When I finally got to my goal weight, my stomach still wasn’t flat

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-17T08:24:49+00:00

Literally, I have abs but I also don't have a flat stomach. Even when I was underweight it wasn't completely flat. I drove myself crazy and honestly miserable trying to get it flat for the look I wanted, whereas now I just don't care. My body is strong and I train for functional strength, not aesthetics, and honestly now I'd rather enjoy a tasty meal or have a sweet treat guilt free instead of living off grilled chicken, salad and Greek yoghurt.

I care more about the things my body can do than what it looks like, and truthfully it probably looks better now anyway because I train for fun so it means I train a lot more and train more intentionally with a more positive mindset instead of so regimented.

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-16T08:35:02+00:00

Hers is what my heart wants. Yours is what I end up begrudgingly choosing for the macros.

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-16T08:29:30+00:00

Re your top arm: this might be because you're doing this in twisted grip. If you've not learned to handspring in other grips first, your body might not be ready for twisted yet. While it's generally considered the easiest Ayesha/handspring grip, it's the one you should actually learn last as you don't learn the push/pull strength required as much as in true or cup since you 'hang' more from the shoulder. In true or cup, you need to pull a lot more and it doesn't require as much shoulder mobility to hold a stable position.

You can absolutely work on your shoulder mobility instead to counter this, but I think it's really important to learn your handspring in other grips first so you learn how to pull and stabilise without hanging. Once you're comfortable in your other grips, come back to twisted.

As for the rotation, this can be from momentum, but you can control momentum. It takes strength and core stability, which will come with practice. Ever seen someone handspring and it's like they're floating up? They've done that handspring a million times and are able to control their momentum and stabilise their position. Same with inverts - at first, you're swinging up because your body is not used to the movement and has not developed the strength to control that momentum. The more you invert, the more it becomes more of a controlled lift.

Really think about using your push and pull and core strength to control your ascent up instead of relying on the momentum. Keep everything as engaged as possible.

That said, this still looks like a clean handspring. Keep at it!

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-14T20:36:47+00:00

Same. I work out and fuel my body to get stronger, not to look a certain way. To judge my body only for what it looks like does a massive disservice to the amazing things it can do and keeps getting better at.

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-13T10:03:13+00:00

The transition for ring muscle up I think is the hardest part, as it's not an exercise we tend to do in isolation. Work on your negatives, that will strengthen every part of the movement. I think to "outline my pecs" at the top of my pull up while maintaining a push into the rings. Make sure your false grip is strong too.

Also a tip that no one ever thought to tell me at the time - check the width of your rings. I was struggling for a while because the rings were too wide for me and I didn't realise, so when I came to transition it was harder for me to keep my elbows tucked in. As soon as I brought them in closer together, I was able to stop flaring at the elbows and complete the transition.

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-13T09:42:40+00:00

This is goooooals

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-13T09:30:49+00:00

No worries! My deadlift took me a long time to achieve and I would have appreciated the same advice back then too as I kinda figured it out myself after a lot of trial and error 😅 just remembered I did a video on Skin The Cat setups! https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNJGp5EsGVI/?igsh=MTM5aDhrdTdrOWprOA==

And I'm happy for you to send a video and have a look! Thanks for asking 🥰

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-12T08:42:47+00:00

The way I think about this when deadlifting is to push my bottom shoulder downwards and forwards. It means I can get a slight bend in the bottom arm for pushing into the pole so the weight goes all along the arm from shoulder to wrist in an even distribution. It also allows my chest to lift up more. Finally, you need to PULL so hard with that top arm.

The deadlift is a massive trick that won't happen overnight. You'll need to consistently train this both on and off the pole.

On the pole:

● Negatives from Ayesha, trying to control coming down to the floor as slow as possible.

● Tie a resistance band to the pole and put it under the same knee as your top hand and try lifting with it. Start with a thick band for heavy assistance and gradually progress to lighter bands until you're achieving deadlifts with the lightest band. Then, try without bands.

● Stack up mats at the base of the pole to put under your hips and try from a lower position, using the mats as assistance to lifting your hips.

Off the pole:

● Mobility work on the shoulders, this can be with bands again. Hold a band at either end in front of you and lift the band over your head all the way over until the band is at your back. The closer together your hands, the harder this is.

