[B-Boy Ryouko]

Hey, just bored, so I figured I would type this. Anyways, this is a guide on how to develop full-on gymnastic strength for B-Boying. I will start with legs flexibility first.

Leg Flexibility
Everyone always seems eager to learn how to do full splits. For B-Boys they are important so that your flares and windmills, etc...will have perfectly straight legs. It's also keep you from injuring yourself. Well here's one important piece of advice: STRENGTH AND FLEXIBILITY ARE INEXTRICABLY LINKED. You cannot have safe flexibility without strength. Most people have weak, flabby legs, and thus are not flexible. Another thing is that FLEXIBILITY DOES NOT NECESSARILY LITERALLY MEAN STRETCHING THE MUSCLES. It does, but that isn't the sole way of it. It also involves teaching your brain to just let the muscles relax, so you can sit into a split comfortably. Here's what happens. You try to do a split, but your muscles are weak, so your brain tells them to keep tight, so that you won't tear a muscle. This works fine most of the time, but if a weak muscle is forced to stretch to far and isn't used to it, this reaction can cause it to tear. So the solution is to strengthen the muscles. Strengthen the hamstrings through exercises such as hamstring curls and so forth. Strength isn't as imporant for teh side splits (where either your left or right leg is in frotn and the other leg points out back) as it is for the front split (where both legs point out sideways at a 180 degree angle).
Another important point is to mention that there are different types of stretching. The steady type of stretching such as sitting in a split is different than the active type of stretching, such as kicking. B-Boys want both, so you should practice both. For the active type, just do leg lifts, to the front and the side. Do like 3 sets of ten to the front and 3 to the side, per leg, each day. Be careful at first. If you aren't flexible, don't just swing your leg with your knee locked up as high as it will go, you could pull your lower back and hamstring, which would suck. But this type of stretching is what preps your leg muscles for kicking movements, such as flares and windmills.
The type of stretching that involves sitting in full splits will help with the aesthetics of your dancing, but only do such splits after your dance practice. Holding a full split for about 25 seconds can cause a 25 % DECREASE in the strength of your muscle, which is a bad thing. That basically means if you do splits all the ways and then start flaring, you are flaring with muscles that are 25% weaker than they originally were, which means they are that much more prone to tearing. Do the leg-lifts prior to a workout to warm up the muscles, then do yoru flares and windmills since the muscles are prepped and warmed up, then do the splits.
To obtain the 180 degree straddle split, you need to have strong legs. This is how you can have those guys who have one foot on a chair on each side of them with absolutely nothing under their groin, yet they support their bodyweight. It's because their leg muscles are strong enough to support their bodyweight, so their brain lets the muscles relax, since it knows they won't tear. With normal people trying that, the muscles are too weak, the groin heads to smack the ground, the muscles overstretch, meanwhile the brain panicks and tightens the muscles up for fear they will tear and thus your groin smacks the ground and your groin muscles tear (very painful!!!).
To solve this, there are three primary exercises you can do. One is the martial arts horse stance. You basically do this by spreading your legs out some as if you were going to do a straddle split, but not that far, and making the shape as if you had a horse between your legs. Not this is where it can get tricky. Some people will be flexible enough but then go to do the split and feel a "stop" within their hips. This is because they keep their back straight. Remember, there's two ways to do a front split: with toes pointing forward and with toes pointing upwards. Whichever way you point your toes, YOUR WHOLE LEG ROTATES IN THAT DIRECTION. Thus, if your back is straight, getting into a full front split with the toes up is easy if your legs are strong and you have practiced stretching enough. But if you point your toes forward, you must rotate your pelvis forward to, as well. In layman's terms, that means stick your butt out.
Now, a straddle split is realyl nothing but a really, really WIDE horse stance, however, with a horse stance, your feet are pointing forward. So to get down to a full split, you must make sure you stick out your butt (rotate your pelvis, so your hips and thighs stay aligned).
To obtain the split via the horse stance, you jsut keep working on it, going lower and lower and wider and wider over time. Eventaully, you will get a horse stance in which your groin is only a few inches off the ground (remember to stick out your butt, or you won't get that far unless you have abnormally extra-flexible hips). Once you can sit in a horse stance with your groin a few inches off the ground for a full minute or more, you should have all the strength and flexiblity to be able to drop into a 180 degree straddle split cold. You will also now have the strength to straddle two chairs with no support under your groin.
The other two primary things to aid with this are the infamous barbell squats. The regular one, in which your toes point straight, will work the quadriceps a great deal (your thigh muscles). The same squat, done with toes pointed outwards, works the inner thigh muscles a great deal more (the muscles you are stretching in the split). It also works the groin muscles too, but be VERY careful with this squat. I squatted down too far, too fast one time and almost tore my groin muscle. I was lucky. Remember, when you squat down to the point that you stretch that groin muscle, you are forcing it to contract to get the barbell back up. This can cause it to tear if it is too weak and you aren't careful, so be cautious. Do sets of both types of squats, being careful not to use too much weight. To build strength, put on enough weight to do about 2 sets of 6 reps for each squat (totals in 4 sets). Do the regular squat first, as that one can be done with more weight and will warm up your inner thigh muscles and groin muscles. With toes pointed out, you can't handle as much weight. You want those muscles warmed up first before working them.
***REMEMBER, WORKING A COLD THIGH MUSCLE IN A SQUAT RESULTS IN THAT YOU CAN'T HANDLE AS MUCH WEIGHT INITIALLY. WORKING A COLD GROIN MUSCLE CAN RESULT IN A VERY PAINFUL TEAR THAT WILL TAKE MONTHS TO HEAL AND COMPLETELY PUT YOU OUT OF COMMISSION***
Work those muscles and practice stretching into the split and over time, you will find you can straddle it under your own strength. Once you get to where you can hold it with your groin a few incehs off the ground for about a minute, you've got the split.
Now comes developing the side splits. These splits are easier as you don't need any special hip placement or anything. Just do lots of hamstring stretching and quadriceps stretching. Make sure you go easy on your stretching and do it AFTER a workout (same goes for the straddle/front split stretching). Do ANY kind of static constant stretching after a workout, whether its dancing or weight training. If you are going to incorporate hamstring curls into your training to build hammy strength, do the leg lifts first, then the curls, then the splits training. If you do splits training first, you will decrease your hammy strength and then there you go stressing it with weights. So do it afterwards. Once you get full side splits, practice rising out of them. Basically, contract your thigh muscles and your hamstring muscles at the same time and you can either rise or hop out of the split. This looks cool, and also is a way to build hamstring strength when you don't have access to a curl machine.
Well, I guess that pretty much sums it up for flexibility. Remember, before dancing or weight training, do the leg lifts first, then train, then do the splits training, which will release lactic acid and increase blood flow to the muscles and relax them a lot, since you just worked them a lot. Stretch and gain strength, and you will get full splits in no time. Also, if you ever accidentally put your body into a position it wasn't meant to go into, you have a much better chance of NOT injuring yourself with strong, flexible muscles that won't tear or rip. Be strong and flexible, not weak and tight.
***If you are weak, but still very flexible, this is dangerous, so be careful, and get stronger. Some people are like this naturally***

