How to Do a Handstand(nerdfitness.com)
nerdfitness.com
How to Do a Handstand
https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-handstands/
165 comments
I couldn’t agree more. Why the author would want their long-form writing to resemble a concatenated tweet thread is beyond me; do they assume a short attention span in their audience?
> do they assume a short attention span in their audience
Yes. It’s probably a valid assumption. We are not necessarily their target market.
Yes. It’s probably a valid assumption. We are not necessarily their target market.
> We are not necessarily their target market.
I wonder who your "we" refers to? I mean the site is called "Nerd Fitness", seems to me like we, the average HN reader, are exactly their target market :-)
I wonder who your "we" refers to? I mean the site is called "Nerd Fitness", seems to me like we, the average HN reader, are exactly their target market :-)
It doesn't help that the fluff is inaccurate.
> A handstand is one of the coolest exercises ever, but it’s also one of the most advanced moves to learn.
I doubt any gymnast would agree with either point.
> A handstand is one of the coolest exercises ever, but it’s also one of the most advanced moves to learn.
I doubt any gymnast would agree with either point.
No, but nerds doing fitness very well might!
There far fewer gymnasts than general population so I'm not sure their opinions matter as much to your average slacker nerd who are trying to impress their friends and not gymnasts?
It's standard clickbait spam practice, to fit more ads and affiliate links. Just say no and don't scroll down.
Did you even look at the article? There's no ads, no affiliate links. (unless you call the authors offering their professional services ads, of course)
The first thing I saw was an ad, although you're right that it's an ad for the author. The whole thing looks like an ad filled with more ads, but I guess they're just memes and YouTube links. I tune out anything that looks like that.
Immediate turn off to be honest
Maybe simply because they like to have fun, and this is funny to a lot of people?
Don't be so aggressive just because they've got a different understanding of humor then you do.
Don't be so aggressive just because they've got a different understanding of humor then you do.
this is a pretty good breakdown of the handstand progression
>https://antranik.org/comprehensive-handstand-tutorial/
>https://antranik.org/comprehensive-handstand-tutorial/
I disagree. I think the article was very well written, considering it's basically just an SEO page.
1) First of all, it starts with a short, numerated table of contents at the very top that includes everything that the article covers (with clickable links so you can skip the fluff)
2) It includes textual descriptions, videos and GIFs that make it very easy to understand the exercises.
3) The article also explains not just WHAT you should do, but also WHY you should do it
4) It's written in an entertaining way (it's a matter of taste, but I kinda like it)
5) While they do try to sell their stuff, it's pretty transparent and they are not hiding anything behind a paywall.
1) First of all, it starts with a short, numerated table of contents at the very top that includes everything that the article covers (with clickable links so you can skip the fluff)
2) It includes textual descriptions, videos and GIFs that make it very easy to understand the exercises.
3) The article also explains not just WHAT you should do, but also WHY you should do it
4) It's written in an entertaining way (it's a matter of taste, but I kinda like it)
5) While they do try to sell their stuff, it's pretty transparent and they are not hiding anything behind a paywall.
I’m interested in the topic and also found the memes quite cool but yes the other stuff and too much off topic text is a huge downer.
My days are always better when I start them with some handstand pushups against the wall. It's better than coffee at waking me up and is an excellent source of feedback on body weight status. Also takes very little time.
I highly recommend incorporating at least a static hand stand against the wall into your morning routine, then try work up to turning it into full blown handstand pushups just a little bit at a time.
Used to just do pushups daily, then my friend's girlfriend who did acrobatics and crap talked me into doing handstands with her one day. Never looked back, material QoL improvement ever since, thanks Stefi!
I highly recommend incorporating at least a static hand stand against the wall into your morning routine, then try work up to turning it into full blown handstand pushups just a little bit at a time.
Used to just do pushups daily, then my friend's girlfriend who did acrobatics and crap talked me into doing handstands with her one day. Never looked back, material QoL improvement ever since, thanks Stefi!
Why not just do incline or decline push-ups? Or weighted pull ups? I feel like handstand push-ups increase your risk of serious arm nerve compression injuries, like ulnar nerve compression at the wrist.
To get good at handstand push-ups. You can't judge an approach unless you know the goal.
As someone with wrist pain, I’ve been doing all manner of pushups on fists instead of hands for years.
It feels a lot better(and arguably looks cooler)
It feels a lot better(and arguably looks cooler)
Had to do the same. However, I do handstand push ups on small parallettes[0] which keeps the wrist in the similar position as doing fist push ups, but doesn't hurt my knuckles.
[0]: https://woodpower.com/products/woodpower-parallettes-push-up...
[0]: https://woodpower.com/products/woodpower-parallettes-push-up...
Same, and to any reader, make the switch to neutral grip on your presses _before_ you have wrist pain.
Can you elaborate on neutral grip presses? Not sure what that looks like.
Essentially, palms inward instead of downward. It's the natural position your arms are rotated when at your sides.
I misspoke a bit — I specifically was referring to a neutral wrist position when pressing (be it bench, overhead, pushes) w/r/t extension. I’ve seen excessive wrist extension in these movements cause repetitive strain injuries, in my case they lessened significantly when switching to a neutral wrist angle.
I’d imagine flexion also ain’t great to press with, but excessive extension seems to be way more common (and in common push up technique, the norm)
I’d imagine flexion also ain’t great to press with, but excessive extension seems to be way more common (and in common push up technique, the norm)
It doesn't seem like an issue for me, if it did I'd explore alternatives.
I already do lots of pushups daily and have for decades, the handstand pushups are just something I enjoy in the morning. It's more how I finish my morning stretches than exercise.
The lots of pushups probably already has my wrists well prepared for the activity.
I already do lots of pushups daily and have for decades, the handstand pushups are just something I enjoy in the morning. It's more how I finish my morning stretches than exercise.
The lots of pushups probably already has my wrists well prepared for the activity.
It’s not great for your shoulder long term. As a rule of thumb, when lifting heavy weight if your hands are not in front of your body you are putting unnecessary stress on the joint. A handstand would put your hands right above your head. Overhead pressing is bad for the shoulder, better alternative is Landmine presses at 45 degree, or decline push-ups.
But being upside down on your hands for a bit every morning is a fun life.
If you want to be upside down then just get gymnastic rings and invert yourself.
Or just do more morning handstands like I've been doing for decades without any ill effect, and ignore your unsolicited unnecessary prescribed solution for a nonexistent problem. I'll spend the money and space that would be wasted on gymnastic rings on something more generally useful, thank you very much.
