How To Do A Handstand Push-up Part 1
THE SHORTER THE BETTER, BABY!
I can still remember the day I stood on my hands for the first time. It was, at the time, a crowning achievement for me. We aren’t talking freestanding by the way, but just kicking up to a handstand against the wall. It was something scary, something I didn’t know if I could do. I vividly remember trying it with a co-worker at the YMCA one time; he was supposed to spot me and of course he let me smack down right on my head. So finally kicking up there, strong lock out, OHHHHH BABY it was awesome!
Handstand Push-ups are great for your entire body, but take some getting used to and weeks of practice...stick with it!!!
Gymnasts and many CrossFit athletes make inverted work look incredibly easy, pushing, twisting, and walking on their hands for yards and yards. The simple truth is standing on your hands is REALLY difficult, and takes years of practice to even achieve proficiency. A great way to build a base is to get comfortable upside down, against the wall, working on handstand push-ups.
This week we break down the basic strict handstand push up. Proceed with caution here as it takes a lot of shoulder strength to do this. However, before we can show you how to build your skill and strength in this movement, we have to show you the end goal, and so here it is this week.
If you can’t do these, DO NOT WORRY! We are coming at ya in the next few weeks with some awesome scales to get you caught up from any level of shoulder strength. It’s going to be a fun series so make sure to stay tuned to the blog in coming weeks!
Handstand push-ups are a great exercise to build strength through much of the upper body. It is a killer workout for your shoulders and triceps, your chest helps to assist in the movement, and even the core plays a vital role in this functional skill. Enough work on handstand push-ups will help foster improvement across a broad spectrum of other CrossFit skills, like an increased shoulder press, or even a more steady overhead squat position.
Not to mention, handstand push-ups are great to use when traveling! If you have a wall, or a thick tree, and TADA!! You have a spot to do handstand push-ups. I’m for sure gonna find a sweet spot to do some in Italy, on our Italy/Switzerland trip this August. Il be leading that trip, so feel free to sign up, come along and pose for a picture with me in a badass location doing some handstand push ups!!
Stay tuned for more on our blog - we'll be back each and every week!