Tag Archives | Tension

Handstand Muscles

Today’s post will answer another question from the many I regularly receive.

“Hey I am Stefan I am now starting out with doing the handstand, but my question is what muscles are involved in doing the handstand and what exercises can I do to improve it?”

Let’s start with the first question, what muscles are involved in the handstand? And the answer is all of them.

When you’re starting out you need to be able to keep your body tight if you want to have any chance of staying upside down. This means every muscle must be engaged from the tips of your fingertips down to your toes.

This doesn’t mean you flex everything as hard as possible but you must stay tight. As you advance you’ll learn how to use only as much tension as is needed and no more. This allows you to go for longer periods. But to start out with squeeze all those muscles, arms, back, abs, legs and even the toes.

Now onto the second question. There is a rule of thumb in training. In order to get good at something you must do that thing. So if you want to get good at handstands you must do a lot of handstands. There is no way around this.

This is true but in some cases you’re better off working on easier skills. Do skills that are easier then the handstand itself that build up the same abilities that the handstand needs. For the handstand these include a wall handstand, frogstand, forearm stand, and headstand. All the details and proper progression for this is laid out in the Secrets of the Handstand Quickstart DVD.

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

Work on easier skills that lead up to the harder ones. For anything else in hand balancing check out the Hand Balancing Mastery Course.

As an analogy, if you wanted to learn the piano you wouldn’t start out with the Rach 3 but instead focus on scales and simple songs first. This concept holds true for all skills you desire to build.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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Don't Relax in Your Handstand

Relaxation

It something we all need. Especially living in this day and age. Too many people live their lives way to strung out, ready to explode at the next little thing.

There is a time to sit back and do nothing. Get a massage, meditate, shut down all the electronics and go for a walk.

These sort of things should be a common part of your life. You want to maintain a calm demeanor because life is just better that way.

But then there are times to turn up the tension. To act and act quickly.

When it comes to hand balancing, the art definitely falls into the later category. Yes you can teach your body to relax but standing on the hands is not the time.

Especially when you are starting out, the tendency is to have the legs to flop around, the back to relax and body to come out of position.

In order to stay up in the air you want to remain like a stiff board from the tips of you fingers to the tips of your toes.

This doesn’t mean you tighten up as hard as possible as if you were under a thousand pound load. But you stay tight so that gravity doesn’t have its way with you.

And don’t forget to breathe.

Without maintaining this tension you may be able to stand on your hands or walk around but not for long, nor will you be able to move up to anything harder.

If you’ve been relaxing this is your reminder to get back in gear.

The Secrets of the Handstand Quickstart Guide covers this difference between relaxing and staying tight in more depth.

When it was re-released last week I said that new buyers would get last month’s issue of Acrobat Accelerator for free along with this month’s.

Trampoline Handbook
Trampoline Handbook on Amazon

Well, I forgot to mention when that ended. So here’s the date. You have until Tuesday the 15th. After that you won’t be able to get the June issue again.

If your on the fence, now’s the time.

Good Luck and Good Hand Balancing,
Logan Christopher

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