Handstand Pushups form check and straddle bowers attempt

[Yaad Mohammad]

So, once in a while I play with handstand pushup, but I could never really get more than one. So I decided to dedicate my week on this move and managed to get 5 of them!

 

 

I know that I'm piking a lot, I need to get used to the balance. But how is the form apart from that? Also for the straddle bowers, I seem not be able to push out, why not? How many handstand pushups are required before I can perform at least one straddle bower?

[Alessandro Mainente]

i think you don't have the necessary strength to approach the bower. what type of progression did you follow? i assume that you can do every type of chest roll, the half bower and so on, you can find all of them in the BtGB. Of course you can choose to follow the F1-F4 courses that are built to achieve this skill. 

For the hspu the piking movement before the press is a sort of cheating that can helps to achieve the rep, just before the press you are arching in order to lift the legs. try to maintain the hollow and the core contraction over the movement.

from a side view can be possible to judge better your hs. but if hs is not good i suggest to you to step back and work to make it perfect then focus on free hs skils...

[Brian Li]

Those are actually headstand push-ups because of the half ROM. Your form looks decent for the non-piked ones, but it looks like you are using momentum to help when you lift your legs up fast in the piked ones. Try to maintain straight and hollow body.

 

Can you also do full ROM HSPUs? Because it is implied by Coach Sommer and in Overcoming Gravity (Steven Low) that Bowers are a step ahead of HSPUs in terms of strength.

 

Also, what planche progression push-ups can you do? I know it is not necessary to train planche push-ups to help with bowers, but for reference I was automatically able to do full lay bowers when I was able to do straddle planche push-up without ever training bowers or any overhead pressing exercises.

[Yaad Mohammad]

You can see a side view one in the video. And I can do them with strict form, but sometimes I lose balance and pike. I happened to lose a lot of balance in that video. I'll post a video next week with strict form push-ups. I haven't tried the those chest rolls. I'll try them as soon as I am recovered! Thanks

[Yaad Mohammad]

Those are actually headstand push-ups because of the half ROM. Your form looks decent for the non-piked ones, but it looks like you are using momentum to help when you lift your legs up fast in the piked ones. Try to maintain straight and hollow body.

 

Can you also do full ROM HSPUs? Because it is implied by Coach Sommer and in Overcoming Gravity (Steven Low) that Bowers are a step ahead of HSPUs in terms of strength.

 

Also, what planche progression push-ups can you do? I know it is not necessary to train planche push-ups to help with bowers, but for reference I was automatically able to do full lay bowers when I was able to do straddle planche push-up without ever training bowers or any overhead pressing exercises.

What makes them half ROM? I touch the ground with my nose and fully extend my arms. I can do an advanced tuck planche push-up, but I saw a guy doing 3 bowers without even being able to hold an advanced tuck planche.

[Brian Li]

Handstand push-up (HSPU) is where your hands go all the way down as far as your shoulders or to shoulderstand before pressing up to handstand which requires something like paralletes or PB. What you were doing are called headstand push-ups (HeSPU) because you go down to only as far as a headstand before pressing up which is about half of the ROM of a HSPU. What I am asking is if you can do a HSPU because bowers probably take more strength to do and they are both similar to each other. I don't know how many HeSPUs are required before you can do a bower.

[Yaad Mohammad]

Ahh I see. But wouldn't the term handstand dips be better? I mean headstand pushups, I'd think of someone going into a headstand and going back to handstand. When I think of handstand pushups, I think of someone doing a pushup with the nose touching the floor.

Anyway, I don't know if I can do them. My strength on bars is much weaker than on floor. Dunno why, but I even have a hard time doing a press to handstand on bars, while on the floor it's the easiest thing

[Joshua Naterman]

 I see an arched handstand, so I don't know if you're after a gymnastic handstand or not.

 

The HeSPU aren't bad, but you definitely need to spend more time getting used to holding a straighter body. Very, very, very slow negatives help with this, as do very slow concentrics.

 

To master movements like this, it helps to use a variety of speeds.

 

You may find that performing extremely slow eccentrics may help you with your quest for a straddle hollowback press( or bower, or 90 degree push up, whatever you want to call it), but your best bet is to grab the Foundation series if you don't already have it.

 

There is no substitute for well-rounded training.

[Yaad Mohammad]

Alright, and yes I am going for a gymnastic handstand, I just seemed to forget about the form when practicing the handstand push-ups haha. Anyway, here is my attempt at a slow one with good form:

 

[Brian Li]

Ahh I see. But wouldn't the term handstand dips be better? I mean headstand pushups, I'd think of someone going into a headstand and going back to handstand. When I think of handstand pushups, I think of someone doing a pushup with the nose touching the floor.

Anyway, I don't know if I can do them. My strength on bars is much weaker than on floor. Dunno why, but I even have a hard time doing a press to handstand on bars, while on the floor it's the easiest thing

That's what Coach and most people here call them (HSPU and HeSPU).

 

You can try doing HSPUs on two chairs, mats, boxes, etc. that are stable and safe.

 

 

Alright, and yes I am going for a gymnastic handstand, I just seemed to forget about the form when practicing the handstand push-ups haha. Anyway, here is my attempt at a slow one with good form:

 

Your form is much better now. Good job!

 

I have some ideas that might help you progress to being able to the bower. First one is try doing them in straddle half lay or even tuck on PB. Second one is start from a handstand first instead of from bent arm planche if you can control the negative. That way you can get some stretch reflex to help you out in the concentric.

[Brian Li]

The amount of headstand push-ups needed to do a bower is really only one. But that is only one small part of the bower. Connecting all the necessary moves into one fluid motion is another matter.

I think you would need to be stronger than being able to only do one HeSPU to do a bower because you're supposed to extend your arms at a more disadvantaged and lower position with shoulders farther forward than in a HeSPU. A bower is not rotating from bent arm planche to headstand and then pressing, but pressing up immediately as your legs rise. 

[Jordan Bruce]

Full agreement with everyone above, i.e. you're just not quite strong enough yet.  The push-up portion of  the bower/90 pushup/hallowback press is much more like a full handstand push up than the headstand pushup which you are now doing.  

 

If you look at your first video at 1:05 you'll see that your shoulders end up much more in front of your hands than they do in your headstand pushups.  It is in this ROM that you are lacking strength.  Development of proper handstand pushups will give you the strength in that ROM and allow you to push out of the bent arm planche.  

 

That said, if you're able to do slow, correct headstand pushups as you seem to be able to do, then it won't be long before you can do a full rom handstand pushup.

[Brian Li]

I agree with you and I have the same problem too with HeSPUs, but can still do bowers.