Help with handstand hold

I've read a lot of the posts here in the Handstand section, but am looking for some info on what should be occurring when attempting to hold a free-standing handstand. In the BtGB book, there's a ton of great tips on what one should be attempting to do while getting into/out of/and holding the FSP's, but nothing on the free-standing handstand.

Now, I know that Coach Sommer will be coming out with an entire volume detailing handstand work, but since I'm working my handstands 4 days a week, some tips would really be helpful.

What I've been doing is 6 sets of 10-15 seconds of kick-up wall handstands. Essentially, I'm placing my hands about 3 inches from a wall, and kick up into a handstand (attempting on each kick up to avoid hitting the wall). I've been placing my hands so close to the wall to try to reduce the back-arching tendency I've been reading about in some of the threads here. Anyway, the info I'm looking for is just some tips on what to do once I take my feet off of the wall and attempt the free-standing handstand. I know it's largely a matter of balance, but I'm wondering what is the best route to achieve that balance, as in, what muscles should I be focusing on contracting, etc...

Really, any tips would be helpful.

Thanks

One thing that really helped me is parallettes. For about 3 months i did almost all of my handstands on parallettes. I made some crossfit PVC ones, and I love them. I could use my wrists and forearms more to help me balance. About 3 weeks ago I started doing free standing handstands on the floor without the parallettes, and was surprised to find i could hold them for much longer than before. For me, at least, there was a big carryover. Now I spend about the same amount of time on both.

Maybe this can help.

Mark

Point your toes, squeeze your butt, roll your hips under, suck your belly button in, push your shoulders into your ears if your flexibility allows for it, ears are hidden but eyes look for wrists.

Mark - thanks for the reply. Yeah, I've been meaning to build myself a set of parallettes, just haven't gotten around to it. I think they would also be great for my HSPU negatives. That also makes a lot of sense that by using parallettes, and being able to use my grip strength, I may be able to find my balance quicker.

And blairbob - I wrote down what you said in your post and will be trying to focus on those things in tomorrow's workout. I guess I'm kind of lucky in that I have pretty good shoulder flexibility, so my arms/shoulder/head position shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks again, guys, for the responses, it's greatly appreciated.

mark said:

One thing that really helped me is parallettes. For about 3 months i did almost all of my handstands on parallettes. I made some crossfit PVC ones, and I love them. I could use my wrists and forearms more to help me balance. About 3 weeks ago I started doing free standing handstands on the floor without the parallettes, and was surprised to find i could hold them for much longer than before. For me, at least, there was a big carryover. Now I spend about the same amount of time on both.

Maybe this can help.

Mark

Do some pushup bars work the same as paralletes? I have these:

http://www.amazon.com/GoFit-GF-PUB-Push ... 250&sr=8-1

Those are just about the size I built for one of my boys for his birthday. Cost nearly the same at Ace's in materials.

Blairbob said:

Those are just about the size I built for one of my boys for his birthday. Cost nearly the same at Ace's in materials.

So they are good for the handstands then?

Anathema,

I originally had some pushup bars too. I didn't do much handstand work on them, just planche work, but didn't like the feel of them. Personally I like the grip on the PVC parallettes because it's thicker. And I like the fact that they're higher off the ground. My L-sit is pretty low, partially because I have longer legs (I'm 6' 1" and have a short torso), but mostly because I'm a wuss, so the extra height helps. My parallettes cost me around $25. I had to buy everything, the pipe, fittings, primer, and glue. The primer and glue were actually like $8-$10 of the cost if I remember, maybe less, so if you have some or somebody lets you have enough, the cost might be around $15-$18. Some people don't even glue them together.

mark

mark said:

Anathema,

I originally had some pushup bars too. I didn't do much handstand work on them, just planche work, but didn't like the feel of them. Personally I like the grip on the PVC parallettes because it's thicker. And I like the fact that they're higher off the ground. My L-sit is pretty low, partially because I have longer legs (I'm 6' 1" and have a short torso), but mostly because I'm a wuss, so the extra height helps. My parallettes cost me around $25. I had to buy everything, the pipe, fittings, primer, and glue. The primer and glue were actually like $8-$10 of the cost if I remember, maybe less, so if you have some or somebody lets you have enough, the cost might be around $15-$18. Some people don't even glue them together.

mark

I already have those pushup bars...

I didn't use primer nor glue. Not glueing them together saves their ability to be transported easily.

You may find "The handstand: A four stage training model" by Valentin Uzunov to be particularly useful.

The model presented suggests 4 stages of development/progression of the handstand, with a unique approach to refining the gymnast’s proprioceptive and kinesthetic awareness for maintaining balance. It is such a great peice of text that has helped me greatly.