Jes Reynolds…Your Fitness Coach

Article Written by Bud Gibson

Imagine coming to the gym, and every so often, this image confronts you, somebody (i.e., Jes) doing pushups with her feet on one medicine ball and her hands on another. It’s not every day, but it’s a few times a month, and it seems effortless. After a while, you begin to wonder if you’ll see a demonstration of this “two ball pushup” every time you go to the gym.

You sort of want to because you think you could figure it out.

You know the two ball pushup is not effortless, but it seems in the range of the feasible, if only you worked hard enough. And, this exercise is certainly not as insane as some of the things you’ve seen Jes do: like stand upright, balanced on a large exercise ball without assistance.

So, I decided to take on Jes in the two ball pushup, her one impressive exercise I thought I actually had a chance of doing.

I didn’t know what I was getting into….(JES: Finally he admits it!)

Something I thought would take a few weeks wound up taking six months.  And, I never suspected how surprisingly honored I’d feel to have had the experience.

I guess what I most learned is that it’s really just one surprise after another with Jes!

Surprisingly, training to try to do this exercise became one of my favorite past times, particularly when Jes wasn’t around, and I could think I was getting a leg up on her.  Surprisingly, I made progress after what felt like a fairly dim initial prognosis.

Surprisingly, in the course of just over two years now…I became one of Jes’ “surprisingly favorite clients”.

Here are some of the secrets Jes taught me about the two ball pushup that I’ve carried with me all this time:

• Core conditioning is the central component of the two ball pushup. You need to have control of your core to stabilize your body, and it takes a lot of work:
  • Jes started me just trying to hold a plank with my feet balanced on one ball, and I couldn’t do it, until with lots of practice on my own, eventually I could.
  • Simultaneously, I worked on doing the plank with my hands on the ball. This is not as hard, but it’s amazingly taxing to do for any length of time.
• Balance strategies are important but only secondary to core control. You can balance with so-so strategies, but balance is impossible without core control. Once you have core control though, the following will help:
  • Lock your shoulder blades down and back using your lats. The shoulder is the least stable joint in the body. You will be tempted to hunch your shoulders in an effort to concentrate power there to control the ball. That’s the kiss of death. Don’t do it.
  • For the ball at your foot, put one foot on, balance it, put weight on it. Then, lift up the other foot gently.
• The trick to getting up on two balls is to stabilize the arms and shoulders first on one ball, then move the feet onto the second, like I just described. If you don’t have adequate core control, you’ll find this IMPOSSIBLE.
• Once you can hold yourself on two balls for a minute, the pushup is nothing. Just go slow. I knew pushups already though. If you can’t do pushups, tackle that first on the way to doing this.

Those are the technical secrets. If someone had told them to me back when I started, it would not have made a difference. I needed Jes’ insight and coaching. She had to diagnose the core strength issue and prescribe a plan to fix it. She had to suggest the balance strategies, repeating often with patience. She had to put up with and manage my impatience.

Jes was right when she said we both shared a passion for performance and excellence. I couldn’t have asked for more. Jes is the best fitness professional I’ve ever known, and I hope to continue working with her for some time to come whether in person or remotely through one of her training plans. This is someone I want to stay connected to. She is a personal and professional resource without peer.

See the results for yourselves:

Note: This post was written by Jes and Bud intermittently adds his two cents throughout.

While most of us consider what people appear to be on the outside the determining factor in their physical ability, I’m very aware that the mental determination within an individual far outweighs anything that may appear on the outside.  Such is the case of one of my long-time and surprisingly favorite clients, Bud Gibson.

(Bud: Jes wanted to make this a dialog with me throwing in remarks. Well, Remark #1, it’s nice to be referred to as surprisingly favorite)

Sure, most of you probably see us as a mismatched pair.  But actually if you take away the layers, Bud and I are both fierce perfectionists who share a passion for personal achievement.  It’s through this shared mental approach that includes tenacity, confidence and focus to the point some would consider obsession (Bud: some!? I’d say most), that Bud was able to not only perform, but master the two ball push-up.

When I first began training Bud, like most people he was afraid of me (Bud: I’m not sure I was so much afraid of Jes as dying from the workout).  Rightfully so…I’m not sure, I guess you guys can be the judge of that.  But the feeling of nausea throughout the entire first workout seems to be a theme with many of my trainees.  Bud was not excluded from this right of passage (at least the way he tells it he’s not).

In terms of physical ability, while Bud was strong, (and by strong I mean capable of performing most lifts well and with decent form) he had little or no ability to transfer his strength into movement or functionality (Bud: This is why I sought Jes out and why I still work with her).  His core was extremely weak, as he was unable to hold a basic plank for more than 30 seconds.

