3 Hot Handstand Tips 🔥

Below are 3 epic handstand tips that all synergise and compliment each other nicely.

First is a spicey move called “front weight raises”

It is perfect for conditioning the shoulders for the pathway the arms take whilst under load, when doing handstand entries and press to handstand!

The awesome thing is it does not Stress the wrists like handstand does. So if your wrists have had enough but you have not. You can get some extra training volume in!

2 x per week at the end of practice. 3 sets of 8-10 reps works well. Start light with around 3kg (or whatever is suitable for you) Then build up to heavier weights as you adapt and grow stronger.

Heres how to do it. Look at the image below for reference.

1. Keep your spine flat against the wall. Knee's and elbows straight.

2. Begin lifting the weight and protract the shoulders. And as it moves overhead elevate the shoulders. In other words push the weight away from your body with the arms throughout. Lower the weight back down to the start position.

3. Each rep bring the weight as close to the wall behind you as possible

4. Lower and lift slooowly, 3 seconds on the way up AND down.

Essential tuck up entry tip!

Secondly I am going to cover a few little pointers that regularly help students nail their first tuck up in class 🌱

Look at the image above.

In our starting position and Just after we jump the knees are quite close to the chest.

As my hips get further up into the air and over my hands my knee’s starting moving away from my chest, until we have roughly a right angle between the thighs and my torso in the final caught position.

The problem 80% of people make is that they try to keep there knee’s close to their chest the whole time. Which stops them getting up at all. Like an anchor.

Lift the knee’s up before you get to the top. And also try and kick yourself in the butt with your own heels to get some extra lift 👌🏾

Tuck Jump Trouble Shooting - The Chest to Wall Tuck

Thirdly If you are struggling with your tuck jump into handstand a good thing to focus on is being familiar and strong in the tuck handstand position itself first.

Plus this is just sensational for your shoulder strength and flexibility in general 🙌🏽

1. Begin by getting into a chest to wall straight handstand with the hands roughly two hands distance away from the wall.

2. Bring your knees down to your chest whilst keeping your (pointed) toes on the wall. As the knee's come down push hard through your shoulders and maintain at least a 180 degree angle as shown above.

3. Aim to eventually reach at least parallel lines with the thighs in relation to the floor. In most cases you will need to slowly build up to this. (lift them higher if need be)

4. Hold for the prescribed amount of time. A good way of doing this is 1 minute of total time. So 3x20s for example. The goal is 30s in one set with the thighs parallel eventually 👌🏾

Apply these tips and moves to your practice and you will reap the benefits.

Happy practicing. And always feel free to reach out! =)

Melbourne Handstand Adventure #3

You know the drill by now!  Below is  1 Handstand tip. 1 epic place to (buy stuff) to eat and 1 worthy nature adventure close to home

Am I just “special?” Two universal handstand truths

1. The struggle. Everyone seems to think they are a special case of un-talented or especially challenged.

The hard truth is handstands are f*&^ing difficult and most people feel this way. If you are trying to progress you are constantly practicing at the edge of your ability and failing and falling frequently.

This is normal and once you embrace it the mental anguish diminishes greatly.

Hot tip. Practice. Don’t get too attached to any one day of training. Each one is a page in your novel that slowly adds up over time.

2. The variability is very high day to day.  

Anyone who has spent a considerable amount of time doing handstands has experienced this. The difference between a “good day” and a “bad day” can be pretty massive. For no obvious reason sometimes.

This applies to all levels. You don’t have to be kicking game winning goals every session to be productive.

Your old “good day” will eventually be your new “bad day”.

I have seen advanced hand balancers do amazing things I may never accomplish and fret and swear in frustration.  

The goal posts are always shifting. But the high variability remains.

Be patient and celebrate the beautiful, complex and at times mysterious wonder of  this awesome discipline, and your body.

Terra Madre

Ok so this isn’t a restaurant it is somewhere you buy groceries. But before you turn your nose up in disappointment, bear with me.

Because this is not any old  grocery store.

You see shopping at one of the big thee big box supermarkets, you may have forgotten what a carrot, tomato or mandarin actually tastes like! This was my realization upon first discovering this place.

