Tag Archives | handstand holds

How To Do a Handstand and Stay Up

By on September 6, 2012 in Handstands, Yoga

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.

The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing
The True Art and Science of Hand Balancing on Amazon

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.

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Handstand Crossfit

By on June 2, 2012 in Handstands, Presses & Pushup

I don’t agree with everything Crossfit does, but they still are doing a good amount right. One of which is that there are some handstands in Crossfit. With all their cross training they do hit a little on many different things, In this post I’ll offer a little advice on how to take it further. First, a quote from the founder:

Handstands crossfit, hand walking, and pressing to the handstand are critical exercises to developing your athletic potential and essential components to becoming “CrossFit.”

Historically, these exercises have been collectively referred to as “hand balancing” and have been an integral part of strength and health culture since antiquity, yet today hand balancing seems to have followed the passenger pigeon to extinction. From Crossfit.com

I agree with him that handstands have become a lost art, hence the name of this site. Now let’s look at how handstands are typically included in a Crossfit workout. There are two basic ways.

Of course being Crossfit they love kipping. And they even kip with handstand pushups! (It’s not just a pullup thing)

An interesting exercise but I would certainly not use it as your mainstay for training. Build strength through other progressions like in this handstand pushups book and you will building stronger arms and shoulders.

Don’t be so concerned with getting 21-15-9 reps of handstand pushups in your workout, when you can’t do one strictly, but start where you are and build from there.

Handstand holds against the wall are great. They help train your position and can build stability and endurance in the position. Great to finish off your training with that.

Unfortunately in most Crossfits this is as far as their handstand training goes. What about the balancing aspect?

First off all this should not be included in a typical Crossfit workout. When you’re gassed and fatigued is not the time to work on fine motor skills. Instead you can perform a little bit of free hand balancing practice before hand. Use it as part of your warmup.

Most people will try to jump right into the handstand but this would be the perfect time to start out with easier lead-up stunts like the frogstand and headstand as outline in the Secrets of the Handstand book.

Ultimate Guide to Handstand Pushups
Ultimate Guide to Handstand Pushups on Amazon

You build better balancing skills this way and soon be outperforming all your handstand Crossfit buddies at handstands.

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