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Press to Handstand

By admin on August 15, 2012 in Presses & Pushup

The press to handstand is a fairly general name, that commonly refers to any straight arm press. This is different from the many bent arm presses, which are still presses up to a handstand, but are usually called something different.

Among the straight arm variations, the most common and easiest to begin with is the straddle press, where the legs are spread wide.

There is also the pike press, which is harder to do, because having the legs together increases the leverage.

Here is a good video tutorial on the subject

All the drills in this video will help you to learn this skills. To recap:

1) Straddle Lift off the Floor Holds
2) Straddle Lift Pressup
3) Straddle and Pike Stretch
4) Trying the Press to Handstand and Lifting Toes
5) Straddle Press Against the Wall
6) Straddle Press with Feet Raised to Start

I would partially disagree with her statement to never jump. While that doesn’t qualify for the full skill, you can use a little hop in training for this exercise.

Also the floor press handstand (where the legs start on the floor) is a harder skill then just pressing with your feet starting on the ground.

Be forewarned this exercise can be very difficult to do, especially for men. The biggest thing likely to hold you back is flexibility, more so then strength. Much work needs to be done on these drills and others to attain this skill. In addition to the hamstring and hip flexibility you need lots of compression ability, that is compacting your upper and lower body together.

I’m personally still working on this skill as it’s long eluded me, but I am getting ever closer.

There are many more advanced variations of pressing to handstand, like from an Lsit or even on one arm as is seen in the video below.

For lots of tips and training ideas on many variations of the press to handstand I highly suggest you check out Professor Orlick’s Hand Balancing Made Easy.

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York Hand Balancing Course

By admin on August 14, 2012 in Handstands, Presses & Pushup

The York Hand Balancing Course was published by the York Barbell Company. There is no specific author, and I have found no information that states who actually wrote it. It starts off with the following:

DID YOU EVER NOTICE when you see a group of strong men together that, sooner or later, they take time out for some handbalancing? Handbalancing to a bodybuilder, a weightlifter or any barbell man, is as natural as a duck taking to water. I think one reason for this is the fact that barbell trained men are so much stronger than others that the difficult balancing stunts are to them very easy. Furthermore, lifting barbells has given them unusual co-ordination which is very necessary to the would-be balancer.

While this may have been true in the 40’s when this book was originally written, it is not anymore. Most weightlifters and bodybuilders couldn’t hold a handstand, even against the wall, if they tried. But with more realistic and functional training this is swinging back the other way.

And if you’re a weightlifter, bodybuilder, or train in any other manner there’s no reason you can’t also do the handstand, and much more advanced hand balancing tricks.

There is actually two York Hand Balancing Courses, number 1 and 2. If you want you can get both in one volume over at Amazon.

The first book covers beginner to intermediate hand balancing stunts and the second even more advanced material.

While it’s a great introduction to the material, it doesn’t go into the same depth as you’ll find in other places like The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing and Hand Balancing Made Easy.

Here’s a couple examples of what you’ll find inside the York course:

York Handstand Positions

I HAVE OFTEN BEEN ASKED ; “just what does the perfect handstand look like?” There are many expert handbalancers and it seems that each one has a different idea on this. Some insist that it is only perfect when the normal back arch (the amount the same person would have if standing erect on his feet) is shown in the handstand position (see Fig. 9A). There are others who prefer a very deep arch claiming it is more graceful and requires less effort once mastered (see Fig. 9B). A third prevalent group insist that only the ‘Continental’ type of handstand is correct (see Fig. 9C). The ‘Continental’ allows practically no arch – the legs and lower part of the body in line with the arms.

Of course as this was written in the 40’s the handstands taught are the antique or classic style, and not the straight handstands that are common today in the circus or gymnastics. Even it’s continental handstand is not what is commonly taught these days. Nothing is wrong with these positions at all, but its not the place to go for a modern straight handstand.

York Handstand Lever Up

YOU WON’T FIND MANY chaps who can do this lever-up. It takes plenty of strength and flexibility. The starting position for the stiff-arm-stiff-legged is shown on Page 4, Fig. 4A. Lean well forward, keep the elbows straight at all times and bring the feet as close to the hands as possible without bending the knees. The closer you can get your feet to your hands the easier the stunt . Keep leaning forward until the feet leave the floor (as indicated by the solid lines in Fig. 4B, Page 4) and continue to raise the legs (Fig. 4B, dotted lines) from the hips only. As your feet come into the vertical position (Fig. 4C) you will have to draw your shoulders and head back (that is; come back from the extreme forward position) until the complete handstand has been secured. You must have perfect control through-out the entire movement.

So the York Handbalancing book is a great place to get some ideas for hand balancing exercises, but is not the most in-depth or complete manual available today.

If you’re like me you’ll want every book on hand balancing in your library so it’s certainly worth picking up.

