Sign Up For The Newsletter!




13 second one arm handstand!

My best one arm handstand to date! 13 hard fought seconds. Continued progress in this skill will require more mobility in the shoulders, which I am currently and forever working on.

Read More » | November 20, 2016 | Category: Videos | Comments: 23

15 Ring Handstand Pushups – STRICT

About nine years ago, before CrossFit was a household name, they posted up several challenges on the CrossFit main site. The last remaining uncompleted challenge – Do 15 strict handstand pushups on the rings! Contact with the strap was ok, but climbing them with your feet was an immediate DQ. Today, I realized that the […]

Read More » | October 7, 2016 | Category: Videos | Comments: 1

24 excellent band exercises

RubberBanditz sent me some bands (The Bar Master Calisthenics Kit), so I’ve decided to film just a few of the many exercises you can do with them! If you’re interested in picking some up, help support Beast Skills and buy them here – http://rubberbanditz.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=409 You’ll see in the video that bands are super versatile – […]

Read More » | September 19, 2016 | Category: Videos | Comments: none

102Kg Snatch

Still working. Still getting it done. PR from last fall – 102 Kg snatch. Always stuff to improve, but this felt strong. Check out my instagram (/beastskills), where I post up a bit more often!

Read More » | January 23, 2016 | Category: Videos | Comments: none

175 Squat Bail

  Digging through old footage, and I found this near-death experience!! Shot on my phone, so the video is a bit dark. Wanted to post it up here for posterity sake. Date on video and coinciding…

Read More » | October 18, 2013 | Category: Videos | Comments: none

One Arm Handstand – Fixing a problem (no music)

Youtube never likes when I have an awesome backing music track, so here’s the same video with no sound. —– My understanding of the one arm handstand conti…

Read More » | September 29, 2013 | Category: Videos | Comments: none

One Arm Handstand – Fixing a Problem

My understanding of the one arm handstand continues… I may not have the right terminology, but in this video I show an issue I was having with my legs and …

Read More » | September 29, 2013 | Category: Videos | Comments: none

9 second one arm handstand

Hey! I figured some stuff out and managed this clean hold the other day – my best so far (at least captured on camera) – and ONE second shy of my goal of a 1…

Read More » | June 28, 2013 | Category: Videos | Comments: 4

First Month Back – Cleans, Snatches, One Arm Handstands, Grip

So far this has been one life-changing year for me. I’ve been helping to open a new gym since March, and I had pleasure of getting married to the love of my …

Read More » | June 25, 2013 | Category: Videos | Comments: 3

Jack Arnow Visits XFit Foggy Bottom

I had the pleasure of getting a visit from long time friend and living legend, Jack Arnow, this past Friday as he visited CrossFit Foggy Bottom (where I am currently Director). Jack is 70…

Read More » | June 25, 2013 | Category: Videos | Comments: none

Super Thick Pull-up Bar – The “Beast” Bar, from SteelFit!

Frank, from SteelFitStrength.com, was gracious enough to let me try out this monster pull-up bar. It is a 2-3/8″ diameter bar (~6.03cm). As you can see, my h…

Read More » | April 15, 2013 | Category: Videos | Comments: none

The good, the bad, and the ugly – one arm handstand work winter 2013

I take a lot of videos during training – many are simply to help me see my body positioning. This is a very useful tool for anyone pursuing any skill – handbalancing or weightlifting. Here are many different shots over the past several weeks of my one arm handstand work.

Read More » | February 17, 2013 | Category: Videos | Comments: 2

Pelican Pushups

Excellent exercise that I learned about from this video (which is an excellent video) – www.youtube.com These are a progressive exercise for the inverted muscle-up, which I am working to obtain. In addition, these are definitely going to help my 90 degree pushups (see my 90 degree pushup vids), and

Read More » | September 14, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: 4

Combo Skills

All ‘advanced’ skills are just a combination of the basics. Learn and master the building blocks and you can combine them to work on these skills. I am not a professional acrobat or gymnast, and my form is still decidedly rough, but I can put together what I know to

Read More » | September 5, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: 2

Trap bar dead – (no sound)

525 lbs at 175 lbs bodyweight. Removed the original audio, as it was a bit distracting for the video.

