ON Jan. 8 2017 I could not even headstand, on Feb. 1 2017 I held a 25 second Handstand. Thanks to you guys at r/bodyweight!

jeewa123

New member
Just wanted to say thanks to this forum, and the wealth of information that lies within it. I've always been active, a gym rat, but recently I decided I was tired of not being able to do some of these cool bodyweight activities that a lot of people can do.

So on January 8th, I decided to start. I started with a headstand, that came easy. Shortly after that I started working on a handstand. WOW was it hard! I really thought I'd never learn how to do it, but I obsessed over it anyway. I scoured every piece of info I could find and read/watched it over and over.

My wrists started hurting really bad, and I asked you guys about it. I was told to take a week off, and I did. THANK you, seriously! I came back able to do a handstand better than I ever could, with zero pain at all. That week off really helped, a lot. I was over doing it.

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks and say that you really can learn whatever you want if you put your mind to it. I was really skeptical about being able to handstand, but here I am doing nearly 30 second stands in less than a month. I'm stoked!
My form is still bad, but I'm working on it.

Here's to a 2017 filled with lots of bodyweight movements, planches, front levers, the works. I will be doing these things soon! My main motivation is my daughter, who will be born in March. Like her mommy, she will most likely do gymnastics when she's of age. Hopefully I can be right there beside her the whole way.

Here's a short vid of the stand I got last night, thanks to r/bodyweight!


Edit: In case anyone was curious about my progression, here are videos posted in chronological order of when I first started trying to headstand, all the way up to the video I posted above. Note the date stamps. Hope these help!

(first headstand success after trying for 3 days)
(first balance after literally hundreds of attempts!)
(took exactly 12 days to go from 8 seconds to 16 seconds)
(getting better!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUdG7ueRqfQ (same video as in the original post)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xY6r_sRa28 (straddle press headstand, using it to develop core strength and practice for eventually doing that in a handstand)
 
@watergal Thanks man, but don't give up. Not sure how much you practice, but I was/am putting in about an hour every day just getting the repetitions in. Definitely look on youtube for some of the tutorials out there, they all help! I'd say I got at least one good piece of info from each video I watched. You can do it, especially if I can!
 
@jeewa123 Dude, this is so impressive, such a great achievement! Do you mind sharing how you would spend that hour? I assume this changed as you progressed, so curious as to what it included at the start too.
 
@businessphonesystem Thanks man, really. :) (what follows is copied and pasted from another comment, someone asked pretty much exactly what you did)

I spend probably 10 minutes warming up. Getting my wrists/shoulders loose. Then when I still lacked a little confidence I'd do wall stands for probably 30 minutes at least. The last 10-20 minutes I'd spend kicking up into a handstand and just focusing on keeping my body tight. If I fell, no big deal because I learned to bail out and I had blankets/cushions in front of me. What helped me a lot I think were doing hollow body holds every night, and stretching. Without shoulder mobility and core strength it's really hard to hold a handstand. I noticed every week it got easier the stronger my core got. Hope this helps and if I didn't answer something correctly just ask again. Happy to help!
 
@jeewa123 I think someone already asked but can you please share your rep scheme or how you broke up that hour? If I get even 1/3 of the progress as you I'd be stoked to get 30s hold after 3 months...
 
@watergal It took me from Summer of '15 til Summer of '16 to be kinda consistent. Now in winter of '17 can I actually get into a handstand 9/10 times when fresh. It took me a long damn time but it was worth it.
 
@von20207777 That's a good ratio! I'm still not very consistent. Maybe 6/10 times I kick up I actually get into a good balance. Hoping that with some more practice I can just kick up into a long handstand on the first try.
 
@jeewa123 You definitely will. Also when I saw this I didn't expect great form. While your line could be more open, your form is phenomenal for starting a month ago. Well done man!!! And thanks :)
 
@von20207777 Thanks! I've worked really hard on opening up my shoulder angle, still needs work but it's light years ahead of where I started. I will work on getting my line straighter for sure though!
 
@michelebolduc1 Definitely faced mental barriers, you just have to get comfortable with the idea of over rotating. The only way to get comfortable is to practice bailing out of it. Honestly, you don't need to practice though. It's such a natural movement that I really think you will do it automatically. This video is a good demonstration of how I learned to bail out. Once you learn, you really have no fear of kicking up because you know you can just bail without hurting yourself. She emphasizes being able to do a cartwheel in order to know how to bail, but I don't agree with that. I can bail easily but have no clue how to cartwheel. Hope this video helps! (not my video, just pasting a link from YT)

 
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