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Handstand Press Progression

By Bac on August 3, 2012 in Presses & Pushup

Here is a great video that shows handstand press progressions in action.

I’m not sure over what span of time these clips were shot but it shows a man making lots of progress on a variety of handstand presses. There’s some very cool stuff like freestanding handstand pushups on bars with a weighted vest.

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing

It starts off with straight arm presses moves onto planche work, and then a whole variety of handstand pushups. At the end you’ll see some lever work, pullups and a couple one legged squats.

Thanks to Frank Dimeo for calling this video to my attention.

By studying this video you’re sure to gain some ideas on finding a handstand press progression that works for you.

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Lsit to Shoulder Stand

By Bac on August 2, 2012 in Handstands

Here’s a fairly easy hand balancing skill you can practice. Its called the Lsit to Shoulder Stand.

To start with I recommend two solid platforms to keep your hands on that are raised from the ground. Big kettlebells work great for this too.

Start in an L position then tuck your legs, tip your shoulders forward and come to the shoulder stand. Then reverse it.

You can make this exercise harder by:

1) Doing more reps
2) Longer holds in any of the positions
3) Try it on the ground like this handstand from sitting.
4) Pressing up to a complete handstand from the shoulder stand.

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Offset Press Handstand

By Bac on August 1, 2012 in Handstands, One Hand, Presses & Pushup

Recently I covered the variation known as the shoulder stand, that’s different from the common shoulder stand.

This move builds on top of that. Instead of both hands flat one is raised higher then the other.

You can hold this position.

Or you can then do an offset press up into a one arm handstand with support.

Its a fun move to try.

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Shoulder Stand

By Bac on July 31, 2012 in Handstands, Presses & Pushup

The shoulder stand is a name for a movement pictured below.

However it’s also the name for the bottom of a press position as you’ll learn in this video here.

This is a great move for several purposes.

1. Strengthens the arms and shoulders. You’re holding a position that can be tough. Although your arms are fully bent and touching which allows you to support some weight they still must isometrically fire to hold you in position.

2. Strengthens the abdominals. This can be increased by raising and lowering the legs into position.

3. Works your balance. The hands must work to keep you balanced. Since it’s a lower center of gravity then the handstand, it’s usually easier to hold this position. It would make another great lead-up stunt for the handstand for that reason.

Secrets of the Handstand 3.0 is coming soon!

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Work on Straight Handstands

By Bac on July 30, 2012 in Handstands

I’m going to try showing more of my regular practice up here on the blog. One of the biggest focuses lately has been straight handstands.

Instead of kicking up, there is a jump up through a tucked position to the handstand. As you can see my body still is curved, but this wasn’t the best example. Body position and balance is improving.

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Living Life in a Handstand Part 2

By Bac on July 27, 2012 in Handstands, Walking & Jumping

This is the second in a new series that shows an average day life, except that the person gets around while in a handstand. This is from Tim “Livewire” Shieff a famous freerunner.

There’s tons of walking around on the hands here, accompanied by a dog. You also have to admire some of the transitions into and out of the handstands.

The part with the dog poop is a bit much, but a great shot into the trash can. 🙂

Make sure you check out the other videos in this series below.

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Rock Climbing and Handstands Combined

By Bac on July 24, 2012 in Rock Climbing, Walking & Jumping

Yesterday you got to watch Tim “Livewire” Shieff live life in a handstand. Here’s another great video of the same man. Thanks to Dave Gillett for sharing this one with me.

I think rock climbing and handstands go very well together. In one you work the pushing muscles of the upper body. In the other you work the pulling muscles.

But this isn’t what I mean when I say to combine the two…

This is truly rock climbing and handstands combined. A simple bouldering stunt turned upside down. This makes going down a flight of stairs on your hands look like child’s play.

How many other rock climbers/hand balancers are out there?

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Living Life in a Handstand

By Bac on July 23, 2012 in Handstands, Walking & Jumping

This is the first in a new series that shows an average day life, except that the person gets around while in a handstand. This is from Tim “Livewire” Shieff a famous freerunner.

It starts off with a forearm stand.

There’s lot of walking on the hands.

A bit of a supported one armer as he pays to get in the station.

Riding down the escalator, and taking a few downward steps at the end too. He covers a flight of stairs a little later on.

Finally he holds a stable handstand inside the departing subway train. Considering they tell you to hold onto the rails if you’re standing, this probably is much harder then it looks.

I wondering how the backpack may have made this slightly easier by lowering his center of gravity.

I can’t say for sure as I wasn’t there, but this was most likely just done shot at a time. Is anyone else interested in trying something like this? To do the whole thing in one shot would be truly legendary.

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Handstand Underwater

By Bac on July 20, 2012 in Handstands

The first time I heard about doing handstand underwater I didn’t think it was a good idea. But since then I’ve changed my mind.

Let’s look at some of the benefits and drawbacks.

Why should you do handstands underwater? The balance will be easier. Because the water has a greater resistance then the air your body will not fall out of position as quickly and you’ll have an easier time correcting it.

This can also be made progressive by having your body less and less underwater. In the beginning, if you have a pool deep enough you can be completely submerged, but as you improve your legs will stick out more. This is where a nice sloping pool would come in handy.

The main drawback I see is that you won’t be able to breathe, so unless you’re also working to improve how long you can hold your breath you won’t last too long.

Also you have to be careful to still maintain all the body position and everything you’re going for with an underwater handstand, like you would in a real handstand.

So yes you can add in underwater handstands to how you practice but I wouldn’t make it the only thing you do. For more info be sure to check out my handstand getting system.

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Handstand Tap Dance

By Bac on July 19, 2012 in Walking & Jumping

In the previous video we discussed doing a handstand dance and a few different ways that can happen.

Here we’re going to look at one specific form on that with the handstand tap dance.

This isn’t the first time professional Rudi Macaggi has been featured on this site. But this video of tap dancing on the hands was new to me. It’s awesome and I’ve never seen anything like it before!

Amazing!

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