Formerly known as...
Collector
Im making it my aim to be able to do a handstand and hold it for at least 25 seconds.
Any of you here able to do this?
Any of you here able to do this?
Handstand
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The Villain
Superstar
I do handstands and other inversions/balances when I don't feel like going to the gym for upper day, or just when I need to clear my head for a few hours. I have a big living room so I usually throw a movie or a game on and go to work for an hour or 2. Or I'll go in the spare room and turn on some music.
Longest I've held one is a little over 2 mins and I dropped from it because I got bored. I'd say watch this just to get a basic idea
I first learned how to do it from my yoga teacher and I just fell in love with the practice. After that I just took the ball and ran w/ it on my own w/ the help of IG and youtube. Been doing them for about 15 months now bar a few months last summer recovering from a wreck. I definitely recommend going to a yoga class or inversion seminar first just so someone can teach you the basics. But here are a couple tips from things that I've learned on my own:
1) Warming up your wrists/forearms. Unless I'm just going up in a quick one to show off for folks I usually spend like 30 mins at the start warming up and playing on my phone. I do a lot of the things in this clip
2) It requires a lot more strength than you think, or at least what I thought. I had to completely redesign my upper body days to build up the raw strength to hold myself up. Double down on Bench Press, Incline Bench, Shoulder Press, Wrist Curls, etc. Not only will it help with the raw strength to keep yourself up but you'll also have a lot more endurance which = a lot more practice time. When I first started I was washed after maybe 20 mins. Now I can do themfor hours on end and it's not even a tiring activity.
3) It's a full body thing. Not just your arms. Here's kind of where I cheated it (and I still do sometimes
). I got my upper body strong enough to kind of compensate for some core, glute and leg weakness to where I could brute force myself up into a hold. However in order to achieve good, STABLE alignment you're going to have to strengthen your core and glutes so much. So again, I had to do another workout redesign. Had to step up my ab work and embrace squats/lunges like never before. Keep your glutes flexed and toes pointed as much as possible for stability. Mind muscle connection is going to be key because you're going to have to activate parts of your body in sequences you never have before.
As far as progression I kind of worked on headstands, forearm stands and handstands simultaneously but I recommend working on mastering them away from a wall in that order. I've just never been one to do things the proper way. Starting with headstands first will help you get used to being upside down, and there's a lot of core/back work you can do from that position since you have a pretty stable base to work with.
Some IG folks I recommend following
Hiro Landazuri (@actionhiro) • Instagram photos and videos - excellent tutorials/tips
Erin Kelly Art (@erinkellyart) • Instagram photos and videos - super creative flows and high level stuff. made me realize what was possible when you really dedicate yourself to the practice
Martina & Philip Chubb (@the_mindful_mover) • Instagram photos and videos - this is more general exercise tips but it's focused around a lot of bodyweight stuff related to handstands
Yoga (@yogapractice) • Instagram photos and videos - good aggregator account. tons of warmup tips, ideas, etc
If you have any specific questions about a particular hold fire away
Longest I've held one is a little over 2 mins and I dropped from it because I got bored. I'd say watch this just to get a basic idea
I first learned how to do it from my yoga teacher and I just fell in love with the practice. After that I just took the ball and ran w/ it on my own w/ the help of IG and youtube. Been doing them for about 15 months now bar a few months last summer recovering from a wreck. I definitely recommend going to a yoga class or inversion seminar first just so someone can teach you the basics. But here are a couple tips from things that I've learned on my own:
1) Warming up your wrists/forearms. Unless I'm just going up in a quick one to show off for folks I usually spend like 30 mins at the start warming up and playing on my phone. I do a lot of the things in this clip
2) It requires a lot more strength than you think, or at least what I thought. I had to completely redesign my upper body days to build up the raw strength to hold myself up. Double down on Bench Press, Incline Bench, Shoulder Press, Wrist Curls, etc. Not only will it help with the raw strength to keep yourself up but you'll also have a lot more endurance which = a lot more practice time. When I first started I was washed after maybe 20 mins. Now I can do themfor hours on end and it's not even a tiring activity.
3) It's a full body thing. Not just your arms. Here's kind of where I cheated it (and I still do sometimes
). I got my upper body strong enough to kind of compensate for some core, glute and leg weakness to where I could brute force myself up into a hold. However in order to achieve good, STABLE alignment you're going to have to strengthen your core and glutes so much. So again, I had to do another workout redesign. Had to step up my ab work and embrace squats/lunges like never before. Keep your glutes flexed and toes pointed as much as possible for stability. Mind muscle connection is going to be key because you're going to have to activate parts of your body in sequences you never have before.As far as progression I kind of worked on headstands, forearm stands and handstands simultaneously but I recommend working on mastering them away from a wall in that order. I've just never been one to do things the proper way. Starting with headstands first will help you get used to being upside down, and there's a lot of core/back work you can do from that position since you have a pretty stable base to work with.
Some IG folks I recommend following
Hiro Landazuri (@actionhiro) • Instagram photos and videos - excellent tutorials/tips
Erin Kelly Art (@erinkellyart) • Instagram photos and videos - super creative flows and high level stuff. made me realize what was possible when you really dedicate yourself to the practice
Martina & Philip Chubb (@the_mindful_mover) • Instagram photos and videos - this is more general exercise tips but it's focused around a lot of bodyweight stuff related to handstands
Yoga (@yogapractice) • Instagram photos and videos - good aggregator account. tons of warmup tips, ideas, etc
If you have any specific questions about a particular hold fire away