The human flag is usually performed on a pole or some sturdy structure and it’s a tough move even for those in great shape. But when you try to do it with a partner instead of a pole, it adds whole another level of difficulty. Or two.
In this video Al Kavadlo and his brother Danny gave it a try. Al went for Danny’s ankle and forearm for support and he actually managed to hold it for several seconds in this position. It certainly requires an immense amount of strength, coordination and balance to perform such a feat.
Just a couple updates from my hand balancing training.
This chair press is something I’ve played with a few times over the years. This was the first time I pressed up with the lower arm to lockout.
In working on my straddle I have pretty poor flexibility, especially dynamic, so I’ve been working on that. This video shoes to drills a straddle sit and straddle leg lifts.
This video features 13 different ways to get up into a handstand.
Specifically, as a yoga practice these are known as Uttanasana, Bakasana, Titthibasana, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Konasana, Navasana, Kukkutasanana, Padmasana, Supta Kurmasana, and Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana.
And if you don’t speak ancient languages you’ll see a
This video showcases crazy hip and leg flexibility plus amazing hand balancing skills by Ricardo Sosa.
Many people underestimate how much flexibility is needed, or at least is very helpful, in doing many hand balancing stunts. Now you don’t need to be this flexible, but improving your flexibility wouldn’t hurt either.
In fact I know it’s the one thing that is holding me back, more so than strength or skill, to attaining some of the skills I’m going after.
Unless you’re a mutant you won’t be able to get started with these stretches but if you look closely and watch the video a couple times, you may gain some ideas on drills (at a lesser intensity) that you could do.
The handstand on the ground is fairly tough but easily doable with a little practice. The handstand on rings is much, much tougher.
Here we have Jim Bathurst on the rings working on his handstands.
What makes ring handstands harder to do? You can’t use your wrists at all in order to balance like you can on the floor or parallel bars. Instead all the balance must be done from the shoulders and by bending the arms as you can see Jim do quite a bit.
The truth is ideally you don’t want to bend your arms just like in a normal handstand, but when you’re first starting out it may happen. Try to avoid it though as it can set in bad habits.
The easy way to do a handstand on the rings is to wrap your legs around the straps. This is comparable to doing a handstand against the wall. Of course the freestanding ring handstand and that against the straps is like a freestanding handstand versus one against the wall, just the rings both are a jump in difficulty.
Still if you work on handstands on the rings your balance will grow that much stronger.
Some other lead up stunts to it would include shoulder stands on the rings and many other skills.
A headstand is an intense display of upper body strength. To attempt it without proper preparation could lead to severe personal injury or permanent damage to your body. It is also probably not best for you to jump into something like the headstand without having any idea of what you’re doing. It’s important to build on your core and shoulder strength before attempting to learn how to do a headstand for beginners. This is one of the more enjoyable and extreme gymnastics moves to master, and it’s best to have someone with you to spot you when you’re first learning on the process of a beginner’s headstand. People commonly feel refreshed and revitalized after being in an inverted position such as the headstand.
Preparing to Enter the Headstand
While facing a sturdy wall, lower yourself onto your elbows and knees.
Keep your hands together in front of your head and place the center of the top portion of your head down onto the mat.
Make sure that you never put the back portion of the top of your head down on the mat.
If you can’t go exact center, further to the front is acceptable.
Keep your elbows fairly close together by lining them up under your shoulders. Keep your breathing controlled and steady.
Now, straighten your legs by lifting your knees and buttocks and bringing your heels off of the ground. Rock back and forth on your toes a bit to get loosened up.
Entering and Exiting the Headstand Pose
The last step to learning how to do a headstand for beginners is to actually do the headstand.
Start walking your feet, on their tiptoes, closer and closer to your head.
Once it feels right, lift one of your legs up to the wall.
Let your other leg follow the first one up; this is a great time for your spotter to step in and help you straightened up.
While you’re in this pose, take some deep cleansing breaths. If you feel comfortable, close your eyes and count to five.
Don’t stay in an inverted pose like this for too long at a time.
Make sure that you do this slowly and in a controlled way.
Part of learning how to do a headstand for beginners is to learn how to make every movement involved steady and controlled. It keeps you from injury as well and helps strengthen your body against its own natural resistance.
Most of us dreaded gym class in school. One of the hardest tasks was learning how to do a handstand and stay up. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to be on the US Olympic Gymnastics team to perform a steady handstand. It takes patience, practice and good technique.
This video shows getting up into a handstand from a yoga perspective. I’d approach it differently but there are some good tips here.
