Shoulders, not your “core”, are what matter for a stable handstand
While many consider handstands to be a "core" dependent move, here's why we think it's actually a shoulder dominant skill.
Head Position for Handstands
Head positioning in handstands can vary greatly and still lead to a good handstand. But when leveraged consciously, it can become a useful tool to improve your balance, create aesthetic shapes, and build strength towards high level handbalancing skills.
Training Rituals for Better Handstands
Here's some simple ideas that can help bring more consistency to your handstands day-to-day. You can think of these as rituals, bringing you into the mindset and preparing the environment for an ideal session.
Train Handstands at Home
Handstands are a minimalist pursuit easily trained at home. To make the most of handstands at home, we've outlined what you'll need (it's not much), the challenges you'll encounter with some proposed solutions, and the surprising perks of training at home.
Hand Position for Handstands
Hand positioning for handstands is largely a personal preference, but if you are working towards specific handbalancing skills, playing with variations in your stance and grip will be necessary, and maybe even reveal your optimal hand positioning.
Building Handstand Endurance
There is nuance to improving your handstand hold time, mainly in two areas, specific upper body strength and balancing skills. And while key to longer handstand holds is better endurance and strength, building that strength doesn’t have to be boring.
Elbows in Handstands
The elbow has a lot of genetic variation which leads to different form compensations to find a good handstand hold. Combine this with the load-bearing demands from handbalancing, elbows can be prone to overtraining or injured. We have advice on how to address your arms’ anatomical quirks and tried-and-true injury prevention measures for your elbows.
What are the Benefits of Training Handstands?
Incorporating a handstand practice into your fitness routine can yield a variety of the physical, mental, and personal benefits, beyond what traditional physical conditioning can do alone.