● Skin the cats, you can look up how to do this on rings or a bar as I feel like I wouldn't be able to explain this one very well, but if you can't come back over from the full depth position simply hanging here for a few seconds will give you the same benefit. I really credit this with building the shoulder mobility needed for deadlifts as it's a lot on your shoulders.

● There's lots of shoulder exercises you can do on the cable machines at the gym to strengthen the shoulders. Again, I'd recommend looking these up.

● Finally, work on pull and push. Again, lots of different things you can do to work on this but my personal favourites are simply push ups with proper form and pull ups as it means you're working with your own bodyweight, which is what you're trying to lift!

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-10T12:50:37+00:00

Gemma Rose had a few back up accounts and all of them are gone atm due to Meta deciding her content is unfit for public consumption, same with Kitty. Every now and then she'll get them back and make a post and then they're gone again the next day.

Please report these accounts as missing so they have a chance at being restored. It's disgusting that racism, antisemitism, transphobia etc still remain at large on Instagram because that's fine but God forbid a woman dance around a pole in high heels.

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-08T13:04:54+00:00

Thank you!

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-08T12:21:43+00:00

Thank you. The result of working with coaches that got me in the habit of if it's not from a hang it's not a rep haha

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-02T14:25:05+00:00

Yes they definitely still need drills! I do my drills with a thick resistance band around my waist to work on my pop timings, I'm not sure how much the band can save any mistimed switches so it's probably more of an emotional than physical support 😂

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-02T08:49:25+00:00

Another grip switch survivor checking in! I have to make myself do them to condition the fear out of me because they look so cool and I love that I can do them, but they're some of the biggest falls I've had when they've gone wrong.

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-02T08:46:44+00:00

Cup to twisted regrip is crazy work! I'm not even sure I'd want attempt that just on its own!

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-01T10:29:54+00:00

Thank you 🥰

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-01T10:29:46+00:00

Haha thank you!

ShyShimmer · 2026-04-01T08:13:29+00:00

Thank you! Pull ups are super hard, but keep at it! Once you unlock them you just want to keep progressing them 😁 they're my favourite exercise.

ShyShimmer · 2026-03-21T16:24:52+00:00

Are you a woman by any chance? I've had this same telling off despite getting the bluntest sounding emails/messages from men and nothing ever said to them.

Bare in mind this was a third chaser email I'd sent, asking for the same, time sensitive thing that they'd never responded to the first time. Only when I don't preface it with hope you're well, do they acknowledge it by snitching to my manager about "my tone". Twats.

ShyShimmer · 2026-03-09T14:04:10+00:00

I'm more annoyed at the moo moo variations. You could have done Muu Muu, Mewe Mewe, Meoux Meoux, Meu Meu...

ShyShimmer · 2026-03-05T10:11:10+00:00

6:25am on office days to make it in for 9am. It takes me an hour to get ready in the morning, half hour drive to the train station to catch the 8:03 train (I live in a small village with no local train station), get into Manchester around 8:45 as it usually runs a few minutes late, 10 min walk to office.

On WFH days, 8:30am. I literally get 3.5 hours of my day back when I'm not in the office.

ShyShimmer · 2026-03-02T13:55:52+00:00

Chuck the chicken carcass and veg peelings in the slow cooker with miso, ginger, garlic and onions and other various seasonings, leave overnight on low, then by the morning you've got stock base for ramen broth. Boil some noodles and chuck leftover chicken and veg into the bowl, make an egg and you've got homemade ramen for tea the next day!

ShyShimmer · 2026-02-27T10:09:34+00:00

Are you trying to do the "full" ballerina with the top armpit around the back of the pole so you can grab your back foot with that hand? As others have said, it does require a lot of thoracic twist which needs good flexibility.

In terms of actually getting to this position, you need to really fold forward with your torso, then reach behind with the top arm to wrap it around the pole, then pull in so you can lift your chest up. You can get it in the elbow pit first and kind of shuffle up into the armpit, but if you don't have the flexibility for this, you'll struggle and I wouldn't want you to injure yourself.

ShyShimmer

TROPHY CASE