It’s fine! Really, it is fine if you can’t do some of these exercises yet. Being upside down , and on one hand, requires very specific strength and awareness that takes time to build. If you find yourself unable to do a specific exercise ask yourself what the issue is and how to scale you could scale down:

E.g. the Tuck to single leg extension might be too much load in the beginning, causing your shoulders to collapse. To prevent this you could scale down and start in a less tucked-tuck, this way when you do extend one leg it won’t be parallel to the ground but higher up, decreasing the load on shoulders.

In our full intermediate/advanced courses we’ll offer step by step progressions and in-depth descriptions of all exercises to ensure the best possible progress.

If you feel like you are getting solid doing the lateral and vertical block walks against a wall, try it free standing, or add more blocks. In the beginning you might do half your set against a wall, followed by a few tries without the wall. Play with various leg positions in the free standing variant – for most a straddle handstand will be easier to do than one in full position. You’ll most likely spend a bit of time falling or rotating out of your handstands. This is perfectly normal in the beginning, if you catch yourself rotating often keep pushing more, and adjust the shoulder position of the free arm (protraction!) . Don’t get discouraged by falling either, just focus on falling slower and slower and try to learn to control and correct the fall.

This program is designed to be done 3x a week, with one day of rest in between each workout. You can increase training volume gradually, but give your body time to adjust properly to prevent overuse injuries. With one arm training the aim is to build up to at least 4 sessions a week, optimally 5-6/week.

“Push through it! ”
Just kidding. To a certain degree this is true, especially in one arm training. Your body is adjusting to the new increase in load and it might not always feel pleasant. You’ll feel muscles you haven’t used like this before. Hence a certain degree of soreness is to be expected, but if you notice you aren’t able to recover properly or are limited in range of motion it’s better to take a step back and take a closer look what might be causing it.

For example if your shoulders aren’t open enough, this might in turn put additional stress on your elbows and wrists which have to compensate for the lack of overhead flexibility. In this situation it might be wise to decrease the load and add more mobility and rehab exercises to your routine.

If in doubt about certain painful sensations it’s always better to get it checked out, instead of working through it. There is no rush in learning a one arm handstand, and in the long run you’ll benefit from building up slowly and staying healthy.

Injury prevention and ability to achieve better control further down the road when you start working on shapes and transitions. If your shoulder keeps collapsing, the stress is put onto the joints instead of the muscles around it, which is then inviting injury.

Forever & it depends. So there is no real answer to this question other than you never stop learning and progressing in motor skills. Obviously it is all depending on the hours and days put in consistently, the more consistent you are the higher the chances are of developing proficiency quicker; but this isn’t a given – some just “get it” quicker, some need more time. There is no quick fix, no short cut and no magical way to learn the one arm handstand overnight or within a few weeks. Take your time and just try and enjoy the journey (and the ups and downs that come with it).

No! Generally it is counter productive because more bulk equals more weight to carry, meaning it is heavier for joints and back. And Of course general fitness does help a lot, in terms of pure tenacity and strength. And a certain level of mass around the shoulder griddle & arms will help distribute the force better when it comes to one arms.

P.S.: working out does make you look sexy naked which is waaay better than doing a one arm 😉