Handstand walking for conditioning

Hi all,

So I'm enjoying my dynamic day training again~~~ and I got to thinking about HS walking for laps. I have a grassed 20 foot stretch of yard up which I HS walk 'regular,' towards my back, back the opposite (towards my stomach), and up and back again on alternating sides. I noticed this week that my renewed focus on HS is paying off, and my walking is a result of deliberate steps in a controlled HS rather than overbalancing and catching myself, although I can't complete laps unbroken yet.

Wondering about how often is reasonable to train these. Is this an appropriate sort of thing to do eg) with limited volume as a warmup? As a finisher for HS work a couple times a week? Or is it best kept separate on dynamic days until I can complete the lap without coming down? My best HS wall runs are something like 6-7 minutes at last check and these are nowhere near that much time-- I can certainly handle substantially more volume but unsure if that's wise/beneficial at this stage.

I know no one can exactly write me a prescription without training with me, but surprise, my gymnastics knowledge is lacking again all input welcomed as ever.

Cheers!

While my balance isn't perfect (I struggle to get past about 45 sec consistently), I don't find these particularly taxing, but I'm very wary of biting off more than I can chew. While I may be over-cautious, neither do I often get injured

*touch wood*

Try doing forward (back facing), backward (stomach facing), sideways right, sideways left. The goal will be all in one set. I'm pretty sure this will turn up in M1 or 2.

You have good HS right? 30 sec +? I don't know if this is a prereq but would to me make sense.

I bet this will be a daily part of a gymnasts warmup, but like with rope climbs, volume must be earned. Sounds like you are good at listening to your body and tuning the training to rest ratio.

Rereading your post I see I didn't really contribute much... Sorry, just got out of bed.

Christian said:

Try doing forward (back facing), backward (stomach facing), sideways right, sideways left. The goal will be all in one set. I'm pretty sure this will turn up in M1 or 2.

You have good HS right? 30 sec +? I don't know if this is a prereq but would to me make sense.

I bet this will be a daily part of a gymnasts warmup, but like with rope climbs, volume must be earned. Sounds like you are good at listening to your body and tuning the training to rest ratio.

Yes, those walks are what I'm doing now. Didn't describe that well I guess.. thanks anyway

Like I said morning reading skills... Zzzzz

Christian, 12.38 is not morning, technically speaking ;-)

Morning is when you get up... :-p

I'd say the most important thing to do if you want to keep training these is to post a video for a form check.  Think about how mad you'd be if these started messing up your handstand from...

Doing as warmup in limited volumes is ok. You can also add a longer walk after your dedicated training if you feel up to it.

Daniel Burnham said:

Doing as warmup in limited volumes is ok. You can also add a longer walk after your dedicated training if you feel up to it.

Thanks Daniel. This was my feeling but i wanted an ok from a more experienced person

On a related note, how does on develop a decent form handstand walk (no arching of the back or flailing of the legs)?

Ravn said:

On a related note, how does on develop a decent form handstand walk (no arching of the back or flailing of the legs)?

IME just repeated effort of good quality holds + wall runs. I kick up to HS, get my balance, then try taking a step or two and correcting back to straight-- it's not so bad. I come down if I feel an arch or my legs come apart.

And given that my HS is relatively weak I expect better from everyone else

I saw Coaches guys doing HS walking in their daily warmups once forward , once backward , once sideways right, once sideways left.

Mats Trane said:

I saw Coaches guys doing HS walking in their daily warmups once forward , once backward , once sideways right, once sideways left.

This is common in good gyms. Girls at my gym walk completely around the floor. I was never able to walk because my shoulder would become unstable during the weight shift. Should be fixed when I get back I was able to hold the handstand for 2 min but could barely walk a step.

Mats Trane said:

I saw Coaches guys doing HS walking in their daily warmups once forward , once backward , once sideways right, once sideways left.

Yeah, that's what I was basing it on. It's just getting a lot easier in terms of conditioning recently while at the same time becoming what feels like a much better drill for HS balance