Press to Handstand Tutorial
|Press to Handstand Tutorial
Video tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SpW7Mr4AgA
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STEP I – Bent-arm Press HS
With your hands wider than shoulder width on the floor, lift your legs without bending the knees AT ALL – for that you need to push against the floor with your hands to help extend your hips and spine.
Before every repetition, your hips MUST be over your head – legs should be relatively close to your head and your toes should be pointed.
Once you’re up into the headstand (HeS) contract your glutes and abs to tilt the pelvis posteriorly (PPT).
You must be able to do 5 x 5 before moving on to the next progression.
* In the image on the right you can see that hips must be over your head before raising your legs –
if your torso leans forward, you’ll end up doing a psuedo bent-arm planche press, and this is much harder.
First practice with legs spread apart, then with legs together.
* In every progression your toes should be pointed
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STEP II – Elevated bent-arm Press HS
Start with Straddle then practice with Pike (legs together).
This progression is helpful as it makes easier the transition to Straight-arm Press; with the body elevated, there’s less elbow flexion and delts will get used to exert force with a longer lever. For this use a box and a pillow for example.
Before every rep, make sure your hips are over your head.
Extend your hips with straight knees.
Once you’re up, tilt your pelvis posteriorly.
Go down slowly.
* Stretching your hamstrings right before practicing this exercise, helps keep knees straight – if hamstrings are tight, you quads will have to work a lot more to extend the knee.
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STEP III – Wall Press HS
Lean against a wall with your hips over your hands – for that your hands should be at the right distance from the wall. Push against the the floor so that your shoulders and head is pressed firmly against the wall.
Go up with elbows and knees fully straight/locked.
Once your up tilt your pelvis posteriorly. Go down slowly.
* The further the distance from the wall, the easier it will be and viceversa.
First practice with legs spread apart, then with legs together.
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STEP IV – Wall Press HS with momentum
This exercise is VERY useful as you get to practice the whole movement and you can see how much you need to lean forward to do the exercise.
The distance form the wall is the same, but this time fingers are pointed towards the wall – same as the final progression. The head isn’t leaning against the wall, only your upper back (scapulas) touch the wall.
Kick into it several times, until you can finish into a handstand.
With some practice, you’ll be using less and less impulse.
Once you’ve learnt the right amount of force needed to press into a handstand without falling over, practice without a wall.
Practice with legs spread apart, then with legs together.
Press to Handstand Tutorial
STEP V – Partial ROM
This exercise is useful to get the hang of the first part of this exercise, without kicking and using only brute force.
Lean forward until your legs are up off the floor. Try to hold it for a few seconds.
Protract your scapulas as much as you can.
First practice with legs spread apart, then with legs together – in both progressions your fingers will be pointed forward or slightly to the side, as this is the hand position needed in the handstand.
Press to Handstand Tutorial
STEP VI – Box Press HS
Limiting the range of motion (ROM) is a great way to get such a complex exercise as this one.
I didn’t use this exercise, but for some people this progression could be useful.
Set your legs on a chair or something like that, and from there press up to a Handstand. At first you could do this against a wall if you want. Before pressing up, lean forward until the weight of your body is on your shoulders – your legs will go up due to the forward lean.
The higher the chair/table the easier it will be – less ROM. Use a lower box in order to make progress.
First practice with legs spread apart, then with legs together.
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7. Straddle Press to Handstand
Lean forward until your hips are over your wrist – this way the center of gravity is over the support of the body (hands) – this is crucial in order to be able to extend your hips and spine.
Don’t bend your elbows at any time, bend-arm press is just a basic previus step, and don’t kick up into the press. While going up, your toes will be pointed, and knees extended; keep your head/neck neutral
Once you’re almost into the handstand, engage your abs to tilt the pelvis posteriorly, so you’ll end up in a hollow handstand – flat lower back, not arched – this is very important for a better balance of the handstand.