How to Start Practicing Handstands
Very excited to put out this post today all about how to get started practicing handstands. Handstands are a big part of my practice and the majority of the questions I get on Instagram usually relate to how to get started, my best tips, etc. Well, here they are!
Also, I wanted to be sure to give you guys some visuals and cues to go along with them so all the images have a cue! If you get my newsletter, I sent out the following tips on Sunday but I wanted this info to permanently live somewhere plus provide some bonus material with the pictures and cues! I hope it’s helpful to you all!
1. Warm up your wrists and fingers
Stretch forward, backward, side to side, flip your palms, and roll out the worst joint.
2. Stretch into your shoulders
Open shoulders go a long way with a handstand practice so take a little time to create more space. Try puppy pose or cactus your arms in some shoulder rolls.
3. The wall is your friend
Use the wall to get over your fear of being upside down. I love belly to wall drills to teach me about the press and how to properly align my hollow body shape. I practice 3 rounds and started by staying up for 15 seconds and building toward a minute.
4. Alignment cues
Here are some of my favorites:
a. Wrists under shoulders - think “righty tighty, lefty loosey” with your hand placement
b. Squeeze your butt
c. Core pulled in tight
d. Push through your shoulders - think shoulders to ears
e. Engage your legs and point your toes
f. Breathe
5. Consistency is key!
Aim to practice 20 minutes a day for 5 days a week. The biggest improvements I ever see in my practice happen when I am consistent, so stick with it. And know that you will have days where you can’t balance to save your life - that’s normal! Don’t give up!
I have so many more tips and poses to support your handstand practice in my ebooks, specifically the first one, which you can find here!
Warm Up
Use Puppy Pose to open shoulders before handstanding - option 1
Use Puppy Pose to open shoulders before handstanding - option 2
Proper Hand Placement
Proper Hand Placement:
Think 'righty tighty lefty loosy'. Slightly spin your hands out so that your index fingers are in a parallel lign to one another or wider. This helps to naturally create the external rotation of the upper arm bone that we look for in hanstands.
Place hands right under shoulders when preparing for your practice.
What I will have to unlearn:
Index fingers are spinning toward each other creating an internal rotation of the upper arm bone. (See how to correct in picture above.)
Entrance
Preparing to jump: From your downward facing dog, step your dominate leg forward leg forward halfway to use as your springboard in your handstand.
Entrance 1: When learning to jump in the middle of the room, hop up with one knee pulled into your chest while your extended leg acts as a brake. This will help you to not go beyond the vertical line and will help save your energy with our many attempts.
Entrance 2: Another great way to enter handstand is with the '7 shape'. This allows the weight to stay mostly on the front end of the body and when you catch some airtime, allows for some easier weight distribution with your moving legs.
Alignment
1. Hands - Push though the heel of your hand. Fingers are your brakes (from falling backwards) and thumbs are your rutters (side to side action)
2. Shoulders - Press enough so you feel your shoulders moving toward your ears.
3. Gaze - Between your hands or wrists
4. Ribcage - Create a hollowbody shape to help with 'banana back'. Think front of ribcage rounding in toward center line of body
5. Butt - Squeeze your butt
6. Legs - Zip up and engage your legs
7. Toes - Point your toes to send your energy up and out.
Proper Alignment:
What to look for when using the wall with purpose:
1. Wrists and shoulders stacked
2. Pressing the ground away
3. Ribs pulling in toward the midline
4. Core engaged
5. Butt and legs engaged
6. Energy moving through active foot
Improper Alignment:
What I will have to unlearn:
1. My hands are spun in and are placed to wide apart
2. I am dumping a lot of weight into my shoulder and chest
3. My belly is soft and unengaged
4. I am creating a 'banana back' in my low back
5. My extending foot is lacking energy and reach
*Here I am using the wall as a crutch and not a tool.
Belly to the Wall: Once kicking up the wall with your back feels comfortable, try Belly to the Wall. This helps create the hollowbody shape we are looking for in handstand.
Belly to the Wall Level 2: When you start to feel comfortable with Belly to the Wall you can walk yourself in closer to hold for time. Start with 3 rounds of 15 second holds and work your way up to 60 second holds.
Think:
-Gaze at the wall
-Tuck your tailbone
-Squeeze your butt
-Core pulled in tight
-Push through your shoulders (shoulders to ears)
-Engage your legs and point your toes
-Breathe