Returning To Handstand Push-Ups

Returning Or Attempting Handstand Push-Ups Checklist

You've reached the point where your shoulder pain is now gone and you're feeling pretty strong, well done! Next step, you want to get back upside down for the ole arm squat aka handstand pushup but are afraid to attempt or do not have a plan of how to achieve this goal.

If you did not come from rehabbing your shoulder and are just curious about how to do a handstand pushup or are skilled in this movement and want to improve your foundation to improve the skill further, no worries the main route is the same, the initial intersections to the main route are where the difference lies.

Before merging onto the main route let's hit the pre-trip checklist!

Pre-Reqs Before Returning To Handstand Push-Ups

Below we will discuss the prerequisites that are required prior to returning to handstand push-ups.

Mobility

If you don't have the mobility, you will forfeit appropriate stability, and at best your return to a handstand pushup is starting with a no rep and increased risk of a shoulder injury. Make sure this bag is fully packed before getting upside down, make your judge hang on to those no rep calls for other athletes!

Foundational Capacity

Once mobility is earned, lock it in long term by conditioning the shoulder complex and ensuring symmetrical overhead pressing symmetry. Are you allowed to have one arm outperform the other? Yes! However, if the difference is greater than 10 percent, you got some work to do. The benefit of the long sitting overhead press test with a kettlebell in a bottoms-up position is we can better look at shoulder stability vs strength. We also take the legs out of the equation to get a true test of what your core and pressing capacity is!

For vertical pressing, specifically a handstand pushup we need vertical forces. To achieve vertical forces, all the other horizontal and rotational forces need to cancel each other out via a balanced shoulder complex (read more here). Once those forces are able to cancel each other out we now turn our focus to symmetrical overhead pressing stability and later on strength. Research has shown the dominant arm to be 2.3x more likely to become injured compared to the non-dominant, we will revisit this point again and hammer it home later (Sayampanathan et al 2017).

Foundational Vertical Pressing Strength

Once you have earned adequate and symmetrical shoulder stability we now can move along the training continuum to strength. As stated earlier, the dominant arm is more likely to get injured compared to the non-dominant arm. A long sitting heavy dumbbell 5 RM test is a very humbling and objective measure you can use to take your legs out of the equation and see if you have one side that is vertically pressing dominant (greater than 10 percent compared to the other side). If so, you can bet one side is outworking the other during your handstand push-ups and you will be constantly fighting the awkward not falling sideways off the wall into the other athletes!

Return To Handstand Push-Ups

Pre-trip checklist complete! Was it long? Yes! Was it worth it? Yes! If something goes wrong we revisit the pre-trip checklist and figure out the limiting factor and address it, meaning we don't get on the main route until the bags have been fully packed. If you do not take this path, it's not if; it's a matter of when you will be turning around to go pick up what was left behind.

Getting upside down is a skill within itself. It requires graded exposure to gain confidence and motor control. To get there we start by using Pike variations, headstands, wall walks, handstand holds, and then variations of handstand pushups. Typically, we will want to start each progression with isometrics and then move towards concentric/eccentric movements.

Handstand Push-Ups

Finally, it's time to put everything you have been working on to the test! Before you get upside down, let's talk about the last coaching cue. Think of how you brace your core when you are completing a strict overhead press or when squatting. We want that nice braced core position with glutes squeezing the help maintain core integrity leading to an efficient force transfer during the actual push-up! Using a weightlifting belt as a tactile cue can be helpful when first learning!

Advanced Drills: Handstand Push-Ups

Earlier we talked about the importance of near-symmetrical vertical pressing and utilizing the above-mentioned overhead press tests to identify limb dominance. Now, that you are upside down and pressing the brain may want to go back to old patterns and use the dominant arm. We know if we add volume on top of this we can be looking at future injuries. Below are a few drills you can use the fully own near symmetrical pressing in the handstand push-up movement!

Last Stop: Kipping Handstand Push-Ups

If your using handstand push-ups for variability in your overhead pressing training, stick to strict and skip to the closing thoughts. If you're a CrossFitter or Fitness athlete we need to talk about the kipping handstand push-up and integrity under fatigue. The kip now transitions the handstand pushup down the training continuum to a power-based movement.

Closing Thoughts

Handstand push-ups add great variability to your overhead pressing routine while testing your coordination, motor control, and strength. The destination of achieving the full handstand push-up is incredible but make sure your bags have been fully packed and you did not skip steps along the journey! Once you have developed the skill of a handstand push-up look for new challenges to keep your routine fresh and keep progressing towards the outcome you want. Ready for the extra challenge?