jesusloverr
New member
Hi all, thought I'd share this to help anyone who is struggling or just starting out with their handstands.
My HS journey began a good year and a half ago. It has taken me that long to competently and consistently hold 10+ second HSs (which was my original goal). I had a solid strength base (weightlifting background) and semi-decent shoulder flexibility, but mastering the balance was my biggest challenge. My HS is still far from perfect, but the entire philosophy in this community - which is something I absolutely love - is the desire to constantly improve, without all the macho bravado of some other fitness cultures out there.
Here are some (purely anecdotal) Handstand tips and tricks that I wish I knew when I first began:
LOGISTICS
Edit: removed # in front of headers as they didn't seem to work
Edit2: added my wrist warmup recommendations as lots of commenters were asking me about it
Edit3: wow thanks for those who gave me some awards! That’s a first for me. I’m genuinely just glad to finally be able to give something back to this community since all I usually do is seek out advice. What goes around comes around (in the nicest possible way). Thanks everyone
My HS journey began a good year and a half ago. It has taken me that long to competently and consistently hold 10+ second HSs (which was my original goal). I had a solid strength base (weightlifting background) and semi-decent shoulder flexibility, but mastering the balance was my biggest challenge. My HS is still far from perfect, but the entire philosophy in this community - which is something I absolutely love - is the desire to constantly improve, without all the macho bravado of some other fitness cultures out there.
Here are some (purely anecdotal) Handstand tips and tricks that I wish I knew when I first began:
LOGISTICS
- Be in it for the long-haul: HS training is not a short-term "learn in 30 days" type skill, despite what some YouTubers would have you believe. For the majority of people, without coaching, going from zero-to-HS-hero will take a long time. Don't fret though, the journey is what makes it worth it. Greatness can only come from overcoming difficulty.
- Train as often as you can: Frequency is key, rather than volume. In other words, 5 minutes every day is better than three 45 minute sessions per week. HSs are a mechanical skill, and therefore require procedural muscle memory (for balance). Procedural muscle memory is the same muscle memory you acquire when learning to ride a bike, or drive a manual car, or brush your teeth. You can't push your way through it, you just need to rinse and repeat until it becomes second nature.
- Optimal training time: With the above being said, volume is still of course important. For optimal volume, I personally found that 15 minutes daily practice worked best to build that procedural muscle memory, with days off here and there to rest my wrists. For me, those 15 minutes did not include the warm-up, but began with (1) back-2-wall practice, (2) chest-2-wall practice and (3) freestanding practice
- Get help: Coaching is expensive, and there are now hundreds if not thousands of callisthenics/handbalancing coaches out there. I admit, I have never used one, BUT I was lucky enough to find someone in my local area who was a strong handstander. He was incredibly kind and met with me to coach me and would review my form from videos I sent him. I can't stress this enough: This was a big turning point in my HS development. If you don't have the same luck, use the community: post videos in r/handbalancing, r/Handstands, r/bodyweightfitness, r/overcominggravity, etc and get some feedback. It really does help.
- Record yourself: Take videos of your form. Review it and make adjustments. This constant back-and-forth will slowly but surely improve your practice.
- Improvement is not linear: Distinct from other fitness disciplines, HS progression is not linear. You may be stuck for months, then one day and for no apparent reason suddenly find your center of balance, only to lose it again the following week. Don't get frustrated, just enjoy the ride. If it's not working for you, brush it off and try again tomorrow. So long as you show up to train, you will improve eventually.
- Skill before strength work: As most of you probably know from the RR / OG book, do your HS work early in your workout, before strength work, but after your warm-up/mobility.
- Never underestimate the importance of the wall: IMO all freestanding HS practice should begin with wall practice, both chest-2-wall and back-2-wall.
- Always warm-up your wrists: If your wrists get injured, your training gets limited beyond recognition. No more HSs, no more levers, no more pullups, pressups, L-sits, etc etc. Don't risk it. Warm-up those wrists before every session. I highly recommend GMB’s wrist warmup as a warmup, along side Antranik’s wrist strengthening exercises , which I personally do every morning and as part of my warmup routine.
