CALISTHENICS
MOVEMENT
HANDSTANDS


BLOGS & TUTORIALS

 
Tutorials John Donohue Tutorials John Donohue

Handstand guide for Complete Beginners - 3 steps

Anyone can learn to handstand! Learning a handstand from scratch and becoming comfortable upside down by conditioning your fear of falling from a handstand; building up to the required strength; and developing awareness of your body in terms of your spine, your pelvis, your legs, and your overall stability - these are the foundational building blocks to getting started on your handstand.

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5 Common One Arm Handstand Mistakes... and how to fix them

Beyond the obvious - building up to the required strength and balance to be able to perform the one arm handstand (OAHS) - there are certain things I think will be helpful to keep in mind for anyone training towards their one arm handstand (OAHS). In this video tutorial I will go over the 5 one arm handstand mistakes I see people making most often. I believe that, if you are able to keep these common mistakes in mind and gain control over them, your training towards the one arm handstand (OAHS) will be made more efficient and effective. OAHS mistakes mentioned in this article:

  1. You’re not strong enough to start your one arm handstand training

  2. You’re handstand is not good enough to start the OAHS journey

  3. You’re egocentric in your one arm handstand training

  4. You think the full one arm handstand is easier than the straddle

  5. You’re not using the wall in your one arm handstand training

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Tutorials John Donohue Tutorials John Donohue

One Arm Handstand - Position/Form Guidelines to Make Your Life Easier

After reading this piece you should have a clearer perspective on your approach to the One arm handstand (OAHS), as well as some practical tips you can apply to your OAHS training which will make it more effective and efficient. I’ll cover my recommended form cues regarding shoulder positioning, hip positioning, and more, as well as certain things I think you should steer clear of when approaching the One arm handstand.

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3 Shoulder Positions for Efficient Handstands

A handstand isn’t JUST about balancing on your hands. You need the proper head and hand positioning, shoulder positioning, hip and spine positioning, and more. In this article we cover shoulder positioning. Proper shoulder positioning will greatly help your handstand become more efficient and effective. Here we cover the three form cues that are crucial for proper shoulder positioning: shoulder elevation, shoulder flexion, and internal rotation.

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Hip and Spine Positioning for a Straight Handstand - Handstand form 102

In this final piece to the handstand puzzle, we will go over how to achieve the correct hip and spine positioning to get your handstand form to perfection. The reason I’ve put hip and spine positioning together is because you can’t really work on one while ignoring the other, especially when upside-down in a handstand. Once you've got this and the previously-covered form cues down, you are ready to put together a perfect handstand.

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Tutorials John Donohue Tutorials John Donohue

How to Handstand Kick Up

In this tutorial I will simplify the handstand kick up, the must-know handstand entry for all movers. In other words, I want you to think about as few steps as possible when entering the kick-up, and still perform it as effectively as possible. We will cover the steps for entering the kick up, form cues to keep in mind, and drills for training your kick up.

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Tutorials John Donohue Tutorials John Donohue

Prevent under balancing (falling backwards) your handstand!

We’ve already gone over how to use your fingers to avoid falling forwards over your hands. In this short but juicy article, I will teach you how to use your hand heels and avoid falling backwards/under balance. I will share the form cues you need to think about to make correcting your balance more efficient, and some practicable exercises to improve your balance while in the handstand.

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Tutorials John Donohue Tutorials John Donohue

How to do a Handstand? Learn How to Use Your Hands!!

One of the most important things when you learn to handstand is learning to really use your hands to balance! In particular, you must learn to push in with your fingers to adjust your body one way, and push in with your hand heels to adjust your body the other way. In this article I give you drills which help specifically train your ability to use your hands to balance. I truly believe that these drills in particular may produce your biggest leap in progress learning the handstand.

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10 Things to avoid doing when learning handstand

if you’ve come here to learn how to do a handstand, then you’re in the right place. In this article I will highlight 10 common mistakes I see people making while learning to handstand, and how to overcome them. Learning to handstand is a crucial part of your calisthenics journey, and it is a great way to build bodyweight strength. Here are 10 things to avoid in mastering one!

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