I have a powerful aversion to introducing any generally unavailable facility to my daily fitness maintenance routine. Practically everyone I know who has gone down that path has a tendency to turn it into an excuse for not maintaining their fitness. Out camping? Oh shit, I don't have access to $dependency, guess I'll be a lazy slob today. Late for work? Oh shit, can't make it to the gym today. Pandemic? Oh shit, can't make it to the gym and exercise anymore because it's closed.
Nope, nope, nope. Every time you advise someone to introduce an additional dependency into their fitness maintenance, you're arguably lowering the probability they will consistently perform it. Quit it. My personal dependency threshold stops at a wall and some floor/ground space. Even this has become a bit annoying when I'm sailing, but I have found I can still manage stabilized handstand pushups below-deck with my feet braced against the low ceiling.
I have a powerful aversion to introducing any generally unavailable facility to my daily fitness maintenance routine. Practically everyone I know who has gone down that path has a tendency to turn it into an excuse for not maintaining their fitness. Out camping? Oh shit, I don't have access to $dependency, guess I'll be a lazy slob today. Late for work? Oh shit, can't make it to the gym today. Pandemic? Oh shit, can't make it to the gym and exercise anymore because it's closed.
Nope, nope, nope. Every time you advise someone to introduce an additional dependency into their fitness maintenance, you're arguably lowering the probability they will consistently perform it. Quit it. My personal dependency threshold stops at a wall and some floor/ground space. Even this has become a bit annoying when I'm sailing, but I have found I can still manage stabilized handstand pushups below-deck with my feet braced against the low ceiling.
Aren't you still putting the same pressures on the shoulders and wrists per the previous poster? I discovered the rings at age 46, and I love them. I fell off exercise when I moved back to the US at age 52, and COVID helped me excuse my way to the worst shape I have been in my entire life. I was using the book, "Building the Gymnastic Body: The Science of Gymnastics Strength Training".
I think the US as a developed nation suffered as many COVID deaths as it did due to the nation's average fitness and high percentage of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. I have metal plates in my left wrist due to a fall injury, and I had no issues with handstands and the rings. I would say my wrist flexibility and mobility improved.
I think the US as a developed nation suffered as many COVID deaths as it did due to the nation's average fitness and high percentage of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. I have metal plates in my left wrist due to a fall injury, and I had no issues with handstands and the rings. I would say my wrist flexibility and mobility improved.
I’m talking about just hanging not doing a handstand on rings. It’s grip strength.
That’s bs and not sustainable.
Choose a routine that won’t kill you when you get a little older. I can do muscle ups, headstand, handstands and all these calisthenics things but not that early in the morning without warmup
I was a little bummed that a site called nerdfitness was full of memes and cliches. I was hoping for something more along the lines of defining a model of the world; defining a goal to achieve; explaining how to build a system that applies the model to solve the goal.
But the exercises do look useful.
But the exercises do look useful.
Listen nerd, there are lots of kinds of nerds in the world. Embrace it. The article has a lot of good information, it’s clearly not clickbate. It’s just catering presentation to the audience that’s interested, and that’s good because they’ll probably not hurt themselves and might actually do a handstand.
NF is not so much nerds in the sense like here in hacker news. Mainly geek culture with comic book fans, movies, books, myths and rpg larp culture. It’s mainly a community where people who are inspired by stories of pop culture get together, craft their own stories and alter egos for self improvement (especially in health) and encourage each other. I’ve been in on it for nearly a year and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good community to get some encouragement. I’ve made more progress by participating in this group than I’ve ever had in my life and the best part of it is it has helped me get some consistency in my new habits.
Slightly off-topic, but if you're looking something more hacker-like (not so-called-nerd-like), then I can highly suggest The Hacker's Diet: https://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet
I'm not sure what's in this book, but nutrition is actually very simple. Eat real, unprocessed foods (whichever you like, no veggies necessary), do include lots of meat, and fast frequently.
My wife replaced most of her diet with beef (which she used to think was unhealthy), started fasting, and lost 50 pounds in a few months (people would say it was impossible/unsafe if I gave the exact amount) and now looks like a supermodel. The real food helped her headaches and depression, and she stopped taking a bunch of medicine. Both of us are aging in reverse.
If you think I'm oversimplifying, maybe it's just not that complicated. My wife's experience is proof of that. It really frustrates me how we've taken something so simple and natural like food and made a huge mess of it.
My wife replaced most of her diet with beef (which she used to think was unhealthy), started fasting, and lost 50 pounds in a few months (people would say it was impossible/unsafe if I gave the exact amount) and now looks like a supermodel. The real food helped her headaches and depression, and she stopped taking a bunch of medicine. Both of us are aging in reverse.
If you think I'm oversimplifying, maybe it's just not that complicated. My wife's experience is proof of that. It really frustrates me how we've taken something so simple and natural like food and made a huge mess of it.
Or maybe a single data point does not make a model
I hit the back button to reply to your comment, at first I thought it'd be a few images, but the GIFs and "memes" are pointless and don't add anything from an information or humor standpoint.
I was hoping the “nerd” aspect referred to an emphasis on theoretical aspects (less charitably called “broscience”). I assume a lot of other HN commenters like me tended to research and study fitness when first diving into it.
The article has some good information, but I was disappointed in the execution. As disappointed as when George from Stranger Things caught his best friend Mark kissing his crush Ellie after they’ve killed a monster while listening to A-Ha (I assume that’s what usually happens on the show).
The article has some good information, but I was disappointed in the execution. As disappointed as when George from Stranger Things caught his best friend Mark kissing his crush Ellie after they’ve killed a monster while listening to A-Ha (I assume that’s what usually happens on the show).
I hurt myself doing handstands in college. I was doing them for several weeks, was getting to the point where I could start to walk, maybe take 5 steps. Then I felt a sudden pain in my neck and I crumpled, and that was it. For years after when I sneezed I would feel shooting pain in neck. Never thought, hey I should go to the doctor. Not sure if my experience was a fluke, but I am still tempted to try again (at 47), but it is scary.
How did you go about learning how to handstand?
I tried figuring it out with no guidance as a carefree 18 year old and managed to have a very unclean handstand.
I tried relearning it properly as a 30year old and found out that a decade or computer work left me without the proper shoulder mobility to protract overhead with decent internal rotation.
As a result I can get severe neckpain (usually 4-6 weeks to recover) coming from overactive upper traps
I tried figuring it out with no guidance as a carefree 18 year old and managed to have a very unclean handstand.
I tried relearning it properly as a 30year old and found out that a decade or computer work left me without the proper shoulder mobility to protract overhead with decent internal rotation.