On top of the super high quality produce, there is a massive bulk food section. Where you can find every type of grain, seed, nut, chocolate, powder and spice. And you can purchase as little or as much as you like and it goes straight into a paper, not plastic, bag. And again, it’s all of a completely different class and quality.

Now you must be thinking “Ok Sundi, that’s great but I don’t want to spend $4.50 on a single apple”…. That’s the real kicker. It is actually VERY affordable and in many cases cheaper than the aforementioned big 3… wild I know.

They have their original store in Northcote and a newer one in Brunswick. Definitely check them out!

Yarra bend park

Where can you find Colonies of fruit bats, a big winding river, relative nature and solitude, pretty much right next to the CBD? The yarra bend park! An institution for cyclists, runners and kayakers. It also makes for lovely light strolls and picnic’s in the warmer months.

It is wonderful having a reserve of this size close to home, and not have to bookend an adventure with lengthy drives.

That’s it folks!

Happy Handstands, peace n love.

Melbourne Handstand Adventure #2

Sticking to the program, below is  1 Handstand tip. 1 epic place to eat and 1 worthy nature adventure close to home

Practice structure

I see confusion, particularly among beginners. When it comes to laying out how often to practice, the different elements that make up a healthy handstand practice. This is important to get right. And luckily it is rather straightforward! 🙌🏽

To start with lets lay out some of the main parts that make up handbalancing.

Skill. Flexibility. Strength and Endurance.

Now lets talk about the frequency and order of doing these things. Keeping in mind that this is a generalisation.

Skill

This can be the practice of balance itself. Body awareness and “tricks”. Balance mechanics and drills that develop these on the wall fall under this category as well as entries. Getting familiar with a new shape etc.

This is what should get the highest frequency. Though all the elements above are going to be involved and at times also developed during skill practice.  A ball park figure would be 3-4 times per week for a beginner/novice. (though you would build up to this gradually)

And order wise, you definitely want to work on skills as early as possible in your practice. And if possible earlier in the day too.

In your sets of skill work you should not be going anywhere near failure/exhaustion. Lots of sets of less time, and adequate rest will let you “practice well” and progress much quicker. Sloppy equals sloppy.

Flexibility

Think, opening your shoulders for a straighter handstand line. Working on your splits. Or deepening your forward fold. In terms of order, myself and a fair few other full-time handstanders prefer doing some flexibility work before our skill work begins.

Though I usually only spend around 15-20 mins on this which is less than when I started (and needed it more). This helps to prepare the body for the most efficient  alignment and makes your lines look cleaner!

I also find it quite relaxing and meditative which helps get me in a good headspace for balancing.

In terms of frequency I find I get the best results by stretching most days before handstands but not always. If I practice 4 or 5 times in a week I usually stretch 3 or 4 times beforehand. I do also spend a lot of time in my daily life sitting in some kind of stretch when coaching or reading!

Experiment and see what your body responds best to. Too much can often make you feel tighter. Stretching to improve range is tiring and gives your muscles a pretty good workout, so you will need to rest to improve.

Strength/Endurance

This is a very broad element, that is ever present when performing handstands. but think things like pushups and pull-ups. Variations difficult enough that you can only perform 5-10 reps in a set (strength).  An example of endurance would be holding your handstand on the wall or freestanding for as long as you can.

There is no 100% correct way of doing this  (just different levels, approaches and priorities). But I will give you some things to look out for here.

Dont do strength before skills training. This shouldn’t need much explaining. You will be knackered and unable to practice your skills properly. Work them either at the end of handstands, a few hours later, or on a “non handstand day”

You can make very good progress on 1-2 strength sessions per week. When speaking about working the same exercise (IE push-ups, pullups)

And dont try for a PB every time you do strength or endurance. Just because you didnt flood the floor with sweat and grunt louder than one of Saruman’s orc’s does not mean you wont make progress. Infact, You can quite easily screw up the next days handstand practice by going too hard with this the day before. Leave a little left in the tank.

Cosy Spanish Tapas and more. Movida.

There is a chance you may have already been to this icon of Melbourne Cuisine. Nestled up a laneway next to the theatre is Movida. Easy to get to via a 3 min walk from Flinders station and very easy to enjoy!

I was there last week with my partner and we had an awesome time. Good service, fun, interesting and tastey food. The bonus is, if you are one of those people who wants to try everything on the menu, thats kind of the point here 😄

I recommend you try the Panna cotta dessert!

