Some months ago I did a similar post for the Handstand Pushup and received great feedback (thank you!). So I decided to post now a beginner routine for the press. For a video with the full routine click here:
According to multiple gymnastic gurus the press to handstand is one of the best fitness goals you can have as it’s one of the most complete bodyweight skills (strength, mobility and balance).
But at the same it’s one of the skills that it doesn’t necessarily have a simple and straightforward progression This is why…
One person may need to work more on strength while another may need to improve his mobility above anything else and also you can even find someone very athletic who may just need to work directly on the movement pattern of the press.
With that in mind, I tried to put a routine which covers the different areas of the straight arm straddle press so that anyone can stick to it and build an excellent foundation.
The routine has 4 phases and every phase should last around 6 weeks. On each phase you’ll be doing the 4 exercises that I’ll list below. Doing this once a week is enough. Max twice a week.
On phase 1 you’ll be doing what’s in my opinion the best stretch for hamstrings (Single Leg Good Mornings).
The more stiff your hamstrings are the harder your press is gonna be as it will be like if you’re trying to drive a car with your foot on the brake pedal.
To gain straight arm strength you’ll be doing the Kneeling Press To Pike. This is a great exercise for learning how to rapidly fire your shoulder and upper back muscles which is mandatory on the first part of the press.
But we can’t forget about compression. It doesn’t matter how flexible you’re that if you can’t use this range of motion on the extremes it will be pretty much useless and even dangerous.
That’s why we do compression exercises like the Straddle Pulses. Thanks to exercises like this is how you manage to lift your hips from the starting position from the press.
Finally I like to finish this with an easier variation of the press to start drilling the movement pattern. In this case you’ll be doing the Headstand Tuck Press.
Exercises:
Single Leg Good Mornings: 2 sets, 10r + 10s hold per leg, 60s rest
Kneeling Press To Pike: 3 sets, 5-10r (1-2-1)s, 90s rest
Straddle Pulses: 3 sets, 8-12r, 60s rest
Headstand Tuck Press: 3 sets, 4-6r, (1-1-3)s, as much as needed
To maximize mobility gains it’s good to work on both Extreme Range Conditioning (ERC) and Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF). On the first phase we worked on ERC with the pulses and now we’ll start working on PNF by doing the Seated Pike Crush.
On this phase we’ll be working on our shoulder mobility because the more you can open your shoulders the easier everything is gonna be.
For straight arm strength here you’ll be doing the Planche Lean To Press which is great for strengthening the scapula in multiple plains.
Lastly you’ll be doing a harder variation of the headstand press to increase control.
Exercises:
Seated Pike Crush: 3 sets, 3 x 10/5s, 60s rest
Downward Dog: 2 sets, 10r + 10s, 60s rest
Planche Lean To Press: 3 sets, 5-8r, (1-2-2), 90s rest
Headstand Straddle Press: 3 sets, 4-6r, (1-1-3)s, as much as needed
On third phase we’ll do similar exercises with the exception of the Tuck Handstand. If you’re serious about getting the press, improving your handstand or you just want a big bang for the buck, tuck handstands are the way to go.
At this point we’ll do this chest to wall to improve shoulder mobility and also increase strength. The closer you can get to the wall the more intense it’s gonna be.
Exercises:
Single Leg Good Mornings: 2 sets, 10r + 10s hold per leg, 60s rest
Seated Straddle Crush: 3 sets, 3 x 10/5s, 60s rest
Tuck Handstand Wall Hold: 3 sets, 10-20s, 90s rest
Headstand Pike Press: 3 sets, 4-6r, (1-1-3)s, as much as needed
On the fourth phase we’ll start using the tuck handstand we learned on phase 3 to start getting the first taste of a press. We’re gonna do that by going from a straight handstand into a tuck handstand.
This exercise is gonna teach a lot of valuable less which are key for the press, such as:
With the Pike To L-Sit you’ll start on the initial position of the press and you’ll lower yourself down as slowly as possible into an L-Sit. If that’s still too hard you can do it on a tuck position. Oh and use parallettes / boxes that are at least 1 foot above the floor or you’ll need crazy mobility to pull it off.
Also the beauty of doing this one is that after mastering it you’ll probably be confident to go from L-Sit to Handstand
Exercises:
Wall Assisted Straight To Tuck: 3 sets, 1-3r, (3-1-2)s, as much as needed
Seated Pike Crush: 3 sets, 3 x 10/5s, 60s rest
Pike To L-Sit: 4 sets, 2-5 reps, (5-2-1)s, 90s rest
Pancake Reach Stick Lifts: 3 sets, 3 x 10/5s, 60s rest
If your interest in fitness goes beyond muscle I really recommend you to go for this skill. Aside from being a cool skill the press will help you target different critical areas that are normally forgotten with the typical bro routines and it will make you an overall more functional human being.
Here are the videos for the exercises of each of phase of my beginners progression:
- Phase 1: Single Leg Good Mornings, Kneeling Press To Pike, Straddle Pulses, Headstand Tuck Press
- Phase 2: Seated Pike Crush, Downward Dog, Planche Lean To Press, Headstand Straddle Press
- Phase 3: Single Leg Good Mornings, Seated Straddle Crush, Tuck Handstand Wall Hold, Headstand Pike Press
- Phase 4: Wall Assisted Straight To Tuck, Seated Pike Crush, Pike To L-Sit, Pancake Reach Stick Lifts
Finally, big thanks to Tom Merrick for sharing with me most of this awesome drills and progressions.
