Find Your Balance
Kick-Up is designed to help you catch your balance consistently when kicking up into a handstand. Mastering the kick-up allows you to get much more out of your handstand training by avoiding fatigue from ‘false-starts’ and instead devoting energy to longer handstand holds. Our program breaks the motion down into component parts where you’ll build strength and coordination. Then you’ll recombine them with newfound control into a perfect kick-up.
Find Your Balance
Kick-Up is is designed to help you catch your balance consistently when kicking up into a handstand. Mastering the kick-up allows you to get much more out of your handstand training by avoiding fatigue from ‘false-starts’ and instead devoting energy to longer handstand holds. Our program breaks the motion down into component parts, you’ll build strength and control. Then you’ll recombine them with newfound control and coordination into a perfect kick-up.
What You’ll Learn
The Kick-Up program improves your ability to reliably catch your balance when kicking up into a handstand. We’ve compiled the best drills from our other programs that address both the physical limitations such as shoulder and hamstring flexibility, as well as the coordinative aspects of the scissor kick. These elements are addressed in isolation, enabling you to identify and address your weak links before reintegrating it into full kick-up attempts.
“I’m catching a higher percentage of my attempts, and somehow I can also sometimes catch when kicking from my non-dominant leg. The body needs variety to learn, but also specificity to the task, and this program hit the sweet spot between the two.”
“I’m catching a higher percentage of my attempts, and somehow I can also sometimes catch when kicking from my non-dominant leg. The body needs variety to learn, but also specificity to the task, and this program hit the sweet spot between the two.”
– Eli Lipstein @eli_sthenics –
Who is it for?
This program is great for beginner to intermediate handbalancers. For beginners, we require is the confidence in attempting handstands away from a wall to begin training this program. For intermediate handbalancers, improving the kick-up can be the key to breaking through stubborn plateaus and is crucial for venturing into handstand shapes.
Who is it for?
This program is great for beginner to intermediate handbalancers. For beginners, we require is the confidence in attempting handstands away from a wall to begin training this program. For intermediate handbalancers, improving the kick-up can be the key to breaking through stubborn plateaus and is crucial for venturing into handstand shapes.
Who’s Teaching
Mikael Kristiansen and Emmet Louis are both international teachers of handbalancing and flexibility and have spent big chunks of their lives studying and understanding all aspects of these skills professionally both as performers and teachers. With Handstand Factory, they now want to demystify and simplify the process of learning handstands, and make it accessible to anyone wanting to learn to stand on their hands. To learn more about Handstand Factory, head over to our about page.
FAQ
What are the prerequisites for this program?
We only ask you feel confident attempting to kick-up to handstand away from a wall. If you are still relying on the wall for safety and stability, our comprehensive Push program will give you progressions towards freestanding handstand attempts.
I can't balance in my handstand for very long, can I still do this program?
We only ask you be able to find balance for about 5 seconds. The drills in Kick-Up do need you to find balance, a sensation that comes in around 3 seconds in, but no longer than that. We want you to get practice kicking-up, not balancing in this program so the drills actually ask you to exit the handstand hold with control even if you think you can balance longer.
I can already kick-up to handstand (sometimes), do I need this program?
We have a rule-of-thumb that if you can’t kick-up to balance 8/10 times you have room for improvement. We also believe that the sooner you can achieve that level of consistency, the more quickly you’ll advance in your handbalancing. So intermediate practitioners will also greatly benefit from the Kick-Up program.
Can I combine the Kick-Up training with the other Handstand Factory Programs?
Yes, absolutely. You can use it to supplement our Push, Keep Pushing, or Press programs depending on what your handbalance interests and abilities are. Be sure to monitor the volume of training, especially regarding your wrists, but other than that it’s a good complement to any handstand training.
Do I need a training partner to do Kick-Up?
Nope, the way that the Kick-Up program is designed means there is no need for a partner and that everything can be done independently. Saying that, training with others is fun, so by no means do it alone!
Are the Handstand Factory programs follow along videos?
No, all of our online programs are educational in nature, they don’t contain videos in which you follow the training in real time like a class. The video library for each program contains explanation and demos for each exercise, with valuable cues and insights. These exercises are also explained in the manual, and lastly, programmed into comprehensive training templates that you can follow in your own time.