Planche practice - back to dynamics

After experimenting all the approaches for this skill, I decided to stick with dynamics at this point. So I did band assisted tuck planche pushups and planche leans.

After a month of hard work I got stronger and I could finally do planche lean pushups in a straddle position. In this video I did 4 reps and the lean was pretty good.

After few weeks, I made big progress. In this video below I did 5 reps with closed legs and also the lean was very good. 

Tuck planche hold - new attempts

After I made solid progress with dynamics, I decided to get back at tuck planche and see if I made any progress.

I had very small progress, as I said planche is very hard exercise and you get very small progress with a lot of effort invested.

But I started to feel it more at that point, I could hold it longer than my last attempt, so I take it.

It was split second longer. But after a week of more dynamics and planche leans I got stronger and I beat my personal best, at that point I managed to hold it for about 4 seconds, which I was satisfied.

Tuck planche personal record - 11 seconds hold

It took me about a month to make this progress. From 4 seconds to 11 seconds. My goal was to reach 10 seconds, so I was pretty happy with my progress.

In this video I will show you my 7 seconds hold, how I slowly got stronger and more in control with the move.

After this training I took 3 days rest, I came back and hit 11 seconds. The feeling was amaizing, finally some solid progress in one of the hardest moves.

My handstand pushup journey

My first handstand pushup negative

This is the beginning of my handstand pushup journey. At this point I had already solid handstand, I could do consistent holds around 15 seconds and I had built significant amount of strength with pike pushups and overhead presses.

So this was my first ever attempt of the negative part of this move. It was interesting experience and I was pretty satisfied how I performed it without falling over.

Handstand pushup full rep attempt - wall supported

After a week of training negatives, I decided to try to do one full rep. I could not go all the way down, I was not strong enough, especially my triceps were the first that failed.

And also my form was bad, my lower back was bending.

Handstand pushup progress - back to negatives

After my failed attempt to do full rep on the wall I went back to negatives. This time I was focused on doing them slower, more controlled and I tried to hold at the bottom as long as I can.

There was definitely improvement, I was stronger for sure. In this video I could hold it even longer.

Get stronger mentally and the body will follow

Handstand pushup progress - my first full rep - wall supported

After a lot of hard work and about a week passed I tried to do full rep against the wall. I was pretty happy with my progress.

I went back, it was hard, but I did it.

So at this point I started to combine it. I first did one rep then finish off with 3 or 4 negatives. And after a month of hard work I got stronger and at this point I managed to do 3 strong reps followed by strong negative.

Learn to fight alone

My first handstand pushup negative - freestanding

After a lot of hard work on the wall I decided to try to attempt handstand pushup negative but this time freestanding, without the support of the wall.

Well it was very different than the wall, despite that I had good strong negatives on the wall, freestanding required balance as well.

This is my first ever attempt.

Use your emotions wisely

Stop caring about others opinions about you

Handstand pushup progress - slower negatives

My balance has improved and I was able to do them even slower. But it was still impossible to think of pushing back up, I just had the feeling that I'm not strong enough yet.

Here are some of my best negatives at this point.

And in this second video I made it even slower and with bigger lean forward.

Don't let it be you

Handstand pushup progress - half reps freestanding

Few weeks after working on the wall and doing freestanding negatives I finally was able to push back up but I could only do half reps.

Going all the way down and back up was not possible for me yet, I was not strong enough.

Here are some of my best attempts.

The feeling was amazing even I could not do them all the way down, it still was a lot fun.

How to know if you are on the right path ?

Handstand progress - bent arm press

As I was working towards my first handstand pushup I simultaneously achieved bent arm press to handstand and frogstand to handstand.

I included these moves also in my approach, which they had also big benefit. And yes, the most important, they are fun.

This was one of my first successful attempts, as you can see I was using my legs to gain momentum.

On this next video you can clearly see improvement, less swing with my legs and slower press.

When you feel like stopping

Period of success - my first ever handstand pushup freestanding

After a lot of hard work, fails, frustrations, ups and downs I finally was able to do one full rep. It was one of my happiest days of my life.

My form needed improvement of course, but I was very satisfied anyway.