As a result I can get severe neckpain (usually 4-6 weeks to recover) coming from overactive upper traps
I was in a very similar situation myself, didn't realize how much spending ~8yrs doing computer work caused other muscles to atrophy, had difficulty not overly engaging upper traps + arms for everything when trying a fitness plan.
I've slowly gotten to the point where I'm fairly well-rounded as far as being able to use core, pecs, glutes, lats etc. during various exercises, without overly taxing upper traps.
If I were to do things over again I'd probably start with a regular yoga practice just to get better mind-body connection and get full body strength to a decent baseline.
For handstands specifically you might check out this guy's video which imo is well thought out, thorough, designed for people not already in shape: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XJ2zR5tE0I
From the same guy, I've been following a full body mobility routine which you may find useful too—seems to hit a lot of spots that get problematic through desk work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2SOrScNbww
I've slowly gotten to the point where I'm fairly well-rounded as far as being able to use core, pecs, glutes, lats etc. during various exercises, without overly taxing upper traps.
If I were to do things over again I'd probably start with a regular yoga practice just to get better mind-body connection and get full body strength to a decent baseline.
For handstands specifically you might check out this guy's video which imo is well thought out, thorough, designed for people not already in shape: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XJ2zR5tE0I
From the same guy, I've been following a full body mobility routine which you may find useful too—seems to hit a lot of spots that get problematic through desk work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2SOrScNbww
I think this is one of the things I liked most about the article. Even with being full of memes (which I admit I enjoyed, despite them not being useful), the article's progression of stages of mastery in preparation for the handstand was VERY useful. It made it clear that there are going to be multiple stages of growth before doing it, so that we won't hurt ourself once we try it. Sure, I can probably get vertical (with help of a wall), but without that prep I am much more likely to hurt myself because all of my other supporting muscles are not prepared.
As to general shoulder health and for something different. I found TGU (Turkish Getups) to be fantastic !
Ive always tried to limit the amount of weight I do with these and do it at most every other day, vs say everyday !
Is definitely (weirdly so) one the exercises that always made me "feel good and strong". Its generally considered a "slow lift" and it can become quite meditative !
Ive always tried to limit the amount of weight I do with these and do it at most every other day, vs say everyday !
Is definitely (weirdly so) one the exercises that always made me "feel good and strong". Its generally considered a "slow lift" and it can become quite meditative !
Probably just a muscle spasm. This has happened to me a lot when I start a new exercise or restart an exercise after a long layoff, particularly handstand push-ups and to a lesser extent other exercises targeting the neck or upper back. It’s actually interesting you had the same experience, it’s not it’s me.
In this comment section: techies giving confident fitness advice. Exercise is good for you when done right. There is risk of injury when done wrong. Much like any other skill, exercises can be learned, and how fast you learn things varies. If you can, get someone knowledgeable to guide you, it makes the learning process both easier and less frustrating.
Why do you think that being physically fit/active and being a techie is mutually exclusive? Wouldn't the high incomes from being in tech mean more money and time to spend on health and wellness? I have always found the stereotype of un-athletic nerd to be silly and not remotely true in real life.
> Why do you think that being physically fit/active and being a techie is mutually exclusive?
Nothing in the comment seems to say that:
> In this comment section: techies giving confident fitness advice. Exercise is good for you when done right. There is risk of injury when done wrong. Much like any other skill, exercises can be learned, and how fast you learn things varies. If you can, get someone knowledgeable to guide you, it makes the learning process both easier and less frustrating.
I think it rather says that techies, whether physically active or not, are prone to give confident advice that doesn't necessarily become less confident when it leaves their field of expertise. That is, I took it to be caveat lector—some techies are physically active and knowledgable (which is important!) and some aren't both of those things; you can't tell from reading a confident comment whether it is the voice of earned expertise or the voice of presumed expertise; and, if you're one of the techies who isn't yet physically fit, then getting in over your head (literally, I suppose, for handstands) or developing bad form can be quick paths to injury.
Nothing in the comment seems to say that:
> In this comment section: techies giving confident fitness advice. Exercise is good for you when done right. There is risk of injury when done wrong. Much like any other skill, exercises can be learned, and how fast you learn things varies. If you can, get someone knowledgeable to guide you, it makes the learning process both easier and less frustrating.
I think it rather says that techies, whether physically active or not, are prone to give confident advice that doesn't necessarily become less confident when it leaves their field of expertise. That is, I took it to be caveat lector—some techies are physically active and knowledgable (which is important!) and some aren't both of those things; you can't tell from reading a confident comment whether it is the voice of earned expertise or the voice of presumed expertise; and, if you're one of the techies who isn't yet physically fit, then getting in over your head (literally, I suppose, for handstands) or developing bad form can be quick paths to injury.
Ah my mistake. I mistook them to be decrying most of the responses offhand.
> In this comment section: techies giving confident fitness advice
Aside from the well earned reputation programmers have for believing they can solve any problem, this is good old bro science. Popular on the Internet. And worth ignoring, or at least being very skeptical about. Bad advice can be pretty dangerous.
Aside from the well earned reputation programmers have for believing they can solve any problem, this is good old bro science. Popular on the Internet. And worth ignoring, or at least being very skeptical about. Bad advice can be pretty dangerous.
What here is "bro science"? It's a standard handstand progression. Basically what you'd teach a kid starting gymnastics. The only things I might change are:
- practice methods of bailing out from the start
- after wall-walk, rather than taking both legs off the wall with your body facing the wall, kick up so you're facing away from the wall and try to achieve balance
- practice methods of bailing out from the start
- after wall-walk, rather than taking both legs off the wall with your body facing the wall, kick up so you're facing away from the wall and try to achieve balance
I think the comment about bro science was about the other comments here on HN, rather than about the article.
It's bro science because this page shows a bunch of already quite fit looking dudes - so already at an advantage - do handstand progressions with the headline "How to Do a Handstand: Get Your First Handstand in 30 Days". And then they try and sell you something at the bottom.
I have seen a lot of gym going adults attempt to learn handstands. Vast majority will give up. Teaching even the gym population to hand balance is not easy.
I have seen a lot of gym going adults attempt to learn handstands. Vast majority will give up. Teaching even the gym population to hand balance is not easy.
As someone who majored in broscience with a minor in broceanography, this is def not broscience (henceforth “bs”). There’s none of the hallmark bs features like rigid adherence to a simplified / half true physiology or an assumed idea of what “fitness” is.
This is really something I think of as “fitness fluff”. It’s not really science, it’s a simple training plan that’ll probably work for >50% of the reasonably fit population. It’s also a training plan to accomplish a specific thing, do a handstand. It doesn’t really feel like a discussion on whether handstands are good and what regressions to apply where; why judge it so.
