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We’re not talking about this enough: your hands in a handstand

By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

I find it so weird that often when we learn to handstand, no one spends significant time talking about what to do with and feel in your hands. It leads most beginners to focus their efforts and intentions elsewhere, when the biggest cues are coming from the hands since they’re the base of support when you’re upside down.

Here’s what you need to know:

  • The pressure in your hands needs to shift forward from the heel and outside of the hand to the middle of the hand. That means there will be weight in your fingertips and possibly the base of your knuckles as well. It’s further forward than most people think when they start handstanding.
  • The muscles of the forearm should be working hard. You know how when you stand on one foot, the foot wobbles around and the muscles around your shin and calf have to adjust to create that balance? The hands have to do the same when you’re upside down

This article covers what you need to know about your hands in various handstand movements.

Exercise Quick Navigation

    Handstand holds and walks

    What should you feel?

    • A shift in pressure from the heel of the hand into the knuckles and fingertips as you kick up into the handstand
    • A maintenance of pressure in the middle of the hand as you hold
    • The fingertips digging into the floor whenever your body threatens to tip over the top and overbalance
    • The distal knuckles popping up off the floor if you are gripping the floor hard enough
    • The shoulders shifting forward whenever your body threatens to fall back down and underbalance

    Common Mistakes

    • Leaving the weight too far back in the heels of the hands
    • Flat, lifeless hands with no intention of the fingertips into the floor
    • No action when encountered with a slight over or underbalance

    Handstand Wall Pull Aways – Plate to Wrist

    How to do this drill

    Place 2x 20kg bumper plates right up against a wall.

    Cartwheel or walk into a wall-facing handstand such that the base of your wrist is almost touching, and your wrist is touching, the plates.

    Shift your body weight slowly off the wall, forward into the hands. At some stage, your wrists will gently peel off the bumper plates. At pretty much exactly this moment if you’ve set it up correctly, your feet will also leave the wall.

    Grip the ground like your life depends on it to prevent an overbalance.

    Enjoy the handstand you are now in.

    Kick up to overbalance

    What is it?

    A bailing drill that can also double as a drill to teach you to really dig your hands into the floor when your weight shifts over the top.

    Technique

    Deliberately kick up with more force than is required for a handstand so that you start to overbalance. Delay the fall for as long as you can by digging your hands into the ground. When it can’t be rescued, twist to bail safely and catch yourself.

    Play around with the intensity of the kick up and see if you can actually find the right amount of force to stop a kick up in its tracks.

    Wrist Push Up

    Why?

    To build strength in your fingers and forearms to be better at handstands.

    Technique

    Kneeling on all fours, shift your body weight forward so that your shoulders are over your knuckles. Keeping the shoulders there, lift the thumb off the floor, then lift the heel of the hand off the ground by pressing the knuckles down into the floor. Don’t let yourself shift back while you do this – you should feel the undersides of your forearms contracting as you do so.

    General Wrist Warm Up

    What is it?

    A wrist warm up to help get your wrists used to the amount of pressure that’s going to go through them once you start pressurising your hands correctly in a handstand.

    What to do with it

    Follow along with the video, and do this warmup or the pieces of it you think are relevant to you before you handstand.

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    Why would we use a band in a rack to handstand?

    By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

    Bands are a great teaching tool because they really force the issue with stability. Unlike a wall or a box where you can leave your weight in it and somewhat cheat your way through a float, flutter or shift drill, the band will make your life really unpleasant if you lean into it and move around. This is great – it means you have to work to be present in your hands and only use the band if you start to lose balance.

    For all of these exercises, you’ll need to place 1-2 heavy resistance bands in a squat rack in the j-hooks, high enough in the rack to catch your feet when you kick or climb up.

    Exercise Quick Navigation

      Handstand Flutter from Rack

      What is it?

      The hardest of the flutter drills, because the band will prevent you from resting into it.

      Technique

      Kick up to the band in the rack the same way you would to the wall. The band will flex as you arrive in it. If you’re too close, it will spit you back out the way you came, so make sure you are 1-2 hand distances away from the rack. Split your legs apart and shift your body weight over your hands until the band stops wobbling. Slowly switch the legs, keeping almost all your weight in your hands (you will have to balance!) and being as light in the legs as possible.

