- Hey guys, it's Max here and this month
my challenge is to do a back flip in a month.
So this is a pretty scary challenge for me.
And I think this challenge it's gonna be
more about over coming my fear than it is
about actually the technique, although that's obviously
gonna be a big part of it.
So I've come to Bounce
which is a huge trampoline park in Melbourne
to practise flipping on a trampoline,
getting used to being upside down,
and then I'm going to take it from there
and see how I go.
Flip time.
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Now let's get into this challenge.
So my first session I just started to get comfortable
with some of the basic movements
on the trampoline, like landing on my butt,
and then landing on my back
and just kind of getting back to my feet.
And then after getting comfortable
I started trying to flip my legs behind my head
to kind of almost do a backward somersault
on the trampoline.
And getting used to that feeling of flipping backwards.
Then I started trying some flips into a pit.
And then just jumping backwards into a pit.
And finally trying a back flip into a pit.
Which didn't go amazingly well.
After a few flips into the pit
I started getting the confidence
to actually give it a go on the trampoline
and it actually went pretty well.
And so I started getting used to that motion
of flipping my knees behind my head
and jumping up and getting used to back flips.
And then I started from a standing start
on the trampoline which also went pretty well.
And finally I moved over to a stationery start
from this foam kind of wall.
And this one didn't go so well.
I kind of hit my head but it wasn't too bad
even though it looks pretty bad on this video.
I wanted to mix up my training
so I went to a gymnastics class
which was really good because they could be really
technical and break down the movements.
So we started off with flips
which went pretty well except for this one
which was pretty bad.
But yeah, the gymnastics approach was really good
because they could really break down every little movement
and how it feels.
They even had exercises like this one
where you could practise jumping straight up
and then tucking, which was really good
to think about the technique.
Hey guys it's day nine of the back flipping challenge
and last night I went to a gymnastics class
and I was flipping a lot,
and that's really practising my form and getting me
more and more comfortable so that I'm building up
my confidence and getting ready to try to do one
on flat ground.
But I got to say I got up today and my abs
are ridiculously sore.
So when you do a flip you have this pulling motion
where you pull your knees into your stomach.
And it's super painful on your abs
when you've probably never done an exercise
like that before.
So my abs are killing me all day.
So I'm gonna take today off of flipping
but I'll probably get into it tomorrow.
Back flip time.
(electronic music)
So this month one of my biggest challenges
is overcoming the fear of actually
doing a back flip.
Every time I do a back flip,
particularly when I haven't been doing
them for a few minutes,
I really have to psyche myself up.
And what I've been doing is just trying to get
like excited and move my body
and really try to get ready to
get power through a back flip.
But what I'm finding is I'm still getting
kind of these jelly legs.
I'm not jumping properly
and I'm jumping as if I'm already ready
to brace my fall,
and I'm not jumping to try to actually land.
And that's actually making it more dangerous
for me than it should be.
It's a really bad issue that I need to address.
So some of the things I'm doing
to try to overcome fear
is number one I'm trying to take cold showers
so after finishing my shower I'm just doing
freezing cold water for 30 seconds in the morning
as a good way to start the day
and I've read research that says by doing that
you can be more mentally ready
to actually take on your challenges.
I'm now gonna try doing a bit of visualisation
with my actual back flip.
So before I actually do it I'm gonna visualise myself
jumping, doing the full back flip, landing,
and that way when I go in there I won't be so,
I'll be less thinking
about every little detail about,
you know, keep your abs tight, jump up straight,
don't go too far down,
but I've already visualised it so I can kind of
feel it through my body, I just kind of do it
as opposed to overthinking it.
So I'm gonna stick with it.
Let's see how it goes.
("That's What I Like" by Bruno Mars)
- [Trainer] Good job.
- [Man] Good job, good job.
("That's What I Like" by Bruno Mars)
- [Max] So although these are far from perfect flips
let me talk you through the strategy
that I'm using to land them.
So what I'm doing is I'm starting
with my hands straight up.
I'm throwing them back and then flipping them straight up
with my arms fully outstretched.
I'm bouncing through my toes
and not through my slower muscles
which are my quads.
I'm pulling my knees over and not throwing my arms down.
I'm trying to keep my chest up
and my head up so I can actually spot the landing.
Now I know these aren't perfect flips
landed from the floor
but they're still a huge improvement
from where I started and I'm real excited
for the progress that I got.
And I think I'm gonna keep going
and try to land that perfect flip from the floor.
So that's it for this month.
I hope you really enjoyed the video.
If you liked it please subscribe
because we've got more awesome content
coming out every month.
Next month I'm gonna be trying to learn
to juggle with five balls,
which seems crazy difficult
but I'm gonna give it a go.
So definitely follow my journey
and as always, happy learning.