If you practice the world of the "classic" weight room - the smoky, old school one, made of cast iron discs, chains used for overloads, tutelary deities at the meeting point between performance and motivation, innovation and philosophy, myth and science fiction - you will remember Bruce Lee mainly for two things:
- the injury doing a Buenos dias too heavy
- the dragon flag
Let's see the dragon flag (also because, second only to Bruce Lee in terms of hype and excitement provoked in the fitness enthusiast, there is the Rocky in training).
Index
What is the dragon flag
It is a calisthenics exercise among the most elegant (but, in my opinion, not as much as the human flag).
Not a real free body - you still need support to be grasped with both hands - the dragon flag is a nice game on the abdominals ... even if in reality it is mainly the pulling muscles that are trained (chest, triceps, lats). The abdominals play a very important role, of course: both for skill and in stabilizing and transmitting energy. But theirs is more of an isometric job.
Fundamental, however: why if you don't contract the core you lose the hollow position, and you "embarrass". In which case, you are not making the dragon flag!
The supports you use must be low, well anchored to the ground or wall, and easy to grasp: ideal backrests, bench fixed to the ground, handles.
Dragon flag requirements
As often happens in calisthenics, to get to a complex pose there are some preparatory steps. For the dragon flag, these are:
- hollow position of at least 20 ″ for 4 series
- 8 continuous pull ups (strict, not kipping)
Getting to try the progression for the dragon flag by meeting these requirements, means greatly reducing the risk of injury.
How to do the dragon flag
The dragon flag is an apparently very simple exercise, which however does not require large ones drill to be performed well (except the hollow to be kept for the duration). This is the correct sequence:
- you lie down on the ground, supine, your head almost in contact with the support
- grab the support: the arms should not be locked, but remain slightly flexed
- go up in the candle
- holding the candle, contracting the buttocks and abdomen, go down with the legs up to form a 45 ° angle with the floor
The difficulty is given by the straight legs ... especially if you are a beginner. For this there are some simplified variants of the dragon flag, which constitute the most logical progression:
- tuck dragon flag: legs bent and knees to chest
- advanced tuck: as above, but the knees do not touch the chest
- one leg dragon flag: only one leg is extended, the other is gathered
- straddle dragon flag: legs are straight, but spread apart
Train the dragon flag
The dragon flag is a skill, and as such it "builds" by training the individual parts of the movement, or the simplified variants. If you start from scratch, start with the tuck dragon flag, and work your way up to the classic 4 sets of 8-10 flags. At that point you can move on to the next movement, bearing in mind that if you can't close the sets, you can complete them with the simplest movement.
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