How hard were handstands at first?

At 13 I could hold a handstand for as long as my balance allowed, and could walk around on my hands all day.

We'll thats not the case at 34. My balance blows, I don't have the strength to do a single HSPU and handstands against the wall even, hurt my wrists.

Just curious what everyone else experienced at first with handstands, and how long it took to get them to the point that balance was the only thing holding you back.

I remember when i first tried i couldn't even kick up to the wall.

We did them in a yoga class, with a partner helping get to the wall.

I went home that night, and tried on my own, it took 10 minutes to get on the wall.

They wernt hard per say. . .mostly because I couldnt do it at all :wink: Mostly for me now it is a lack of concentration or too much concentration on one area and then another area causes the fall out of balance. When I do everything right concentration/tension wise my shoulder endurance is what hinders my hold time. I have had holds where my arms start to shake so I come down before my arms have a chance to give out (I love it when these holds pop up, I make a mental note and try to get mimic that feeling every hold).

Thanks for the replies guys. Did you notice the pain (soreness) in your wrist? Mine get sore, not like DOMS sore, more like over use temporary soreness, during and only a minute or so after doing handstands.

Nothing that last longer than a minute afterwards.

The first time I tried a wall handstand, I couldn't support my weight and bonked my head against the ground...

151,

I have the same experience as you. When I was young I could walk on my hands without any problems. Now my balance is awful (getting better) and my wrist do occasionally hurt just like what you described. However when I was a kid I was extremely active. Always outside climbing this or that, swimming, etc.. At 42, I try to work out everyday, but I am no where as active. I would be interested if someone else would comment on the temporary wrist pain. Mine is just like you described and it is not consistent. Sometimes the wrists get sore and other times they don't.

I had the same wrist problems as you describe in the beginning. However, I do the wrist pushup series about 5 times a week while coaching my classes. I noticed within a couple weeks that it started going away. Now I never have pain and walk around just fine. Strengthen and stretch your wrists prior to performing handstands for static holds. Just don't over do it.

After I started being able to hold consistent 15-20s+ holds off a wall, I got excited and trained handstands about 3 times more often than I had been training util that point. I'm pretty sure I just overstrained my wrists, because they're fine now. I used to have to massage them as soon as I came out of the handstand, but I ignored it for about a week because I was having so much fun. I'm glad I wised up and took it easy - it's no fun when you have to quit training entirely

did my first 2 second handstand against a wall at age 46, 8 months ago. Never done one before in my life as far as I remember. Nor cartwheels or related things - almost nothing athletic.

I was obese from babyhood until 4 years ago, except for 2 years in school when i rode a bicycle more than 4 hours a day every day - an accident put an end to that. even then I was not slim, just less obese.

If I had tried handstands before 2 years ago the extra poundage would have broken my neck, IMHO .

8 months after the first try I've held a shaky stand for 10 seconds. I'm still not strong enough to hold even a slight bend at the shoulders, and my habit is to bend at the shoulders (and of course there's the very poor shoulder flexibility).

Anyway, it's coming along. I can hold 2 minutes against a wall now (up from 10 seconds 8 months ago) without my shoulders giving out and I held that 10 second stand a little while ago.

If your wrists hurt then try doing these: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=5960&p=57117#p57117

I decided to learn how to do a free handstand about 2 years ago at the age of 68. In the beginning I just collapsed trying to kick up into a HS against the wall. After about half a year though, I managed to do a 30+ free handstand. Just giving in to my obsessive, compulsive personality, that was all it took. Just joking, but if I can do it, you can do it. What made a difference (I think) was finding a place in my house where I could kick up into a handstand and grab the ceiling with my toes. Being able to find my sweet spot (balancing) with my toes against the ceiling and then letting go, helped a lot learning how to fight to prevent over- (with my fingers) and underbalancing (by slightly bending my arms). Really concentrating hard to not give in to the desire to come down but to try and stay in balance, was also essntial to making progress. My form is still far from perfect, and now, a year later, I am still trying to straighten out my shoulders, so one day, maybe, I can perform a free HS that meets the exacting standards of this forum. My core strength has increased a lot in the past year from other exercises, and that seems to help too. Yes, my wrists hurt, like yours, every time I practice my hand balancing. Warming up is key. Also, starting with a headstand and/or underarm stand helps to get comfortable in the upside/down postion. Don’t forget to feel good about even the smallest improvement that you make.