      Common Mistakes

      Leaving weight in the band and wobbling, or collapsing and relaxing into the shoulders and spine.

      Handstand Flutter from Rack – Facing the Rack

      Technique

      Exactly as the one before, but facing toward the band. Climb into it by placing one foot on the upright of the squat rack then hooking the other foot into the rack.

      Band in High Rack to Handstand Hold

      What is it?

      This is a bounce drill, so you’ll have to control the momentum as the band throws you forward.

      Technique

      Find your way into a handstand facing toward the band. Allow a small bounce into and out of the rack to take you into a handstand hold. Grip the ground to prevent overbalancing and try to hold the handstand briefly.

      Handstand Bounce to Walk

      What is it?

      A more aggressive drill where you use the bounce of the band to create a challenge to control.

      Technique

      Kick slightly off the band, then allow the bounce to force you into an overbalance as you rebound. Step into your handstand walk from there.

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      Fix your “almost” handstand walk with these 5 drills

      By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

      Are you “kind of” handstand walking but struggling to get the mechanics right? See if these drills help you click with the movement.

      What we’re trying to promote with these is a strong push into the floor to open up the shoulder angle, get strong at taking one step on your hands at a time on your hands, and maintain enough of a strong line through the torso to propel your body forward.

      Exercise Quick Navigation

        Wall Walk

        What You’ll Need

        A wall.

        Technique

        Starting with your feet on the wall and your chest on the floor, push up into a high plank then shift your hips back to a pike. Step both feet up on the wall, then start walking your hands in toward the wall until your chest lightly taps the wall in a wall-facing handstand.

        Make sure you pull your bottom ribs toward your belt line and stay in a long tight line so you’re not wobbling side to side much as you walk toward the wall.

        Common Mistakes

        Being loose in the core – this only costs you energy in the shoulders! Make your life easier by keeping a hollow body as best as you can.

        Wax on Wax Off

        What is it?

        Practicing an efficient hand movement for your handstand walks.

        What You’ll Need

        A wall.

        Technique

        In a handstand on the wall (facing away from the wall), push even harder into the floor to make space to sweep the other hand around in a small circle (like you’re waxing a car, but elbows straight). This mimics how we want to step in a handstand walk.

        Common Mistakes

        Bending the elbows too much – in an efficient handstand walk, the elbows bend only slightly.

        Lateral handstand walk

        What is it?

        Practicing the shift from one hand to the other and moving your body with it.

        What You’ll Need

        A wall.

        Technique

        In either a chest to wall or normal kick up to handstand position, take steps sideways by moving one hand then the other. Your weight will shift into the grounded hand. You can spice it up by walking over a plate as well if you want more challenge!

        Kick Up Step to Wall

        What is it?

        Practice taking steps in open space then returning safely to the wall.

        Technique

        Kick up to a freestanding handstand then take a few steps toward the wall. The more confident you are, the further away you can start.

        Handstand Step from Wall

        What is it?

        Taking your first steps in a handstand walk, without having to worry about the accuracy of your kick up.

        What You’ll Need

        A wall and space away from the wall to walk into.

        Technique

        Wall walk your way into a chest to wall handstand, shift your weight over the top of the fingertips and start stepping your hands to walk away from the wall.

        Common Mistakes

        Kicking off the wall instead of shifting into the overbalance, or shifting way too fast and not being able to control the overbalance to turn it into an efficient walk.

        Handstand Walk Parallel to Wall

        What is it?

        Walking on your hands with the assistance of one foot dragging along the wall to prevent serious over- or under-balances.

        What You’ll Need

        A wall with 3-10m of space that you can walk along without running into any hazards.

        Technique

        Kick up to handstand then let the foot nearest the wall catch the wall.

        Common Mistakes

        Leaving the foot behind – you’ll need the foot on the wall to be slightly ahead of where your hands are for this to work well.

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        5 beginner handstand walk drills you *need* to try

        By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

        Learning to walk on your hands requires a decent amount of shoulder strength, good handstand foundations, and the ability to shift your body weight from one side to another while maintaining the position of your core and body. These drills focus on learning to shift your body weight without losing shape.

