Handstand push-ups

Crossfit exercises

12K 2 02.02.2017 (last revision: 21.04.2019)

For a long time, an indicator of great physical strength was the ability to lift the weight of one's own body above the head. However, how about doing handstand push-ups? This requires not only physical strength - perfect intermuscular coordination, an excellent sense of balance, developed stabilizing muscles are required. All of these qualities are possessed by athletes practicing handstand push-ups. Today we will talk about the benefits and harms of exercise and the technique for its implementation.

The benefits of exercise

As mentioned above, the exercise is useful, first of all, for its complexity - push-ups in a handstand force all muscles to work, and you are taught to control the position of your body in space and maximally use the muscles of the core - only thanks to them you can be able to perform this motion. Without a good connection between the upper and lower limb belts, you will never be able to perform the upside down push-up.

Accordingly, push-ups standing on hands will be useful for representatives of absolutely all kinds of sports, where a solid manifestation of the maximum strength of the "arms" and "legs" is necessary: ​​weightlifting, wrestling, gymnastics.

What muscles work?

Absolutely all muscles of the body work when doing push-ups standing on the hands. Only the mode is different: dynamic work occurs in the shoulder and elbow joints, respectively, the triceps, the anterior and middle bundles of the deltoid muscles, the clavicular portion of the pectoralis major muscle, and the trapezius muscle are actively contracted. The rest of the musculature is statically tense and its role is reduced to maintaining the balance of the body, however, the greatest stress is experienced by the extensors of the spine, gluteal muscles, abdominal muscles, that is, the so-called "core muscles".

Exercise technique

The handstand push-up exercise is challenging and requires extraordinary physical fitness from you. Therefore, if you tried to perform this movement and you didn't even manage to get into a handstand, let's master a simple set of exercises necessary to bring ourselves into the right condition.

Before starting the exercise

• Push-ups from the floor for 3 counts, with a delay in the lower position: from the starting position at the lying position, due to bending of the arms at the elbow joints, we go down: the chest does not reach the floor literally a few millimeters. The elbows are along the body, thus, the load falls on the triceps and the front delta - the main muscle groups for us. In the lower position, we perform a distinct pause of 2-3 seconds, we rise three counts, that is, quite slowly. We start with 10 reps in three sets. The task is to reach 20 or more reps without feeling strong muscle acidification.
  
• Push-ups in the closed horizon. Starting position: in a palm stand, legs bent at the knee and hip joints, knees touching the chest. Hands touch the thighs. We bend the elbow joints, keeping the body in a horizontal position. Start with 10 reps (or whatever you can). Problem - 20 or more confident repetitions.
  
• Raising the hull from the horizon. The starting position is as described above. At the same time, the arms are slightly bent at the elbows. Our task is to bring the body from a horizontal position to a vertical one as much as you can. The task is to bring the body with bent legs to a completely vertical position.
  

When you succeed, begin to smoothly straighten your legs, first spreading them to the sides, then try to keep your body "in a string".

Near the wall

• Handstand push-ups against the wall. A movement that directly prepares to perform a push-up from the floor upside down. Starting position: standing on hands 20-50 cm from the wall. The body is stretched up, the heels are "piled up" on the wall. Let's make a reservation right away: you can swing the walls with your heels, you can swing with your toes, you can swing your whole foot. The closer to the "socks" - the heavier the option! Start with the simplest! Hands are slightly wider than shoulders. Sliding the supporting part of the foot along the wall, we lower ourselves to swing the floor with the head, by bending the arms at the elbow joints. After that, resting our palms on the floor, we return the body to its original position due to a powerful fusion effort from the triceps and deltoid muscles. The goal is to do 10 reps in at least one set.

  

  © satyrenko - stock.adobe.com

• The last exercise is an attempt to enter a handstand. It is optimal to do this from the position of holding the "horizon". It is fundamentally important to end this complex with this movement in order to consolidate the correct kinematics of the movement against the background of muscle fatigue.
  

The systematic implementation of this complex at least three times a week will allow you in a fairly short time (1-2 months) to get into a handstand and do your first push-ups from the floor upside down.

The exercise itself

Initial position: handstand, palms on the floor, shoulder-width apart, or slightly wider. Body weight is evenly distributed between the entire surface of the palms and fingers. The spine is bent in the lumbar region, the pelvis is slightly in front of the head, the toes are just above the head.

We go down ...

We bend the elbows and shoulder joints, while the chest is slightly shifted to a more horizontal position - this moment must be clearly captured and the deflection in the lower back must be strengthened, thereby compensating for the displacement of the body's center of gravity.

... and we go up

At the moment of lifting the body, we press our palms into the floor, returning the chest to its original position. Again, due to the displacement of the pelvis, we compensate for the change in the position of the center of gravity.

An important technical point about the position of the legs: if the legs are spread apart, the center of gravity is closer to the arms - accordingly, it becomes much more difficult to maintain balance. It is recommended to start mastering push-ups from the floor upside down with just this option.

Complexes

Watch the video: The Strict Handstand Push-Up (June 2025).