How to do a Handstand

Handstand is a movement where a person is upside down. The person's hands bear all the weight and they are firmly on the ground. Speaking in very simple words, a handstand is when a person is 'standing' on his hands. There is no other support available. Interested?

Straight-back and curved-back are the two modern styles of handstand. Both have its advantages and disadvantages and it depends upon the gymnast which style is he comfortable doing. The following are some basic characteristics for all handstands that you should know in order to learn how to go about doing a handstand.

• The hands are straight, placed on the ground, with shoulder distance between them.
• The legs are held together and are straight.
• The toes are pointed in the air.
• Hips are pushed forwards keeping the spine, straight.
• The face is always pointed forward.

Doing a Handstand Against a Wall?

• Stand against a padded wall and keep some yoga mats or other similar padding on the ground beneath you.
• Stand facing the wall at a distance of about 5 feet. By lifting your arms above your head, thrust forward with both your hands on the floor. Maintain a shoulder width distance between the hands. The fingers should be spread out to aid in balancing you.
• Kick one leg and then the other towards the wall. Don't bend your hands.

There, you are standing on your hands, i.e., you are now doing a handstand. You can ask someone else to assist you in keeping your legs straight against the wall, initially. Once you can do this much, the next part becomes easy. You have to start working on your body positions when you are standing upside down. Try to maintain a perfect balance. Initially, doing a handstand is going to be tough, you will need lots of practice in order to do a perfect handstand.

• Keep the legs and toes straight.
• Tightening your stomach will help in preventing backache.
• Lock your elbows and keep your hands steady.
• Do some shoulder exercises and arm exercises as they will help you build up some muscles and also to maintain proper balance.

How to Do a Handstand Pushup?

• Warm up your shoulder muscles by doing some basic warm up exercises.
• Get into the handstand position and stand against a wall for additional support.
• Spread out the fingers of your hand for better support and slowly, try lowering yourself.
• Be careful, or you might hurt your head or worse, may fall down.
• Push yourself up to get back to the original position. This will not be easy.

This is how you do a handstand pushup. You can ask someone to hold your legs for you and to help you in your pushups, initially. With plenty of practice, you will be able to do it well. Weightlifting and weight training will be useful while doing handstand pushups.

In order to do a handstand and walk, you will require balance and strength. If you do a handstand against a wall and can hold yourself in that position for two to three minutes, it means that you have the necessary strength. If you cannot do a handstand without the support of your back, well you lack balance. On the other hand, if you can do handstand without the support of the wall but cannot hold the position for long, you are good at balancing and bad in the area of strength. Once this is identified, you will have to work up on your deficiency by either learning to balance yourself well or by doing some muscle-building exercises. Exercise for at least a month to improve your handstands and then proceed with walking on your hands. Ask someone to hold your legs and then try to walk on your hands on a padded surface. After some practice, you will find it easy to walk on your own.

Do not strain yourself initially. Go slow and take help from the others until you are well-versed with the concept of handstands. All the best!