what is the next step?

[kareina]

My gymnastics trainer asked us to list our main goal for the training, and then sub goals we will use to get there. I replied:

"Jag har mitt huvudmål: Att kunna stå på händerna hur länge som helst, och att kom till den hållningen med att lifta båda benen (rakt och långsamt). Men jag har ingen aning vilka delmål kan ta mig från nu till målet, och inte heller vilka månader skulle ha vilket delmål. Kan ni hjälpa till med suggestioner till delmålen?"

But it occurs to me that I may have friends in other places who can help with suggestions, too. What sub-goals would you suggest for someone who wants to be able to stand on their hands for a long time, and to get there by lifting both legs at once, slowly and straight? What is a reasonable amount of time between the sub goals?

• I can already do the slow, controlled, straight legs lift into a headstand (and when in the head stand have no problems with moving my legs into splits in various directions and bringing them back up again).
• I have no problems standing on my hands for quite a while against a wall, or with a spotter lightly holding one foot.
• I can do partial hand-stand push-ups when my feet are against the wall.
• If I have a very thick mat that is tall enough to put my head on while my arms are straight and my hands are on the floor, I can do a slow, controlled roll up with bent legs to the headstand with straight arms.
• I have no problems going (kicking up, one leg at a time) into a handstand in the middle of the room and rolling out of it onto my back promptly (though I prefer to only do that on a mat), and once in a while the pause before I need to roll is actually measurable in seconds (though not so many of them).

What is the next step to achieve the right combination of strength, balance, and coordination to simply stop in the handstand and hold it?

Comments

[writeswithpain]

One thing you might consider as an interim goal is to learn to do a straddle press to handstand. That is, stand on the floor in straddle. Put your hands down. Lean forward and use your shoulders and back to "press" yourself into a handstand position.

1. Start trying this close enough to a wall that your back hits the wall as you lean forward in the straddle position.

When you're able to get to handstand with wall support without bending your knees to "jump" yourself up, move on to...

2. Same thing, but without the wall support.

Another move you can practice to help you develop the strength you need to do press handstands is the planche. If you haven't done that before...

1. Walk or half-cartwheel yourself to a handstand against a wall, but with your *face* against the wall not your back.

2. Focus on tightening all your back and shoulder muscles, and rounding/hollowing your torso, especially your lower back.

When you're comfortable doing a handstand this way...

3. Slowly lean forward from your shoulders, so your arms start to angle outward and your upper torso starts to come away from the wall. Start with only a small (3-6 cm) angle. Hold for count of 10.

Rest and repeat.

Continue this, and as your shoulders and upper back strengthen, increase the lean angle.

4. Another way to practice a planche against the wall is to walk yourself into about a 3/4 handstand position--again, *face* to the wall. With your feet against the wall and holding the 3/4 of the way up to handstand position with your body held hollow, use your shoulders and upper back to lean out forward over your hand (as described in #3).

5. When you can hold the positions in #3 & 4, kick to an handstand in the middle of the floor and do the same lean-out-and-hold.

Does any of this make sense? If not, tell your trainer you want to do learn straddle press handstands and to practice planches. She'll know what you mean and can probably explain better than I did here.

[kareina]

Thanks so much!

[writeswithpain]

Things to do to help you build strength and balance to hold a handstand:

1. Handstands against a wall, both back to wall and face to wall. Focus on keeping your shoulder muscles activated/pushing up/out. Also focus on keeping your torso "hollow" or tight, with your lower back rounding and your hips activated. (No arching.)

As you practice these, try to use the wall only for balance, not to bear weight. As your strength and stability increase, you'll find yourself starting to "float" away from the wall. Let that happen--it's what you're going for.

2. Do lots and lots and lots and lots of free-standing handstands. Same as with wall-based handstands, focus on the activation of the muscles of your shoulders and hips, and your "hollow" body position.

As you're practicing your handstands, keep an eye on how your wrists are handling the stress. If you find you're starting to feel pain, get yourself a set of good gymnastics-oriented wrist braces ASAP. The best are the kind that provide thick, semi-rigid support on the outside of the wrists.

Btw...I was a competitive gymnast from 11-18, and taught/coached gymnastics until I was 22. Gymnastics rocks!

[writeswithpain]

Okay, last comment on this and then I promise to leave you alone!

A pike press to handstand (what you state as your goal--a controlled ascent from floor to handstand with feet together) is multiple orders of magnitude harder to do than the same movement into a headstand.

To pike into a headstand requires core strength, but very minimal shoulder and lat strength.

To do a pike press to handstand requires a great deal of flexibility, plus fairly immense shoulder and lat strength, plus excellent balance. Plenty of competitive gymnasts can't do a pike press.

A straddle press (what I described in my first comment) is probably a more realistic goal to start with.

[kareina]

Yes, that does sound like a much more reasonable first goal. Thanks!