The bs and “real” science on nutrition and exercise both face a replicability crisis. The salt you take with all this bs (or studies, advice) will also help you achieve bigger pumps during hypertrophy training.
p.s. Don’t take the “bro” in bs too literally. It comes from all genders and identities equally. Anecdotally the biggest purveyor of bs in my life was a woman who went to med school. I still hear and say plenty of bs in my circle of crunchy climbers. You apply it moderately and trust your gut on what’s reasonable in the face of _massive_ complexity.
This is really something I think of as “fitness fluff”. It’s not really science, it’s a simple training plan that’ll probably work for >50% of the reasonably fit population. It’s also a training plan to accomplish a specific thing, do a handstand. It doesn’t really feel like a discussion on whether handstands are good and what regressions to apply where; why judge it so.
The bs and “real” science on nutrition and exercise both face a replicability crisis. The salt you take with all this bs (or studies, advice) will also help you achieve bigger pumps during hypertrophy training.
p.s. Don’t take the “bro” in bs too literally. It comes from all genders and identities equally. Anecdotally the biggest purveyor of bs in my life was a woman who went to med school. I still hear and say plenty of bs in my circle of crunchy climbers. You apply it moderately and trust your gut on what’s reasonable in the face of _massive_ complexity.
This is way overcomplicated...
Here's how I taught myself:
1) Facing a wall place your hands on the ground a shoulder width apart about a foot away from it. 2) now on your hands and feet, kick one leg up towards the wall, then land it back on the ground. 3) repeat 2, try to get your leg higher and higher, allowing your second leg to also leave the ground.
Keep doing this until you go vertical. If you go past vertical your legs will simply touch the wall and you can push off it back onto the ground.
Once you get comfortable doing this you'll find you're able to Handstand without touching the wall and can hold it. At this point ensure your head also goes vertical.
Practice handstands every day and you should be able to do them in just a few weeks.
Here's how I taught myself:
1) Facing a wall place your hands on the ground a shoulder width apart about a foot away from it. 2) now on your hands and feet, kick one leg up towards the wall, then land it back on the ground. 3) repeat 2, try to get your leg higher and higher, allowing your second leg to also leave the ground.
Keep doing this until you go vertical. If you go past vertical your legs will simply touch the wall and you can push off it back onto the ground.
Once you get comfortable doing this you'll find you're able to Handstand without touching the wall and can hold it. At this point ensure your head also goes vertical.
Practice handstands every day and you should be able to do them in just a few weeks.
> [From HN Guidelines] Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something.
Your comment feels like a shallow dismissal because it seems oversimplified to me. I am ~90% confident if I followed your suggestion I would be injured. While the article provides advice on how to proceed through each stage fairly safely. In fact, in the tips and tricks section of the article there appears to be a video of someone following your suggestion and injuring themselves.
Your comment feels like a shallow dismissal because it seems oversimplified to me. I am ~90% confident if I followed your suggestion I would be injured. While the article provides advice on how to proceed through each stage fairly safely. In fact, in the tips and tricks section of the article there appears to be a video of someone following your suggestion and injuring themselves.
interesting , may have to try that
I learned handstands at a circus school and this tutorial indeed looks very similar to what we where doing.
The article also suggests a belly-to-wall handstands at some point, which (according to my teachers) is a much better exercise for a proper handstand then a back-to-wall handstands.
Two things that help me practice these days:
- voice-controlled timer to keep track of handstand time: https://timeless.aslushnikov.com/ (I didn’t find any readily available so hacked my own)
- facebook’s “Handstands Anonymous” group to boost motivation: https://www.facebook.com/groups/handstandsanonymous/?ref=sha...
The article also suggests a belly-to-wall handstands at some point, which (according to my teachers) is a much better exercise for a proper handstand then a back-to-wall handstands.
Two things that help me practice these days:
- voice-controlled timer to keep track of handstand time: https://timeless.aslushnikov.com/ (I didn’t find any readily available so hacked my own)
- facebook’s “Handstands Anonymous” group to boost motivation: https://www.facebook.com/groups/handstandsanonymous/?ref=sha...
I started taking a class at the local gym called "Calisthenics" and a lot of it's about working up strength and balance to get to a handstand.
I had no idea what that word meant before taking it, but I've been doing it for a couple of weeks and can confidently "float" up to a handstand! Can't hold it for very long though, so I'm working on that.
I had no idea what that word meant before taking it, but I've been doing it for a couple of weeks and can confidently "float" up to a handstand! Can't hold it for very long though, so I'm working on that.
I just achieved my personal record of 35 seconds long free handstand two days ago and I just wanna say this: DO NOT try the handstand without PROPERLY warming up, else you can and will seriously and very badly injure yourself (speaking from experience).
For inactive people, it's probably also best to start with easier exercises that don't involve as much balance or strength. Your tendons and joints take time to adapt to exercise, in fact they take longer than muscles to adapt.
For example, some pushup regression (e.g. pushup with your knees on the floor) followed by regular pushups builds arm and shoulder strength/stability. This would make learning the handstand much easier and safer later on.
For example, some pushup regression (e.g. pushup with your knees on the floor) followed by regular pushups builds arm and shoulder strength/stability. This would make learning the handstand much easier and safer later on.
came here to say just this. number one lesson from handstanding is the value of warming up and being kind to your wrists.
Handstands resulted in one of my worst injuries, but I would still recommend them! While training for them I felt absolutely great fitness level wise, and they also helped me a lot with the classic "programmers neck". My advice - take them slowly and don't be overconfident. Get yourself to the point where you can do an overhead press with at least 70% of your bodyweight first.
For those curious about the potential injuries, I was doing a handstand on a raised platform, fell, and had my right elbow get pressed to my left shoulder behind my head. This resulted in a tear of my teres minor and my subscapularis, as well as some nerve damage in my abdomen. Ended up needing surgery to restore functionality in the shoulder. I've got about 85% return of functionality.
I don't regret my time doing them, and would likely still be doing them if I could (I no longer have the flexibility in the right shoulder to bone stack effectively).
For those curious about the potential injuries, I was doing a handstand on a raised platform, fell, and had my right elbow get pressed to my left shoulder behind my head. This resulted in a tear of my teres minor and my subscapularis, as well as some nerve damage in my abdomen. Ended up needing surgery to restore functionality in the shoulder. I've got about 85% return of functionality.
I don't regret my time doing them, and would likely still be doing them if I could (I no longer have the flexibility in the right shoulder to bone stack effectively).
