Backflips: An Easy Workout

Backflips do not take years of practice to perform; if you are an athlete, a runner, or are in good physical condition, chances are you could perform a backflip within minutes. To test yourself, check the height of your jump.

If your feet are hitting the height of your knees, a backflip is well within your ability to accomplish. See, not so hard.

Backflips are a great core work out and exciting at the same time. Doing ten sets of backflips a day will work your abdomen, comparable to how ten reps of bench-presses will work your pectorals.

A good way to start getting the feel for back flips is to learn the back hand spring. Flipping backward through the air is an unusual feeling and takes some getting used to.

Test your strength by doing hand stands; once you are comfortable jumping on to your hands, you're ready for the back hand spring. Doing back hand springs will stretch and strengthen your abdomen, improve coordination and also strengthen shoulders and arms.

Practice the back hand spring by: jumping back ward, lifting your legs above your head, landing on your hands, and springing your weight upward to complete a 360 degree rotation. It sounds difficult at first, it really isn't.

After you can do a back hand spring go find yourself a trampoline, do a few handsprings here to get a feel for the bounce and once you are ready jump into the air and bypass the hand stand part. When doing back flips, your movements will slightly differ from the hand spring.

With the hand spring you will be stretched out the through the entire rotation. With the backflip you will have to tuck into a ball to increase the speed of the rotation.

So when on the trampoline, practice throwing your arms into the air as you jump, this will increase your height and hang time while flipping. Next pull your knees upwards toward your stomach while leaning back to fulfill the rotation part.

This will greatly work your abdomen and is one of the most intensive anaerobic movements that can be performed. Flipping will also make an impact on your thighs from all the jumping and tucking.

It is common to be sore from just a few flips when starting don't let that discourage you, instead take it as a motivator that the flipping is actually tearing and building muscle.

Once you are comfortable performing backflips on trampolines you may move to a padded area. When doing your first flat land back flip it is good to have both a spotter and a mat.

The spotter will help you if your rotation is a little slow, and the mat will decrease impact of the fall. Follow these guidelines and you can make backflips an integral part of your work out routine.

Destry Masterson is a health, fitness and nutrition expert. She has written articles about diet and exercise and recommends http://www.treadmillsensei.com for information about treadmills. Contact Info: Destry Masterson - MyOnlineArticleWriting@gmail.com - Twitter: @DestryMasterson