How to Come up From a Backbend

Gymnastics is a sport that requires participants to have a great deal of strength and flexibility. A great way to prepare your body for the more challenging gymnastics skills is to practice the basics, such as the backbend. Coming up from a backbend primarily involves your shoulder, arm, stomach and back muscles.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Begin in the backbend position, looking upside-down at your hands. Your elbows should be straight, back arched and feet about shoulder-width apart. If your hands and feet are too far apart, you'll want to walk them more closely together.
2. Lift your hands off the floor, using your stomach muscles and your hips to give you momentum. If you're just beginning the exercise and you're having difficulty coming all the way up, try rocking back and forth in the backbend to give you more momentum.
3. Keep your arms next to your ears, extended straight up. Tighten your abdominal muscles and slowly straighten your back as you return to an upright position. Bend your knees to help keep you moving into a standing position. You should end the movement standing upright with your arms still extended over your head.

Tips & Warnings

• Have your coach spot you by gently supporting your back as your hands come off the floor when you begin to learn this skill.
• As you gain flexibility and strength, you can try kicking over from a backbend to a standing position.
• Always practice new gymnastics skills in a gym, on a padded mat with a certified gymnastics coach.
• Never attempt to perform new skills unsupervised. Failure to complete the exercise correctly could result in serious injury.