A View of the whole peninsula and Melbourne.

Arthurs Seat. 1 hour and 20 mins drive from South Yarra Area. When most people think of panoramic views of Melbourne they think Dandenong ranges. But Arthurs seat provides stunning views of the wrap around nature of port philip bay with the city skyline glittering in the distance. There are some walks you can explore at the top as well as a cable car ride and cafe. I recommend going there when the wind is not too fierce 👌🏾

That is it for this month. Keep it real, and I will see you on the next one.

Melbourne Handstand Adventures #1

Here is  1 nearby outdoor nature adventure, 1 very useful handstand tip and 1 great place to eat

A couple of weekends ago I was hankering for a dose of the green stuff.. no not that! Tree's and nature! So I jumped in my old light green station wagon, affectionately named "the pistachio" with my partner Viv and we headed out to "Mt lofty".

The name turned out to be rather ironic. The elevation was akin more to mound than mountain. However the surrounds were pretty beautiful, which included a large river. We noted kayakers fondling paddling downstream but were not sure of its suitability for swimming.  

The main highlight turned out to be the abundant wildlife! The tally visually tagged was impressive : 1 kangaroo, 1 blue tongue lizard, Countless skinks, 4 black cockatoo's, 1 kookaburra and all Manner of butterflies, beetle's and other interesting insects. For an easy 1 hour drive from melbourne and 2 hour return loop hike I would give it a thumbs up. Here's some visual evidence : 

It is me! Lol.

Cute lil fella =)

One of the best tips for handstand training is to remember that it's not all about intensity, but rather consistency. It's more important to practice consistently, even if it's only for 20-30minutes here and there, than to try to cram a lot of intense training into one huge session once per week.

Spreading out your practice over the course of the week – even if it's just 30 minutes each day – can help you build up strength, increase your control, and master the skill much faster in the long run.

Plus, doing shorter sessions more frequently helps ensure that you don't wear yourself out or risk injury from pushing too hard in one go.  Of course If you are more advanced ( or want to be)  you will slowly build up to sessions that are both frequent and quite long in duration, but this takes time and a methodical approach.

The msg here is to never stop for weeks at a time (unless injured or sick) You ALWAYS have time for 15 mins. This is soooo much better than nothing.

For the Melbourne seafood lovers, one of my personal favourite restaurants is "Claypots" in St Kilda. Everything is freshly caught and on display at the front of the kitchen. Because of this the menu is different every time you attend, but always amazing.

One night a week they have a band playing live music in their adjacent bar. One winter as I sipped Mulled wine with a friend we were witness to some seriously amazing fiddle playing, the dude was a virtuoso.

Just an overall winning combo of atmosphere, super good service and wonderful food. Not pretentious at all but not shabby either. Very reasonably priced for what it is.

Happy handstand training, eating and trekking,

=)

Sundi

How To Do Toe Pulls Correctly

When a budding new handstander walks through my doors. One of the first things we begin to develop after the initial physical strength to support themselves has been confirmed or built! Is to learn how to use the hands.

It is called a handstand for a reason after all!

One of the main fundamental drills to develop the strength and awareness of the hands and wrists. Is with an essential exercise commonly called “Toe pulls”. Though I like to call them “wrist drives” as it is a better representation of the action we are trying to achieve.

This action which you are going to learn all about below is how you stop yourself “over balancing” or falling over in handstand. It is also how you “catch” your handstand entry.

Pretty epic! And bloody important!

I would recommend having at least a 30s (60s is much better) chest to wall handstand before working seriously on this one. You can learn how to approach this with my free mini course linked at the end =)

1. Start by Kicking up back to the wall one hand distance away as pictured below. This is very important!

If we are too far from the wall the tendency is for our body to assume an arched banana back handstand and secondly the wrist will have to work too hard to lever the body from the wall. (more weight will be leaning into it)

2. Do a “body check”. Shoulders pushing the floor away and elbows locked out, tummy tight, posterior pelvic tilt (tuck the hips under) butt and quads squeezed. Hold your body tight with tension!

3. Now press the fingers and wrist into the floor. Like you are trying to straighten the angle of the wrist. At first the feet may just get a little lighter on the wall and that's fine. With practice they should briefly hover off for a second or two.

