Handstand

Any pointers?

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Ive been stretching my shoulders by hodling a bar, resting my elbows on something, and pushing my head through my arms until I feel a stretch. Any other usefuil ones?

you start to hit a decent enough position towards the end. Still could use a bit more open shoulders and posterior pelvic tilt

however, a few things:

spend more time in the straight open shoulder handstand against the wall. you enter the closed shoulder HS because it's what you're used to, then fix it. You should be hitting the straight HS right away. You need to reeducate your body to know the proper position

start with your feet closer to your hands when you kick up. your hips will have less distance to travel and thus will take less energy to get to HS as well as be a bit more precise

it's just a handstand, no need to land like an elephant coming out of it

don't let the feet move. make all the movement come from your hands with the goal of keeping your feet in the same place over your center. This is the furthest point and will be the most sensitive to changes in balance, so always try to visualize where your feet are. Once you understand this concept you will gain a lot of confidence in your balance

The most important thing, keep at it. training HS is frustrating so you just have to keep working on it and try to push through the wall

For your flexibility, I think it is good to also practice the same exercise you do putting your elbows on something, but with straight arms. It gives you a better leverage for pushing harder on your shoulders if you need it, especially if you do it facing a wall. You can also do it with a partner, but it's a bit hard to explain. Bridges too can be used to improve shoulders opening by a lot. And you can add some active flexibility, too. I think the wall slides are very great, and you can also lie on your stomach holding a small stick with your hands right in front of you, and lift your arms as high as you can (to open your shoulders using your muscles). Once you're as high as you can, you can stay there a few seconds to try to go even higher even if you can't. You can also make it go a little bit higher than you can with the help of a partner or any other mean you can think of. And it's quite important do it in a handstand too, every time you practice.

"spend more time in the straight open shoulder handstand against the wall. you enter the closed shoulder HS because it's what you're used to, then fix it. You should be hitting the straight HS right away."

Would you happen to have a link to an article/video/etc. demonstrating the diff between closed and open shoulder HS?

boofis said:

"spend more time in the straight open shoulder handstand against the wall. you enter the closed shoulder HS because it's what you're used to, then fix it. You should be hitting the straight HS right away."

Would you happen to have a link to an article/video/etc. demonstrating the diff between closed and open shoulder HS?

It is obvious. Just look at the angle between the torso and the upper arm. Smaller = more closed.

To elaborate, notice when you go up into handstand that your head is forward and back is arched and the angle between the chest and arms is less (closed). Then you push your head in and the angles gets bigger - opens.

In general when a movement opens it goes towards a stretch. So in handstand we say open your shoulders.

Now here's the funny thing with HS, as you press up and open the shoulders, at the same time on the way up you want to think close the chest so you don't do straight into the arched position and then have to correct.

yuri said:

start with your feet closer to your hands when you kick up. your hips will have less distance to travel and thus will take less energy to get to HS as well as be a bit more precise

I keep seeing you say this, but I can't really seem to "get it". The more I bring my feet in, the less oomph I get on the kick up. Any tips for improving this?

Phrak is your weight directly over your hands as you attempt this or is it behind?

yuri said:

you start to hit a decent enough position towards the end. Still could use a bit more open shoulders and posterior pelvic tilt

however, a few things:

spend more time in the straight open shoulder handstand against the wall. you enter the closed shoulder HS because it's what you're used to, then fix it. You should be hitting the straight HS right away. You need to reeducate your body to know the proper position

start with your feet closer to your hands when you kick up. your hips will have less distance to travel and thus will take less energy to get to HS as well as be a bit more precise

it's just a handstand, no need to land like an elephant coming out of it

don't let the feet move. make all the movement come from your hands with the goal of keeping your feet in the same place over your center. This is the furthest point and will be the most sensitive to changes in balance, so always try to visualize where your feet are. Once you understand this concept you will gain a lot of confidence in your balance

The most important thing, keep at it. training HS is frustrating so you just have to keep working on it and try to push through the wall

Yea every time i feel like I hit the right line with my handstand, i slowly start to fall back to my feet. Whenever I try to shift my weight from my fingers/upper palm to my midpalm I start to fall back.

I work stomach to wall handstands with my palm about 3" away from the wall before my fsp, and this is continuing to help my handstand(2 months ago I couldnt stay up for more than a few seconds )

Thanks for the tips Yuri!

Cole Dano said:

Phrak is your weight directly over your hands as you attempt this or is it behind?

Hmm, I'm not entirely sure. I'll practice it a little tomorrow morning and see if I can explain what's going on

phrak said:

Cole Dano said:

Phrak is your weight directly over your hands as you attempt this or is it behind?

Hmm, I'm not entirely sure. I'll practice it a little tomorrow morning and see if I can explain what's going on

I feel the same way you do, but my issue could be related more related to flexibility. Gotta work on that!