Dominic Stone
Handstands are a fun and challenging skill to learn, but they can be difficult to master without proper guidance. Breaking Muscle offers a comprehensive video series to help you achieve a strong and stable free-standing handstand. The series includes drills and exercises that improve balance and stability, addressing common issues like wrist and shoulder mobility, which are crucial for a successful handstand. With progressive steps and a focus on building a stable base, you can learn to perform better handstands and even more advanced variations.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of weeks in the program | 4 |
| Week 1 | Balance, Handstand, and Core |
| Week 2 | Walking and Core |
| Week 3 | HSPU, Pressing, and Core |
| Week 4 | Putting it all Together |
| Common issues | Shoulder mobility, wrist extension mobility, and stiff muscles |
| Muscles responsible for shoulder actions | Latissimus dorsi, teres major, and pec major/minor |
| Other muscles involved | Subscapularis, rhomboids, middle traps, lower traps, rotator cuff, deltoids, flexors, and pronators |
| Benefits | Improved balance, coordination, strength, and confidence |
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Wrist prep
When it comes to handstands, it's tempting to just kick up against the wall, but preparing your wrists will yield a much stronger and more stable position. Beautiful handstands sit on a foundation of strong and stable hands and wrists. When working to progress in your handstands, you can easily fall into the temptation to simply start going upside down. This work is invaluable, but you need to first prepare the foundation to support your inversions.
Before you begin your handstand practice, it's important to warm up your wrists to avoid injury and keep your wrists healthy. You can do this by interlinking your fingers and rolling your wrists in a figure-eight shape. Reverse the movement, drawing a figure eight in the other direction. Then, shake out your wrists like you're flicking water off your hands.
Next, come to your hands and knees in tabletop pose, aligning your wrists underneath your shoulders and knees underneath your hips. Take a few circles in a clockwise and counterclockwise direction, noticing where the weight is in your hands. Claw the mat with your fingertips to wake up your hands. Press down through your index finger knuckle and the base of your thumb.
To build strength, try the following:
- From tabletop pose, flip your hands so your fingertips face your knees.
- Keep your left knee down, stretch your right leg back, and press your right toes down.
- Hold and switch sides. From tabletop pose, flip your hands so your fingertips face your knees.
- Step both legs back, maintaining a micro-bend in your elbows.
- Keep your arms shoulder-distance apart for stability. Sit back on your heels.
- Make a fist in each hand and roll your wrists in each direction.
These movements will help you build the strength and mobility for a proper handstand position. You can also quickly run through the series as a warm-up before any wrist-intensive training session. This circuit is designed to give you the tools for a solid handstand foundation. You will build the strength and stability to support a freestanding handstand, the wrist mobility to allow for a beautifully aligned position, and the habits and awareness to hone your balance.
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Shoulder mobility
To test your shoulder mobility, sit down in front of a wall with your knees tucked and hands placed in front of you, shoulder-width apart. This will help you identify if your shoulder mobility is limiting your handstand progression.
If you struggle with shoulder mobility, passive stretches can help increase your range of motion over time. While these changes can take 6-12 months to manifest for adults, consistent practice will lead to progress. Active drills are also beneficial, as they will help you achieve results faster.
To improve your shoulder mobility, consider the following exercises:
- Alternate leg downward-facing dog: This exercise assists in developing shoulder mobility, flexibility, and strength.
- Elevated bridge: This exercise enhances spinal mobility and shoulder flexibility, aiding in achieving proper shoulder flexion.
- Internal rotation of the shoulders: Pointing your elbow pits towards each other helps lock the shoulders in place during a handstand and prevents falling backwards.
By incorporating these exercises into your routine, you will improve your shoulder mobility, which is essential for achieving a straight line handstand and reducing the risk of injuries.
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Stability drills
Start with wrist prep, as the wrists are a critical interface between your body and the ground. Ensure your wrists have sufficient extension mobility to support a proper handstand line. You can test your wrist extension mobility with a hands and knees rocking test. To prevent mobility issues and maintain wrist health, focus on daily soft tissue care and stretching. This can be done with lacrosse ball rolling on the inside of the forearm, as well as forearm and finger stretching.