I dont think 70% overhead press is necessary for a handstand - its a much more balance oriented exercise than strength. Obviously strength is needed too, but 70% OHP will be unachievable for most people. I can handstand but only OHP about 40% of my body weight so I'm sure others can do the same
I was working with a personal trainer on handstands for a couple of years. It’s hard! The training exercises in this article are very close to the program I did with him. Of course it’s more helpful to have 1:1 coaching but, the progression outlined here looks correct to me. Don’t forget the warm up!
The OP says "if you have room to stand up, you have room to practice handstands." I weight 190 pounds. If I start trying handstands against the wall in my apartment, how likely am I to break through the sheet rock and put a hole in my wall?
If you go through the progression they show, very, very unlikely. Especially since once you get to the using the wall part you walk up it, you don't throw your 190lbs into it. Can you lean against the wall now without going through it? Can you do a pushup against the wall without going through it? If so, you'll be fine.
If you just start out throwing your legs at the wall with no prior preparation, it will be fairly straightforward to either hurt yourself or break something nearby in the process. That's why there's a number of exercises building up to it as a progression, as outlined in the article.
Hopefully at least one of the walls is made of solid brick / concrete / steel. Otherwise you have bigger problems!
Granted that wall could be complete covered by kitchen and/or cupboards.
Granted that wall could be complete covered by kitchen and/or cupboards.
> Hopefully at least one of the walls is made of solid brick / concrete / steel. Otherwise you have bigger problems!
Why? In the US it is very common that all your walls are studs for structure with sheetrock for surface.
Why? In the US it is very common that all your walls are studs for structure with sheetrock for surface.
Europeans are generally not aware that US houses are nothing like European ones, much as USAns are not aware of how much richer and better paid they are than Europeans. Most builders would not be aware. Why would the mass public be?
Is that true for appartments?
Often! I live in Somerville MA, and most of the housing units here are apartments, almost all built this way (including ours). The most common style is two or three apartments stacked vertically in a freestanding structure.
Not for high-rises, but anything under five stories it's pretty common.
I live in a recently built multistory apartment building. Aside from some support beams hidden in the walls, every wall is sheet rock.
Instead of doing handstands, do dead-hangs; they are good for a lot of things, including your back and shoulders.
https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/dead-hang...
https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/dead-hang...
The main take-away you should have from that page:
Most of your practice and progress is _not_ the hand-stand. It's all of the lead-up. It's like that story about "stone soup":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Soup
The handstand is the stone soup. You'll actually do a bunch of exercising with no magic handstand at all, and once you're good enough at all of that stuff, you'll get the hand-stand as a bonus. Just like the stone soup is only ready once a regular soup is made without the stone.
Most of your practice and progress is _not_ the hand-stand. It's all of the lead-up. It's like that story about "stone soup":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Soup
The handstand is the stone soup. You'll actually do a bunch of exercising with no magic handstand at all, and once you're good enough at all of that stuff, you'll get the hand-stand as a bonus. Just like the stone soup is only ready once a regular soup is made without the stone.
I've been working on this since the pandemic started, one of 'things I can do from home goals'. It's really hard. I can reliable hold maybe 5sec, and every once and while I can get 10s. It's the balance, I can sort of correct imbalance if leaning too far back-to-ground direction by pushing with my fingers. But if the imbalance is chest-to-ground direction, then I fall because I don't have fingers on the back of my hands. It's been a barrier for me for months. Any handstanders out there with advice please let me know the secret.
Correcting underbalance (falling towards your chest, away from your hands) is indeed much harder. When starting balancing, most beginners will have the majority of their weight in the heel of the hands, since that feels most natural. However you want to shift your weight forward slightly to feel your weight in the middle of your hand, which gives you a little more margin to catch errors. Ideally you'll balance just with your fingers, but for underbalance I still make some small corrections with either my shoulders or my elbows, I'm still not good enough to catch it with just my hands.
Some other things that help beginners - starting with your hands on the ground when kicking up is easier than coming from standing, since you can remove a lot of variables. And also kicking up to a split handstand (i.e. keeping your kicking leg down) and finding balance there before gathering the legs helps a lot too. Your centre of mass will be lower and you'll have more levers to use to find balance. A straight handstand is actually the hardest of the basic variations to balance. This is a good video on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNyGK6z7iKo.
Keep at it! I think these articles claiming to get you to a handstand in 30 days are kind of disingenuous - it takes nearly everyone much longer than that to hold a static handstand for, say ~20 secs (i.e. requiring finding balance, holding it and then rebalancing).
Some other things that help beginners - starting with your hands on the ground when kicking up is easier than coming from standing, since you can remove a lot of variables. And also kicking up to a split handstand (i.e. keeping your kicking leg down) and finding balance there before gathering the legs helps a lot too. Your centre of mass will be lower and you'll have more levers to use to find balance. A straight handstand is actually the hardest of the basic variations to balance. This is a good video on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNyGK6z7iKo.
Keep at it! I think these articles claiming to get you to a handstand in 30 days are kind of disingenuous - it takes nearly everyone much longer than that to hold a static handstand for, say ~20 secs (i.e. requiring finding balance, holding it and then rebalancing).
You think it's the balance, but consider that the more strength you have, the less balance you need. For example with more forearm strength you will be able to lean further onto your fingertips. With more shoulder, arm, and abdominal strength, starting from a handstand position you will be able to pivot at your shoulders and bend all the way down to a planche position. So work on your strength, and handstands will become a lot easier.
Here is a video demonstrating the 'handstand to planche' move.
https://youtu.be/SVr1lBxURSE
https://youtu.be/SVr1lBxURSE
As far as I can tell, all handstand to planche, and frankly all planche videos are CGI, because this move is impossible. /s
Interesting thing about this one is that he doesn't put is palms down but balances on the fingers and thumbs. I put the weight on my palms, most youtube handstand explainers say that's ok.
Interesting thing about this one is that he doesn't put is palms down but balances on the fingers and thumbs. I put the weight on my palms, most youtube handstand explainers say that's ok.
The trick is to use your shoulders and wrists (and elbows to a less extent) for balance, like your hips, ankles, and knees respectively. Fingers help, but they're not the main contributors to balance.
Source: gymnast for over a decade in my younger years
Edit: to add, most people don't have the shoulder strength to hold a handstand, so doing workouts to strengthen your shoulders and upper back is going to contribute a lot more than just doing handstands alone.
Source: gymnast for over a decade in my younger years
Edit: to add, most people don't have the shoulder strength to hold a handstand, so doing workouts to strengthen your shoulders and upper back is going to contribute a lot more than just doing handstands alone.
A gymnast does a handstand very differently from “normal” people. Due to multiple reasons. Learning how to do a handstand like a gymnast is like learning how to jump like a cat.
Source: breakdancer in my younger years, used to practice together with gymnasts.
Source: breakdancer in my younger years, used to practice together with gymnasts.
