Is there any point in training press handstands without the appropriate mobility?

Hi there,

I am extremely tight in my pancake and pike (I only recently started doing jefferson curls and pancake stretches) and so whenever I train press handstands on mini parallel bars it pretty much turns into planche training as I am forced to move through a straddle planche to get to the handstand.

I have a semi-decent straddle planche of around 5 secs and so I am OK with the exercise but after maybe 3 presses my form goes from mediocre to horrible and I know that with better mobility things would be a lot easier.

I'm considering purchasing the middle split course... Would this be best for press mobility? Or would the integrated mobility exercises in H2 be superior? But then that would require me to purchase H1 because it's a prerequisite (right?) and I would feel like that would be a step down for me as I have a semi-solid one arm handstand of around 20 seconds (hope I'm not sounding too stuck up!).

And say I did purchase the middle split course, would it be recommended that I wait until my mobility is better before training presses again? At the moment it's just hard for me to organise my workout schedule if I'm unintentionally overtraining my planche by training presses (on top of my planche training).

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Handstand ! is a pre req for decent press to HS training for what is concerned basic balance.

For specific pancake you need H2.

My suggestion is start from H1, while training for press, the handstand should be your rest position.

Think about this way: can I perform whenever I want 1  minute free hs? if not, you should work on H1.

Alessandro Mainente said:

Handstand ! is a pre req for decent press to HS training for what is concerned basic balance.

For specific pancake you need H2.

My suggestion is start from H1, while training for press, the handstand should be your rest position.

Think about this way: can I perform whenever I want 1  minute free hs? if not, you should work on H1.

Hmm ok. I would say I can quite comfortably perform 1 minute free hs. But thinking about it now, it might be worthwhile getting H1 just to fill in any gaps I have in form/mobility before getting H2... (my shoulders are actually quite closed).

Just out of curiosity (probably a silly question): I know my closed shoulders are in no way ideal - what repercussions would this have over time if not addressed? Is it just wear and tear of the tendons etc.?

Thanks!

LImited mobility in a certain joint means that the body will naturally compensate with other muscles creating imbalances. imbalances are the first sign or prelude of injury.

The middle split series would be hugely beneficial to getting the mobility necessary for a press handstand. Given your current handstand ability, you could grab H1 and middle split together, you'll probably blaze through H1 in a few weeks. This would give you a decent amount of time to start working on MS series before diving into H2. You'd shore up any weaknesses in your handstand and get some work in on improving your straddle mobility. Sounds like a win-win to me.

Going back and training your basics is not a step backwards in my opinion. I suggest you start from handstand 1 and master the basics. Having a strong base  will let you build on more advance stuff more easily. 

Thanks guys!