Okay, now onto strength training:

Handstands
Yeppers, this is that basic ole' exercise, but it is so critical for B-Boying!! Work handstands every time you can. If you have room, don't walk across your room on your feet, but do it on your hands. Work on balancing on your hands, turning in circles on your hands, etc...just do it as much as possible. This is one of those crucial skills.

Handstand Pushups
These are jsut as they sound, they are handstand pushups. Do them wide-armed and shoulder-length, and try to get where you can do them without the help of a wall. Once you can balance easily, get some chairs and do them with each hand on a chair. This allows your pushups to get much deeper, and build strength better. Also use gymnastic rings if you can. If you don't have access to rings and can't balance chairs, don't ignore the Military Press exercise as well, which is the same exercise, except your standing on your legs using a barbell, pressing it above your head, lowering it to about an inch over your shoulders, pressing it back up, and so on.

Planche Training & Planche Pushups, Lever Pullups
Go here: http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/229/

Bridging
This is an excellent exercise. It improves your back arch over time and builds a great deal of strength in your legs and shoulders. Try to get where you can hold it for a full 5 minutes straight.

Hollowbacks
Basically, a handstand, but with your back greatly arched, to the point that eventually, it is more like a bridge with your legs a few inches off the ground. To get to this, do handstands and practice gradually arching your back. Over time, you will build strength, and eventually you will get a handstand with a very arched back. When you get to a very deep hollowback, you can just go into a bridge in your dancing, then lift up and out of it, into a handstand, all via upper-body strength.

Pistols
These are one-legged squats. Check here for pics and an article: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler2.htm
I learned by just doing the squatting movement on one leg down onto a chair. I'd do 5 sets of 5 repetitions of just sitting into a chair on one leg, 5 days a week, for a week or two, and rest on weekends. Then I progressed to lowering down to the chair, then sitting back up to a standing position, for 5 sets of 5 reps, 5 days a week. Then I progressed to sitting down to a lower chair, etc...you get the idea, and then actually I got bored and quit because it was taking too long, but then one day about two weeks later, I just out of the blue tried and made a full one-legged squat. I was thrilled, so I just kept practicing them from then on. When you get reallly good at them, they should be like doing pushups. If you can do barbell squats with a decent weight, you can probably do pistols, you just need to learn the balance is all. They are great so keeping your legs strong when you don't ahve access to weights, however.

