Here is your full workout as an overview. This overview includes name, reps, short cue and if you expand (“+”) you’ll also see a quick demo of the movement. To access the full tutorial just click on the exercise name & a screen will pop up on top with long description & how-to. Enjoy! Also if you’d rather go through your program offline, download the pdf version, you can find it here. Looking for your Dashboard? Find it here.
Warm-Up your body before doing handstands, by doing the Warm-up on Stomach OR the Elastic against Wall exercises OR your individual warm-up routine that you have and that already works for you.
| Demo | Exercise | Reps/Sets | How to/Cues |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shoulder Warm-Up on Floor | 8 reps each | Do one - either this, or Elastic at Wall. Alternate between these each session. | |
| 8-12reps with a total of 2 sets of: → Front Flies in 5 Angles → Elastic Chest Push-Up 8-12reps with a total of 2 sets of: → Back Flies in 5 Angles → Upward External Rotations 10-15reps with a total of 3 sets of: → Internal Rotations 10-15reps with a total of 3 sets of: → Outwards External Rotations 8-12reps with a total of 2 sets of: → Bent Over Back Flies in 3 Positions | Elastic Warm-Up At Wall | As noted in drop-down | Do one - either this, or Shoulder Warm-up on Floor. Alternate between these each session. |
| Wrist Warm-Up | Few reps each | Choose 2-3 Exercises, or feel free to add your own. Go through these until your wrists feel ready. | |
| Do Shoulder/Wrist warm up that works for you! | as needed | Add whatever you need that works for you to warm up body and joints |
Learning handstands takes time. The current goal is to establish good and solid technique, learn how to push out of your shoulders properly and get you closer towards that One Arm.
| Demo | Exercise | Reps/Sets | How to/Cues |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuck to Straight & Tuck to Straddle | 2x or more | Maintain shoulder elevation throughout the entire movement | |
| Leg Circles: Both Ways | 2x or more each way | Direction 1: Tuck - Straight - Straddle - Tuck | Direction 2: Tuck - Straddle - Straight - Tuck | |
| Tuck to Leg Extension | 1 set á 1x each leg, 1x both | In tuck position straighten one leg at a time, then both. Don't let your shoulders sink in as you straighten the leg | |
| Straight to One Leg, Other Leg to Pike | 1 set á 1x each leg, 1x both | In straight handstand bring down one leg at a time, then both. Keep pushing through your shoulders and only go as low as you are able to maintain the elevation | |
| 2 on 2 Handstand | 2x 10sec | Do it on two blocks which are side by side. Focus on pushing out tall | |
| Small Transfers - Legs Together | 1 set á 4reps total (right, left, right left) | Opposite hip over shoulder, then push out tall but leave free shoulder down/towards ear. Both hands stay on the floor. | |
| Small Transfers - Straddle | 1 set á 4reps total (right, left, right left) | Opposite hip over shoulder, then push out tall but leave free shoulder down/towards ear. Both hands stay on the floor. |
| Demo | Exercise | Reps/Sets | How to/Cues |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vertical Walks - Legs Baby Straddle | 1x 2 (left, right) | With legs baby straddle. On way up - shift body first and then push through | |
| Vertical Walks - Legs Together | 1x 2 (left, right) | With legs together. On way up - shift body first and then push through | |
| Vertical Walks - Legs Straddle | 1x2 (left, right) | With legs in straddle. On way up - shift body first and then push through | |
| Lateral Walks - Legs Together | 6 blocks, 1x back & forth | With legs together. Keep pushing through shoulders! | |
| Lateral Walks - Baby Straddle | 6 blocks, 1x back & forth | With legs slightly open in baby straddle. Keep pushing through shoulders! | |
| Miami Block Climb - Legs Together | 1X2 each side + 10sec hold on top | Keep pushing through shoulders! | |
| Lateral Walks - Legs Straddle | 6 blocks, 2x back & forth | With legs in straddle. Keep pushing through shoulders! | |
| Miami Block Climb - Legs baby Straddle | 2X2 each side + 10sec hold on top | Keep pushing through shoulders! | |
