Flexibility Components of the Handstand Factory Programs
One of the perks of the Handstand Factory programs is that they do not only cover the handbalancing aspects of training handstands, but they also cover the necessary flexibility components you need to develop in order to progress in your training. All techniques used in the programs are chosen on the premise that we believe that with the deliberate mix of well thought out methods, exceptional flexibility and mobility are achievable for adults with all kinds of training backgrounds.
PUSH PROGRAM
Our entry level program, Push, has a dedicated flexibility section covering all your shoulder/overhead mobility needs. Together with the handbalance training in Push, the flexibility programming makes sure you develop the necessary shoulder flexibility to be able to balance a freestanding handstand in a timely manner. On top of that, we also begin to develop your forward folding flexibility early on, so that by the time you are ready to begin the more advanced handstand training, your hips will be prepared for the additional training.
PRESS PROGRAM
If your goal is also to do a press (or Stalder press) to handstand, then working on your pancake flexibility will likely be a big part of your training. In this particular case, the flexibility section actually is about 50% of the material in Press, and a lot of the handbalancing work is also active flexibility work. The Press program includes a pike and a pancake section, with some flexibility theory as well as some program templates to take you to full pike and flat pancake.
BEND PROGRAM
The Bend program draws on Emmet’s Modern Methods of Mobility (M3) syllabus for range-of-motion development, applied expressly for the Mexican family of handstands. Specifically the program includes methods for improving your bridge – also known as the wheel pose in yoga – with an emphasis on the carry-over to the hollowback handstand variations.
PUSH HARDER PROGRAM
Once you become so advanced in your handbalancing that you begin working on the one-arm handstand, you know how many variables go into training. One of them is the ability to rebalance with your legs. The wider your straddle/side split, the more control you will have when learning the straddle one-arm handstand. For this reason, we have included a comprehensive side split section in the Push Harder program, designed to take your active side split to its full potential, so you can actively use it upside down.