Tag Archives | Handstand Tips

Learning How to do a Handstand as an Adult

By on December 18, 2015 in Hand Balancing, Handstands

Learning how to do a handstand would come easy for people of young age, but for people who are not that young, it might not be that easy. In the video below, Christine, who used to be an ordinary woman who couldn’t perform a handstand, will show you some tips and drills that took her from having a zero knowledge in doing a handstand to having a free handstand in a span of about three months. Yes, in just three months. If she can do it, you can definitely do it too!

Wonder how she did it? Before anything else, you need to be aware that adults learn differently than kids. So, this video caters to people who are learning how to do a handstand from scratch. If that’s you and if you’re an adult wanting to start your own handstand journey and never had any training when you are a kid, these tips definitely fit you and these tips have played integral part in achieving her goals in doing a handstand.

Always remind yourself to keep on training just a bit every day, until you reach the next goal in your handstand journey. Just believe that you can do it, and let not any notion that you are too old and you’ll see great changes in your handstand. You could also follow this step by step guide and significantly speed up your progress.

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Excellent Handstand Press Tips

By on November 26, 2015 in Hand Balancing, Handstands, Presses & Pushup

In today’s video Daniel will walk you through and provide insights on what to expect when doing a straight arm handstand press, the benefits of doing the handstand and how he’s been doing it.

This is a type of handstand that’ll activate muscles in your whole body and comes with a very controlled movement that will surely call for a lot of shoulder and core strength. Watch the full video and keep in mind the tips that Daniel is sharing with you through this video.

Don’t forget to properly warm-up before doing any kind of handstand training and pay special attention to your wrists.

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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.

How to do the One Hand Handstand by Professor Orlick
ow to do the One Hand Handstand 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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Walking on Your Hands

By on June 14, 2008 in Handstands, Walking & Jumping

Here’s a good question from Tony.

“Dear Logan Christopher, I am a 44 year old male that just decided to do handstands since it was a great workout. I can do a handstand and pushups against the wall. I just read your 10 handstand tips and will work on these great ideas. My problem is when I try to walk on my hands my legs tend to fall toward the “wall direction” when I try to stand without the wall. I feel that it is fear of falling flat on my back. Sometimes my hand strides are a little too big as I am trying to go too fast and then my legs fall toward “the wall direction.” I can hold a handstand probably at least 30 sec. I am usually sustaining myself up after doing 13-15 handstand pushups through a short ROM. I initially thought it was my ab/core strength and I just started with Eddie Baran’s gymnastic abs dvd which is fun and challenging. I am improving but got a little concerned when you said that walking is easier than standing. Your hints have clued me into improving my body awareness with standing and increase my length of time. Any other ideas?”

I should have clarified the position on standing vs. walking. For most people the walking is going to be much easier. This is because you can shift your weight around and take a step with your hands toward any direction you are falling.

If you take the time to learn how to stand still, and remain in a good handstand position than you are much better off than someone who can merely walk on his hands.

When you are walking on your hands the legs tend to ‘fall forward’ in overbalancing. This is a good thing because that’s the forward momentum you want to walk with.

The key is to maintain control. You don’t want to be overbalancing so much that your hands can’t keep up or that you just fall out of the handstand.

To work on the control even more so, you should practice different size steps as Prof. Orlick teaches in Walking and Jumping on Your Hands. Go for small steps. Next try to clear a yard with each step.

You can also vary the speed with which you walk. Even try running on your hands!

But first and most important is to learn to stand on your hands. So that you can maintain a good handstand and not just stay on your hands by catching yourself from falling.

Just keep training and you’ll be able to walk, stand, run and hop on your hands without a problem.

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Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

P.S. Click here for more on walking, running and jumping on your hands.

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