        Exercise Quick Navigation

          Single Arm Lifts in Plank

          What is it?

          The friendliest and easiest first exposure to bringing some of your body weight into one hand. This is a good place to start since it’s less heavy than a pike position and is usually more familiar than a pike.

          Technique

          From a high plank, shift your body slightly to the side so you can lift one hand off the floor.

          Common Mistakes

          Letting your lower bag sag, or upper back drop down between the shoulder blades. Push tall into the floor with locked elbows!

          Plank up downs

          What You’ll Need

          A box and a bumper plate

          Technique

          Starting in a high plank with your feet on the box and your hands either side of a bumper plate, step one hand up onto the plate, then the other. Then, step the first hand back down off the plate, and the second. Repeat for as many reps as is prescribed. Push into the floor to make space and let your shoulder blades glide forward instead of being pinned back

          Common Mistakes

          Make sure you stay tight in abs so your body is a straight line from shoulders to toes – don’t let your lower back sag! Also avoid the upper back sagging down into the shoulder blades – they shouldn’t be sticking up or squeezed back. Keep your elbows nearly locked the whole time and use this push from the sholuder blades to move the hands.

          Plank walk over plate

          What is it?

          This is an entry-level drill to help you understand how to push into the ground to make space for the other hand to sweep through like you would in a handstand walk.

          What You’ll Need

          A bumper plate and a low box.

          Technique

          Setting up with your feet on the box and hands on one side of the bumper plate, walk both hands over the bumper plate. Repeat in the other direction and accumulate time on your hands like this.

          Common Mistakes

          Sagging through the low back, bending the elbows, or sinking into the shoulder blades.

          Single arm alternating pike shift

          What is it?

          This shifting movement is a nice bridge from shifting hands in a plank movement to doing it in a more handstand-like pike movement.

          Technique

          Make a pike position on the floor. Shift your body weight enough to clear one hand from the floor, and tap your hip. Then switch sides.

          Common Mistakes

          Theres’ no need to extend the back heaps here – you can just stay long with the spine.

          Lateral pike walk over plate

          What is it?

          Very much like the plank walk over the plate, but shifting into a more handstand-like position.

          What You’ll Need

          A 20″ x 24″ x 30″ and a bumper plate.

          Technique

          Walking into a pike (knees can be bent) with your hands on one side of the bumper plate, walk your hands over the plate until you’re on the other side. Count this as one rep, then walk back the other way.

          Common Mistakes

          Not getting hips stacked over hands – make sure your hips are directly over the middle of the hands when you do this.

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          What are “float” to handstand drills?

          By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

          Float to handstand drills are some of the most important for your progression in handstand holds, and therefore also handstand walks. Floats teach us to slowly and gently shift into the balance point in a handstand. They are a gentle movement and require you to engage the hands as you float off a box, wall, band or other object into your handstand hold or walk.

          This is where most people go wrong – they are in a hurry to be in a handstand, so they rush the shift in position from the moment their weight is on another surface to the moment they are fully supporting their own weight in a handstand. Kicking, shoving, or otherwise using momentum to get off a secondary base of support fails to build the understanding of where the body weight needs to be centred in the hand for a successful handstand.

          As you watch through the float drills below, think about how you could slow it down, be gentle, and let your brain focus on what your hands and body weight are doing, instead of thinking about being “off” or “on” the secondary base of support.

          Exercise Quick Navigation

            Box float to handstand

            What is it?

            A float to handstand drill that leaves more weight on the box and requires a more substantial and obvious weight shift than when you float from a wall.

            What You’ll Need

            A 20″ x 24″ x 30″ box, and maybe some extra bumper plates if you need a higher box.

            Technique

            From a pike on the box (you can bend your legs if you need to), lift one leg up toward the sky and feel the weight shift into your hands from your feet. Keep shifting until the leg remaining on the box gets so light that it feels like less than a gram of your body weight is left in the box. Grip your fingers into the floor and allow the foot to lift off the box.

            Common Mistakes

            Pushing or kicking off the box. No float drills involve kicking.

            Band in rack float to handstand

            What You’ll Need

            A couple of thick resistance bands, a squat rack or rig with uprights that you can set the resistance bands in at roughly the height of your neck or chin.

