

I understand what you're saying. It sounds like you might be getting into position with your head out of line. You have to make absolutely sure it's in line with your arms, or you'll swing.

As for wall bars vs. poles, I think wall bars are slightly easier due to the more natural grip.

[faisalhalim]

I, too, had the swinging problem. I found that I could solve it by keeping my hand positions vertically aligned (i.e., my bottom hand was holding the ladder rung right below my top hand, just a few rungs down). I still have to figure out a way to do this without feeling that I am about to pop one of my shoulders, though.

[Vincentvanh1]

Thanks for your tips!

What do you think is the easiest (or less difficult :-)) angle between the arms? I see different angles all over youtube.

[BeastSkills]

I don't know what angle I'm at in the video, but that distance between the hands feels the easiest for me.

[DrTranizRisingChaos]

um is this a bad thing to start out doing? ...cuz i can only hold my flag for a second.....is there an easier thing to start with, after all I'm no freerunner. I just don't know

[maruto1]

Chiguire

[tyciol]

Hopping sounds like a great way, it's like assisting so that we can do an eccentric lowering, eventually an isometric hold, and after that a concentric muscling up right?

[mrHeart007]

nice keep practice...

[manimoutmymind2]

nice... 2 jim what is the longest youv held a flag

[flashcarter09]

As always thanks for the instruction and especially for the inspiration. I look forward to trying a flag push-up.

[topbloood]

dont think i will ever do that. am still trying to do the one arm chin up but i still need a couple of months of hard training and your definately a beast lol. good work and hopefully you would show more quality vids.

[vinceconditioning]

nice. You should do the same for thew one arm handstand

[kane123369]

thanks for taking time for making the video helped alot

[T4kuan]

Thanks Jim! Awesome video.

[BeastSkills]

Thanks for the comments. I was showing some ways to work the skill if one couldn't quite press it up yet. As for the thumb, I wrap it around and keep in by the index finger in the video. Either way seems to work fine.

[Valorousness]

Think of a small Cartwheel to hit the position and don't hop up it pushes you towards the pole making you bend your arm, swing your leg up into a straddle position. When you have locked it, then pull your feet together.

[BeastSkills]

That's great advice. Thanks so much for the help!