Bud’s goals
From the beginning of our working together, Bud insisted upon being able to beat me at everything.  It didn’t matter if we were talking about running, jumping, lifting, stretching, or whatever…Bud proclaimed that he would reign supreme…at least in some capacity.  I personally thought he was nuts (just being honest) and I’m a little surprised he didn’t join my volleyball league just so he could beat me at that too (Bud: Had I known of this league, I probably would have. Jes kind of kept it from me … hmmm).

One of the tasks Bud insisted (vehemently) that we work on was the 2 ball push-up.  From a trainers perspective, I thought it was a fantastic goal.  Something challenging that had a lot of mini steps he could use to encourage him along the path to achieving it.  So the journey began…

First on the list was the basic plank.  We worked on this a few times a week until it came quite easy for him to hold for at minimum one minute.  Next was something Bud was already very proficient at, the basic push-up.  We didn’t spend much time on that other than to incorporate it into different aspects of his training regimen.  Third was the one and two ball plank (Bud: This is actually the part I remember. The first time at the one ball plank, Jes had to hold the ball between her feet to stabilize it for me. That’s when I realized beating her at anything would not be so easy. I still haven’t given up though. It’s a long term goal. It will happen).  This took more time for him to master and was incorporated into workouts quite often (every week) as we worked up to the 2 ball push-up. Last was the actual two ball push-up. After a period of time, dedication, and obsessive focus Bud was able to easily perform the push-up and still can to this day.

As his trainer, I will say that watching Bud progress from hardly being able to do a plank to being able to easily incorporate the two ball push-up into workouts was very rewarding.  It was an honor to guide him towards one of his own personal fitness goals.  I also would like to reiterate, that it wasn’t Bud’s physical ability that caused him to reach his goal, he started with almost no ability to do the most basic component of this exercise (Bud: Such the flatterer).  It was his mental tenacity, will, focus, and persistence that caused him to master this movement and all the skills necessary to achieve it.  GOOD JOB BUD!

(Bud: Jes has actually asked me to write my own post next week, telling my side of the story. Quite brave, if you ask me. Suffice it to say, for now, that the honor has been all mine)

As I’ve said before, functional training, balance & stability are a crucial to my fitness routine.  Utilizing various exercises that require balance, stability, and core strength are how I keep my workouts fun & challenging.  Setting mini-goals such as standing on the stability ball and the 2 ball push-up allow me to continually change what I do throughout the year while consistently working toward my broader fitness goals.

In this post, I plan to discuss both my technique and motivation for doing the 2 ball push-up.  Over the course of two more posts, I’ll discuss it further by showing how I took a client from being unable to hold a basic plank for an extended period of time all the way to achieving the two ball push-up.

When it comes to the two ball push-up, I love the demand it places upon not only my physical abilities, but also my mental concentration & focus.  Mastering this exercise and incorporating it into specific workouts has allowed me to push myself further both mentally and physically. 

What does it take to do the 2 ball push-up?
While this task seems difficult at first, all it takes to complete it is the knowledge of how to do it and the discipline to practice doing it.  You can easily develop all the skills necessary to perform this task if you use the right workout regimen.  If adding the two ball push-up to your workout routine is one of your fitness goals you should focus daily on the following:

• Upper body strength
• Core Strength
• Balance & Stability

Why would anyone want to do the 2 ball push-up?
Learning this exercise and the elements required to perform it is challenging and fun.  And while mastering this movement isn’t critical for an effective weight loss plan or a body building routine, one derives an undeniable element of personal satisfaction once able to do it.

As I said previously, the 2 ball push-up can be considered a mini-goal you could set, one that would fit in with your broader fitness goals.  The two ball push-up could be used in the following ways:

• Fitness mini-goal
• Chest Super-Set Challenge
• Core Strength Training
• Total Body Workouts

What would it take for YOU to master the 2 ball push-up?

Basic Push-up:  First and foremost, you must be able to perform a body weight push-up with proper form, control, and range of motion.  Practicing a push-up with the appropriate form will allow you to have the necessary strength and control needed to perform the ball push-up correctly.  I recommend being able to perform at least 10 perfect push-ups before attempting the 2 ball push-up.

Basic Plank:  You must also be capable of holding a basic plank before attempting the two ball push-up.  You can find instructions on how to perform this basic core strength training exercise here.

2 Ball Plank:  The two ball plank is a milestone you can work towards on your way to doing the two ball pushup.  It’s obvious that the 2 ball plank is a necessary precursor to the two ball push-up, but this exercise alone could also be considered a mini-fitness goal.  I would consider it to be on the difficult side for most individuals.  Practice the two ball plank first and once you can hold it for approximately 60 seconds is when I would attempt performing the two ball pushup.