Hypothetically,
If I press my hands as hard as possible into the ground when doing a headstand, will I one day find myself with the strength to press up into a handstand?
If so, what would you say are the best parameters for practice?
Thanks
Hypothetically - yes. Practically - probably no. If you want to be able to do handstand pushups, practise slow eccentrics first.
Here’s what Jason Ferruggia suggests…
“The easiest way to work up to a handstand pushup is to start by simply holding the position for time while you keep your feet up against the wall.
When you can easily hold your bodyweight for sixty seconds start working eccentric only reps. Do five singles and take five seconds to lower yourself. Do these twice per week and work up to doing five sets of three, lowering in 6-8 seconds. After doing that for a few weeks you will be able to get your first rep on your own.
Once that?s possible you should do one or two sets of one rep and a couple more eccentric only reps. When you get to the point where you can do three reps try doing ten singles with about 45-60 seconds between them.
When can do six reps you?d want to do sets of three. So about half of what you are capable of doing in one set.
Progression on these will take time so be patient and keep practicing.”
I’d say yes.
I’ve been working on handstands / handstand pushups for a few months now. I can do handstand pushups with head touching to floor - no deeper (so can’t do them with hands on blocks yet).
However, I still can’t get into a headstand and push up from there. I guess because you’re not able to take advantage of the stretch reflex you get when lowering yourself down.
So now I practice both ways. Normal handstand pushup practice but also getting into a headstand and doing a kind of isometric ‘push’. I don’t get off the ground, but the right muscles are working so I figure it has to be a great way to train it.
My feeling is that you could definitely get there starting from the headstand but you’d be tackling the hard part first so it’ll take longer before you start to see anything remotely like a pushup. But the moment you get your head off the ground the rest should be a breeze.
A weird thing I’ve found - when doing a handstand pushup the eccentric part is actually harder for me. I’m stronger pushing back up. My guess is because there’s some kind of safety mechanism putting the breaks on when you’re lowering - pushing back up you’re moving away from the danger (head smashing into floor) so somehow it’s easier. I don’t know if that holds true for everyone.
Thanks for the input. I really like reading Jason Ferruggia’s site. Interesting point about the safety mechanism.
Do you think practicing the push everyday would lead to burnout? I guess the only way is too try and see.
I’m going on an extended trek and this seemed like a good way to practice the skill. It seems like a cool form of dead start training.
Also, sweet ring handstands in the photo!
I do handstands every day. Just a few seconds a day - working on posture and shoulder ROM. I highly recommend doing that as you build strength, balance etc FAST, it helps with posture and correct movement and it takes nothing out of you so doesn’t impact on other training. I try to do it in lots of different ways. So on the floor; on rings; parallels; one hand raised higher than the other. It just keeps the muscles working in lots of different ways.
HSPU and pushing up from a headstand I only tend to do once a week and I make good progress on that. My current strategy is to find a variation that’s hard enough that I can only do 2 to 3 reps and do 5 sets (Based on CT’s recommendation). So I’d do the pushups (and prior to being able to do pushups I’d just do handstand variations), then finish off with the isometric push from a headstand. Did you see Travis Pollen’s recent article on here? Supposedly that’s a good way to build mass, which wasn’t my goal, but it may well be yours. But that’s just what I’ve currently managed to fit in around everything else. I do lots of other bodyweight training in addition to this.
[quote]kerbs007 wrote:
Do you think practicing the push everyday would lead to burnout? I guess the only way is too try and see.[/quote]
You can do handstands every day. You can also do handstand pushups every day… Just not ten sets to failure, if you catch my drift. A set in the morning and one in the evening, each with a few reps left in the tank, works nicely.