If you have never attempted a handstand before, have a friend hold your legs as you kick up into a handstand. You can also practice against a wall. Whichever route you choose, make sure to follow the same guidelines below on how to do a handstand and stay up:
Place your hands on the floor in front of you. Make sure they are about shoulder width apart. If you get too wide, you will fall and not have a good balance.
Another tip is to spread your fingers out to make a wider base. It is essential that you lock your elbows once you begin the handstand. This is crucial for a good platform.
Begin by placing your hands on the floor in front of you with your elbows locked.
Place your dominant leg forward and kick up into a handstand with your weaker leg.
You may need to practice doing a few kicks to get the right balance. If you are worried about falling over, try to use a softer surface to practice your handstand on. Grass is good to start. Once you are able to get yourself up into a vertical position, look at your hands to keep yourself balanced. Avoid moving your head around and keep your legs locked together. It is a good practice to point your toes to the sky. This helps your balance and presents a nicer image. Allowing your legs to dangle over your head is not a good technique because it could throw you off balance and it doesn’t look good. Use your palms for balance. If you start to fall forward, push with your fingers. If you find yourself falling backwards, push on your palm heels for balance. Staying up in the correct shape requires a lot of strength, which can be achieved through practice.
Finally, watch the video and take notes on things that you should not do if you want to stay up when doing a handstand. Like most things, it will take time and practice to know how to do a handstand and stay up.
Sirsasana is another name for the Yoga Headstand, which is a challenging posture within the inversion category. Other inversions include postures such as the handstand, the forearm balance and the shoulder stand. There’s a wide array of benefits to be had from learning how to do a headstand in yoga, but one should never attempt a headstand without taking the time to properly learn the correct alignment and setup for this particular yoga pose.
Preparation and Alignment
To get prepped and aligned for the headstand, get into your hands and knees.
Lower onto your elbows, making sure your elbows are under your shoulders and your knees are under your hips. Bring your hands together, and interlace your fingers, making sure to tuck under your outer most pinky.
Lower the crown of your head down and place it on the floor, cup your head with your interlaced fingers.
As if you were coming into the downward facing dog position, bring your hips up over your shoulders by walking up towards your head.
The Full Headstand
Now that you’re prepped and aligned, you are most on your way to learning how to do a headstand yoga. All that is left is to go into the full headstand.
Bring your knees and bring them in towards your chest while lifting both of your feet into the air.
Allow yourself to stabilize, and then straighten your legs. Do your best to bring both of your legs up at the same time.
Push up into the balls of your feet and turn your thighs inwards just slightly.
Push down deep into your forearms.
You should try to hold the pose for at least 10 breaths count. Congratulations, you just learned how to do a headstand yoga! To get yourself out of this pose safely, just slowly lower each leg one at a time on to the floor.
Benefits and Risks
There are both physical and mental rewards to the yoga headstand. You’ll find that this pose will increase strength in your arms and legs, as well as positive effects on your pituitary glands and lungs. Some claims state that the headstand pose can alleviate stress and depression, by changing your outward perspective of things. It is a fact that the act of acting against the gravity helps with the cleansing of our intestines. However, if you should suffer from high or low blood pressure, a heart condition, or back/neck injuries, you should not attempt this pose. People without sufficient upper body strength can also compress their spine and damage their body in doing this pose. Make sure that you are totally prepared and capable before attempting the yoga headstand.
In Yoga handstands make up one area that a lot of people avoid, because they can be much more difficult then any number of the other poses. But they should not be avoided. While it may take lots of practice you can learn how to do the handstand and other inverted poses.
It’s important to note that the handstand has been called the king of poses because of the benefits it brings. It strengthens the whole body, requires tremendous coordination, and it is an inversion which brings plenty of its own benefits.
Yoga Handstands
While not the best demonstation in the world, this video shows you what practicing handstands in yoga may look like (if you happen to be a very attractive female).
The handstand is not the first inversion or handbalancing pose you should work on. Far from it. There are a number of other poses that will build up your ability.
And of course the handstand itself which is called Adho Mukha Vrksasana.
This is just like I teach in the Secrets of the Handstand System, and in fact some of the poses or drills are the same. If you want a step-by-step system to achieving the handstand check it out. Although its not geared toward yoga it will work just the same.
There are a number of variations of the handstand that can be done like the scorpion pose below, which adds extreme back flexibility into the mix. (Also note that the balance will actually be easier here then a straight bodied handstand as the center of gravity is lower.)
Scorpion Pose
So by working with the easier poses you’ll build up your balancing ability and control you need to hold the handstand. Once you’re there you can begin to go even further with your yoga handstands.