Once I got control in an inverted position, I came to understand what all the gymnasts were talking about. But approaching a hand balance going gymnast drills is generally a waste of time for a normal person. Gymnast handstands look much better though and they have much more control from what I've seen.
Perhaps, but that's how one would hold a handstand for the duration closer to what a gymnast would. Attempting to keep balance with one's fingers is only going to get you so far with a very limited range.
I don't think my shoulder strength is that bad. But I have been trying to work on it doing military press, pike pushups and the like. But, I just keep falling over and I don't know what part to move to counter-act it. It's pretty frustrating actually.
My experience is that overhead shoulder mobility is extremely important to correctly stacking the shoulders and body over the balance point. If you don't have that (I don't), then the handstand feels really heavy and hard to hold.
This video looks like it might help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOLOojV9kB8
This video looks like it might help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOLOojV9kB8
It's tension created from the shoulder muscles, upper back, and pecs. Think about when you're doing a sit up: your hip muscles, lower back, and core help you sit up and slow going back down. It's these same muscles that keep you balanced when you're sitting and standing because managing balance where your center of mass acts upon gravity requires less work than at the extremities.
The same principle applies to a handstand, but it is instead your shoulders, pecs, and upper back. I was being a bit broad when I said shoulders, sorry.
The same principle applies to a handstand, but it is instead your shoulders, pecs, and upper back. I was being a bit broad when I said shoulders, sorry.
The non-obvious tip I can give is to keep point feet. This help to stiffen whole body.
Other good exercise is curling on floor in “hollow body”position.
Or if you are like me and trained chest all the time and can’t keep blocked elbows due to that then raising arms while in prayer position is helpful.
And probably for most of people here “dead bug” exercise is needed to learn how to activate core (due to sitting all days)
Edit: I will use this post to promote acroyoga. Check it out guys as lots of techies seem to enjoy it.
Other good exercise is curling on floor in “hollow body”position.
Or if you are like me and trained chest all the time and can’t keep blocked elbows due to that then raising arms while in prayer position is helpful.
And probably for most of people here “dead bug” exercise is needed to learn how to activate core (due to sitting all days)
Edit: I will use this post to promote acroyoga. Check it out guys as lots of techies seem to enjoy it.
Shameless self promotion but who cares, everyone keeps addressing how much fluff there is in this article.
I have a solid handstand and I covered my exact process in 40 seconds: https://www.instagram.com/p/CeGzIrEDyTb/
A few people on Instagram and TikTok have commented saying this video was all they needed to close the final gap in their balance.
I have a solid handstand and I covered my exact process in 40 seconds: https://www.instagram.com/p/CeGzIrEDyTb/
A few people on Instagram and TikTok have commented saying this video was all they needed to close the final gap in their balance.
My progression to handstand: 1. Do it against a wall 2. Do it without a wall.
If you are reasonably fit, 1. is a matter of a few tries. Source: in primary school it got one PE lesson to get all of the class to do it. I also showed this to a few people as an adult and they just did it after like 3 attempts.
Getting from 2. to 1. is just practice. Don't do it on a hard floor.
Maybe I view it as too easy because I learned it as a child.
If you are reasonably fit, 1. is a matter of a few tries. Source: in primary school it got one PE lesson to get all of the class to do it. I also showed this to a few people as an adult and they just did it after like 3 attempts.
Getting from 2. to 1. is just practice. Don't do it on a hard floor.
Maybe I view it as too easy because I learned it as a child.
> Maybe I view it as too easy because I learned it as a child.
This is my experience with headstands. Never lost the ability to do them (gained as a child). I was surprised when they were treated as a big deal in yoga classes.
This is my experience with headstands. Never lost the ability to do them (gained as a child). I was surprised when they were treated as a big deal in yoga classes.
Hey! My progression for other activities as well.
Someone from zero cannot do a handstand in 30 days. Period. I think it's a cool goal, but you ain't doing in 30 days.
What do you consider to be from zero? Zero exercise experience ever? Zero gymnastic experience? Zero sport experience?
I've never been able to maintain balance of a handstand as a kid, I haven't actively played sports since middle school, and I haven't done any amount of meaningful exercise in over 3 years now. Yet, I feel very confident I could do a handstand within 30 days of practice.
I've never been able to maintain balance of a handstand as a kid, I haven't actively played sports since middle school, and I haven't done any amount of meaningful exercise in over 3 years now. Yet, I feel very confident I could do a handstand within 30 days of practice.
Yet, I feel very confident I could do a handstand within 30 days of practice.
So was I :-)
If you're talking about a freestanding handstand, held for 15-20 seconds, then I would bet a beer that your confidence is misplaced. It's surprisingly hard, it requires a lot more strength than you'd think and the balance take a lot to learn.
You don't have to take it from me, you can take it from Jeff Bezos's friend's handstand coach: https://www.inc.com/tommy-mello/in-a-recent-shareholder-lett...
So was I :-)
If you're talking about a freestanding handstand, held for 15-20 seconds, then I would bet a beer that your confidence is misplaced. It's surprisingly hard, it requires a lot more strength than you'd think and the balance take a lot to learn.
You don't have to take it from me, you can take it from Jeff Bezos's friend's handstand coach: https://www.inc.com/tommy-mello/in-a-recent-shareholder-lett...
6 months for an adult is pretty good!
Yes, I guess that was with daily practice and a coach. I’d say a year is probably more realistic for most people, or even more. It certainly took me longer than that.
I imagine for the typical HNer: Reasonably fit at school, let themselves go abit since working full time. Might go to the gym for strength (10% probability) or keep fit generally (30% probability), but very unlikey to do a lot of core work / yoga / gymnastic type exercises. Doing a plank for example would be difficult.
This is my guess.
If writing an article that says 0-30 then you have to assume worse that that - someone who has never run a mile.
This is my guess.
If writing an article that says 0-30 then you have to assume worse that that - someone who has never run a mile.
Why?
Is there really anything fitness wise that a person who literally has never run a mile can do in 30 days?
You might as well criticize this by saying that an 80 yo couldn't do this in in 30 days.
Is there really anything fitness wise that a person who literally has never run a mile can do in 30 days?
You might as well criticize this by saying that an 80 yo couldn't do this in in 30 days.