- Always Listen to your body: If your wrists (or any other body part) begin to hurt frequently, take some time off. One or two weeks off is far better than 6 months if you get injured. Heck, in my personal opinion, if you're just not in the right head space that day, don't beat yourself up for not battling through. That mentality is collateral damage from other, more bravado-inspired, fitness cultures. Are you a professional athlete? Does your livelihood depend on you pushing through a workout your body doesn't want? No? Then take a day off.
- Kick up slowly, with straight legs: The aim of the game is control. Aim to get your hips above your shoulders with each kick-up. Better to undershoot, and keep practising the kick-up than to continuously overshoot.
- Kick up with your strongest side: Don't dilute your training efforts by trying to master each side. Like I mentioned above, you need to develop the procedural muscle memory (neural pathways) necessary to balance yourself upside down. Focusing only on one side may be counterproductive in other disciplines, but with HSs you will want to master the balance first. Then you can balance out the skill by kicking up in different ways (weaker leg first, straddle HS, etc)
- Find your favourite starting position and stick with it: In the early days I practised kicking up from standing, from kneeling, with one leg and then the other. In short, it was too diluted (as mentioned above). Choose one, and stick with it until you master the muscle memory needed to balance. I personally preferred kicking up from a kneeling position (not dissimilar to a sprinter's starting line position).
- It's in the palms of your hands: Quite literally, you will be holding balance with your palms, or more specifically, tiny intricate muscle movements going back and forth between your fingers (when you lean too far forward) and the 'heel' of your palm (when leaning too far backwards). Focus on this, practice it in frogstand to help acquire the muscle memory, concentrate on it every time you are upside down. The muscular adjustments you will make will be too much at first, since the neural connections are weak, but over time they will become more precise, just like how the fluidity of brushing your teeth with your weaker hand would improve if you used it every time.
- Hands shoulder width apart, elbows locked: This is perhaps an obvious one, but despite being aware of it I never focused enough on it until I got some advice and started recording myself. My hands were too wide apart and elbows would (and admittedly still sometimes do) bend a little. Keep working on it.
- Hands and feet not too far apart: Picture a downward dog starting position as a HS starting point. If your legs are too far away from your hands, it is more difficult to find your center of gravity when you kick up. Bring your legs closer to your hands.
- It's the journey that counts: Your HS journey will be long and challenging, yet at the same time immensely fun and interesting. Everyone's journey will be a little different. There is no finish line, really; for every goal you achieve there is something else to learn. This doesn't mean there is no point in trying though, instead, it is the continuous process of attentive learning that provides the purpose. In 10 years from now, you can look back and witness incredible personal progress, determination and commitment, or you can witness procrastination, laziness and regret. You choose your journey.
- All you have to do is turn up: The human desire to do nothing, put things off, and essentially save energy is dangerously powerful. But is manageable. If you find yourself the type of person who only sticks to things for a few weeks before giving up, remember this: all you have to do is turn up. You don't actually have to exercise today, for now, just put on your exercise clothes. You don't actually have to do a long session today, for now, just do 5 minutes. You don't actually have to break any records today, for now, just finish the session. One brick at a time builds a city.
- Share the wealth: I wonder how much money combined this community saves by not paying for gym memberships? I wonder how many of us shed those extra 10kgs, got our first chin-up, got that six-pack, or mastered the HS without expensive gym memberships? A healthy, fit and strong lifestyle is there for the taking, but most people don't know. Share the wealth! Spread the word and get more people into this lifestyle.
Edit: removed # in front of headers as they didn't seem to work
Edit2: added my wrist warmup recommendations as lots of commenters were asking me about it
Edit3: wow thanks for those who gave me some awards! That’s a first for me. I’m genuinely just glad to finally be able to give something back to this community since all I usually do is seek out advice. What goes around comes around (in the nicest possible way). Thanks everyone