| Miami Block Climb - Legs Straddle | 2X2 each side + 10sec hold on top | Keep pushing through shoulders! | |
| Assisted One Arm | Check drop down for sets/reps/holds | Not on fingertips but with pole, table leg, etc |
| One Arm Holds on Canes | Check drop down for sets/reps/holds | |
| Elastic One Arm | |||
| Elastic One Arm - Straddle Straight Straddle |
| Demo | Exercise | Reps/Sets | How to/Cues |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deep Side bends | 3x4 each side | Focus on Technique, push out tall, imagine you are in a toaster | |
| Deep Side bends - with top leg bent | 2x each side | Focus on Technique, push out tall, imagine you are in a toaster | |
| Deep Side bends - with bottom leg bent | 2x each side | Focus on Technique, push out tall, imagine you are in a toaster | |
| Figa - Outside Leg Isolation to Straight Up | 2sets | Free hand on chair for balance only. Nothing but the outside leg moves! | |
| Figa - Outside Leg Isolation to Tuck | 2sets | Free hand on chair for balance only. Nothing but the outside leg moves! | |
| Figa - Outside Leg Isolation to Tuck, then in tuck single leg isolations | 2sets | Free hand on chair for balance only. Nothing but the outside leg moves! | |
| Figa - Outside Leg Isolation 90 degrees | 2sets | Free hand on chair for balance only. Nothing but the outside leg moves! | |
| We don't have a video of this yet! If you are unsure about how to do it, free to write anytime! | Croc Push-Up to Handstand - 2 hands | 3x 2 reps | |
| Assisted one arm L handstand shrugs | 2sets, 8reps each side | This is less for strength and more to help you find the muscles you need to do that extra push out! |
| Demo | Exercise | Reps/Sets | How to/Cues |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Arm Press - Leg Isolation | Do a middle split side flag. Not only move the top leg. Keep the hips frozen in place! | ||
| 1 Arm Lower To Krok - Floor Prep | Here already try to have most weight in the hand you are working on! | ||
| 1 Arm Lower To Krok - 1 Block Prep | Pretty straight forward. The block under the free hand forces you to put more pressure on the working arm! | ||
| 1 Arm Lower To Krok - 2 block Prep | Here things slowly start to get interesting. Side bend a lot before lowering. Engage the back and pull everything up. | ||
| 1 arm lower to crok band assist | Make sure the band comes from the bottom and is attached well. Instead of lowering think freezing in spot! Gravity will pull you down anyways! |
You’ve reached the end of this workout. Go use your legs and get food, a drink or whatever else gives you joy!
Start lying on your stomach face down. Legs are locked and nothing moves except for arms.
Arms in 90° angle, with elbows aligned around the height of your eyes.
Focus on pulling your shoulder blades together as you lift your arms and chest up off the ground. Then bring your hands back to your forehead, and back again.
Start by lying on your stomach. Go from a W-Raise into a Y-Raise, meaning extend your arms up in front of you. Once they are extended in front of you lift them up towards the ceiling a little. That is one rep.
Start by lying on your stomach with your arms extended on each side. Have the back of your hand on the floor. Initiate the lift by externally rotating your arms until your thumb is facing the ceiling. Try to lift your chest up as high as you can, as you squeeze your shoulder blades together and pull your shoulder blades back.
Lying with stomach on floor, extend arms to the side and create small circular movements, forward and backwards. Keep head on ground.
Interlace fingers behind your head and lift elbows as high as you can. Head stays on the ground the entire time. Legs are locked and feet pointed.
No band alternative:
Do: 8-12 reps with a total of 2 sets
So... Front Flies, then Elastic Chest Push-ups, then Front Flies again, then Elastic Chest Push-ups
Wrist are facing front (away from wall)
Can alternatively be done at a cable pully system with very little weight at the gym.
Keep core engaged strong for all exercises. If core is loose shoulder rotation won’t work. This is also strengthening the core & stabilising muscles. Super important!!!