Frits, you inspire me. Motivated and consistent, setting and reaching goals in unknown waters at age 70. One of my ultimate goals is keeping at like you're doing when I reach that age =)

You're a hero!

the first time i tried to handstand, i think i was 7-8 years old, and i couldn't do it for a long time, i didn't breath and the blood when to fast to my head, LOL, i slipped, and my head crushed the floor...

Hey archbishop; thank you for your nice words. Yes, I don’t give up easily. However, I am sure you will be able to do what I can do at age 70; and more. Just make sure that you do not have to start at age 68 like I did. Looking back at it, not starting earlier was really dumb. I should have started when I was 58. What kept me going in the beginning were my washer and dryer in my home gym. They never failed to cheer me on (LOL).

Hahaha! Good cheerleaders are hard to find. Good job!

FritsMB said:

I am sure you will be able to do what I can do at age 70; and more. .

you're more sure than me ...

FritsMB said:

After about half a year though, I managed to do a 30+

I don't know ... it's been 8 months for me and I"m still not past 10 seconds free standing. Maybe when I'm 80 I'll do 30 seconds free.

Ah, yes. Let me explain. When I talk about a free HS, I don’t include kicking up into a free HS. Strictly speaking, I cheat. As I already said, my free HS is not up to the exacting standards of this forum. I kick up, find my balance with toes on ceiling (or against a wall) and then let go (with my toes) and do a free 30+ second HS. I can still only kick up into a free HS once in a while. If you can hold a 60 second HS with feet tapping against the wall (i.e. while putting pressure on your fingers trying to maintain your balance), and you can do a free HS of more than 5 seconds, then it is more than anything your minds eye (or body awareness) that is limiting you when you try to get past the magical 10 seconds. While balancing try to focus on your toes and your wrists. It will come. Here is a nice example of body awareness:

http://www.youtube.com/user/portaldo#p/ ... riauPPejkE

151 said:

At 13 I could hold a handstand for as long as my balance allowed, and could walk around on my hands all day.

We'll thats not the case at 34. My balance blows, I don't have the strength to do a single HSPU and handstands against the wall even, hurt my wrists.

Just curious what everyone else experienced at first with handstands, and how long it took to get them to the point that balance was the only thing holding you back.

At 13 I was like you are at 34, haha. I'm 24 now and not much better....

FritsMB said:

Ah, yes. Let me explain.

Thanks so much for the encouragement. And yes, my body awareness goes all to pieces in the upside down position.

That's one reason I got out of Judo a while back - during some grueling wrestling randori (where I feel like puking afterward from the exertion) where the body gets in some strange situations I would frequently lose my orientation completely.

Planning to go back back to judo part time once my tumbling/acrobatic/gymnastics skills improve tremendously.

It sounds like a good plan. I always thought that tumbling (which I don’t do) would be much harder (in terms of body awareness and control) than just standing on my hands. So, I imagine that, if you keep at it, in a year or so you can eat your breakfast while standing on your hands. Just imagine how much time that will save you. More time for judo.

Fritz your method is not 'cheating'. Coach calls it a Chinese handstand, its a step in the progression to handstand.

I do a combination of things, but when i'm want to extend time in freestanding, and work on form i do something similar.

I hang a band from my pull up bar so it forms a wide U shape. ( i keep it secure by attaching a carabiner to the middle )

If i start to over balance the band will catch me and i can pull back to balance, its been very helpful with getting better at gymnastics style handstands.

Mr. Brady. I can’t tell you how happy you just made me telling me this. I always felt a little uneasy telling people that I could hold a 30+ free HS without revealing how I would get there. And, hey, if the Chinese agree that it is the way to progress then that is good enough for me. Look at the success they have at gymnastic meets (world championships, olympics). I keep getting more and more comfortable keeping my balance; there will be short periods of 5 to 10 seconds that I will not have to correct at all. However, slightly bend arms (to prevent me from falling back) is still easier for me then rigidly straight arms.

Been at it for 4 months. Progress has been marginal. I can hold a handstand against a wall for about a minute and a half. Freestanding, I'm lucky it's 3 seconds - very difficult to balance and improve on. You are in good company.

Frits: That'sa great way to train the HS, Coach showed us how to do something along those lines for bodyline work and it is crazy how well it works!