Never let fear decide your future

The best view comes after the hardest climb

When something bad happens, you have 3 choices

Fear is not real, it's a product of thoughts you create

Stay humble

Pick your level

Choose which progression you want to read

1. Complete beginners
2. Creating balance
3. Handstand kickup (coming soon)
4. Handstand pushup (coming soon)
   
   Or scroll down to read them all

Happiness isn't getting all you want

Complete beginners - guide

If you are not beginner and if you want to skip these steps, keep scrolling, but I recommend reading them anyway. 

The ability to observe without judgment

Handstand tips - complete beginners - healthy wrists

Before reading this I suggest you read my entire handstand journey how I achieved 30+seconds consistent holds.

If you are a complete beginner and never done overhead movements before, this is your starting point, building the foundations. The wrists are the first link from the body to the ground.

There is no need to be fancy here and add endless wrists exercises, like millions of them on the Internet.

My wrists were week and stiff also and I had pain on my right wrist, you can check more in my injury report. But I fixed them with simple exercises. 

By doing these exercises shown in the video below, it will be enough to build proper strength, mobility and flexibility of your wrists and prevent injuries in the future.

For more information contact me on instagram @nosebleed_sw_159.

Handstand tips - complete beginners - pike hold

Once you have started to take care of your wrists, your next step should be pike hold. This is the beginning step, building proper overhead strength, stronger shoulders and wrists and getting ready for the harder variations.

As I said in my previous post, there is no need for fancy endless drills which will improve your strength of course, but it will be more waste of time.

This exercise will be enough for building proper strength. In this video I will demonstrate pike hold. You can also move around with your shoulders once you feel safe and strong enough, especially leaning forward.

For more information contact me on instagram @nosebleed_sw_159.

Handstand tips - complete beginners - elevated pike hold

Once you got stronger doing pike holds, its time to put more pressure on your shoulders and wrists by doing elevated pike holds.

This exercise is similar to pike hold. I will demonstrate it in the video below. Its very beneficial if you move with your shoulders around, especially leaning forward. And always push the ground hard and away from you.

For more information contact me on instagram @nosebleed_sw_159.

Handstand tips - complete beginners - wall walks

Once you have mastered pike holds and elevated pike holds its time to put even more pressure on your wrists and shoulders.

But before you start doing wall walks I suggest you to do one step in between, a safer method just to make sure you are strong enough and get used to walking with your hands with this easier variation shown in the video below.

Once you feel confident with this move and perform it with ease, you are ready to try to do wall walks. 

Since you are starting wall walks I suggest also learning how to bail out of that position in case you lose balance and fall over. Getting over the fear of falling.

Learning to bail early in your handstand journey is very important, it will get you prepared for handstand kickups later on. There is more ways to bail out of it, I will demonstrate one method in the video below. 

Once you got confident in bailing out, you are ready for the wall walks. 

By doing wall walks safely and with confidence its safe to say you have build solid overhead strength, the foundation for being upside down. And you shoud not be considered as complete beginner anymore.

For more information contact me on instagram @nosebleed_sw_159.

Handstand guide - learn to balance

Handstand tips - wall practise

For best experience be sure to read my entire handstand journey, how I got to 30 seconds consistent holds. It will help you understand my tips better.

If you are scared or feel uncomfortable doing face to wall practise here is a video on how to learn to bail safely out of that position.

One of the most important things is to learn the proper position of each part of your body in order to have stable handstand, longer holds and solid line.

Palms, shoulders, hips and feet should be aligned on top of each other. In this video I will be showing you how to engage your muscles properly of your upper body.

In this next video I will be showing you the proper engagement of the entire body filmed sideways.

My recommendation is that your goal should be 1min hold on the wall with the proper alignment, in order to advance to my next video tips.

For more information contact me on instagram @nosebleed_sw_159.

Handstand tips - the frogstand

The frogstand is useful tool to help you understand the balancing in more simple way and it builds significant amount of shoulder strength.

The key here is to experiment, pressing and releasing the floor with your fingers and building awareness how it affects your balance.

Handstand tips - learn to balance

After you watched my first two important tips (if not, watch them here) you should, at this point have built some confidence and endurance so you can focus to work on your balance.

In this video I will be showing you how to transfer that proper alignment shown in my previous tips into freestanding handstand.

The transfer is very important, if you do it correctly you will end up in that "sweet spot" which means it will be easier for you to learn how to balance.

Here are some mistakes done that you can pay attention to. Be sure to read the text in the videos carefully.

For more information contact me on instagram @nosebleed_sw_159.