Do: 8-12 reps with a total of 2 sets
So... Front Flies, then Elastic Chest Push-ups, then Front Flies again, then Elastic Chest Push-ups
Rotate hands in push up: bend arms, knuckles facing up, extended hands face each other
Can alternatively be done at a cable pully system with very little weight at the gym.
Keep core engaged strong for all exercises. If core is loose shoulder rotation won’t work. This is also strengthening the core & stabilising muscles. Super important!!!
No Band Alternative:
Do: 8-12 reps with a total of 2 sets
Grab band with whole hand. Back of hand to back/away from wall.
Can alternatively be done at a cable pully system with very little weight at the gym.
Keep core engaged strong for all exercises. If core is loose shoulder rotation won’t work. This is also strengthening the core & stabilising muscles. Super important!!!
No Band alternative:
Do: 8-12 reps with a total of 2 sets
Grab band with whole hand. Back of hand to back/away from wall.
Can alternatively be done at a cable pully system with very little weight at the gym.
Keep core engaged strong for all exercises. If core is loose shoulder rotation won’t work. This is also strengthening the core & stabilising muscles. Super important!!!
No Band alternative:
Do: 10-15 reps with a total of 3 sets
Make sure you’re in line. Pull straight. Elbow stays in spot, use towel to make sure elbow stays on side. Put the thera-band/elastic on the same height as your elbow
Can alternatively be done at a cable pully system with very little weight at the gym.
Keep core engaged strong for all exercises. If core is loose shoulder rotation won’t work. This is also strengthening the core & stabilising muscles. Super important!!!
No band alternative:
Do: 10-15 reps with a total of 3 sets
Make sure you’re in line. Pull straight. Elbow stays in spot, use towel to make sure elbow stays on side. Put the thera-band/elastic on the same height as your elbow
Can alternatively be done at a cable pully system with very little weight at the gym.
Keep core engaged strong for all exercises. If core is loose shoulder rotation won’t work. This is also strengthening the core & stabilising muscles. Super important!!!
No Band alternative:
Do: 8-12 reps with a total of 2 sets
Perfect table position
Back engaged and tight whole time
Head in neutral position
3 different hand positions
Can alternatively be done at a cable pully system with very little weight at the gym.
Keep core engaged strong for all exercises. If core is loose shoulder rotation won’t work. This is also strengthening the core & stabilising muscles. Super important!!!
With all wrist warm ups there is no specific number I want you to do, just do them until your wrists are fully warmed up. Generally better take more time to warm up instead of less. Pick the exercises that feel the best for your wrists, and if you already have a wrist warm-up routine, just go with that one.
Exercise 1 - Place palm of hand on the floor in various positions and angles (e.g. fingers facing your knees, fingers pointing to the outside, etc) while you load weight on to your arms gently
Exercise 2 - Place one hand on top of the other and only move your arm around (from straight to bend, imagine you are drawing circles with your elbow)
Exercise 3 - Place back of hands on ground and gently load weight on to your arms. Move around from side to side, front and back to stretch them out a bit.
Start with your hand open facing towards the ceiling in extension. Now bring the tip of all 5 fingers together and and flex your wrist.
Put hands together in front you in a prayer position. Move hands downwards and elbows out to introduce a stretch. Go through these until wrists feel warm and ready
Reps/Sets
1 set of 2x each in one go, looks like:
How to start
I start every handstand with a tuck kick up to make sure there are no imbalances developing over time, and to keep the movement looking the same each time. Starting from a kneeling position is the best for this. (Check out the video on the bottom for the tuck kick up)
Tuck to Straight
After kicking up from a kneeling position you will end up in the tuck. Push up and elevate your shoulder blades. Keep your knees together and point your toes.
As you move to the straight handstand, keep focusing on the shoulder push. You want to learn to isolate your legs. Leg movement should have no effect on your shoulder position and balance. The important thing here is to straighten/open your hips and knees at the same time. If you lock your knees too soon you'll end up in a pike. And if you open your hips too soon while keeping your knees bend, you'll most likely end up with an arched back.