Pullups
Well, this is a classic exercise. Do them with palms facing away from you. Chinups are with palsm facing towards you. And don't cheat. Lower all the way down, with elbows locked, then pull under muscle strength all the way up, hold, then lower all the way back down. Don't be like most guys who swing their legs to get up, then lower down about three-fourths of the way, swign their legs, pull back up, etc...which defeats the purpose of the exercise.

Clapper Pullups
Basically, hang from a bar with elbows locked, then pull up, let go of the bar and clap your hands, then grab the bar and lower back down, lock elbows, pull back up, let go, clap hands, grab bar, and lower back down. You need to be very good and regular pullups to do these though. Otherwise you will pull up, let go, and find that you are already passing the bar as you clap, and land on your rear.

One-Arm Pullups
Self-explanatory
One-Arm Pushups
These many people think you can only do if you spread your legs wide, for balance, but you can also do them with your legs and feet together, like a regular pushup, just on one arm. Takes time to develop though.

Dips
These are a wonderful exercise. Lean forward in them a bit to work the chest more, stay upright to work the triceps more. Here's what they look like: http://www.shapefit.com/triceps-exer...s-version.html Remember to do them slowly, to build strength. Get to where you can do 15 repetitions at least, and then at a weight belt or something.

Hindu Pushups
In these, basically get into a pushup position and arch your back so that your butt sticks way up in the air, then you "dive" downward and go through the motion so that at the end of the movement, you should be looking skyward with you back arched the opposite way. Go here for a picture (scroll down some): http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler19.htm
You then, keeping your arms straight, return to the starting position and repeat.

Dive-Bomber Pushups
These are the same as the Hindu pushup, except there is one difference. Both have the same inital movement, i.e. butt in the air, dive downward, and end up with face toward the sky and back very arched. With the Hindu pushup, you then KEEP YOUR ARMS STRAIGHT and return to the starting position. With the Dive-Bombers, you reverse the original movement, which forces you to bend your arms.

Muscle-Ups
These require gymnastic rings, the ability to do 15 full pullups, and 15 full dips. Basically you have to pull up, then midway-through, shift your hands and push up. You're basically pullup up to a contracted dip position, then pushing from there. Then, in the starting dip position, you lower in a dip, then shift your hands and lower back down into the pullup's starting position. These build loads of strength. Check here for a description: http://www.powerathletesmag.com/pages/muscleup.htm

Hanging Leg Raise
This is one of the most beneficial exercises out there. Basically, hang from a pullup bar. It's good to do this exercise after something like barbell squats, as it will decompress the spine and relax the back muscles. Keep your legs straight, just short of having your knees locked. Point your toes, and lift your legs so that they come all the way up and your feet touch the pullup bar. MAKE SURE YOU PULL AS IF YOU WERE TRYING TO DO A PULLUP when lifting up your legs, or you will not get them very high. It is something mechanical with the body. You just have to pull so that your abs can pull up your legs high. Also, DO NOT LOOK SKYWARDS WHEN DOING THIS. This is a common thing as the exercise is very difficult at first and many people's forearms start burning as well while holding onto the bar, so they look upwards and groan. Don't do it. You'll find your legs suddenly can go much higher, but this is more a mechanical thing rather than abdominal strength. Do about 3 sets of 5 reps or 5 reps of 3 sets. DO NOT SWING YOUR LEGS UP AND LET THEM FALL DOWN. THIS DOES NOTHING FOR STRENGTH. LIFT THEM UP AS HIGH AS YOU CAN GET THEM, THEN LOWER THEM BACK DOWN SLOWLY. IF YOU ONLY GET HALFWAY, OH WELL, YOUR STRENGTH WILL INCREASE. DON'T CHEAT.
This exercise is so wonderful; it builds up forearm strength, it builds up REAL abdominal strength, it forces you to get flexible hamstrings so that you can lift your legs high up, it decompresses the spine and relaxes the back, etc...you will find that upon doing this exercise, your abs won't burn, but they will be tight the next day if they are weak. Stretch them by arching your back. You will find as you get stronger that when you go to do exercises such as flares, your legs will feel 50 pounds lighter; this is because your abs are so much stronger!