If your wrists are already quite strong it is quite possible to press yourself out of handstand. And fall back to your feet. With time and practice you will learn when to relax the hands and wrists at the right moment so that you return to the wall.

4. Cool thing is you can try this on your feet to visualise and understand what you are trying to accomplish on your hands! let the body lean forward from the ankle and push with the feet to centre yourself as pictured below.

5. You can try this from an A-frame position on the floor as well. This can be very helpful if you become lost when totally upside down in handstand. Lean a little bit of weight into your hands (less is more here) then press the fingers and hands into the floor. See if you can create enough force to send your body back towards your feet.

TOP TIPS! (for the full fat drill)

*You can come as close as half a hand distance to the wall if you are struggling to get the feet to float.

*Keep the shoulder elevated, engaged and directly over the palm of the hands. Putting the shoulders over the heel of the hand too much will make it easy to “under balance” and fall to the feet. And putting the shoulders too far over towards the fingers will make things waaay to heavy on the wrists.

*Do not Kick or “buck” with the legs and hips to come off the wall. This will not teach the proper mechanic and sensation of the hands being able to influence the body in space.

Above all else. Have fun with it.

Click on the buttons below to learn more about my online coaching. OR super charge your new found handstand practice with my free mini course.

What Muscles Does a Handstand Use?

What muscles are used in a handstand?

How long is a piece of string.

To some extent you could say that the entire body is used.

But we can do better than that.

As some muscles play a more important role than others.

My full Youtube video on the subject can be found here :

https://youtu.be/UQI-okwLDCk?si=sg03Qt_9rBkRFcbz

Knowing what muslces are used for what associated action can help you identify the puzzle piece that you are struggling with. It can then be worked on in ioslation. Before being integrated back into your skills practice.

So this is useful apart from answering the classic bro question at the gym. “What muscles does that build?”😄

Different styles of handstand will change certain elements of this. So for reference I will be covering the modern day, acrobatic straight line handstand. What most current circus handbalancers perform. (And what we can most easily build some epic skills on top of)

From the ground up 🙌🏽

The wrist flexors. Balancing using our hand. One of our primary means of balance in handstand. As they correct overballancing or falling over. Its similiar to how we use our ankle and foot to keep ourselves upright.

Flexor Carpi Ulnaris , Flexor Carpi Radialis , Palmaris longus, Flexor Digitorum Superficialis (Finger flexor which assists)

The Triceps. Which extend and straighten the arms. Yes you can do a handstand with bent elbows, but with zero tricep engagement your head would be on the floor!

Triceps brachii

The Shoulder elevators. Which provide our vertical push : This kinda helps us create a hip joint out of our shoulder joint. Both are a ball and socket joints but the hip is rather encased in bone. Where as the shoulder sits in a very shallow socket, thus through muscluar engagement we create stability that allows up to perform handstands safely and effectively.

Rhomboids, Trapezius, Levator scapula.

Honourable mention to the the four muscles that form the rotator cuff. The primary role of the rotator cuff is to stabilise the shoulder joint. Strengthen them!

supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and teres minor.

The Shoulder flexors. For opening the shoulder angle to form a 180 degree line with the torso and legs. Very important when positioning our shoulder over the hand and achieving a straight, efficient line.

Anterior deltoid, coracobrachialis, and pectoralis major.

The Shoulder Extensors. For Closing the shoulder angle in tandem with flexion, extension helps us adjust and correct our shoulder position. You will notice both playing a part most obviously during a handstand entry such as a press handstand.

Posterior deltoid, latissimus dorsi, and teres major.

Scapula protraction. Provides horizontal push : though not strictly a handstand, this is very noticeable during a planche and present but less so in a press handstand or kick up. Particular at the beginning of these movements when the shoulder angle is more closed.

Serratus anterior and pectoralis minor.

Hip adduction. For keeping the legs together : A minor but nonetheless significant Action.

Aadductors magnus, brevis, and longus, pectineus and gracilis.

The Hip extensors. For Opening the hips angle. If you could not extend your hips to stack the lower limbs over your torso, in line with the shoulders and hands you would be in trouble. In this way the hips extensors also contribute to balance and line re-correction. Addiontally Squeezing your butt helps to stablize the hips.

