Started by Paolo, April 13, 2013 · 9 Replies · 2,574 Views
So I've been practicing handstands on and off and now I can hold one close to 10 seconds!
I can hold my planche longer too, but there is still room for improvement. I think it's kind of sad that I can hold a planche longer than I can hold a handstand...
Any tips and advice would be highly appreciated!
Amazing job! 
Your HS looks pretty decent and you have a strong full planche. I don't think it's really that sad that you can hold a planche longer than a HS even though a HS is considered easier because they are very different and the HS takes a lot more skill.
For the planche you still pike a bit initially and have the hips a little high. I think it's easier to get a straight body if you practice jumping right into a planche rather than lifting slowly into one.
How many full planche push-ups and straddle planche push-ups can you do now with a 10 second full planche?
Are you actively pushing out in the handstand? It looks like your shoulders might be sagging. Another thing I notice is that your hands don't seem to be doing much work. Try balancing more back and forth with the palm and fingers.
Daniel Burnham said:Are you actively pushing out in the handstand? It looks like your shoulders might be sagging. Another thing I notice is that your hands don't seem to be doing much work. Try balancing more back and forth with the palm and fingers.
How do I fix shagging shoulders? Well I'm digging my fingers really hard into the ground and my fingers are starting to feel significantly strained.
Paolo said:Any tips and advice would be highly appreciated!
Your planche form needs a bit of work. Your shoulder angle to too great, and you start out with a pretty hefty pike though you eventually corrected it.
To help correct this, I'd suggest doing elevated planche leans, with an eye on body position. Try to get a really good handle on what it feels like to have your body completely level while supported by your hands.
Paolo said:How do I fix shagging shoulders? Well I'm digging my fingers really hard into the ground and my fingers are starting to feel significantly strained.
Ok it is hard to tell from the video. As for the sagging push against the floor through the shoulders and kinda torque the arms inwards almost like you are trying to make your elbows face out to the sides. This will stabilize the shoulders even more. Yuri might have more suggestions and will probably see things I missed.
you need to fix
-pelvic tilt (is a consequence of the second point)
-shoulders extension
i hop you are following handstand Ona
Hari_Seldon said:Your shoulder angle to too great, and you start out with a pretty hefty pike though you eventually corrected it.
Sorry, trying to learn here as well so want to clarify - does this mean he needs to lean more?
Also, Paolo - for your Handstand, in case you haven't got H1 like me - try some floor/wall alignment/body-tightening drills. They're helping me out and I've got similar problems to yours. Better alignment + body tension = easier to balance.
Here's some I like to do
1. Just lie flat on the floor, facing up, arms extended. Press your lower back down (pelvic tilt) and pull your ribs in, try to keep your legs pressed down to the ground - activate your glutes a bit and you should get it all down. Have your shoulders slightly protracted, then strive to open them until your arms are near flat on the ground as well - maybe hold some light weights in your hand to help pull your shoulders open and get your hands and elbows to the ground. Extending through your feet will help tighten you up more.
2. Lie flat on the floor, facing down, arms extended. It helps to be in front of a mirror for this - activate everything the same way you did in the first exercise, get your spine in line, ribs in, hips pushed to the ground, then lift your hands up towards the ceiling. This helps me with my active shoulder flexibility.
3. Same as 1, but upright with your back against the wall. If your shoulder flexibility is lacking it'll be quite an effort to pull your arms back to the wall, shoulders slightly protracted, while also maintaining contact with the wall with your lower back and also keeping your ribs in and also extending.
4. Lie on your back, pull your feet up to your butt, then thrust up with your hips, go onto your toes, keep pushing outwards, keep your shoulders on the ground, and keep your ribs in. I like to check myself in the mirror for this one too, making sure everything from my knees to my shoulders is straight. I find this is helping open up my hips a bit.
5. Standard, face to wall handstand, hands no more than 10cm from the wall, ribs in, stomach off the wall but hips pushed into it, stretching upward through your feet.
They sound ridiculously simple and straightforward - but all of them are quite taxing if you lack mobility. I try to hold them for time in between freestanding handstand attemps.
Obviously this is no Handstand 1, but hey, it's something to work with if you don't have that.
This video has a nice shoulder flexibility drill that I use too -
If you're having trouble maintaining strength while extending through your shoulders, do this drill for time:
It's helped me a lot.
Also, to critique yourself on handstands, you can try do what I do -
Turn the video upside down, ideally it should look straight and natural, as if you were standing on your toes, extending up, with a hollowed body and straight spine.
Turn the video sideways; ideally, it should look like you're lying flat on your back on the floor, like drill 1. If you did this with your video, you'd notice you've got a bit of arch in your back, ribs a bit out, you're piking to compensate and your shoulders are slightly closed.
Oh, and one more thing - for the balancing aspect, check out this video by yuri:
red1392 said:Sorry, trying to learn here as well so want to clarify - does this mean he needs to lean more?
It means his body is higher than level; the angle between his arms and torso (i.e. shoulder angle) is too great. So he has to bring his body down some by bending more at the shoulders. 'More lean' is indeed another way to think about it: if the shoulders move forward more, the body must come down to move the center of mass back over the hands.
Man, how did you progress so fast with the planche?