My Handstand Journey: What I wish I knew when I began

[jesusloverr]

@roh74 You’re welcome!

 

[xxdestinyy]

@jesusloverr Dont go to calisthenics coaches. Go to your local gymnastic center and apply for gymnastic for adults and from there on speak about your goals to your coach. ( guessing there is a gymnastic for adults where you come from)

 

[lseals]

@jesusloverr Excellent post. I second every point you make. I've been working on my hand stand for just over a year now. I can get up and hold, but I'm doing a banana in a bad way (my shoulders aren't as flexible as they should be, leading me to curve my back with my feet too far in front of my body to compensate.) Due to COVID-19, my gym is closed, so I'm concentrating on HS. Over the last few weeks I've returned to the wall and also started videoing my free standing attempts. Slowly but surely I'm tucking my hips better and getting straighter. So, thanks for posting this - it's some of the best advice on this skill I've seen in a single post.

 

[blessedx6]

@jesusloverr I misread the title as “my handsome journey” so I had to take a look. I have to admit I was slightly disappointed when I realized my mistake but soon saw what a great quality post it was filled with great advice. Thanks for posting

P.s. if you ever write a “handsome journey” post I am totally reading it

 

[jesusloverr]

@blessedx6 [added to bucket list]

 

[calvin75]

@jesusloverr Could someone with double jointed elbows lock out their arms for handstand or should they keep a bend so their arms at 180??? I am working on mine and both my arms extend past 180 when locked.

 

[sayak83]

@jesusloverr " 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."

I love this so much. Thank you for sharing!

 

[bluegill_04]

@jesusloverr The only legit interpretation of the handstand journey, or any journey for that matter, skills take time, and dedication, and the false hope and fake standard that YouTube promotes to people is frustratingly stupid, thank you for your post.

 

[jesusloverr]

@bluegill_04 You’re welcome glad you liked it!

 

[bluegill_04]

@jesusloverr You deserve to be on trending on this sub lol

 

[mukask]

@jesusloverr For me, the biggest thing to actually "get" the handstand when I was doing gymnastics as a kid was the importance of the shoulders. I always completely focused on my hands and balancing with my fingers.

When I actually opened my shoulders for the first time and could just STAND in a good position without doing anything besides holding, it was the greatest feeling.

 

[jesusloverr]

@mukask This is interesting. Perhaps this is something I’ve missed and can focus on. I’ll try be more mindful of my shoulders from now and and give it a shot!

 

[proverbs27vs17]

@jesusloverr What did you do to warm up during each session?

 

[jesusloverr]

@proverbs27vs17 I start with something similar to GMB’s wrist warmup in which I include Antranik’s wrist strengthening exercises .

I then do arm swings - first across my body (like I’m hugging myself) and then arm circles in each direction. Finally I use a band to do overhead extensions, going all the way from behind my back to the front of my body, keeping my elbows extended.

It’s nothing too fancy and takes me maybe 5 minutes tops, but does the job of lubricating my joints.

 

[friskyferry]

@jesusloverr Speaking on the starting position, something a gymnastics coach taught me was that deep lunge actually really helps with making it easy to kick up. If you are struggling to get up all the way, especially to a wall, using that lunge can really help, as long as you keep your back in alignment.

 

[jesusloverr]

@friskyferry Interesting, by deep lunge I’m assuming you don’t mean a long extended lunge? I suppose that is not dissimilar to what I used to practice.

 

[youssefrakhif]

@jesusloverr Wow this is a really good and useful post, thank you !

 

[jesusloverr]

@youssefrakhif You’re welcome!

 

[ttrim]

@jesusloverr This has been so helpful, especially the part about building muscle memory to balance on your palms. In the past I’ve always kicked up and relied only on my fingers to balance myself (because I always over kicked and relied on my fingers to stop myself falling). Quarantine has been the perfect opportunity to practise and now I can really prioritise practising proper balance on my palms.

 

[jesusloverr]

@ttrim You’re not wrong - The fingers are important too! But it’s a constant, and quite literal balancing act between palms-fingers which makes it work. Good luck!