As you move down back to the tuck, keep your back straight and don't let your lower back arch. Go as low into the tuck as you can without going to the point where your lower back rounds and your hip is pulling you down, compromising your shoulder position. Some people will have a tuck with quads parallel to the ground, and some might have one with quads touching the tummy. Stick to what allows you to keep your shoulders elevated!
Tuck To Straddle
Same as with the tuck to straight, you start with a tuck kick up from a kneeling position.
Focus on shoulder elevation and moving slowly and in a controlled fashion.
As you go into your straddle focus on making your legs long and locked and keep your feet pointed. It is here in the straddle where you want to push up even more and not lose that elevation. Then come back to tuck, hold and lower down.
General
Also as you move through these, go slow & controlled! Don't rush from end position to end position, but instead think that each inch you are covering should be controlled. You want to be able to stop and pause at any moment you want. This level of control and freedom will help with more advanced skills.
How to kick up to tuck from a kneeling position:
Direction 1: Tuck - Straight - Straddle - Tuck
Direction 2: Tuck - Straddle - Straight - Tuck
1 set of 2 circles each, in one go:
- Direction 1
- Direction 1
- Direction 2
- Direction 2
Then break/done.
So first do 2x one direction, then 2x the other direction, without a break.
As with the movements before, go slow, think you want to control each inch of the movement. Focus on shoulder elevation and a nice straight back!
Start from a kneeling position. Kick up into your tuck handstand and focus on elevating your shoulder blades.
Keep your knees together! And now only extend one leg, the other leg and then both legs, still keeping your legs & knees together.
As you extend the leg you will feel right away if your shoulder blades are not elevated enough. If you are pushing to max the leg movement should not have an impact on shoulder position. It is normal to feel your back muscles working in this one.
The more parallel your quads are in your tuck the harder it will be. So if you notice that you can't keep your shoulders nice and elevated, open up your tuck a little bit to have an easier angle to work with (feet would point more towards to ceiling).
Start in a kneeling position and kick up to your tuck handstand. Then extend into a straight handstand.
Always focus on keeping your shoulder blades elevated.
Now you want to move one leg towards the ground until it hits parallel. Don't feel like you have to go this low right from the beginning, but find the point you can still control and keep the elevation up. Go slow and as always control every part of the motion. Then go down with both legs until you hit parallel (or close to). Instead of going back up, open to straddle and then go to a straight handstand and then back to tuck and down.
The reason for this is that going back up from a pike is extremely difficult and it's easy to lose good positioning.
So the sequence is as follows:
Tuck - Straight - One leg Down & Up - other Leg Down & Up - Both Legs down - Straddle - Straight - Tuck
This drill will really teach you how to move your legs in an isolated fashion.
- Don't let your hip roll forward and disrupt balance (thus making you comprise your shoulder position).
- don't let your lower back arch to make it easier.
- You want to keep your back nice and straight, and shorten your hip flexors to move the leg.
This is very similar as the handstand with hands close to each other. You start with two blocks, but you want them side by side touching). Place your hands on top of the two blocks. It might feel weird and awkward to place your hands like this in the beginning, but will get better over time.
After kicking up from a kneeling position you will end up in the tuck. Push up and elevate your shoulder blades. Keep your knees together and point your toes. Make sure you don't allow your elbows to bend OR your shoulders to sink in.
Hold the tuck for 2 sets of 10 second holds.
If this is to easy do tuck to straight on 2 blocks.
Also as you move through these, go slow & controlled! Don't rush from end position to end position, but instead think that each inch you are covering should be controlled. You want to be able to stop and pause at any moment you want. This level of control and freedom will help with more advanced skills.
Handstands with Hands close to each other - Full Tutorial:
➡ Start in your two-arm handstand, focus on: shoulder push, ribs in, legs tight, keep body tension.
➡ Look at the big knuckle of the hand you want to shift over. As you transfer your weight, keep your head close by your shoulder to create a solid base for balance.