According to multiple gymnastic gurus the press to handstand is one of the best fitness goals you can have as it’s one of the most complete bodyweight skills (strength, mobility and balance).
But at the same it’s one of the skills that it doesn’t necessarily have a simple and straightforward progression This is why…
One person may need to work more on strength while another may need to improve his mobility above anything else and also you can even find someone very athletic who may just need to work directly on the movement pattern of the press.
With that in mind, I tried to put a routine which covers the different areas of the straight arm straddle press so that anyone can stick to it and build an excellent foundation.
The routine has 4 phases and every phase should last around 6 weeks. On each phase you’ll be doing the 4 exercises that I’ll list below. Doing this once a week is enough. Max twice a week.
Phase 1:
On phase 1 you’ll be doing what’s in my opinion the best stretch for hamstrings (Single Leg Good Mornings).
The more stiff your hamstrings are the harder your press is gonna be as it will be like if you’re trying to drive a car with your foot on the brake pedal.
To gain straight arm strength you’ll be doing the Kneeling Press To Pike. This is a great exercise for learning how to rapidly fire your shoulder and upper back muscles which is mandatory on the first part of the press.
But we can’t forget about compression. It doesn’t matter how flexible you’re that if you can’t use this range of motion on the extremes it will be pretty much useless and even dangerous.
That’s why we do compression exercises like the Straddle Pulses. Thanks to exercises like this is how you manage to lift your hips from the starting position from the press.
Finally I like to finish this with an easier variation of the press to start drilling the movement pattern. In this case you’ll be doing the Headstand Tuck Press.
Exercises:
Single Leg Good Mornings: 2 sets, 10r + 10s hold per leg, 60s rest
Kneeling Press To Pike: 3 sets, 5-10r (1-2-1)s, 90s rest
Straddle Pulses: 3 sets, 8-12r, 60s rest
Headstand Tuck Press: 3 sets, 4-6r, (1-1-3)s, as much as needed
Phase 2:
To maximize mobility gains it’s good to work on both Extreme Range Conditioning (ERC) and Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF). On the first phase we worked on ERC with the pulses and now we’ll start working on PNF by doing the Seated Pike Crush.
On this phase we’ll be working on our shoulder mobility because the more you can open your shoulders the easier everything is gonna be.
For straight arm strength here you’ll be doing the Planche Lean To Press which is great for strengthening the scapula in multiple plains.
Lastly you’ll be doing a harder variation of the headstand press to increase control.
Exercises:
Seated Pike Crush: 3 sets, 3 x 10/5s, 60s rest
Downward Dog: 2 sets, 10r + 10s, 60s rest
Planche Lean To Press: 3 sets, 5-8r, (1-2-2), 90s rest
Headstand Straddle Press: 3 sets, 4-6r, (1-1-3)s, as much as needed
Phase 3:
On third phase we’ll do similar exercises with the exception of the Tuck Handstand. If you’re serious about getting the press, improving your handstand or you just want a big bang for the buck, tuck handstands are the way to go.
At this point we’ll do this chest to wall to improve shoulder mobility and also increase strength. The closer you can get to the wall the more intense it’s gonna be.
Exercises:
Single Leg Good Mornings: 2 sets, 10r + 10s hold per leg, 60s rest
Seated Straddle Crush: 3 sets, 3 x 10/5s, 60s rest
Tuck Handstand Wall Hold: 3 sets, 10-20s, 90s rest
Headstand Pike Press: 3 sets, 4-6r, (1-1-3)s, as much as needed
Phase 4:
On the fourth phase we’ll start using the tuck handstand we learned on phase 3 to start getting the first taste of a press. We’re gonna do that by going from a straight handstand into a tuck handstand.
This exercise is gonna teach a lot of valuable less which are key for the press, such as:
- Keeping your hips over your shoulders while you’re flexing your hips and knees to get into a tuck
- Using your traps to balance and control the movement
With the Pike To L-Sit you’ll start on the initial position of the press and you’ll lower yourself down as slowly as possible into an L-Sit. If that’s still too hard you can do it on a tuck position. Oh and use parallettes / boxes that are at least 1 foot above the floor or you’ll need crazy mobility to pull it off.
Also the beauty of doing this one is that after mastering it you’ll probably be confident to go from L-Sit to Handstand
Exercises:
Wall Assisted Straight To Tuck: 3 sets, 1-3r, (3-1-2)s, as much as needed
Seated Pike Crush: 3 sets, 3 x 10/5s, 60s rest
Pike To L-Sit: 4 sets, 2-5 reps, (5-2-1)s, 90s rest
Pancake Reach Stick Lifts: 3 sets, 3 x 10/5s, 60s rest
Summary (TLDR)
If your interest in fitness goes beyond muscle I really recommend you to go for this skill. Aside from being a cool skill the press will help you target different critical areas that are normally forgotten with the typical bro routines and it will make you an overall more functional human being.
Here are the videos for the exercises of each of phase of my beginners progression:
- Phase 1: Single Leg Good Mornings, Kneeling Press To Pike, Straddle Pulses, Headstand Tuck Press
- Phase 2: Seated Pike Crush, Downward Dog, Planche Lean To Press, Headstand Straddle Press
- Phase 3: Single Leg Good Mornings, Seated Straddle Crush, Tuck Handstand Wall Hold, Headstand Pike Press
- Phase 4: Wall Assisted Straight To Tuck, Seated Pike Crush, Pike To L-Sit, Pancake Reach Stick Lifts
Finally, big thanks to Tom Merrick for sharing with me most of this awesome drills and progressions.