There is always that person in the gym. The guy who bench presses three times your body weight, and doesn’t even have to be big, just strong – or squats the equivalent of a small car. But then there are people like Ibrahim Alshaeri who go above and beyond and perform feats that none of us could have considered possible.
In a video posted to his Instagram account (which he has since picked up sports stoolIbrahim, who is a “passionate master of calisthenics” from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, can be seen in a one-armed handstand that wouldn’t look out of place at Cirque du Soleil. Instead of just performing conventional handstands on the ground, Ibrahim pushes himself up by supporting himself on a bar, which is itself carefully balanced on two elevated bars.
Check out Ibrahim’s ridiculously difficult handstand in the video below.
The sheer amount of core strength a move like this requires, not to mention the need to have a great pair of balls, is beyond belief.
Not only are we incredibly impressed with Ibrahim’s feat, but a scroll through the comments reveals that many others are simply baffled by his talent. Comments range from “this isn’t necessary, but it’s still incredibly impressive and supportive”, to “the most amazing part of these videos is the amount of practice these people put into getting to this point. How many times has this guy ground his teeth before he got to this point?
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There are even numerous users who challenge their friends to try the same exercise the next time they are in the gym. We shouldn’t need to say this, but we highly recommend that you don’t try it yourself…unless you’re a calisthenics pro, of course.
So what exactly is calisthenics? Essentially, it’s about performing resistance training using only your body weight, as opposed to weight training which uses weights to provide resistance in order to build strength.
Some basic examples of calisthenic exercises include push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and lunges. Most calisthenics can also be classified as compound exercises, meaning they use multiple muscle groups at once. This brings several benefits, including helping you lose body fat weight quickly and improving muscle definition. So if you’re on a quest to get yourself a six pack, you don’t necessarily need to lift weights in the gym.
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If you haven’t tried calisthenics yet, or if you’ve never heard of the term before, it offers a great entry point into the world of keeping fit and getting your body moving (it even comes with less risk of injury than lifting weights). .
You never know, with a few years of training, you might as well reach Ibrahaim’s level of skill…
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