Are you asking is a handstand easier than a headstand?
The short answer is NO! (Although there are some exceptions.)
Let me explain why.
The handstand has a smaller base of support, i.e. your two hands, rather then the two hands and your head that are commonly used in the headstand.
The leverage of your body is also longer in the handstand then in the headstand, making your center of gravity higher, and thus it harder to balance.
For these two reasons handstands are not easier then headstands.
Here are the exceptions:
1 – You have cervical problems that don’t allow you to put weight on your head. If it causes pain or injury then a handstand may be easier then a headstand.
In a previous post we covered a bunch of handstand fails, one of which was the close to famous handstand on treadmill fail. Well when looking at that video I also came across the opposite, a treadmill handstand success.
There is one big main difference I can tell in what led to failure versus success. The SPEED that the treadmill was going.
It also looks like this guy knew what he was doing and was confident in his ability to walk on his hands, whereas the other was probably an un-proficient college kid who thought it would be cool if he could do it. Still not the best form but he did it.
You have to laugh at his friend saying “He is a beast” without much excitement in his voice throughout this video.
I just finished up the Animal Flow Certification put on by Mike Fitch of Global Bodyweight Training. Mike is a good friend of mine and I’m happy to say I lent a helping hand in getting his website and business off the ground. So to see the great success he’s had so far is amazing.
After finishing up the weekend I asked Mike to do a short interview. It would have been longer but I had to hit the road and drive 6 hours home.
In this interview we talked about his background, how the animal flow movements came about, how the build the exact strength, flexibility and skill needed for hand balancing, and what it takes to become good.
This is a collection of the best handstand fail sources I could find on the web.
Before we dive in it’s important to note that hand balancing can be practiced safely but injury is possible, especially if you do stupid things. You can read this article for handstand safety tips. It’s not fun but its important to know and do.
Handstand Treadmill Fail
This is probably the most classic handstand fail video where a man attempts to stand on his hands on a speed treadmill. OUCH!
Don’t Hand Balance in the Kitchen
Wow this one was funny. When walking it’s common to overbalance. Make sure you have room to fall.
Cat interferes with Handstand Practice
If you have animals around, who hasn’t had this happen to them in this or other exercises?
Handstand Destruction
Unfortunately this can be a common issue. Not having control you end up stumbling and crash into something. Sometime it’s not problem, sometimes you break something like in this video.
Car Headstand Fail
There’s a couple hundred bucks. You can feel the guy thinking wow that was stupid after he falls.
Sad Attempts at Handstands
This guy is scared of getting vertical. He definitely needs to do easier moves first before trying a handstand.
Crutch Handstand Fail
This could have been a cool trick if he pulled it off.
Drunk Handstands
When you can barely walk on your legs you should try it on your hands.
Why you should lock out your arms
When doing a handstand in the open or against a wall you should keep your arms locked to avoid looking like this guy.
The Neckstand
I think that’s enough handstand fails for now.
If this page made you laugh please share it.
If you have seen some even better handstand fails be sure to link to them in the comments below.
The bboy world has a lot of crossover with the hand balancing world. It starts with as simple as the handstand freezes. This video gives you some training tips on doing just that.
Handstand Freezes
There is a decent progression shown in this couple on minutes.
1 – Do a handstand against the wall
2 – Do a one handed handstand against the wall
3 – Do handstands freezes out in the open
4 – Do one arm handstand freezes out in the open (this isn’t shown but is implied)
In bboying the handstands aren’t held for long, but are short stalls, hence the name freeze, as you move from one move to the next.
Still by training in the handstand as you’ll find on this site you could do a lot to improve you bboy skills, especially in handstand freezes.
I sometimes make fun of bodybuilders, specifically the ones that look huge yet have no real strength. The same cannot be said for this bodybuilder who does a planche.
It kind of looks fake, just because you don’t expect to see it happen. But it is real. I did a little more research to find out who this was.
Igor Losev, a Russian bodybuilder and two too time Europe Champion in the IFBB.
Here is another longer video of a full posing routine that involves the planche going up to the handstand. Yeah he stumbles but I’d like to see any and all other bodybuilders try that.
Strict planche form is something that is rare and hard to come by. If you read The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing there’s great tips and ideas on what it takes to achieve it. Here are some examples of a strict planche versus a not so strict one.
Before we get into that, I want to say that a planche in ANY form is still an amazing feat. From there it requires more work to tighten up the form, which makes the move harder.
Strict Planches
Notice the straight arms, the straight back and the straight legs. These are required for a planche in the best of form and one or more will break down in the following examples.
Non Strict Planches
Also with these the legs tend to be higher up then the torso and head and this is amplified by the arch in the back. This same effect can be seen in levers.
Once again, this isn’t to say that these other moves aren’t planches, its just to show you that if you’re planche form isn’t strict you can keep working at it.
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.
If you’re looking for a handstand bow and arrow there may be two things you’re looking for.
The first one is an amazing skill done by some acrobats where they shoot a bow and arrow at a target with their feet while in a handstand. This woman does it blindfolded too.
The second option which I only became aware of when looking for the first, is a pole dancing move known as the handstand bow and arrow. Don’t worry this is PG rated.
You can do the same skill without a pole, just using a wall instead. It could be used as a great way to improve your dynamic flexibility in the leg.
While the second skill isn’t as hard as the first, they’re both great handstand skills. Feel free to try them.
