Handstand Tutorial From A Professional Handbalancer

[Sean Whitley]

Has some good tips I've never seen mentioned before

 

 

 

 

[Alessandro Mainente]

if you don't have handstand1 i understand why you have never seen mentioned before...

 

this tutorial is good and is revealing some good points around the hs development. btw why i consider the handstand 1 better is:

-important approach for all the mobility level of people, from zombie to natural flexibility man

-correct approach to correct the mobility from shoulders point of view to scapulas-thoracic point of view, to wrist pov

-extreme specific approach to work over pelvic alignment and core strength you need to support your line

-specific and progressive approach to work over strength development

-specific and complete test level to know when you are ready for the next step

 

this to justify why that there isn't a handstand tutorial better then Coach's work. 

details make different in that context.

 

with that i don't want to say that this tutorial is not helpful but for sure only a little part of people can reach a decent handstand only with these information...

is just my pov

[yuri marmerstein]

not bad, a few good tips in tthere

[Biren Patel]

That is an incredibly soothing voice...

And, thanks for sharing. Some nice tips I've never heard, either. Especially the part about the "turnout muscles"...engage the hip external rotators.

[Kutay Serova]

There is something I am not sure I understand. She says that the shoulders shouldn't be fully pushed up to the ears (shrugged) but I believe I read on this forum that you SHOULD shrug them strongly. Did I misunderstand what was written on the forum?

[yuri marmerstein]

There is something I am not sure I understand. She says that the shoulders shouldn't be fully pushed up to the ears (shrugged) but I believe I read on this forum that you SHOULD shrug them strongly. Did I misunderstand what was written on the forum?

 

Neither way is necessarily correct or incorrect.  Experiment and see what you like better. 

 

I have seen lots of people who are successful with both methods.  Ultimately it's what you get used to

[Joshua Naterman]

Here we emphasize the shrugged shoulders because every single skill that passes through handstand works better with fully elevated scapula. Tumbling, swings, cartwheels, handstand presses, you name it.... it all works better with the extended scapula.

 

Pure hand balancing is not the same as gymnastics, and the two do not necessarily have identical physical pre-requisites in terms of strength or handstand position. Hand balancing is a performance art that is judged, in many ways, by the amount of money that the shows generate. This means that there are many, many possible ways to perform handstand skills that will impress the crowds.

 

Gymnastics requires extremely high power output even more than it requires slow, controlled strength (though gymnastics does require a high level of both), and you get better power transfer through your tumbling with the elevated scapula (and the additional muscle activation helps protect your shoulders). Swing skills also require you to fully extend your body through the shoulders. but for a different reason: if you don't, the bottom of the swing will force a rapid acceleration at ~10x earth gravity. If you aren't already fully extended at this point, the force from your body dropping that fast will start to rip apart your shoulders because the acceleration is too abrupt. If you are already fully extended, the forces stay well within the tolerable limits for a properly prepared body.

[Norbert Marko]

I have seen this discussed before on the forums and i think that the way she does it is the "handbalancer" type, where you want to hold it for prolonged amounts of time, almost the same as the gymnastic, but you do not squeeze everything that hard, while the gymnastic type strives to be perfect for the sake of getting maximum points in a competition.

[yuri marmerstein]

I have seen this discussed before on the forums and i think that the way she does it is the "handbalancer" type, where you want to hold it for prolonged amounts of time, almost the same as the gymnastic, but you do not squeeze everything that hard, while the gymnastic type strives to be perfect for the sake of getting maximum points in a competition.

There is no "handbalancer type" handstand.  Every hand balancer that trains for long enough finds their own way to make the handstand easy for them.  It's that simple

[emos]

There is no "handbalancer type" handstand.  Every hand balancer that trains for long enough finds their own way to make the handstand easy for them.  It's that simple

I don't think Norbert Marko meant that every "handbalancer" has an identical handstand, just that a handstand for handbalancing purposes can be distinguished from a handstand for gymnastics purposes, in terms of style and approach as well as the end goal (which, as you say, for handbalancers is making it easy for themselves - which isn't necessarily so in gymnastics).

 

Everyone's handstand is slightly different because everyone's body is slightly different, but one can surely see commonalities between them, according to their aims and "reasons" for doing handstands?

[Norbert Marko]

I don't think Norbert Marko meant that every "handbalancer" has an identical handstand, just that a handstand for handbalancing purposes can be distinguished from a handstand for gymnastics purposes, in terms of style and approach as well as the end goal (which, as you say, for handbalancers is making it easy for themselves - which isn't necessarily so in gymnastics).

 

Everyone's handstand is slightly different because everyone's body is slightly different, but one can surely see commonalities between them, according to their aims and "reasons" for doing handstands?

yeah, that is right, i know that there is no handbalancer type handstand, i meant that she tries to make it easier for herself. She also said it in the video: do not shrug that hard so you hold it with the bigger muscles of the back,  i guess it is not so traps heavy that way.

[Mikael Kristiansen]

I dont agree with her at all when it comes to the shrug of the shoulders. Yuri is of course absolutely right that there are very good balancers(her included) that manage with all kinds of positions. However, you will be losing out very important strength development towards press handstands if you do not work with strong scapular elevation. Also it will be very hard to do straight 1 arms and certain positions if you dont engage the trapezius properly. Of course im not talking about maximal strain to reach your absolute highest elevation, but the trapezius need to be strongly engaged.

 

Basically, you want a press handstand to be as similar to a normal handstand as possible, with minimal shoulder lean and only piking at the hips. To achieve this you need open shoulders, and strong elevation and protraction of the scapula. Without elevation of the scapula the shoulders NEED to move forwards and you will end up planching the press to some degree. Your handstand form will have direct impact on your press handstands. If you work in an elevated position you will have more power there once you start to work presses. This is also one of the reasons I usually want people to learn a tuck HS and good negative press once they are able to hold a handstand with decent form. Both when tucking and pressing down It is important to push the shoulders up so that you keep the torso on top of the arms. This control has again a direct impact on your ability to control under-balancing. Also if we are looking far down the line towards 1 arm press handstands and "svecha" 1 arms(legs together arm up) you will have a VERY hard time getting anywhere if you arent working in an elevated position.

 

On a sidenote, but equally as important as Josh mentioned, in gymnastics it is essential to lock out the shoulders. Even just simple skills like a front handspring you benefit very much from properly shrugged shoulders.

[Sean Whitley]

She's also now made a one armed handstand tutorial

 

[yuri marmerstein]

not bad.  Again she addresses some good points. 

 

I don't completely agree with everything in here or the particular technique she has but she addresses some of the common mistakes