Read More » | August 21, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: 2 | Tags: , , ,

Trap bar deadlift – Triple bodyweight

Just a whole lot of heavy squatting and Olympic lifting these past several months. Haven’t touched the trap bar in ages, but wanted to see if I could do this. I think of this as a warm-up to eventually doing this on the normal straight bar. 525 lbs at 175

Read More » | August 21, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: 2 | Tags: , , , ,

Ring Handstand Practice (8-8-12)

The ring handstand – a skill I had never really developed before – has been coming along well these past several months. I still have a lot of work to do to clean it up, but here are some holds from today. My advice – 1. Learn a regular handstand

Read More » | August 9, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: none | Tags: , ,

170 Kg squat @ 78 Kg (7-31-12)

Back on the bleeding edge of my squats, and feeling good. Here’s 170 Kg today, for the heaviest triple I’ve put up in a while. Looking to put up 182.5 Kg for three reps by year’s end.

Read More » | August 1, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: 2 | Tags: , , , , ,

Slackline Practice – 7-30-12 – No Audio

A no audio version of my slackline practice video so that it won’t be restricted anywhere. You’re missing some sweet editing to Sleeper Agent’s “Get It Daddy” though. Closing in on 4 months with my newest obsession, the slackline. Still hot as heck outside, but not stopping me from some

Read More » | August 1, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: 3 | Tags: , ,

Slackline Practice – 7-30-12

Closing in on 4 months with my newest obsession, the slackline. Still hot as heck outside, but not stopping me from some outdoor practice. List of skills, in order – Jump mount Jump mount – drop knee – double drop knee Pistol mount Elbow lever Jump (fail) Double drop knee

Read More » | August 1, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: 3 | Tags: , ,

Proper Squat Depth – 125 Kg x 3

A companion video to my recent post about movement standards – www.beastskills.com Here you can see what I consider to be proper squat depth – the crease of the hip below the top of the knee. (Pause the video if you want) Barring any injury/pathology, get yourself flexible enough to

Read More » | July 11, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: none | Tags: , , , ,

Proper Squat Depth – 125 Kg x 3

A companion video to my recent post about movement standards – www.beastskills.com Here you can see what I consider to be proper squat depth – the crease of the hip below the top of the knee. (Pause the video if you want) Barring any injury/pathology, get yourself flexible enough to

Read More » | July 11, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: 2 | Tags: , , , ,

One Arm Handstand Work – 7-2-12

Rough clips of some decent holds tonight. I’ve been filming from the side more frequently, as it is a LOT more informative for the handstand. DO IT. Still not where I want it to be, but still happy with the overall progress this year.

Read More » | July 3, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: 3 | Tags: , , , , ,

One Arm Handstand Work – Start of May 2012

I’ve put such an insane amount of work into the one arm handstand. It is easily the most challenging skill I’ve ever worked. I know I still have a tremendous amount of work to do. There have been ups and downs in training, but here are some clips from the

Read More » | May 14, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: 1 | Tags: , , , , , ,

90 degree pushups – negatives – 5-7-12

I worked the 90 degree pushup again in training today. I’m able to push out of one (www.youtube.com – but today I was looking to control the lower down as far as I could go. I used three set-ups of increasing height. The boxes were a bit harder to transition,

Read More » | May 7, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: 3 | Tags: , , , ,

An Acrobat Does Weightlifting

My site, Beast Skills, is known for various gymnastic feats of strength. But I let people know time and time again that I enjoy lifting heavy weights too! Here’s a montage of my lifts from the Cap City Open. I went 6 for 6 and got two meet PR’s. Couldn’t

Read More » | May 3, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: none | Tags: , , , ,

Reverse Muscle-up aka “Elevator” Training

The evolution past handstand pushups – I’ve been working with my hands on tall boxes to replicate the “elevator”. Decent results. The body leans towards the wall slightly, and notice how the elbows/arms move behind the torso. Careful with the set-up – it’s easy to flip over and/or put yourself

Read More » | April 9, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: none | Tags: , , , ,

Improvised Dream Machine (gymnastics ring assist)

Improvised “Dream Machine” I put together the other day. The red belt is from a Vertimax, although any strong belt would do. I tied loops in the webbing (bowline knot) to connect it to the belt. The carabiners act as pulleys and cut one’s weight in half. It could use

Read More » | March 31, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: 3 | Tags: , , ,

Crank Attempt

In honor of Jasper Benincasa’s Birthday (March 25th, 1921 – January 6th, 2012), I attempted to perform a “crank”. A crank is a hanging l-sit to front lever to inverted hang. Jasper was such a master of body weight strength that he could perform this slowly, taking over a minute

Read More » | March 26, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: 1 | Tags: , , , , , ,

90 degree pushups – low

What to do after handstand pushups? Here’s a start – 90 degree pushups. They were feeling good this week. Here I’ve clustered 3 together (~10 sec rest between each). I am working to get low enough until I eventually get down to a back lever-like position and then pull back

Read More » | February 18, 2012 | Category: Videos | Comments: 27 | Tags: , , , , ,