Attempted a freestanding handstand video

nUr6-uuZLYI I've been practicing ring handstands lately and try to always focus on turned out rings and locked elbows, but i have no controle as soon as I take my legs off the straps. Is it a good idea to just keep trying until I figure how to balance?( I'm guessing not) Or is it alright to learn it with rings turned in and elbows bent at first?

As an intermediate step try keeping your legs against the inside of the straps instead of completely removing them. I'm no expert, but that's what I've been trying and been told to do

I can't do a ring handstand (yet), but aside from wrapping your legs inside the strap, you need to bring the rings closer together.

i rewatched that a few times hehe sorry

Basically what they said is correct. In addition, when you're just starting you can have your rings turned parallel, but once you've built the necessary strength you should make every effort to turn them out.

i'm doing ring handstand in my training...i follow a little progression: at the start you must have a solid handstand with legs around the straps, locked elbow and the hands turned out fot at least 1-2 minutes, after is a great thing try to put the legs inside the straps and near the straps to correct the balance, at this point i notice that keep the elbows locked is very difficult and also keep the hands turned out...you can also take the straps in front of your elbows to make pressure on them, so balance your body is more simple...

try to the perfect handstand on rings i think that requires a great flexibility on the shoulders and a great strength...

i fell myself as "nothing" when i did the first second of freebalance handstand on rings, because seemed that i didn't have strength in shoulders...i can hold the handstand on floor more that 2 minutes...is very very different...

now i have about 10 second on rings but i don't turn out my hands everytime and often i bent a little my elbows to balance my body...but i think is only a problem of practice, trying it 3 times a week you can improve a lot, so for everyproblem during the training is better use a mat or a person wich can save you if you are falling down...

i use a old mat wich my family used in a bed...is perfect

The longest I've held the handstand on rings, not freestanding is 20 secounds, i've never tried a max hold, how do you make the transition legs wrapped around straps to legs inside straps? Tsoonami, you should have seen me when I was learning how to kick up into a handstand on rings. Lol

Honestly i wouldn't worry about transitioning at all until you can do 12 rounds at 30 seconds RTO.

I had a hard time getting myself to learn them. This is the first round of WODs where i've been able to do them.

I have a pull up bar in front of my door, so hanging the straps there helped, not being keen on doing a back slap.

The first set i used a chair to make the jump easier, i could just hook a leg around and pull my self up. I'm sure it looked pretty silly, but hey whatever it takes.

I'm also working on my ring handstands and some recent videos are here:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=5340#p47072

I've been at it for several months now and usually do them 1-2x per week. I was able to move my feet inside the straps a month or so ago even though as evidenced in the video I lack proper alignment. Pressing your feet against the straps will help you figure out that balance. But unless you have the right alignment with the arms straight locked and rings turned out it won't be easy to bring your feet off the straps as you'll be fighting with your upper body to maintain the hold.

A couple of hints: set your rings just above the floor so you can use your fingertips to prevent you from swinging like crazy. The slower you kickup the easier it is to set your legs inside the straps. When you come down ease your feet down the straps so your knees are bent then come off the rings; easier to control that way.

Wow MR Brady, 12 sets of thirty secounds would be really hard, I better wait until I get a mat to try that or maybe I could get a lot or sand under my rings instead. jl5555, nice work. Did you kick right up and put your inside the straps from the start?

No, initially I had my legs wrapped around the outside and built up some time that way. The leg position is a function of how well you are pushing through your shoulders to align yourself. When you finally get that "aha" with the shoulders you'll find the balance much easier. I found in my practice that the benefit of the ring work is "feeling" that push and understanding how to transfer it to floor HS work.

If you never failed, you never lived.

A+ for effort and risk. Hope you weren't hurt.

You got to increase your support strength upside down.

I have to start practicing this again.

Falling onto my back hard (using a mat) can make my breath stop for a couple of seconds, lol. I think keeping RTO was very difficult for me at the time.

Guys listen to Alex, build up to AT LEAST 30s RTO feet inside straps HS before even thinking of doing this freestanding. It will give you better progress, less injuries and less time spent rolling on the floor after falling

Razz said:

Guys listen to Alex, build up to AT LEAST 30s RTO feet inside straps HS before even thinking of doing this freestanding. It will give you better progress, less injuries and less time spent rolling on the floor after falling

yes definitely. the feeling of balancing a ring handstand is completely different from one on floor, pbars, etc. even the rocking ring trainers don't quite prepare you for using your shoulders to balance

being reasonably strong in ring handstand pushups is also preferable too so you can catch yourself and fight for the balance. i fell on my back quite a bit working up to freestanding ring handstand, now I can hold it 20-30 seconds freestanding on the XR and can do freestanding HSPU if i am really feeling it.

I don't feel nearly as confident on the long rings though so I will have to work that a bit more

yuri said:

I don't feel nearly as confident on the long rings though so I will have to work that a bit more

This is a worry of mine as I move forward from low rings to high rings. I really should start moving the rings away from the floor gradually but that safety factor is reassuring.

I use the power rack for my ring work and that provides a sort of "cage" to keep me from flailing all over the place. I place a bar high behind the rings to catch me in case I go past vertical though generally, now, I go straight into HS. But that is a useful thing for beginning ring HS. Also, using my fingertips against the floor keeps me from swinging too much.

I haven't been able to get on my rings these past few day, I just started taking classes at my community college, man school is stressful! I'm gonna start building my time in the handstands from now on. I put a little bedding under my rings so if I slam it doesn't hurt as much. In the video my fall looks soft, it felt pretty vicious to me though, I wonder how the guys that slip off the highbar feel when they fall?

Actually the fall looked pretty bad!

The guy on the high bar have more padding and more experience.

The guys on highbar don't hurt themselves falling. It's part of their training routine