http://www.beastskills.com Tutorials and training for bodyweight strength skills en-us I'll start by saying that this post will give you a general idea of my training right now. I will most likely modify things over the coming weeks and months, or I may modify things severely. That's the nature and beauty of training - we all constantly look for the... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/109 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/109 A montage from my latest weightlifting meet - And continued training on the 90 degree pushup. I'm looking to get lower and lower! New posts regarding my training, coming soon! BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/108 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/108 I've been working different ways to make handstand pushups harder (see previous video of 90 degree pushups). Recently I've been putting my hands up on tall boxes to replicate the reverse muscle-up aka the "elevator". The video shows it all. Hope you enjoy! -Jim BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/107 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/107 The makers of Grip4orce were kind enough to send me a pair of their rubber grips to try out. If you've never seen these things, you put them over a dumbbell, barbell, cable attachment, and they instantly make it thick - challenging the grip to hold on tight. ... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 4 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/106 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/106 Jasper Benincasa was an inspiration to many in the bodyweight strength community. Read about him here. Tomorrow, March 25th we will have a celebration of his life. In honor of Jasper, perform a pull-up or other bodyweight strength feat this Sunday, March 25th. It does not have to... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/105 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/105 Jasper Benincasa - A Strength Legend March 25, 1921 - January 6, 2012 "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." ~Henry Adams Jasper at 89 years of age, he did a one arm chin-up that day! The... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/104 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/104 Did I get your attention? Please help! I am raising money for The Children's Tumor Foundation. A fantastic charity dedicated to ending Neurofibromatosis - a debilitating genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow throughout a child's body. We will be running in our underwear on Saturday,... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/103 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/103 2011 went by in a flash. I got both a new niece and new fiancée! Got to visit countless awesome gyms this year, and even took a sweet vacation to Mexico. Life is great and I grow a bit more each... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sat, 7 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/102 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/102 To those in the grip world, John Brookfield needs no introduction. He was the 2nd man to ever close the #3 Ironmind gripper (which takes a whopping 280 lbs of force to close). He is a mainstay in the strength world and a living legend. picture courtesy... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/101 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/101 BeastSkills.com - a.k.a. the "main site" will always be the central hub. I'll continue to post longer articles, tutorials, and seminar schedules up here. But I don't want my visitors to miss all the other discussions that are occurring! Join up on my Facebook Page to join in on... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Thu, 6 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/100 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/100 Hey guys and gals, If you were planning on heading down to Richmond this November for a Beast Skills seminar, just a notice that the date is now NOVEMBER 19th instead of November 12th. I had something unavoidable come up and needed to change weekends. Apologies to anyone who... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/99 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/99 This short post is to talk about performances and audience participation. This is a topic I've wanted to cover for quite some time. Specifically, through the past several years, I've seen a disturbing trend emerging - The audience does not clap. I have seen this happen at concerts,... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/98 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/98 Last April, I wrote an article commenting on the Gymastic WOD videos (here). I wanted to express my views and start a discussion... and boy did I. I'm still getting long comments from visitors. Thank you again to everyone who responded. One of the particularly interesting responses I received... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/97 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/97 Click the link - http://bit.ly/qAS4VR for all your info and registration. Hope to see you there! BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/96 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/96 It's been a couple years since I've been down to CrossFit RVA, but Jake and the guys are having me back for two seminars on Saturday, November 12th. The beginner seminar will cover headstands, handstands, handstand pushups, and muscle-ups. No experience is necessary. The advanced seminar will cover... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/95 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/95 Heading out to Ohio this weekend for three different seminars. First is a beginner and advanced seminar at Ohio Krav Maga in Columbus on August 20th. You can register here - https://events.membersolutions.com/event_detail.asp?content_id=26831 We'll be covering the headstand, handstand, handstand pushups, and the muscle-up at the beginner seminar. I've... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/94 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/94 June Seminars Galore! Registration Links Up! Beginner seminar covers the headstand, handstand, handstand pushups, and the muscle-up on rings. No experience necessary. Advanced seminar covers handstand corrections, one arm handstand work, presses/planche work, and advanced rings skills. Beginner Seminar, June 4th, CrossFit Adaptation in Shirlington, VA From 1-3:30pm, register... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/93 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/93 By Jim Bathurst, BeastSkills.com A visitor to my site recently brought to my attention the Gymnastic WOD videos, created by Carl Paoli, regarding handstand progressions against the wall (embedded videos below). These videos were of particular interest because the progressions taught were different than the ones I teach athletes.... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/92 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/92 I'm looking forward to what this guy can do! http://bit.ly/gX5vCZ BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Fri, 1 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/91 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/91 You can also view a short accompanying video here. (It shows a sweeping shot of the facility) This post will attempt to convey all that I was taught during my visit to the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts. I traveled up there for more training information for the one... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/88 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/88 I'm hoping all my visitors can take the time to vote for Balance Gym as Best Gym in Washington D.C.. It's really easy, just click on the link - http://bit.ly/e7iHXe - and enter in your email address. Just one vote per person. Balance is where I've worked for over... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 9 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/87 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/87 I created this site nearly 6 years ago to share my thoughts on bodyweight training and feats of strength. I couldn't find all the information I was looking for myself, so I decided to write down what I had discovered. But as many of you know, my own training... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sun, 27 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/86 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/86 This is a guest post from Jedd Johnson of the Diesel Crew, a strength training site dedicated to all forms of training. Hello everybody. It's great to write for the Beast Skills site. Jim is doing some awesome stuff here. I... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/85 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/85 Thanks to everyone for coming out last Saturday! And Congrats to Phil and Ramon for getting their first ring muscle-up at the seminar! Ran a great Beast Skills Gymnastics seminar last Saturday. If you're in the Alexandria, Virginia area, then definitely check out Urban Evolution. They specialize in... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 26 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/83 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/83 Check out the new video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxY8fqgzeZc In it, I use a body massage ball (http://yogaplus.com/products/) to improve my handstand in 2 minutes (less than that, actually!). See the dramatic results! BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/80 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/80 Hello all - just to let you know that my next seminar will be a beginner gymnastic seminar at Urban Evolution in Alexandria, Virginia on Saturday January 22nd, 1:00-3:30pm. As with the other beginner seminars we will cover the following - -headstands -handstands -handstand pushups ... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 10 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/79 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/79 As another year passes, I like to step back, sit down, and think about all the things I've learned. 2010 was a good year - I hit some long term lifting goals in the bench, squat, and deadlift, remained relatively injury free, and met a lot of cool people in... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Thu, 6 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/78 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/78 If you haven't noticed already, several of my visitors have been incredibly helpful and have translated some of the tutorials into their native language. All the current translated tutorials can be found on the very bottom of the main page. The newest addition is from Grzegorz - the handstand... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/77 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/77 A big thanks to TJ and the crew at Real Fitness in Naples, Florida. We managed to get 4 seminars in 2 days, and boy did we all work hard! For the 6th or 7th seminar in a row we had people get their very first muscle-up! Handstand work was... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 8 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/76 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/76 A big thanks to Curtis and all the athletes at CrossFit Adaptation for having me out this past Saturday for a Beast Skills gymnastic seminar. A lot of hard work that afternoon, and a big congratulations to Klint for getting his first muscle-up! ... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sun, 21 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/75 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/75 Well, it's been a long time coming, but Beast Skills finally has a new look and new features. Please bear with us as we get all the kinks worked out! In the meantime, please feel free to contact me at beastskillsjim@gmail.com BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 15 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/74 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/74 Somewhere among the chaos of my sister's marriage in June and the 4th of July celebrations, I managed to head over to RARE CrossFit in Fredericksburg, VA and CrossFit 305 in Miami, Fl for several fantastic seminars. Both are phenomenal gyms with awesome people. Thanks again to all the owners... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/5 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/5 Thanks to all who came out to CrossFit Hoboken! New Seminar in Fredericksburg, Virginia! - June 12th! And another chance for you to ask me your training questions - this Thursday, May 27th! First, thanks again to all those who made it out to... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 24 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/6 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/6 As you can see by the title, this is a super-big update. First off, I'm returning to New Jersey again for another seminar at CrossFit Hoboken! The details: Saturday, May 8th, 2010 Beginner Seminar - 8am to 10am This seminar will cover headstands, handstands,... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/7 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/7 And while it is April 1st, I assure you that this is not an April Fool's Day joke! Josh will appreciate any and all support you can give! BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Thu, 1 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/8 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/8 The time is running away from me this month! I want to thank everyone again who came out March 13th to CrossFit Durham. It was a great time and we had an unprecedented four people get their first muscle-up!! First on the left, we have Robert. A 17 year... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/9 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/9 I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Matt Shannon of CrossFit 1776 recently. He asked me questions about common beginner mistakes, my gym pet peeves, progressions for the handstand, plus a whole lot more! Listen to the interview here - CrossFit 1776 Beast Skills Interview Was there... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 8 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/10 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/10 On Sunday I spent the day at Primal Fitness in Washington, D.C., competing in their "Most Primal" Competition. First off, I want to thank Jesse Woody, Quint, and the crew again for all their hard work in planning and running this event. Things went very quickly and efficiently and we... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Tue, 2 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/12 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/12 Hello everyone! A new post to let you know that I'll be running a gymnastic seminar on Saturday, March 13th at CrossFit Durham. Register here - http://crossfitdurham.com/upcoming-events/ The afternoon session is already SOLD OUT, but at the time of posting we still have 3 open spots in the 9am... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/13 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/13 First off, Happy New Year! Hope everyone's enjoyed the holiday season. It's been a busy couple months for me as I've moved into a new apartment (although I still practically live at the gym, training my clients), and then I was swallowed up by the holidays. One thing that... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Fri, 1 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/14 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/14 Where: CrossFit Tribe 7905 Browning Road Suite 202 Pennsauken, NJ 08109 Go to Google Maps When: Saturday, October 24th, 2009 10:00am -12:00 pm (beginner seminar) 1:00pm -3:00 pm (advanced seminar) Cost: ... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sun, 4 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/15 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/15 First, thanks to everyone for all the continued support of the site. When I started all this back in 2004 with a lowly blogspot site, it quickly outgrew itself and hence this website was created. Well the years have passed and it's time again to grow. I now... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/16 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/16 We all had a great time at Potomac CrossFit, learning various gymnastic skills. Thanks again to everyone who came out! For those who missed the seminars, I'm running those handstand workshops in Washington DC this month. The info again: Logan Circle Lululemon location 1461 P St NW Tues,... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/17 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/17 Thanks to everyone who picked up a t-shirt over the months of April and May! Again, all proceeds were matched by me and given to ASCONN - The Autism Society of Connecticut . Keep an eye out for charity events in the future, and thanks again for helping! BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/18 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/18 For those in the Washington DC area, I have several last-minute gymnastic seminars planned. These are all going to take place at Potomac CrossFit in Arlington, Virginia. The gym will have information up very soon on these seminars, but if they don't, feel free to contact them to register. Price... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sat, 30 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/19 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/19 I received an unfortunate email a couple days ago from Larry Cruz, the organizer of the charity event - Pushing Past Autism. Due to a lack of pre-registered participants, it has been decided that the event will be canceled. As previously stated though, I will still donate all t-shirt... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sat, 16 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/20 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/20 Thanks to everyone who came out to the seminar today at CrossFit RVA in Richmond, VA. And thanks to Jake and Brandon especially for helping put the whole thing together. If you're in the area, definitely check them out. Awesome workout spot and great group there. Even in the... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/21 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/21 Pushing Past Autism (link here) is a one-day event in which participants do as many pushups as they can in four hours. It is being held on Saturday May 16th, at the Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT. In order to prepare you for the event, I've created... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/22 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/22 In the grand tradition of John Glenn, Buzz Aldrin, and Lance Bass, I have finally finished my negotiations and will have the next Beast Skills seminar on . . . wait for it . . . THE MOON! In space, no one can hear you... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 1 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/23 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/23 A big thank you to everyone who made it through the snow to High Performance Gymnastics Training Center a week ago to attend the Beast Skills seminar! I had a lot of fun, hope you did too. And I hope you went home with plenty of information to improve your... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sun, 8 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/24 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/24 So I'm back from vacation and I'm pleased to see all the people who took advantage of the early bird registration. For those of you who did not, spots are still available for the increased price of $80, but they are filling up fast! Here's the video where I... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Thu, 5 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/25 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/25 Hey everyone, I'm happy to announce a new "beast skills" seminar on Sunday, March 1st. I'll be holding it at the High Performance Gymnastics Training Center in Chalfont, PA. This is about 45 minutes north of Philadelphia, which puts it in a great location for anyone in the Philly or... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/26 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/26 Hey guys! Hope you all had a great holiday season and are having a great 2009. If you haven't seen already, I have two new videos up. The first one may sound like a long shot, but I know I get visitors from all over the world. If... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 5 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/27 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/27 First, I hope that everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. If you don't celebrate the holiday, I hope you've had some time recently to spend with your family. To quote Don Corleone - "a man that doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man." Had the... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Fri, 5 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/28 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/28 I filmed this a week ago, posted it on YouTube three days ago, and here it finally is on the main page. Just playing around with the flag. I talk about swinging the legs up into the skill as an "easier" way to progress into a full hold, as... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/29 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/29 Thanks to everyone who attended last Sunday's seminar. I hope you found the three hours very informative and walked away with a lot of tips and progressions to work towards your goals. To those at the seminar who were interested in the flag, I went back to Potomac CrossFit... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/30 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/30 Just a quick video showing how you can use a pair of dumbbells to do planche work. I've found this produces less wear and tear on the wrists in comparison to working the skill on the ground all the time. My planche is hovering, but strong enough right now. Maybe... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Tue, 4 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/31 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/31 Hey guys! Made a quick video to show you the one arm negative. This is an exercise used to get the one arm chin-up. The video shows firsthand how slow you want to descend. If you're falling down from the bar faster than this, then it's time to back up... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/32 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/32 Hey Guys! For those of you living in the Washington DC area, or for those of you who want to make the trip over here, I'll be holding a 3 hour gymnastic seminar from 9am to 12 noon at Potomac Crossfit in Arlington, Virginia on November 9th, 2008. ... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/33 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/33 Here we go, an old clip from May 2006 of myself doing a 60 lb rope climb: I think I posted a picture from this video way back, but never the video itself. Here you can see how "bouncy" the exercise gets on the way back... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/34 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/34 Caught an article here that talked of an Australian school that BANNED cartwheels and handstands. Are you kidding me?? Now an education spokesman said that there's not a blanket ban, but just that kids were banned from doing unsupervised "handstands, cartwheels and other gymnastic movements" during breaks. So in other... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sun, 5 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/35 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/35 In my last post I showed you a video of Jack Arnow and his one arm assisted machine. Did you watch the video? Quite a few of you did. Did you notice how Jack grabbed the bar? Here's a guy who was been doing one arm chin-ups longer than most... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 1 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/36 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/36 I visited Jack Arnow (interview here) in his Brooklyn apartment last weekend, where he showed me his assisted one arm chin-up set up. Check out the indoor chin-up bar he has in his office! He's doing very well and is currently working up to a double bodyweight chin-up at 140... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/37 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/37 Dan Donche of Fatal Fitness recently interviewed me for his website - read it here! In the interview I talk about what I do when I hit a plateau in training, the importance of technique, and what I think is the most underrated piece of equipment! (it might not be... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/38 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/38 Just a quick YouTube video taken in the wee hours of the morning. I'm just announcing that changes will be taking place to this website. Changes that will make the site easier to navigate and improve content. All of this is an effort to make Beast Skills more useful to... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/39 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/39 A visitor informed me that Dominic Lacasse (world record holder in the flag, see post below) is not French, but Canadian! I apologize to my neighbors to the north for the error. BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/40 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/40 The same time I was putting together yesterday's post, I received an email from Beast Skills visitor, Ted, with pictures of his "flag raising" on Yuigahama, a beach very close to Kamakura, Japan. Very impressive! Again, very impressive! Thanks for the pictures! Ted... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/41 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/41 No, not by me, but I did come across some videos of French acrobat, Dominic Lacasse, setting the world record for holding the flag. 39 seconds! This was shown on the German Edition of "Guinness World Records", and you can see the videos of part 1, part 2, and part... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Tue, 9 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/42 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/42 This tutorial is months overdue, but here it is. The one arm pushup. Please feel free to email me here if there is anything unclear about the tutorial, or if there are any broken pictures/links. Thanks for all the support. Good luck with your training! BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/43 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/43 Thanks to all who continue to visit the site, despite the severe lack of updates. It's been sitting on the back burner for ages, but I'm going to get the one arm pushup tutorial wrapped up and posted here tomorrow. BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/44 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/44 (picture courtesy, Speedo USA/Michael Muller) I've been reading and watching a lot on the Olympics lately and one statistic that I read over and over again (in articles like this: http://outside.away.com/outside/bodywork/200801/wellness-michael-phelps.html) is the number of calories Michael Phelps puts down in a day. During training, he strives to get... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/45 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/45 Thanks to everyone who supported the Pushing Past Autism event through direct donation or the purchase of a t-shirt! 100% of the profits with be donated to Autism Society of Connecticut. Best of luck with all your training! BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sun, 8 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/46 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/46 This Saturday, June 7th, at the O'Neill Center of Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT, will be a charity event for children with autism -- it is a pushup event! - try to do as many (or as few) pushups as you want to do in four hours. If... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sun, 1 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/47 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/47 The front lever tutorial is finally done. I appreciate everyone's patience with my severe lack of updates and tutorials for the site for the past year and a half. The whole situation frustrates me just as much as it frustrates you. Trust me. I'm working to fix things... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 5 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/48 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/48 Ever the perfectionist, I've realized there are several additional sections I'd like to add to the front lever tutorial. The one arm push-up tutorial is also taking a bit longer than expected. Better to do things right the first time. In the meantime, check out this short but interesting... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/49 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/49 Entertaining people at the Tower of London Back from a great time in London, and I've managed to finish up the tutorial for the front lever. The one arm push-up tutorial should be finished by tomorrow this weekend and I'll post them both up at the same time, no... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Tue, 1 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/50 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/50 I was pictured in another article on T-nation. Apparently I'm the definition of a chin-up now. Thanks to everyone who emailed me to let me know! Check out the article below: Common Exercise Misconceptions Part 2 For those who have asked, I have two... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/51 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/51 Head on over to the brand new Products & Equipment page to take a closer look at the designs and buy these shirts!! I'm very happy with the overall quality of the shirt and the way the printing came out. I ordered them myself first to make sure they were... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/52 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/52 Just got back from my holiday vacation. I'm sure from the picture you can guess where I went. Wrapping up a couple things to post. Good luck with your training in 2008! BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Fri, 4 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/53 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/53 If you look to the top of the page, you'll see a link for a new videos section! There are only a few videos posted right now, but I'm planning on adding several short videos that will explain drills and techniques for different skills. Another video... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/54 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/54 October already!! Work and life in general have swallowed me whole, so I'm sorry for a lack of any updates. I continue to work on various projects and will try to answer everyone's email in a timely manner. Until the next tutorial, here's some pictures of my friend Jack... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 3 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/55 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/55 It was great to have such an eager crowd today at the Beast Skills Clinic. I hope everyone was able to walk away with something to work on. For those looking to build a set of their own parallettes, head on over to the equipment section for the measurements and... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sun, 19 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/56 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/56 This Sunday, August 19th from 9am to 10:30am in Alexandria, Virginia I'll be running a clinic on handstand and ring work. Attendees will receive hands-on experience and personal coaching from myself on various skills and progressions. I want to provide feedback to everyone, so class size is limited to... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Thu, 16 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/57 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/57 Thank you, thank you, thank you so much to everyone for voting and helping me win the Men's Health "How Fit Are You" contest twice in a row!!! I just received the email from the Men's Health editor and needless to say I'm excited. I knew the competition was... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 4 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/58 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/58 Barely held it for a second... but I held it... So close, I can taste it. Read on in the training section. And thanks again for all the votes! BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 27 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/59 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/59 I am again a finalist in Men's Health "How Fit Are You" contest. I was informed by the editor of the magazine that there was a problem with the video player on the website, but now that it is fixed the voting has started! My video is titled "Press,... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Fri, 22 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/60 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/60 Updated the muscle-up tutorial to include an erroneously overlooked progression for the skill - doing a muscle-up with feet on a box or bench. This simply shifts some weight from the arms to the legs and makes the muscle-up easier. I have a new article that was... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Wed, 6 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/61 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/61 Here you go. Tutorial for the Muscle-up. Happy Cinco De Mayo! BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sat, 5 May 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/62 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/62 I received an email about an hour ago. Real simple - "Your tape got the most votes. You won our How Fit Are You Contest." Here is the video page again, now announcing me as the winner. Thank you to everyone!! I literally could not have... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Fri, 27 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/63 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/63 Hey everyone, I received several emails informing me of a "How Fit Are You?" contest that Men's Health Magazine was sponsoring. The whole point was to submit a video showing strength, coordination, power, and balance. A free afternoon and about 10 minutes of... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 9 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/64 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/64 Hope everyone enjoyed the tutorial yesterday! In all seriousness, I've got an article that is done and will soon be published in an online magazine. In addition, I have three different tutorials I'm finishing up. And two other articles plus three other tutorials in the future works. Yes,... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 2 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/65 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/65 This is a good one! After the overwhelming response to the No handed one arm chin tutorial, I began thinking of other skills that could be done this way. Well, the other week I managed to "no hand" another skill. So without further adieu, the No Handed Planche. BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sun, 1 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/66 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/66 As you can see from the links across the top of the front page, I've rearranged things slightly. The "Tutorials" section now includes "Tutorials and Articles" to reflect its content and the direction I want to take it. "Training" has changed to the more descriptive "Training Log", and biggest change... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/67 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/67 I revised the Clapping HSPU tutorial by adding this picture where you can see my feet. No wires, no cables. Again, not the prettiest skill, but it's there. I'm sure some will still question the authenticity of the skill, but as Johnny Fox says, there will always be septics .... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 26 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/68 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/68 Jack Arnow I had the fantastic opportunity to meet, train, and talk with Jack Arnow this past January. If you don't know, Jack is the co-author of the one arm chinning guide posted up at Dragondoor. He's been training for decades and shares his wisdom in... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sat, 17 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/69 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/69 I recently received an email from one Mike Tornincasa who has been motorcycling around South America with his wife since August of last year! Read all about their adventures at http://pedroandmaria.blogspot.com/. (Pedro and Maria are code names for Mike and his wife Amie, I think they may actually be international... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Fri, 2 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/70 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/70 I was contacted by Jeff Gotts of Delta Fitness regarding a line of pullup bars he was releasing. He graciously sent me one of his pull-up bars to test and review. Below is the run-down of the product and my thoughts. First, shipping was lightning fast. I feel bad... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/71 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/71 Alright, I hope the new translation links I have posted at the top of the page (the little flags) will work better than last time. Again, thanks to everyone who visits the page, wherever you are! BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/72 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/72 Multi-language translation has been taken down from the front page as there appears to a problem with the way I implemented it. But don't worry, it's on its way. I'm working on several articles and tutorials right now that I hope to have posted very soon. Thanks to... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Sun, 7 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/73 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/73 I don't have a one arm handstand pushup yet, but I've been working towards it and seeing good progress. I wanted to talk about an exercise I've been using and the training concept of accommodating resistance as it applies to this and other bodyweight skills. First off, accommodating resistance... BeastSkillsJim@gmail.com (Jim Bathurst) Thu, 7 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0500 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/82 http://beastskills.com/blog/blog/id/82