Learning to do pull-ups was for me. I bought a pull up bar around late February and I just did dead hangs randomly throughout the day, attempting to do chinups every time. I started with chinups as I found it easier than pullups. I did easily around 100 attempts a day and by the end of the month could do 10x5 pullups (neutral grip, i find it more natural), but the breaks from each set is like 3-5+ minutes. Today my routine is 20 sets of 12 pullups 3x a week, this time the breaks from each set is about 1 minute. I also started pushups around that time, and within a month I could do 10x10. Now my routine is 10 sets of 32 reps. I could max out more reps but my bottleneck is breathing: I would run out of air before my muscles fatigue, same with my pullups. Looking for advice on that but I think the biggest factor is either my breathing is wrong, or that because I dont do cardio.
cardio capacity develops differently than strength and generally slower, but can be trained for directly too like you did for strength by frequently doing things that make you breathe hard and then pushing that limit
depending on what you are doing now, you could also focus on continuous breathing so that you don’t hold your breath, which can be a normal reaction to doing something with power, but limits endurance
depending on what you are doing now, you could also focus on continuous breathing so that you don’t hold your breath, which can be a normal reaction to doing something with power, but limits endurance
Cardio will make a massive difference. You will hit a similar sort of wall with strength training conditioning without increasing your cardio capacity
Mixing interval training and steady state cardio works wonders
Mixing interval training and steady state cardio works wonders
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They could run a mile in 30 days maybe
Also the hardness of handstand is strictly dependent on your weight. A normal person at 50kg should have no problem learning handstand in 30 days, 90kg with no prior fitness training to handstand in 60 days is next to impossible.
I'm 6'4" (192cm) and 120kg. I do Capoeira (which I would HIGHLY recommend for fitness, and general good times. It's a blend of martial arts kicks and acrobatic type moves - very dynamic, and visually spectacular). I'm developing my handstand, and strength-wise it's fine, my problem is the fear of falling over backwards. My practice space is hard wood floor, and I do NOT fancy crashing down like a falling tree. If I know the wall is there to catch me if I go over, I'm fine - so I probably need to try with a crash mat or something.
To get over the fear of falling over backwards, you must learn to turn your tree trunk like fall into a collapse to a ball and then a forward roll. If you have a bit of muscle on your back and shoulders rolling even on a hard floor should not be too uncomfortable. (A crash mat is still a good idea though.)
A 90kg person can definitely get to it in 60 days. My only fitness before starting BJJ in 2015 was running (which I did regularly) and I weighed about 90kg. I was successfully hand walking down the length of the mats during our warmups in a couple months (though I was falling a lot in the first month, and was never stellar at it).
I'm also uncertain how 50kg is the weight of a normal person. If I get below 75kg I'm around 5% body fat, and I'm barely above the US male average height. Getting to 50kg would mean losing a substantial amount of muscle mass, I literally have never had enough fat and so little muscle (even when I was obese) to be able to healthily cut down to that weight. And, again, I'm only about 1cm over the US average.
I'm also uncertain how 50kg is the weight of a normal person. If I get below 75kg I'm around 5% body fat, and I'm barely above the US male average height. Getting to 50kg would mean losing a substantial amount of muscle mass, I literally have never had enough fat and so little muscle (even when I was obese) to be able to healthily cut down to that weight. And, again, I'm only about 1cm over the US average.
If you're a regular runner, you probably are pretty lean, way leaner than an average techie, and probably leaner than most people. 90kg can be 90kg at 15% fat, or 90kg at 20% fat, or 90kg at 30% fat. Those would be very different starting points.
> I'm also uncertain how 50kg is the weight of a normal person. (...)
In this paragraph you seem to be interpreting "A normal person at 50kg" from the parent comment to mean "the average person, who weighs 50kg", when what they are saying is "a 50kg person who is neither too fit not too out of shape". A slim (but not extremely thin) 5'4" (1.62m) woman weighs around that much.
In this paragraph you seem to be interpreting "A normal person at 50kg" from the parent comment to mean "the average person, who weighs 50kg", when what they are saying is "a 50kg person who is neither too fit not too out of shape". A slim (but not extremely thin) 5'4" (1.62m) woman weighs around that much.
I’ve seen a lot of strong gym going people try to get handstands and almost all fail.
Please be careful.
Please be careful.
Stabilized against a wall? If "zero" includes someone in reasonable fitness having a normal BMI, just has never been inverted on their arms before, it can be trivial to do with no preparation.
Agreed. I'm baffled by the "impossible" commments.
I remember with PE in high school that I'd just throw myself up the wall until I succeeded. Took me 3 tries and 4.5 hours in total. I was super bad at it due to very bad flexibility (one of the worst in class). However, I wasn't scared of throwing myself up and I knew how to fall well.
It can be done.
It can be done.
What ever you were capable of in school as a child has almost no relevance to your adult self unless you have kept up those skills.
Kids also learn physical moves much faster. I only know a couple of adults that have learned how to handstand as adults and even then, they were already fit or had good strength to weight ratios. Still took a long time to get a good looking hold.
I’ve seen kids just pick it up and start walking and hopping with control in weeks.
Kids also learn physical moves much faster. I only know a couple of adults that have learned how to handstand as adults and even then, they were already fit or had good strength to weight ratios. Still took a long time to get a good looking hold.
I’ve seen kids just pick it up and start walking and hopping with control in weeks.
> What ever you were capable of in school as a child has almost no relevance to your adult self unless you have kept up those skills.
I can still do a handstand, with difficulty, but I can do it. To be fair, it was always with difficulty, it takes a few tries.
I was 14/15 when I could do it.
> Still took a long time to get a good looking hold.
You need to get it right for 1 second to call it a handstand IMO
I can still do a handstand, with difficulty, but I can do it. To be fair, it was always with difficulty, it takes a few tries.
I was 14/15 when I could do it.
> Still took a long time to get a good looking hold.
You need to get it right for 1 second to call it a handstand IMO
> You need to get it right for 1 second to call it a handstand IMO
I don’t know your background, but this reads like the mentality that gives a lot of “bro” workout communities a reputation for being irresponsible and injury prone.
Call it a handstand when you can do a handstand, and work your way up to it humbly. Your joints will thank you.
I don’t know your background, but this reads like the mentality that gives a lot of “bro” workout communities a reputation for being irresponsible and injury prone.
Call it a handstand when you can do a handstand, and work your way up to it humbly. Your joints will thank you.
> You need to get it right for 1 second to call it a handstand IMO
I don't think many people would call that a handstand. Or at least, if you do then the definition is so wide as to be useless. There's no balance at all involved for 1 sec, just luck.
I don't think many people would call that a handstand. Or at least, if you do then the definition is so wide as to be useless. There's no balance at all involved for 1 sec, just luck.
> You need to get it right for 1 second to call it a handstand IMO
Just kick up with the right amount of force and you’ll float for a few seconds. That can be achieved with luck.
Just kick up with the right amount of force and you’ll float for a few seconds. That can be achieved with luck.