            Technique

            Climb your legs up the squat rack so that you can hook your feet into the band. Stretch your legs up so that you can now rest your shins into the band. If the band is on your thighs, raise the band up higher. Get into a tall handstand position and separate your legs. Bring the leading leg over your body until you feel the weight of the leg still in the band start to feel light. Continue shifting until there is hardly any weight remaining in the band and the band is no longer wobbling. See if you can lift the leg off the band. If you can’t lift it off, you need to keep shifting further forward into your hands.

            Common Mistakes

            Leaving way too much body weight in the band and trying to kick out of it.

            Float to handstand from wall

            What is it?

            The smallest movement out of all the float to handstand drills. This makes it both the easiest because it doesn’t take much shift to get into the float, and also the hardest because you have to be more conscious of a less obvious shift in weight from the heels of the hands to the middle of the hands.

            What You’ll Need

            A wall.

            Technique

            From a wall-facing handstand, separate your legs and allow the leading leg to gently pull you off the wall. Move as slowly as you can. At some point, you will feel almost no weight left on the wall in the second leg, and your second foot will leave the wall when your weight has fully shifted into your hands. Do not rush the legs together at this point, just hold that position by gripping the ground.

            Common Mistakes

            Pushing or kicking off the wall, or rushing to close the legs.

            Another mistake is not gripping the ground or pushing the fingers into the floor, so when the weight shifts there’s nowhere to go but to fall over the top.

            Box straddle press

            What is it?

            A double-leg float (which is how we regress the press to handstand!)

            What You’ll Need

            A box.

            Technique

            From a pike on the box, shift your legs wide then aggressively (but slowly) shift your weight over your hands until your feet lift off the box. You will need to push harder into the floor with your legs than with the single leg variations of this.

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            How to build handstand-worthy shoulders

            By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

            Getting strong enough to spend minutes in a handstand requires spending a lot of time on your hands! But not all of that will happen upside down right away. We can regress straight arm strength training and make it more fun by mixing up positions and adding in other sources of challenge.

            Exercise Quick Navigation

              Plank to Down Dog

              What is it?

              The friendliest, easiest movement to start moving your shoulders from a plank into a more handstand-type postion.

              Technique

              Shift from a high plank position into a pike or downward dog position. Think about pressing into the floor and keeping your neck long.

              Common Mistakes

              There’s no need to extend your back excessively here – that’s not a position we will need in a handstand. Keep your ribs pulled down toward your pelvis like you’re doing a very small crunch and let the shoulders do the work.

              Box Plank Around The World

              What is it?

              An easy way to accumulate lots of time with your weight through your hands and shoulders.

              What You’ll Need

              A 20″ x 24″ x 30″ box.

              Technique

              Set yourself up in a strong plank (no saggy spines!) on a box. Keep your feet in one place, and walk your hands around the box for as many reps as is prescribed.

              Box Plank to Pike

              What is it?

              An early way to expose you to moving from a horizontal position to a stacked, hips over hands position, while still working on straight arm strength. Try to go as close to the box as you can – you want to walk your hands so close to the box you almost feel like you’re going to fall over the top.

              What You’ll Need

              A 20″ x 24″ x 30″ box.

              Technique

              With your feet on a box, walk from a high plank to a pike position (hips stacked over hands). Don’t worry if you have to bend your knees, hips over hands is more important than straight legs.

              Common Mistakes

              Not walking all the way in. Film yourself from the side if you need to check that you are walking close enough. You should be able to draw a vertical line from your hip to the floor and that line should draw through the middle of your hands (not the heel of your hands).

              Lateral Plank Walk Over Plate to Box Wall Walk in Pike

              What is it?

              In a high plank, walking the hands back and forth over a bumper plate then walking into a pike position.

              What You’ll Need

              A 20″ x 24″ x 30″ box and a 10-20kg bumper plate.

              Technique

              Make sure to keep a tight body line and walk all the way into your pike position so your hips are over your hands.

              Pike Around The World

              What is it?

              In a pike position, walking your hands around a box to accumulate time upside down on your hands. It’s not a flexibility contest, so don’t worry if you need a higher box or if you need to bend your knees.

              What You’ll Need

              A 20″ x 24″ x 30″ box.