Gluteus maximus and the hamstrings.

The Hip flexors. Opposite to hip extension is flexion or closing the hip angle: Used when we do press handstands, entries and also used to make lower body line corrections and adjustments. Much like the hip extensors.  

iliacus, psoas major, rectus femoris and sartorius. Pectineus.

The quads. Our firepower for the "jump variations" of handstand entries. They also allow us to straighten our legs which means we have one less hinge to manage whilst balancing and also straighter, cleaner lines.

Rectus femoris; the vastus lateralis; the vastus intermedius; the vastus medialis.

The Abdominals. Help with Posterior pelvic tilt or tucking the hips under : Which also helps stabilize and flatten the spine. Creating a bridge of tension between the lower and upper limbs. Though core development is often over emphasized in relation to handstand, without any core muscles whatsover or zero engagement, a handstand would not be possible. We would be flopping all over the place and unable to keep the spine stabilised and vertical.

Rectus abdominus, internal and external obliques, transverse abdominus, Pyramidalis.

So have a think about your own handstands struggles. For example not being able to active your glutes or tuck your hips under. You could then work on pelvic tilt articulations and glute bridges seperate from your handstand. There are many examples of this. Spend some time reflecting on your needs and be your own pro active problem solver. For a free mini handstand master class hit the link below ⭐️😊

FREE LESSONS

How to do a handstand push up (HSPU)

The handstand push up (abbreviated here therein as HSPU seems to garner more awe and wonder than most other handstand related movements. The relatability of a push up plays a major role in this I believe.

Aside from impressing people ( which is totally valid, people do this professionally as performers after all)It is a very worthwhile pursuit when it comes to physical mastery.

The journey to achieve one requires you to develop many useful attributes and strength that carry over into other athletic pursuits.

It can also serve as a transition between the realm of handstand and the realm of arm balancing. Such as when someone pushes up from crow pose in handstand. Or lowers down into an elbow lever/crocodile from a handstand.

Below are some super simple but highly effective to begin leaning this movement. Starting from easiest to hardest.

Upper body elevated push up

If full pushups are not possible placing the hands on an elevated surface will reduce the difficulty and load, The more upright your are the easier the movement will be. Gradually reduce the angle over time to build up to floor pushups (as shown in the video) I am using a smith machine here which is ideal with it's many height settings. But anything safe and sturdy will do.

The form described below applies here. Except you will be lowering towards the elevated surface. Time is better spent on this than knee push ups. As it is a much smoother transition to the real deal. As you have infinite progressions depending on the height you choose (higher is easier).

Push up

1. Start in a high plank with your palms flat, hands shoulder width apart, shoulders stacked directly above your wrists, legs extended straight behind you, and your core and glutes engaged.

2. Keep a straight body line throughout. Bend your elbows and keep them in close to your sides to lower your chest to the floor.

3. Push through the palms of your hands to straighten your arms and return to the top starting position.

*Keep the forearms vertical to the floor ( at a right angle to the floor)

Benchmark : 20 strict reps with ease.

Elevated A-frame push up

It is rare that someone graduates from push ups straight to full range reps of these. We can bridge the gap by doing partial repetitions (going as far down as you can return from) And by doing negative reps (lowering slowly into headstand position)

The raw strength requirement is very similiar to the HSPU but does not require the skill, balance and stabilisation that is involved there.

1. Place your feet up on a very sturdy immovable box or support.

2. Place the hands on the ground and walk them in as close to your feet as your flexibility allows. (we want the torso as vertical as possible)

3. Bend at the elbows to lower your head to the ground. Make sure you keep your elbows in and aim to place the head in front of the hands, Imagine this location is the top of a triangle in relation to the hands.

*Keep the forearms vertical to the floor ( at a right angle to the floor)

Benchmark : 8 strict reps ( though freestanding HSPU can begin before this number is reached)

Chest to wall HSPU

A way to experience the load of a full HSPU in the inverted position but without the difficulty of the balance element. The same cues and instructions as below butin a chest facing the wall handstand. Around 1.5-2 hands distances away from the wall. Feet stay in contact throughout. Then once proficient (5 full reps) you can try lowering with the feet touching the wall, then pushing back up with no wall contact.