Once your wrists are prepped, you can begin practicing handstand drills that require wrist extension, such as bear crawls or pike handstand holds. These drills will help you develop the strength and stability needed for a freestanding handstand.
To further improve your stability, focus on strengthening your overhead shoulder position. This includes training muscle groups such as the rhomboids, middle and lower traps, and the rotator cuff. These muscle groups are critical to achieving proper handstands and maintaining shoulder function. Additionally, ensure your thoracic spine has sufficient mobility to allow full motion of the shoulder blade and, subsequently, the shoulder joint.
Finally, work on reinforcing proper handstand engagement. This includes engaging the latissimus dorsi, teres major, and pec major/minor muscles to achieve a full shoulder opening angle. By following these stability drills and exercises, you will improve your balance and be well on your way to achieving a strong and stable freestanding handstand.
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Core strength
While handstands do require strength, mobility, and coordination, and a stable base, the core is not the most important muscle group in this exercise. In fact, the core is not working against much resistance in a handstand because the torso is vertical in relation to gravity.
However, this doesn't mean that core strength isn't important at all. The core definitely plays a role in handstands, and a baseline level of core strength is required to maintain a straight line and prevent the "banana" shape. This baseline core strength is particularly important for the handstand press, where you first float your feet off the floor from a compact forward fold position.
To improve your core strength for handstands, you can try targeted core strength exercises. For example, a 5-week core program can help you improve your core strength and better embody the handstand line.
In addition to core strength, shoulder strength is crucial for handstands. The upper body must work against a lot of resistance to prevent collapsing down to the floor. Therefore, vertical shoulder-pushing strength is essential to hold yourself up in a handstand.
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Walking handstands
Building a Foundation
Before attempting a walking handstand, it is important to build a strong foundation. This includes strengthening the wrists, shoulders, and core, as well as improving overall balance. Drills and exercises that challenge stability will help build the skills required for a freestanding handstand.
Wall Walks
One of the best ways to practice handstands is to use a wall. This can be done by starting in a push-up position and then walking the feet up the wall, bringing the body into an inverted position. This drill helps to develop body awareness in the upside-down position and is a great way to get comfortable with the feeling of being upside down.
The Wheel Out
Falling is an important skill to learn when training handstands. The "Wheel Out" is a technique that helps with this. To practice, start in a handstand position with your nose and toes touching the wall. Then, lift one hand and turn your body, letting one foot fall to the ground. This can be practiced at various heights on the wall, with the goal of eventually performing the Wheel Out from a full handstand.
Shoulder Tap Drill
When walking on your hands, your weight is constantly shifting from one arm to the other, just like when walking on your feet. The Shoulder Tap Drill helps to practice this weight transfer in a controlled way. Start by lifting one hand slightly off the ground and then put it back down. As you get more comfortable, lift your hands higher and try to smoothly transfer your weight from one hand to the other. The goal is to consistently string together 15-20 unbroken shoulder taps.
Walking Tips
When walking on your hands, it is important to take short, choppy steps instead of long strides. This helps to maintain balance and prevents falling. Keep your feet together and squeeze your glutes to maintain a rigid body position.
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Frequently asked questions
Breaking Muscle offers a 4-week program to help you learn to do a handstand. The program includes drills and exercises to help you build a stable base and improve your balance.
Some common issues include wrist mobility, shoulder mobility, and muscle stiffness. Wrist extension mobility is important for proper handstand lines, and if the wrist joint becomes irritated, mobility issues can occur. Shoulder mobility is also important for a good handstand line, and specific stretches can help improve this. Additionally, muscles such as the latissimus dorsi, teres major, and pec major/minor may become excessively stiff if not properly cared for, preventing the shoulders from fully opening into a handstand line.
Learning to do a handstand can improve your balance, coordination, and strength. It can also be a fun way to get some exercise and view the world from a different perspective.
No, anyone can learn how to do a handstand regardless of their current fitness level or goals. However, it is important to start with proper progressions, steps, and drills to build your confidence, strength, and coordination.