Or you will fall down, or you hands would collapse and you'd plant you face into the ground. Not everybody has the same physical capabilities.
Yup, that's why it's possible within less than 30 days.
It’s not a skill if you can’t do it on command. I’m not sure why we need to lower the bar of success or dilute the skill so that more people can say they succeeded. This wouldn’t even be an argument if we were talking about someone standing on their feet.
It’s ok to not be good at everything.
It’s ok to not be good at everything.
kids have more strength relative to weight, I think
Doing a handstand against a wall is very different to doing it without a wall.
A rock climber can... a little kid can (they have crazy strength-weight ratio)... anyone who can do dips on rings or parallel bars and a couple push-ups/pull-ups can. It's mostly balance, and some arm/shoulder/chest strength. If you have a flexible back it's easier. If you're used to being upside-down it's easier.
It also depends what "form" you're going for, as capoeristas sometimes have a different method than yogis. Some want you to learn only by shooting your legs straight up, some are fine with rolling into it, some start with a wall, some start from a shoulder stand. I personally prefer the "flail my legs around trying to look at the closet mirror and then fall on the pile of dirty clothes" method.
It also depends what "form" you're going for, as capoeristas sometimes have a different method than yogis. Some want you to learn only by shooting your legs straight up, some are fine with rolling into it, some start with a wall, some start from a shoulder stand. I personally prefer the "flail my legs around trying to look at the closet mirror and then fall on the pile of dirty clothes" method.
I've taught friends who had no prior calisthenics/gymnastics experience to do a supported handstand in an hour, and they were doing a few seconds of balance within a week. They weren't gym nuts, but they weren't out of shape either. Your average pacific northwest "goes on a hike every once in a while" kind of person.
This is an unreasonable assessment. I did it in a couple weeks. Maybe not guaranteed, or for everyone. But if you’re fairly athletic is it a fair goal.
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"Zero" here means no previous handstand practice. >5 seconds of freestanding handstand in 30 days seems pretty realistic for someone in reasonably okay shape.
I thought the shoulder warmup was woefully inadequate. This is better, not perfect
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1YHIV4a81Os
Personally I use the one above and a few other and rotate through them between sessions
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1YHIV4a81Os
Personally I use the one above and a few other and rotate through them between sessions
I think a beginner mistake for handstands is not having the head in the right position. Look at a picture of a proper handstand, the head is always in front of the arms. Beginners often keep their head between the arms which makes it much harder to balance your body.
If handstand is hard for you another alternate i would suggest is "shoulder stand".. though may not be as beneficial as handstand but still quite good and quite simple
I am so jealous of anyone able to read a single paragraph of that article. I could not need keep focus on letters because of all the gifs
Epic guide, definitely going to give it a go, thank you! (Easy on the gifs next time please, it makes it incredibly difficult to read )
Page is 90MB download. I don't judge, just thought it was curious data point (all resources if you scroll to the bottom).
This is the most obnoxious post I've ever seen on HN.
Is there a website that teaches the same fitness material but written in the completely opposite tone?
ima try this! thanks
high risk of injury, no advantages over other exercises.
Never seen anyone injured himself doing a handstand. But running has a high injury rate and still a lot of people find benefit practicing it
I've seen people injure themselves doing a handstand, because they skip the part where they learn to bail out when falling forwards. Learn to pirouette or roll before you try free standing handstands, folks!
But if you do it safely, risk of injury is very low. Less than spraining an ankle running on wet grass (which football and soccer players do all the time).
But if you do it safely, risk of injury is very low. Less than spraining an ankle running on wet grass (which football and soccer players do all the time).
i assumed that until you can do a handstand with ease, the risk of injury is high.
the load on the shoulder joints in this position is very unfavourable.
millions of people run every day, of course there are injuries.
the load on the shoulder joints in this position is very unfavourable.
millions of people run every day, of course there are injuries.
It’s not the shoulders.
It’s the finger, wrist and elbow joints and ligaments (your fingers need to act as toes, your arms are now legs) and not learning how to bail safely (if you flip over and don’t have the reflex to cart wheel out).
It’s the finger, wrist and elbow joints and ligaments (your fingers need to act as toes, your arms are now legs) and not learning how to bail safely (if you flip over and don’t have the reflex to cart wheel out).
Handstands definitely work the shoulders.
There's a reason why handstand pushups (often done against a wall for muscle-building/strength purposes) are considered an advanced shoulder exercise. It's sort of the calisthenics equivalent of the overhead press.
There's a reason why handstand pushups (often done against a wall for muscle-building/strength purposes) are considered an advanced shoulder exercise. It's sort of the calisthenics equivalent of the overhead press.
I didn’t say they didn’t. But that won’t be the main source of injury. There are smaller and weaker muscles in the chain if you want to achieve a free standing handstand and not just lean on a wall inverted.
Do free floating handstands for time and see what hurts more.
Do free floating handstands for time and see what hurts more.
[deleted]
I did partner acrobatics (hobbyist level), and could do handstands in the middle of the room for ~20-40 seconds fairly consistently (and on a good day much more than that). Handstands are actually one of the safer things you can do, especially among inversions... it is really easy to injure your neck in a headstand.
I could also walk on my hands for a fairly long distance (it turns out once you are comfortable with supporting your weight on your hands it is easier than standing still), and when I had a spotter or was against a wall could do 1 arm hand stands and press up from a tripod headstand to a handstand (which is in fact super dangerous if you don't know what you are doing). It is one hell of an upper body work out though ;-)
Unfortunately I have not down any inversions in probably a year now due to the pandemic and other issues, and several months ago I injured my shoulder in unrelated way, so probably not going to be getting back into my old routines any time soon...
I could also walk on my hands for a fairly long distance (it turns out once you are comfortable with supporting your weight on your hands it is easier than standing still), and when I had a spotter or was against a wall could do 1 arm hand stands and press up from a tripod headstand to a handstand (which is in fact super dangerous if you don't know what you are doing). It is one hell of an upper body work out though ;-)
Unfortunately I have not down any inversions in probably a year now due to the pandemic and other issues, and several months ago I injured my shoulder in unrelated way, so probably not going to be getting back into my old routines any time soon...
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Yeah, but it's fun.
its fun though
1) It was incredibly full of fluff. The actual content was actually not unuseful, it made me want to start practicing handstands, but the whole thing could have been quite brief without all the memes and marketing.
2) The gifs of the exercises (not the memes) were far superior for a reader compared with embedding, or worse linking, youtube videos. They did both here but I was already in skimming mode from all the fluff. I've read a lot of articles on gym stuff lately and it's pretty annoying having to repeatedly scan through 20 min videos for a 5 second demonstration.