The method of using partial reps and negative reps mentioned earlier applies here too,

Exercise common sense and dont do this if you are inexperienced. Always try things you are unsure of with a spotter first. And only when you have hit the necessary benchmarks.

Freestanding HSPU

Here we are. The full thing.

I am going to state the obvious by saying this. But you should have a solid, consistent 30s handstand free hold.

1. From a freestanding straight handstand bend at the elbows to lower your head to the ground. Make sure you keep your elbows in and aim to place the head in front of the hands, like before Imagine this location is the top of a triangle in relation to the hands.

2. The body should move at a moderate diagonal angle towards the floor.

3. Keep the forearms perpendicular to the floor throughout (at a right angle).

4.Lightly touch the (top) of head on the ground and push back up to handstand.

*Aim to keep the spine flat on the lower, A small amount of arching is ok on the way back up to handstand.

Remember that these things take time. Dont rush, enjoy the process and above all else be consistent.

Check out my YouTube channel to learn more about handstands

CLICK ME

=)

Sundi

HOW TO PRACTICE HANDSTANDS

Practice structure

I see confusion, particularly among beginners. When it comes to knowing how often to practice the different elements that make up a healthy handstand routine. This is important to get right. And luckily it is rather straightforward! 🙌🏽

To start with lets lay out some of the main parts that make up a handstand practice

Skill. Flexibility. Strength/Endurance.

Now lets talk about the frequency and order of doing these things. Keeping in mind that this is a generalisation.

Skill

This can be the practice of balance itself. Body awareness and “tricks”. Balance mechanics and drills that develop this on the wall fall under this category as well as entries. Getting familiar with a new shape etc.

This is what should get the highest frequency. Though all the elements above are going to be involved and at times also developed during skill practice.  A ball park figure would be 3-4 times per week for a beginner and more for an intermediate student. (though you would build up to this gradually)

And order wise, you definitely want to work on skills as early as possible in your practice. And if possible earlier in the day too.

In your sets of skill work you should not be going anywhere near failure/exhaustion. Lots of sets of less time, and adequate rest will let you “practice well” and progress much quicker. Sloppy practice equals sloppy results.

To do something often, and to do it well, requires that you keep the intensity fairly low.

Flexibility

Think, opening your shoulders for a straighter handstand line. Working on your splits. Or deepening your forward fold. In terms of order, myself and a fair few other full-time handstanders prefer doing some flexibility work before our skill work begins.

Though I usually only spend around 15-20 mins on this which is less than when I started (and needed it more). This helps to prepare the body for the most efficient  alignment and makes your lines look cleaner!

I also find it quite relaxing and meditative which helps get me in a good headspace for balancing.

In terms of frequency I find I get the best results by stretching most days before handstands but not always. If I practice 4 or 5 times in a week I usually stretch 3 or 4 times beforehand. I do also spend a lot of time in my daily life sitting in some kind of stretch when coaching or reading!

Experiment and see what your body responds best to. Too much can often make you feel tighter. Stretching to improve range is tiring and gives your muscles a pretty good workout, so you will need to rest to improve.

Strength/Endurance

This is a very broad element, that is ever present when performing handstands. but think things like pushups and pull-ups. Variations difficult enough that you can only perform 5-10 reps in a set (strength).  An example of endurance would be holding your handstand on the wall or freestanding for as long as you can.

There is no 100% correct way of doing this  (just different levels, approaches and priorities). But I will give you some things to look out for here.

Dont do strength before skills training. This shouldn’t need much explaining. You will be knackered and unable to practice your skills properly. Work them either at the end of handstands, a few hours later, or on a “non handstand day”

You can make very good progress on 1-2 strength sessions per week. When speaking about working the same exercise (IE push-ups, pullups)

And dont try for a PB every time you do strength or endurance. Just because you didnt flood the floor with sweat and grunt louder than one of Saruman’s orc’s does not mean you wont make progress. Infact, You can quite easily screw up the next days handstand practice by going too hard with this the day before. Leave a little left in the tank.

Give each of these parts of your handstand training the right amount of focus and effort. You will be surprised at how much of a difference it makes.

For coaching you can drop me a line using this form https://www.subyhandstands.com/private-handstand-lessons

=)

Happy Handstands,

Sundi