60s Handstand.........Now What ?

I am training handstands solely for the purpose of increasing my shoulder size and I do not want to ever use weights again. I can now hold 60s handstand with feet against the wall and I can definitely feel my shoulders have increased in size. So whats next if I want to train for size? Free standing handstands, handstand pushups or wall walks?

I know handstand pushups will also work my triceps so that might divide the work load away from the shoulders. If I go into free standing holds next, then how long should I hold for? Detailed advice would be appreciated, thanks

All.

Gymnasts get a lot of their musculature from the time spent working skills. Basically lots and lots and lots of repetition. So it's not only a factor of just strength development but muscular hypertrophy due to volume.

So you want to work your shoulders but not your triceps?

And no, HSPU will not "divide the workload" away from your shoulders.

RatioFitness said:

So you want to work your shoulders but not your triceps?

And no, HSPU will not "divide the workload" away from your shoulders.

I mean I dont care if my triceps get big from the side effects of straight arm training, But since I'm short 5'2......I'm going for the illusion of broad shoulders, wide lats, thin waist. So I wouldnt want really big arms

But yes you guys are right, Gymnasts do them all so I guess imma have to do that also

Lol! Yea, there's no getting around that. The bottom 30-50% of the HSPU, from shoulderstand up to hands around top of the head is very shoulder intensive. You may get very good results by focusing some extra volume just on that part of the ROM if you're going for a specific look. See how it feels, because that will tell you for sure. If you feel it like crazy in the shoulders then you've found a go-to move! I will also suggest that you consider adding weight to your body with a vest or belt as you get stronger. You WILL get to a point (eventually) where extra shoulder size is just hard to build with only your bodyweight.

I noticed a increase in shoulder size from incorperating XR HS holds. I also noticed that now when ever i put weight over head it feels "stuck" up there, like i could walk around all day with it up there and be fine. My Turkish Getups are at 24kgs without even training. I know thats not alot but compared to when i first started training i had trouble doing 16kg TGU. And yes when iv got the 24kg in the air with my shoulder active its very easy to keep it there.

When i started i couldnt even get into a ring HS, let alone hold one, so to start i lowered the rings to the ground and put my feet on a box about waist high. Im now at the point where the box is almost head hight and i can hold it comfortably for 15secs.

I would see how you go, you can do 30sec on 45sec off X12 rds from the Handstand Wods or you could cut it down to 5x15secs with a 90sec rest between sets from the ring wods.

Thanks Nugget, though I am nowhere near capable of even attempting an XR handstand, I can't even hs freestanding yet. Plus I don't have rings, but good to know I can keep building shoulder size without the use of weights

I agree, I can now do XR handstands with feet inside the straps and it really does work the shoulders pretty well. I basically just start from a headstand and press to handstand. That is what I would recommend to everyone who is ready for the XR HS, because you get to work your pressing strength on the rings AND the stability at the top. Wrap feet around at first, then wrap more loosely as things get easier, and you can raise the rings one inch at a time every few weeks to get a bigger ROM and make the movement more productive! This has worked well and my shoulders are getting bigger also. Of course I'm also doing a ton of cable work for my external rotators, supraspinatus/medial delts and rear delts, so that has something to do with it as well.

I am finding that the direct work on the posterior scapular muscles is making it to where I can do controlled negative tuck presses and my handstand is very stable pretty much all the time. The huge difference between my right shoulder (which is crap) and my left shoulder in terms of stability and strength in the small muscles is the only thing that holds me back, and that's getting fixed. You could totally use bands, carabeeners, and eye lag screws to make a similar cable set up on a wall if you don't want to use weights.

Doing a fairly high density of HS push up work and working a slow triple extension (clean and snatch grip) with a shrug at the top is also helping immensely.

I know you aren't big on using weights but I figured you would appreciate the ideas and certainly a few other people that pass through this thread will!

Hi chingyvang!

If you're going for the illusion of broad shoulders, you should put your focus on your lat, teres major and minor. You can do that with wid grip pullups for example.

Though I think you shouldn't do such isolating, body-building-style stuff. You'd better trust your body, train hard with whole body movements (like BtGB) and gains are coming just on the right places.

When i did body building, i trained hard on the muscles seen in the mirror. After 15 years of this kind of training, at 32 I got a 125kg body (191 cm) with shoulder, back, elbow and knee pain; without warmup I can't even stand up from the couch. Do not do the same mistake! With 1 year bodyweight training those pains are away, and I can even get up from the couch Plus: I'm the greatest looking daddy on the playground

Nyikhaj said:

Hi chingyvang!

If you're going for the illusion of broad shoulders, you should put your focus on your lat, teres major and minor. You can do that with wid grip pullups for example.

Though I think you shouldn't do such isolating, body-building-style stuff. You'd better trust your body, train hard with whole body movements (like BtGB) and gains are coming just on the right places.

When i did body building, i trained hard on the muscles seen in the mirror. After 15 years of this kind of training, at 32 I got a 125kg body (191 cm) with shoulder, back, elbow and knee pain; without warmup I can't even stand up from the couch. Do not do the same mistake! With 1 year bodyweight training those pains are away, and I can even get up from the couch Plus: I'm the greatest looking daddy on the playground

Nice!

Get off the wall... freestanding HS is the way to go..

Of course you should work on HePUs as well