Handstand Push ups

[dinofromtheuk]

I was just wondering how many people on here can do handstand push ups? ATM I can do about 3 good handstand push ups doing it the way Mark does it in the book. Alot of people on youtube do them the opposite way, but I find it easier to them Marks way. How far do you guys and gals have your hands from the wall? I place my hands about 6 inches away.

So Handstand push-ups , whos in ?

Dino

[senorchupacabra]

One of my favorite exercises! I don't remember exactly how Mark shoes it in the book (is it facing the wall?). I face away from the wall, and I put my hands as close to the wall as possible, while being able to keep my balance (about 3-4 inches), legs straight. I can generally knock out about 15, touching my nose to the ground. I've started trying diamond handstand pushups and some with a fuller range of motion with pushup bars, but both variations are pretty difficult.

[ChrisS]

Heyah, I've done 10 in a row with my hands 3-4 inches away from the wall. I could do more but I don't see the point, I am training for the unsupported handstand pushup but can currently not hold an unsupported handstand for more than a few seconds, so my next goal is to do 10 of those.

[bark50]

I'm working on 'em, but I'm nowhere near what you folks are doing. I put my feet on a surface that's about 2 inches below my nipple line and have my hands 3 feet away. From there, I can do about 4 nose-to-the-ground on the first set and 6 or 7 on the second set.

[Human_Bean]

And I can do one at a time. I do them “somehow”, lousy form.
The most important point at the moment is to make sure that there are no witnesses as this would be embarrassing. My face looks like a pumped up tomato when I try this.
But I am practicing.

[Melky6]

not sure but I have them in my routine next week. I can do handstand walks decently when I try and could not stay up at all when I first tried this. I will see how this translates into handstand pushups. I have done them with my face looking at the wall, cross fit folks do it facing way from the wall. looks like 15 sets the bar so far.

[homerat]

I can do a few of these with my legs up against a wall, but:

1. The capillaries in and around my eyes aren't happy.

2. I've hurt my back on the dismount, both when doing the handstands facing the wall and when doing them facing away.

So, I'm a little scared to do them now, even though I love the idea of handstand push ups--especially the unsupported kind. If anyone can offer advice for how to execute them without hurting oneself, I'd greatly appreciate it!

[senorchupacabra]

I can do a few of these with my legs up against a wall, but:

1. The capillaries in and around my eyes aren't happy.

2. I've hurt my back on the dismount, both when doing the handstands facing the wall and when doing them facing away.

So, I'm a little scared to do them now, even though I love the idea of handstand push ups--especially the unsupported kind. If anyone can offer advice for how to execute them without hurting oneself, I'd greatly appreciate it!

The big question seems to be how are you getting in and out of the position? When I was starting off--since I'd never actually seen them done facing the wall--I would flip into position from a headstand, which seemed to put less stress on the shoulders and back as I was getting into position. I would dismount the same way, lowering into a headstand and then flipping out slowly and as controlled as possible (N.B. that tucking my knees on the dismount seemed to give me more control). As I got stronger flipping in and out of position from a handstand became much easier and safer.

As for developing strength (which, I personally think, is the best way to prevent injury), what worked for me is starting off slow. As soon as I hit the first one, I would just do a set of one several times through the day--greasing the groove. I did GTG until I was able to do about 5 in a row, then I started working sets of them into my routine. It's the same approach I've taken with one-armed pushups.

[Toodokan]

I need to learn to properly do a hand stand first.

Josh

[Logan]

My record is four (for now), if we talk about free standing handstand pushups