Perfect Handstand? DO THIS

Hi guys, I’m in the gym with a former gymnast, Fabio

Wait a moment, do you consider yourself a “former gymnast” or a “gymnast”.

Fabio: I consider myself a gymnast! Once a gymnast, always a gymnast!

Take note about what he says, because today we are going to see how to improve the Handstand!

Fabio: Most important thing during a Handstand is the form! So always look for an ideal form.

This is important to decrease the effort and to optimize the energies.

Also to have a better looking handstand.

We will talk about the alignment between trunk-arm (Shoulder mobility must be on point!)

And how Abs, Lower back, gluteus and all the other muscles of the lower body are fundamental for a “perfect handstand”.

So, now I will show you a Handstand with not perfect form (with bad trunk-arm alignment)

and then I will fix it to an ideal “perfect handstand”.

As you can see this is a bad form! My body is arched.

Now, as you can see, thinking about the trunk-arm alignment (with the core activated) my Handstand is much better!

Keep in mind: Shoulder opened + core activated to improve the form.

Andrea: Shoulder mobility is the most important thing to open the shoulder.

A lot of people don’t even think about that.

Fabio: Exactly, when I don’t open the shoulder, 9 times out of 10, I put a lot of weight on my lower back to compensate the position.

Of course, it’s NOT easy to do this.

At the beginning, help yourself with a wall.

1st exercise: Handstand with abs against the wall.

2nd exercise: Handstand with back against the wall.

In both exercise, is important to put the hands near the wall, so we can understand if the handstand is perfect or with bad form.

If the handstand is with bad form, you will lose the balance and fall.

Because the wall is "pushing me away".

So, 1st exercise: Handstand with abs against the wall.

Hands near the wall

I do push as much as possible and I do squeeze every muscle in my body.

If everything is done perfectly, my feet will go away from the wall, and I will hold a Free Handstand.

Andrea: So, we have to think about pushing as much as possible and to squeeze abs, gluteus and all the other muscles.

Fabio: Exactly, now I’m going to show you the 2nd exercise.

Handstand with back against the wall.

Andrea: Wait a moment, since everyone asking me “how should I train the handstand?

Should I do it with Back against the wall or with ABS against the wall?”…

the answer in my opinion is: BOTH! You have to training both exercise!

Fabio: Yes, also, always choose the most difficult option.

If one of the 2 exercises is more difficult, then you need to work on it a little bit more, so you can understand better the activation of your body.

Now I’m going to show you the 2nd exercise.

Handstand with back against the wall.

Hands near the wall, I do push as much as possible with my arms

and I help myself by leaning the heels against the wall (this is the only part of my body that touches the wall)

Also here, if everything is done perfectly, the feet will go away from the wall. (Free handstand)

Andrea: Focus is always on trunk-arm alignment. But what about the heels?

Fabio: When I have feet together, touching each other, it means all my lower body muscles are working as they should.

To have heels against each other, is important for a better muscle recruitment!

It helps you with the stability of the handstand.

Andrea: Yes, also the lower body activation is important in every other Calisthenics/Gymnastic exercise.

Fabio: Yes, contrary to what one may think, lower body activation is important with bodyweight exercises.

Now, let’s see how to improve the stability of your handstand.

I’m going to do a handstand with abs facing the wall, but this time with hands far from it!

This is how you learn the activation.

So, as I said, this time the hands are far from the wall.

Core is always activated.

From this position, I do lean forward a little bit with my shoulders and then I try to recover the position by opening the shoulder.

Andrea: So, how do you recover the Handstand position?

Fabio: To recover the form, is important to activate the core as always and also a very good shoulder strength and stability.

Andrea: So, front delts are highly stressed on this exercise!

Fabio: Yes! For a correct handstand you have to remember to have a good Shoulder Mobility, Shoulder Stability and Shoulder Strength!

Now, I’m going to show you how to recover the position on the opposite side. (When my feet are overhead)

So, back facing the wall, hands far from it.

This is the opposite of the previous exercise.

So, if you are not even able to open your shoulder over this degree, you have to work on mobility exercises!

Andrea: As we already know, shoulder mobility is always important while doing a Handstand.

Which exercise do you recommend to improve the mobility?

Maybe a general one that can suits most of the athletes.

Fabio: To understand your shoulder mobility, this exercise is pretty good

you must touch the wall with your hands and lower back at the same time. (the arms must be locked out)

Andrea: So I can’t slide my hand between the wall and the lower back.

Fabio: Exactly, lower back against the wall and hands too!

If this exercise is too difficult, then is better to work on some basic stretching/mobility exercises like these ones.

A lot of patience is required to improve the shoulder mobility.

It is a slow process!

Another great exercise to open the shoulders is to hold the position with a pvc stick.

If this is not painful at all, then you can go overhead with a wider grip.

When the mobility is good enough, you can also do a dislocation (with a very wide grip)

This, because as we already said, it’s important to have a good Shoulder Strength, Stability and Mobility!

Andrea: Perfect! I think we said all the most important exercises to improve a Handstand.

Fabio: Obviously, one must already know how to balance the Handstand a little bit, to do the exercises showed in the video.

This video is on HOW TO IMPROVE the Handstand! (Not how to learn from zero)

Fabio: Thank you for watching!

If you enjoyed the video, please press the “Like” button and leave a comment if you have any question or just to leave us a feedback!

Also, don’t forget to share the video with your friends! Especially if they need to improve their handstand.

I’m sure 90% of the people should work on their handstand form.

Fabio: See you soon!

Fabio: See you soon!