Handstand Variations

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The straight line handstand has a special place in the world of inversions. One reason is the aesthetics – nothing looks as perfect as a straight line – nothing to add and nothing to take away.

Another reason is that the shape is absolute – you either have it or you don’t – no room for discussion.

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To explain it quickly, let’s take a look at tall buildings and the shape they are built. The long straight shape allows all the weight to be on top of the support and this means more stability.

During handstands, we are loading our entire weight on our hands, and it’s recommended to place the rest of the body on top of them.

One phrase that I often use when teaching handstands is bone stacking. This means aligning your bones on top of each other so that your muscles will spend less energy holding the position.

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When training straight line handstands, the area that usually requires the most amount of work is the shoulders. For handstands, we need to place them in a position that is not very familiar, above the head or overhead for short.

If your level of strength allows the bone stacking mentioned earlier, focus on developing your shoulder flexibility.

You can read more about how to develop a straight line handstand in one of the lessons.

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Once your strength and flexibility levels allow you to safely get upside down, here is one way to get inverted slowly.

The Scissor Mount

1. Place both of your hands on the floor and place one of your legs on the wall or a box.
2. Push down on that leg and bring the other leg up and over your body.
3. Make sure your hips are on top of your hands by opening the shoulders.
4. Using the free leg (the top one) as a counterbalance, lift the lower leg upwards from the box.
5. As your lower leg travels towards up, bring the top leg in line with the body so you don’t fall over.
6. Once the legs meet directly above the body, make sure you are pushing with your arms/shoulders and stretching your legs towards the ceiling to achieve a straight line.

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If your balancing skills don’t allow you to hold a freestanding handstand, you can still perform a straight line handstand with some support from a spotter or the wall.

I am a big fan of handstand training with the toes, rather than the heels, on the wall. This is because facing the wall is superior to being with your back against the wall. When you kick into a handstand and the wall is behind you, you create the reflex of “searching for it” with your legs. That’s why I advise practising with your toes instead of heels against the wall.

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