Monkey Opens Coconut - exercise

Monkey Opens Coconut from Nancy Meenen on Vimeo.

Kellie, Dave and Alex open the coconut

The movement looks exactly like it sounds. Reach to full height with both arms overhead and quickly drive both hands all the way to the floor. Violent images of smashing a coconut on a rock help get this right. Working yourself into an angry fit REALLY helps.

Resistance to the movement comes from rigging a jump-stretch band to a pull-up bar. Reach up and grasp the band at full extension. Because the elastic band provides a non-linear resistance, it is better to link 2 or 3 bands together and find a higher anchor. In the video we are using 2 bands and a 10 foot high bar.

The point of this movement is to contract the entire front of your body at once. This is quite similar to chopping, sledge-hammering or slam-ball. The difference in using a band for resistance is that we get a very substantial eccentric component. You WILL be surprised by control problems as you stand back up. Have fun!

Dave Werner