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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.

How to do the One Hand Handstand by Professor Orlick

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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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.

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing

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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Handstand Clap Pushup

By Bac on July 16, 2012 in Handstands, Presses & Pushup

The handstand clap pushup is an amazing skill. In this post you’ll learn about and see a couple different ways to do it.

Although it’s called a “pushup” the truth is the easiest way to do it is to not really do a pushup. By generating a jumping action from the feet you can launch yourself into the air, clap, and then land back in the handstand.

Here is a good example of that. There is only a slight bend in the arms before launching and when landing.

Contrast that to this one. Here the jump is generated fully from the legs, but it is not caught in a handstand position or even close to it. The guy ends up in basically the bottom of the handstand pushup and must press back up.

Now here is where it truly becomes handstand pushup with claps and not just a jumping handstand with a clap. Not only does he not use the legs at all but he manages several reps in a row.

These strict handstand clap pushups are tough to do. Even the earlier version are going to be outside the realm of what most people can manage.

To work up to this skill I would recommend:

1) Learn how to hold a stable handstand.
2) Build handstand pushup strength.
3) Learn how to jump with your hands (if you’re going for that version).
4) Build a lot more handstand pushup strength (for the strict version).

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Handstand to Crow

By Bac on July 4, 2012 in Handstands, Presses & Pushup, Yoga

This post is about moving from a handstand to crow position. The crow is the common name used in yoga, for what I generally refer to as the frogstand. It is also called a bakasana.

You’ll notice here the strap around her arms. This is a prop used to help keep the arms in the proper alignment. I’ve never tried it out myself, but it looks like it could be helpful in preventing the arms from flaring out.

Moving from the handstand to crow is easier then going the opposite way, the crow to handstand as is shown in the following video. Of course this can then be done with lowering back down in the same manner.

The handstand to crow and vice versa can be done with straighter arms or arms with more bend.

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One Arm Press from Straddle

By Bac on July 3, 2012 in One Hand, Presses & Pushup

This video shows a one arm press from straddle to one arm handstand on hand balancing canes done 11 times.

You can skip to about 1:20 when the action starts.

Judging by the reactions and build up it must have been a record at least among this group.

One Arm Press is a super advanced skill. Doing it on two arms is outside what most people can do, let alone on one.

Thanks to Dunte for sending me this video.

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Handstand From Sitting

By Bac on June 29, 2012 in Flexibility & Contortion, Presses & Pushup

The following, going to a handstand from sitting position, is an intermediate skill though it can be made easier or harder.

This video shows you a good example of how you can do this move.

Handstand From Sitting

This is probably the easiest form to do this skill in.

1 – Start in an L-sit position
2 – Tuck your legs
3 – Come to a tuck planche or bent arm tucked position.
4 – Press up to a handstand

You can reverse the positions and come back down from a handstand to sitting position as well. This skill is just slightly harder then the frogstand press.

To make this more advanced keep your arms straight then entire time. This may take a little less strength but more flexibility.

To make it much more advanced keep the legs straight the entire time. This requires much more flexibility to bring them through your arms, plus compressive ability.

To make this skill easier try it from parallel bars.

The handstand from sitting is a great hand balancing press skill no matter how you do it so start working on it.

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Is a One Arm Handstand Pushup Possible?

By Bac on June 19, 2012 in One Hand, Presses & Pushup

I got this message from Mark in response to the recent post on the one arm handstand pushup.

He makes a really good point, that if people were doing the move, it would be somewhere on video, and everyone in the hand balancing world would achieve it.

Sorry to be a cynic Logan,

But I have this sort of thing happen before, where someone who’s not familiar with hand-balancing tell me they have seen something like the one-handed handstand pushup you mentioned your friend telling you about. You might find they are doing something which is still hard, but which you have seen many times before but which could be mistaken by an amateur. I think you really need to see this sort of thing for yourself either through video footage or with your own eyes.

Either that it’s something that only light bodied 5-7 year olds can do and who lose the skill as their strength to weight ratio (invariably drops) as they get older.

As far as I know there is no footage of the move you are talking about yet on youtube. Every handbalancer would know it was something major if they saw it and it would fly round to the rest of us (I imagine) before too long. The person would gain extreme recognition and respect from the community (I imagine) instantaneously.

I am not saying it’s not out there or not possible, but not yet at any rate….

There was a moment in the following video @2.24 where Caiyong did something which I thought was impossible.

That transition has to be one of the most difficult strength moves in the world. I’ve seen that move before, a one arm pressup from the one arm lever, but never with as little explosiveness and in that strict of style.

Cai Yong is an amazing hand balancer. So perhaps the true one arm handstand pushup isn’t possible (yet) but this that doesn’t mean you can’t build unbelievable strength through hand balancing and do other equally jaw-dropping moves.

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