Holding a handstand position requires a combination of strength and balance. These attributes, without correct positioning, may lead to inefficiencies in the movement and will ultimately result in injury.
The neck, shoulders, and wrists are common injury sites when learning the handstand. In this post, we will go through a series of stretching movements, both dynamic and static, which will restore flexibility in those joints. Unrestricted joins easily fit into the correct positions for good quality movement.
Above: Hanging is used to create tensile forces on the bones, also known as distraction or decompression. The direction of these forces helps to make space between the joints, increasing blood flow there.
It is essential to keep a hollow body position (butt squeezed, abs tight and toes pointed) while hanging, which will ensure that the shoulder joint is forced to end range without compensation of spinal position.
Accumulate 1-2 minutes per session and try to increase the duration over the course of time. Split the total time spent hanging into two equal parts, one during pre-workout and the other post-workout.
Above: This exercise is designed to improve the overhead position of the shoulders. Any overhead movement requires the elbows to stay close to one another, causing stabilizing torque forces in the joints which promote efficient energy transfer. The tension of the bands in this technique, keep the elbows tight and bias the stretch on the external rotators of the shoulder. It is essential to maintain tightness in the ribcage, by contracting the abdominals, to keep the spine neutral.
Start with three sets of 1 minute. If there is a lot of pain and tightness, increase sets. Don't overdo the tension of the band.
Above: This movement is called shoulder circumduction, which passes the shoulder through all the possible movement ranges and planes, including, flexion, extension, adduction, and abduction.
It is a great tool to warm up the shoulder joint, as well as to pinpoint any restrictions.
To increase the level of difficulty, narrow the grip on the PVC pipe/stick. As mentioned earlier, always maintain spinal position by contracting the ribcage, using the abdominal muscles. All the movement must happen about the shoulders, nowhere else.
Complete 10 repititions, narrow the grip and repeat. If you start bending the arms, widen the grip
Above:
All the joints in the body are linked and work in synergy during movement. Dysfunction in the wrist will cause the elbow joint to compensate, increasing the risk of injury.
Wrist extension is the goal of this mobility tool. The handstand requires an adequate amount of wrist extension. If this piece is missing, the athlete will compensate by turning their hands out, which dramatically decrease torsion force in the shoulders and elbow, compromising their stability.
Complete three sets of 1 minute holds.
These techniques will go a long way in helping you to effectively and efficiently invert yourself into a handstand. Use them before and after each training session for maximum results.
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*All pictures created by @exercisinghealth.
Excellent points!
After having worked through shoulder strength and mobility, my main issues are still balancing with the fingers and the ab strength to remain in the hollow body position.
Is that a glute-ham-raise device I am seeing there? :-D
Thank you!
Once you have the required shoulder and wrist mobility as well as sufficient strength, it’s just practice after that.
Try and spread your fingers apart, as wide as possible. The bigger base of support will help. The other mistake I often see is bent arms. You have to lock out the elbows.
It’s a GHD machine. You can do glute has raises on it, that’s correct.
I got an exercise bench for Christmas, so looking forward to improving my health and fitness one post at a time. Thank you.
I am glad you found the information useful. In the upcoming posts, within this series, I will go through the Deadlift and Squat exercises.
I wish you many productive workouts in 2018
Thank-You for sharing such a useful information
I am glad you liked it!
very usefull guide. thank you!
I am glad you found it useful
Awesome tips.
I also wanted to practice a handstand.
I will try this tips out.
My shoulders and arms are well built I think, I have to concentrate more on the technique.
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Great post there, keep up good work !
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One of my passion, it is doing workouts. By means of if, I can set free some tesion or stress accumulated in my body, as a consequence of a sort of hard working day. It's relaxing for me to train at the Gym or even when I have time to do workout routines at the beach, it is such a wonderful moment for me. We would better find the right opprtunity, according to our life style,to do exercises and then, as a goal keep our body and brain in good condition.
Good introduction and pics to master the handstand. Mobility and strength is so important for this exercise.