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Part 3: Putting the Movements Together
1. Ask a spotter to help you. Because of the difficulty and risk involved with this move, a spotter is essential when you first start. When you kick up your legs, ask the spotter to grab them and hold them steady. Once you find your balance, have the spotter gradually release you until you are able to hold yourself steady.
2.Do push ups using the wall as support. Practice the basic inverted push up against a wall. Taking the balancing aspect out of the movement will allow you to focus on exerting the strength necessary to lower and push yourself back up. Start performing handstand push ups against a wall in place of regular push ups during your workouts.
Lower yourself in a slow, controlled manner and push up quickly and explosively. Doing the “negative” portion of the movement slowly will further improve stability and endurance.
Have the spotter grab your legs when you push them up and hold them steady until you have found your balance.
Aim to complete 1-3 handstand push ups using a wall at first, then work your way up from there.
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3. Try "bottoms-up" push ups. One alternative to lowering yourself into the push up is to start at the bottom of the movement and press yourself up from there. This will be substantially harder but makes a good progression once you’ve reached a more advanced level of strength. The bottom portion of the push up is the toughest, so the more time you spend training in that range of motion, the stronger your handstand push up will eventually be.
These can be done against a wall, or out of a headstand if you also want to practice balancing on the way up.
4. Perform freestanding partial push ups. Before you move on to full range of motion handstand push ups, do a few going only a quarter or half of the way down. Your balance will be compromised by the vertical movement, so you’ll have to focus on making delicate corrections while lowering and raising yourself. Once you can perform 2-3 partial push ups without putting your feet down, you’re ready to give full, freestanding handstand push ups a shot.
5. Attempt a handstand push up. Kick up to a handstand and get into a stable position to begin the push up. Lower yourself in a smooth, controlled motion, stopping when your nose is about two inches from the floor. Reverse the motion by pushing hard through the palms and shoulders, making necessary corrections until you’ve returned to an upright position with the arms extended. Congratulations, you did it!
If you need extra leverage to complete the push up and your balance is good enough, arch your back slightly so that your head is thrust ahead of your hands instead of being between them. This will place more emphasis on the larger, stronger muscles of the upper chest and can give you the mechanical advantage you need.
Don’t be discouraged if you fall or can’t push yourself all the way up on the first couple attempts. The handstand push up is a very advanced move and requires a lot of specific practice in addition to general strength. Master your handstand and focus on doing partial push ups and the full push up will come naturally.
Be sure to check out the previous parts if you're new here and missed them.
Part 1
Part 2
Thanks for reading. I hope you learned a lot from the World of Calisthenics😎
Artemus Vazhui