Handstand Challenge

mom23mangos

Thanks! I feel better now. His shoulders aren't on the ground, just chest, pelvis and legs. I don't know if there's any way I'd be able to lift my arms up however, but I'll start working on it!

TiisTitanium

Yeah sorry - i was describing it badly. It is a good drill to do. Hollow body holds is another one that we seem to spend a lot of time on. I think I am developing a core of steel.

mom23mangos

Now, hollow body holds I can do just fine because the arms are slightly forward. I was trying to work up to a 2min hold, but I've never gotten there. I can't do hollow body/superman rolls either and I think it's because of the same shoulder issue.

rodmelching

Orphia wrote: »

I think one of mine today was 10 seconds!! So happy!!!

@orphia . . you make that look easy. Good job!

Did more handstands last night, starting to relax more during the handstand which helps, feels more natural. Still can't get the kick-up to a handstand yet, been walking my feet up the wall. I'll keep working on it!

Thanks for the challenge @TiisTitanium . . your getting me off the couch.

Orphia

mom23mangos wrote: »

Day of frustration here. All I did at the gym today was cardio and handstand practice. My balance has abandoned me today and my shoulders are still *kitten*. I'm trying to use pics to correct myself, but I'm straining as hard as I can to get my ribs down and there's barely any difference between photos. I think next time I am either going to move my hands further from the wall and then try to touch my chest to the wall or ask a gym buddy to position my torso if it's physically possible.

@mom23mangos Wow!

Handstands are tiring!! I've been doing 5 minutes a day. I find my form gets harder and harder to maintain even in that time!

The further I go, the more my back bends in the middle which doesn't help at all. Maybe you did a bit much, but I love your enthusiasm!

Today I held one for about 8 seconds.

https://youtu.be/jHIe3uCVZlg

Starting to get a feel for shifting my weight between palms and fingers, and pushing "up" with my shoulders, and keeping a straight body.

Could have held it for longer if I'd been able to breathe! Hahaha. Might do headstands and crow tomorrow to practice that, and give my back arch a rest.

ContraryMaryMary

A photo from yesterday's L-handstand practise. Yoga today with lots of wrist exercises.

Orphia

@ContraryMaryMary Wonderful!!!

TiisTitanium

Beautiful shape there @ContraryMaryMary

I had my handstand class. I was very happy when the instructor said that my form has really improved and i held a nicely balanced stand for a long time. Daily practice is paying off . Hooray.

mom23mangos

@Orphia - I think you've definitely got the feel for it now! You are doing so well! Also, I only practiced for like 10-15min yesterday. I had just meant I wasn't tired from anything else. My form doesn't go to *kitten*, it never gets there in the first place. One of my gym buddies is a physical therapist so he was trying to help me troubleshoot the issue. We both agree I'm going to have my guy concentrate more on massaging the pecs and subscap to see if that will allow my shoulders to go back.

@ContraryMaryMary - your L-stand is beautiful!! You will be handstanding in no time.

Orphia

Sorry, @mom23mangos ! xo

June 21: 5 minutes wrist exercises, Crow, headstand, freestanding handstand practice for a minute.

First handstand went naturally into a split handstand. That felt fun! 8-10 seconds.

https://youtu.be/jZqMCDHiqA0

TiisTitanium

Just thought I would share the good news that tomorrow (23 June) is International Handstand Day.

http://www.handstandday.com/

Hooray.

mom23mangos

@Orphia - you've got this down!!!

Orphia

Thank you!!

22 Jun – 5 mins freestanding handstand practice
23 Jun – 5 mins wrist exercises, headstand, plank, 1 min handstand practice

Hurt my ankle running on Thursday. My last two free handstand practice sessions have been tentative because I'm nervous about injuring myself again.

I nearly didn't do free handstands today I was feeling so cautious but when I saw it was Handstand Day I couldn't stop myself!

Orphia

Some random comments while I've got the time on the weekend.

Doing this challenge means the floor seems a lot dirtier than I thought it usually is. Gave the house a good vacuum this afternoon.

I really look forward to my 5 minutes every morning. Thanks so much, @TiisTitanium

One of my friends has seen me post about this on Facebook, and now she says she's going to try. I sent her the awesome link in the OP:
https://gmb.io/handstand/

7 days to go, and I don't want this thread to stop!

I just love seeing everyone's posts, pics, and videos. Keep it up!!

TiisTitanium

Aww @Orphia - I don't want the thread to stop either. Maybe I will start just a general Handstand challenge just to keep the magic alive (and to keep spreading the joy and happiness of inversions and hand balancing).