➡ Aim to bring opposite hip directly over the shoulder. Focus on minimising rotation by keeping tension and going sideways.
➡ As you shift on to the arm, push more, elevate your shoulder blades & engages traps.
➡ Don’t try lift to actively lift your hand off the ground or go on to your fingertips, instead let the hand become weightless and move away from the floor as a reaction to your push. Keep the shoulder of the free arm down. Don’t retract that shoulder as it will introduce rotation, making you lose balance. With these weight shifts both hands will stay on the ground, but one should become weightless.
➡ As you come back to center, don’t let shoulders sink in.
When doing weight shifts, take your time. This is not a race to get from one side to the next as fast as you can. Focus on shoulder push in your two arm handstand, then as you shift over, push even more!! And keep that free shoulder down!
This exercise is all about learning how to really push through your shoulders and engage the traps. In a few weeks you should notice quite a difference.
Throughout this exercise you want to keep your
➡ Shoulders elevated
➡ Ribs in
➡ Legs locked
Think of each step being a one arm handstand and not just a rush to get to the next block or surface.
Way Down
→ Shift your opposite hip over your shoulder.
→ As you shift try and elevate shoulder blades more. Think of this as a one arm handstand.
→ As your free arm becomes weightless (as a result of shoulder blade elevation), bend the elbow to move the arm. Lift the block and place it out to the side.
→ You want your free shoulder to stay down, moving up towards your ears/cheek. Don’t pull it away from your ear just because you push through the other arm. If you do, it will mess up your alignment.
→ As you step down to the ground with one hand, focus again on pushing. Essentially this is another one arm handstand. Shift the hip over, bend the free elbow and move the second block away
Way Up
→ Grab the block and place it right there next to your hand.
→ Once the block is close to your hand, keep the elbows in a slighty bend position.
→ Then shift the weight over (opposite hip over shoulder)
→ Only once the opposite hip is over your shoulder you want to push through the shoulder and elevate your shoulder blades. This should put you right into a nice one arm position.
To recap:
➡ Opposite hip over shoulder
➡ Push on two arms, push even more on one
➡ Let the free hand lift as a reaction to your shoulder push
➡ To lift arm, bend elbow
➡ Keep free shoulder down (aka towards your ear/cheek)
➡ Shift weight over shoulder before pushing up, on way back
➡ Move block really close to your hand before shifting over
1 rep of Full down up down up is:
Hands start on the blocks, both end up on the ground, and then both hands end up on blocks again, and repeat the whole sequence by starting with the other hand first, then take a break.
This exercise will teach you how to find the correct position, and very clearly show you if your alignment is off.
Throughout this exercise you want to keep your
➡ Shoulders elevated
➡ Ribs in
➡ Legs locked
As you shift your weight on to one arm, stack your opposite hip over your shoulder. Elevate your weight-bearing shoulder even more to make the free arm weightless. To actually lift the arm, bend your elbow. This will help keep the free shoulder down.
Keep pushing and elevating the shoulder as you grab the next block. When moving back to two arms, don't sink in. Fight to keep the elevation up. It will make life on blocks easier & keep your shoulders happy.
To recap:
➡ Opposite hip over shoulder
➡ Push on two arms, push even more on one
➡ Let the free hand lift as a reaction to your shoulder push
➡To lift arm, bend elbow
➡ Keep free shoulder down (aka towards your ear/cheek)
Go one way, take a break, go back the other way.
This is very similar as the regular down/up block walks in regard to positioning and alignment. Instead of 2 blocks you start with one block in between of your hands. The goal is to climb on top of one block, push out tall, and still touch the floor with your other "free" hand. Focus on leaving your "free" shoulder down but do try to make the arm as weightless as possible by pushing out tall on our standing arm.
To recap:
➡ Opposite hip over shoulder
➡ Push on two arms, push even more on one
➡ Let the free hand become weightless as a reaction to your shoulder push
➡ To lift arm, bend elbow
➡ Keep fingers on floor