The Benefits of Gymnastic Rings
With rings, you can do full handstand pushups, with your hands pointing any which way, full pullups, full lever pullups, muscle ups, dips, iron crosses, etc...you can get a full upper-body workout that will rival anything weights can give you with rings. Now for the lower back and legs, you do need weights here and there as there are just some muscles calisthenics can't really target (such as the lower back).

I think there are more exercises, but I am forgetting them. These are great exercises though, and will really build up strength in your body, so that you can learn your powermoves really greatly. Do them all, with discipline, and you will develop a very strong, very flexible body that not only looks great, but is capable of movements most people don't even know are humanely possible. They also give you a base for all other endeavors, whether it be martial arts, the military, soccer, football, etc....

BTW I myself can't do all these exercises, but as the links show, and as B-Boys especially, we all know people can learn them, this info is just on HOW to go about learning them.

Peace out

[bboy a.c]

even tho I'm too lazy to read the guide,I got a feeling this will be REALLYhlepful

[Prodiginus]

tight stuff man. maby i'll incorporate some of this stuff into my sessions.

[Kamshaft]

Good stuff... Can you do those one armed pull-ups?

[mr. Boogie]

Thanks man, this really helps, I didn't read everything yet (it's a long guide) but I'll tommorow.

[B-Boy Ryouko]

Cool, glad that you like it. As for me doing one-arm pullups, the answer is a no, but I'm working on them

[loser.exe]

really nice guide, did you get your name from team-ryouko, the martial arts guys who can do some crazy stuff?

[B-Boy Ryouko]

If you mean did they give me the name, no, if you mean did I take it from them, I actually might have, which if I did, now I wish I didn't because that kinda seems like stealing. I think it was just I loved that name at the time, though, and they were a huge inspiration to me.

[the3rd]

liking it g

[loser.exe]

yeah, they are pretty sweet, I was just wondering if you were part of the team, cuz if you were, that would be sick. Anyway though, I have questions, is there anyway to do exercises for the arms and legs that don't require machines? I don't have much access to weight machines, so... like, what would do the equivalent of pull ups? push ups? the leg machines?

[Prodiginus]

pull ups don't rly require a machine, neither do push ups lol. i'm assuming ur sayin u don't hav a bar, which in that case, use a tree, or, one of my friends told me he does pull ups on a shelf, i thot that was kinda wierd but i think he knows what he's talkin bout. and "leg machine" is kinda vague. do u mean like leg presses, leg extensions?

[bboy-hypernova]

yea, thats a prob for me too
no equip, no room

[B-Boy Ryouko]

Well, most all of those exercises you don't need any machines for; pullups you do need a bar but for years I used a tree branch; I had to paw it to hold on, it was like a foot in diameter, but it did the job. The funny thing is it was right by a road, so people would cruise by and see a guy hanging off the tree Everything you can do without weights pretty much. The pistols/one-legged squats you just need a chair or stairs to help you with. The various pushups you need only the ground for, aside from maybe handstand pushups and that's if you use chairs to dip deeper. The hanging leg lifts you again only need a tree or a bar.

Try to improvise. Right now I don't have the tree anymore but there is a playground about a 15 minute walk from here that has these monkey bars for kids. I hang from one of the bars. They are so low that I have to bend my legs (when I just hang freely, my knees almost touch the ground), but it still gets the job done for doing pullups.

If you don't have any weights, try to get a dumbell and do dumbell raises to work the back. I forget the name of the exercise; it is hard to describe but very easy to do if you get a good dumbell. It won't work your back like pullups but it will work it still. If you don't have any way to work the back, just do everything else to keep strong legs, a strong midsection, etc....calisthenics will make you strong but won't make you very big, so it's not like you need to be afraid of getting really big arms and having a tiny back or something.

[Ska Child]

One of the best things about the exercise described here is that they work areas of muscles not just a single one. Trust me, i spent 2yrs working specific muscles and although i looked strong and i was i could have been a lot stronger. You need even the ones that you dont think of to be strong. Chains are only as strong as their weakest link and all that jazz. Good example being, i didnt work out my triceps and my 1RM at a bench press was 180lbs. I worked them for 3 months by starting in a tuck position with my hands supporting my weight and uncurling into a handstand in sets of 5. I can now bench 260lbs... not that i do very often seeing as i dont want to damage my growth plates. Anyway kudos to you ryouko on the brilliant ideas.

[Nino_B]

one arm pullups arent that hard. i can do em. ive always had propa strong arms anyways from martial arts and drumming and now of course b-boyin.u just gota do sum evry single day,even if its just one , train ur muscles and it pays off.