              Technique

              Walk from a plank with your feet on a box to a pike. Then walk your hands around the box in a circle, keeping your hips stacked over your hands.

              Handstand Up Downs

              What is it?

              A shoulder strength drill that forces you to push into the ground so you can step up onto a plate.

              What You’ll Need

              A wall and a 10-20kg bumper plate.

              Technique

              Place a bumper plate near a wall and kick up to handstand with your hands on either side of the plate. Step one hand up onto the plate, then the other. This will be a narrow shoulder position for some, do your best. Then step back down. That’s one rep! Keep going, it will get burny pretty quickly.

              Common Mistakes

              Letting the back sag instead of staying tall and upright in the handstand.

              Handstand Up Downs C2W

              What is it?

              The same as the above, just facing the wall.

              Technique

              Place a bumper plate near a wall and wall walk or cartwheel into a wall-facing handstand with your hands on either side of the plate. Step your hands up and down onto the plate.

              Common Mistakes

              Putting too much weight into the wall – stay in your hands!

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              How to overcome your fear of going upside down

              By Bodyweight Training, Exercise Tutorials, Gymnastics Training

              Fear is a normal part of learning to handstand (or any gymnastics) and we don’t have to just ignore it! Using drills to stretch your comfort zone helps you learn to become comfortable with new movements and stay safe doing so.

              Learning to bail from a handstand is particularly important, and it all starts with remembering a movement you probably did at school: the cartwheel! The cartwheel helps us understand how to fall from a handstand because you shift onto one hand and rotate around that planted hand. This is the same movement we do when we overbalance from a handstand.

              We can learn cartwheels to intentionally mimic overbalanced positions and learn to manage them, while still progressing them slowly enough that you feel safe.

              Exercise Quick Navigation

                Cartwheel

                Technique

                The important part of a cartwheel is the sequencing – one limb at a time lands on the floor. We don’t want both feet landing on the floor at once. It’s okay if your cartwheel is small at first, but as you gain confidence try to make it bigger and bigger until your feet pass directly over your head and you are perfectly vertical upside down.

                Common Mistakes

                Beginners will be tempted to go around the side of a cartwheel instead of over the top. The more you can get yourself to go fully upside down, the more helpful it will be when you bail from a handstand.

                Cartwheel off box

                What is it?

                When you’re competent with a cartwheel, or if you need to try a different version, you can start the cartwheel with your feet on a box. This will help force your weight further over the top, so make sure you’re not just hopping off to the side of the box.

                What You’ll Need

                A 20″ x 24″ x 30″ box.

                Technique

                Walk your hands in so your hips are over your hands in a pike, then shift your weight over your hands so far that you have to lift one hand with the other still planted, then twist to catch yourself with one foot at a time.

                Common Mistakes

                Landing both feet at once, or falling sideways next to the box instead of rotating over one planted hand.

                Cartwheel off wall

                What is it?

                Much like the box, the wall leaves you with almost no escape from the shift required to go over the top. Get adventurous and force yourself to shift close to the wall so you can really feel what it’s like to overbalance over the top of your hands.

                What You’ll Need

                A wall!

                Technique

                Wall walk your way to a wall-facing handstand, then shift your weight forward in your hands until you start to fall over the top. Shift one hand out of the way, rotate in that direction, and catch one foot on the floor at once.

                Common Mistakes

                Not shifting far enough over the top of the hands.

                Overbalance from wall

                What is it?

                This is much like the cartwheel from wall, but you’re going to generate some momentum pushing off the wall so that you have to catch in your cartwheel quickly.

                What You’ll Need

                A wall.

                Technique

                Wall walk your way to a wall-facing handstand, then use your foot to push off the wall into an overbalance. Shift one hand out of the way, rotate in that direction, and catch one foot on the floor at once.

                Single arm cartwheel

                What is it?

                A more advanced cartwheel that can help you understand how to rotate over one hand a bit faster than the two-handed cartwheel.

                Technique

                Enter the cartwheel as usual, but do not place the second hand on the ground. Twist over the top, landing your feet in the same order as usual.

                Common Mistakes

                The one handed cartwheel is very hard unless you can do a good cartwheel with a full rotation over the top. Make sure your cartwheel is good before you try this!

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