I am really missing my Saturday acro class at the moment (and acro class misses me apparently) but I can't go back to next month due to Saturday morning class conflicts (ie my daughter does circus class on Saturday morning and her dad refuses to take her). I really think my handstands have improved so much this month with all the practice which makes me happy. Fortunately handstands are like running, you hit one goal and you set tougher and tougher goals for your self

Here are my efforts for International Handstand Day. One handed is much much easier now


Hollowback is slowly improving


And i call this pose "geez - my shoulders and back are freakin huge"

Orphia

You look amazing!!!

Let's get this thread title amended so we can just continue with it, since it's got such good stuff. I'll see how we do that.

Here's today:

https://youtu.be/6N-ne70OHyo

No good holds. Still nervous about freestanding due to my ankle.

Just small increments of progress, mainly in free play, and being consistent.

mom23mangos

Your one-handed handstand looks amazing @TiisTitanium ! @Orphia - I hope your ankle feels better soon. I've had to switch to kicking up with my right leg because my left is fractured and just won't heal.

I did two 10+sec freestanding holds today!!!!! As you can see, my arms are not locked out, so the amount of time I can hold is dependent on my bicep strength.

https://youtu.be/6TJJAMbhp6k

Orphia

Your handstands are so awesome, @mom23mangos !

Sorry about your fractured ankle. I should probably practice kicking up with my right, too.


@TiisTitanium I sent a report about the thread, saying:

Nothing wrong here, just an admin request!

Can this thread be edited please?

We'd like the title to not have "June" in it, and also remove the first sentence of the OP.

The thread has great info and progress in it, and is not high traffic enough to need monthly threads.

Thanks!

Orphia

Ooh, they fixed it already!! Thanks, mod pixies!!

TiisTitanium

Thanks @Orphia. Very much appreciated.

Great looking handstand everyone

Tallawah_

Work in progress at my new favoured practise spot up against my wardrobe! Managed 3 over 10 seconds today!

Orphia

Amazing, @Tallawah_ !

25 Jun – 6 mins free, Crow, Firefly, stretching

Bit more confident again in my free practice. Held Firefly for about 25 seconds.

TiisTitanium

Another practice done as my Monday instructor loves making us do wall drills as core strengthening and opening up shoulder for bendbacks. My wheel poses is definitely improving. It is funny as I started doing daily yoga for pretty much the same reason I started doing handstands - i read that it was good for opening up tight hips/hamstrings. My hamstrings and hips are almost as tight as ever but my shoulders and back have gotten flexi.

mom23mangos

Ha! We have opposite flexibility issues Tiis. My hamstrings and hips are improving, but my shoulders are as bad as ever. I practiced in between squatting sets today. My hold is getting more consistent in that if I can find the balance point, I can hold it for 10-12sec. But it's still about a 1 in 10 time.

mbaker566

i couldn't hold a handstand saturday.
i tried. didn't work well.

rodmelching

TiisTitanium wrote: »

Aww @Orphia - I don't want the thread to stop either. Maybe I will start just a general Handstand challenge just to keep the magic alive (and to keep spreading the joy and happiness of inversions and hand balancing).

I am really missing my Saturday acro class at the moment (and acro class misses me apparently) but I can't go back to next month due to Saturday morning class conflicts (ie my daughter does circus class on Saturday morning and her dad refuses to take her). I really think my handstands have improved so much this month with all the practice which makes me happy. Fortunately handstands are like running, you hit one goal and you set tougher and tougher goals for your self

Here are my efforts for International Handstand Day. One handed is much much easier now

@TiisTitanium . . no way . . one handed . . very impressive!

Orphia

26 Jun – 10 mins balance practice, stretching

Notable thing today was trying to stay upside down longer against the wall so as to improve strength and practice breathing.

Held it for 20 seconds, then felt a little pain in my left elbow so stopped. Need to stick to my 5 minutes and not overdo it.

TiisTitanium

I have been sharing my handstand stories with some of the people I work with as they find it entertaining that my mild exterior hides a secret acrobat. Anyway today one of my work people that I have inspired her to take up adult gymnastics classes.

Very happy to be spreading the handstand and acrobatic joy around

mom23mangos

I held a freestanding handstand for 20+ seconds today!!! Now I just need to work on consistency. My kick up is getting better and I can hold for a few seconds each time, but can't catch that sweet spot consistently. It's feels so easy when you do.

Thank you @TiisTitanium for starting this challenge and not only inspiring your co-workers, but inspiring me to get back into my handstand practice.

Orphia

Yay for you both!! Lovely stories!!

27 Jun – 5 mins, warmup, cartwheels, wall