THREE MISTAKES TO AVOID - OR YOU KILL YOUR FIRST HANDSTAND PUSH UP

Imagine training RX reps all the time for your first strict Handstand Push Up (HSPU), and it just won’t work. Would you be frustrated? What if you had to stop training several times because you got injured during HSPU training? Would that impact your motivation to go on with that skill?

Don’t worry, here is a very easy guidance for everyone how to avoid all this and discover your winning strategy for your first HSPU.

1. Strength is not my issue

Are you 100% sure about this? Then it won’t be a big thing for you to stop in that tiny little moment before your head touches the floor, right? If this IS a problem for you, the following tips how to build your special HSPU strength are for you.

How to increase strength in the upper and bottom positions? My answer: just do isometric exercises. This may sound boring but they definitely minimize your risk of getting injured, losing the correct shape and being weak in those very important phases of the HSPU.

When you are in the upper position, completely straighten your arms and bring your shoulders close to your ears. Expand as much as possible.

In the bottom position, there should be much more weight on your hands than on your head. Don’t rest your head on the floor, keep pressing your hands into the floor as much as possible.

What else? Imagine doing the negative movement and not pushing yourself up again. What is key here is that you use your full range of motion. Be honest with yourself: if you can’t manage all the way down with constant speed, the progression you chose is too hard at the moment and you should work with an easier one. Luckily, I have integrated all progressions on HSPU for you in my online First Strict Handstand Push Up Program, so they’re just a few clicks away.

Last but not least, remember what you read at the beginning of this paragraph? Yes, try to stop in that tiny moment before your head touches the floor.

2. Hands up

Are you aware of what you are doing in the lower position? Do you take a break down there, or even lift your hands off the floor? First, become aware of what you do and then ask yourself why you do it. Is it because the way down was so hard that you now need a break? Or do you lift your hands off the floor because you notice they’re in the wrong position, or your shape is bad and you try to correct this?

For whatever reason you lift your hands off the floor, don’t do this anymore! It completely breaks the tension in your body. But this, however, is what you need to push yourself up again.

So what to do now to avoid breaks and hand lifting in the bottom position? Think of a rocket. Imagine there is a big red button on the floor and if your head touches this button, the rocket (that is yourself) will ignite and you slingshot yourself up.

By the way, have you ever compared the HSPU to a Thruster? They are very similar: imagine having a lot of weight on the barbell - for sure, you wouldn’t spend more time than necessary in the lowest position and get back to the highest position as quickly as possible to reenergize. The same goes for the HSPU.

3. I don't need a tripod

The lowest position of the HSPU is the headstand and is also called tripod. The name comes from the fact that the hands and the head on the floor form a triangle, that is similar to a tripod.

Why is this so important? Let's say you want to do a kipping HSPU on the wall. Since you're smart, you've previously worked on being able to do strict HSPU, i.e. without kipping. Now you kick against the wall into handstand, lower yourself that you come into headstand and to get momentum you also lower your legs. As you do this, your heels come off the wall and your point of contact with the wall is either your lower back, or you no longer have a point of contact with the wall at all.

At this point you need to keep your balance so that you don't just fall over. And this is much easier if you form a tripod with your hands and head, instead of your hands and head being in one line.

Now you know that you should form a tripod in the lower position. But it's also important that you cultivate the tripod position every time you train, and that includes training for the strict HSPU.

There, my experience is that many athletes have their head in line with their hands during progressions like the Pike Push Up or even the Pike Box HSPU. This means the triceps, for example, is less trained than in the tripod position. This is exactly what sets athletes back when they start the Kipping HSPU. They simply lack the possibility to use the strength in this position because they have never trained this position before.

Achieving your first HSPU rep has never been so easy

And this is true! Most athletes are stuck in their HSPU training with no idea what their issues are and how to solve them. There is an easy-to-access solution for this:

If you are stuck, make regular use of video analysis – this is a great opportunity to analyze your shape and everything else step by step. Then start with the strength tips above:

Building Strength

• do isometric exercises

• use full range of motion for negative movement

• choose a progression where you can manage constant speed down

• try to stop before your head touches the floor (Deadstop)

• train tripod position

Keeping Strength

• avoid lifting your hands off the floor in bottom position

• cultivate touch-and-go mindset and imagine being a rocket

Just give it a try and start with these first steps that everyone can do. For a more guided approach, my online First Strict Handstand Push Up Plan will be the best choice where you get a full 4-weeks training guide.