How to Build up to a Handstand

So you want to learn the way to do a handstand? Good, you’ve come to the right place to start.

One of the most significant facets of learning the handstand is what to do with your body as its upside down. That is getting your body into a rigid form that makes the balancing much easier. The right way to train how to do that is to do a handstand against the wall first. Without needing to fret about the balance you can train the body position simply.

You’ll be wanting to get about ten inches from the wall. Place your hands down on the floor shoulder width apart. To get into the handstand you’ll need to kick up. This implies starting in a sprinter’s stance, as if you are prepared to start running. But instead you will kick one leg up high. When that leg comes near to the wall the other leg will also come up to meet it.

Here is a vital point. You have to be certain to keep your arms locked out at all times. This makes your weight supported by your bone structure, rather then relying on your muscles which can tire out fast. That’s not what you want, so lock those arms.

Additionally, you want to keep your body tight. This means squeezing your glutes and legs together. Its best to point the toes. This isn’t just to look awesome but helps maintain the tightness too. And when you do any handstand training you’ll want to be sure to breathe. When you start out its straightforward to hold your breath as you strive for the right position. But learn to relax enough and breathe.

My recommendation is that you learn how to hold a handstand against the wall for at least thirty seconds before you try doing it out in the open. There are lots of other steps and technqiues you’ll want to practice before doing that too.

You need to use the wall but then bring your feet off simply a couple inches as you struggle for balance there. When you’re starting you can only manage a couple seconds. This is fine. Just keep on working at it and you’ll improve.

Todd Ludgren writes for Lost Art of Hand Balancing where you can find much more about handstand tips as well as all sorts of acrobatics. Have a look at this article on how to do handstand push ups.