[Cheers to @chilloutbaba for making this awesome video!]
Hey there, I’m currently in the middle of teaching workshops and a training here in UK (Edinburgh) and have had some great discussions with some of the students working on their press handstands and jump throughs.
Ok, so check this out:
Press handstand becomes a lot more straight-forward when you break it down into phases.
One student told me, “Brian I’m going forward with everything I’ve got and still can’t seem to get my feet to even leave the ground for a second”. I hear this A LOT.
Here’s How To Fix This:
These 3 phases that I’m about to describe are effectively how to do a press handstand (in a nutshell).
Phase 1: So, in a press handstand, you start from a folding position. With your hands slightly in front of your feet. Phase 1 is being able to shift from being on your heels to up on your toes. That’s it. The feet never leave the ground.
Why Is That Important?
If you do this correctly, you’ll get your hips in the right spot. Which is hips slightly over the shoulders, and the shoulders slightly over the wrists. This is SO important. Still following?
Phase 2: Now assuming you know how to shift up onto your toes. Phase 2 is being able to shift from your toes to a pike position (legs at a 90 degree angle with your torso). Strength wise, this is the most difficult part.
In order to get this…
You Need To Do 4 Things:
1. Stabilize with your shoulders and your back – they work like a seatbelt when used correctly and allow you to go forward without feeling like you’re going to collapse.
2. Learn to push with your triceps – this is where strength comes from and this is where you create height from the ground in exercises like L-sits. It’s simple, the more you push down the easier it is to go up.
Stability in your back and shoulders + push from your triceps is how you create power.
How To Test This?
For example, try doing a press handstand in soft sand. What happens?
All the power you regularly generate is dissipated through the sand. In order to press on a softer surface, you need to generate more power. Thank god for a nice wood floor. 🙂
Here’s a simple math equation (read it even if you hate math):
You can literally double your power by focusing on that.
Don’t forget it.
3. Your hip flexors need to be strong enough to hold your legs at an angle – I see so many students try to press when they still have a hard time doing core exercises with their legs straight (navasana is a good example).
How Do You Fix That?
Short answer, while standing, work on trying to hold one leg straight out in front of you for as long as you can. 30 seconds is a good target. Think about it, that’s pike. Pike is as much a hip flexors thing as it is a core thing (And the long anwer, I have an entire video and course coming soon, be on the lookout :-)). Onto number four…
4. Hamstring Flexibility – If you don’t have this, your legs won’t straighten nor will your hips get in the right spot.
It’s important to point out that Phase 1 won’t happen if you don’t have hamstring flexibility.
But…
If your legs are bending in pike it can be caused by either tight hamstrings OR weak hip flexors. Very important to figure this out.
This is all phase 2 of a press handstand.
Phase 3: You go from pike to handstand. You can work on this once you get your handstand. How?
Once you get handstand, I strongly encourage you to learn to jump to pike then float up to handstand from there.
Do You See Why?
It’s phase 3 of a press handstand. 😉
That’s how you bridge the gap between a handstand and a press handstand. So you want to know the shortcut for how to do a press handstand?
Start working on phase 1 and 3 now. Now here’s the cool thing about that.
When you work on phase 1 and 3…
Two Things Will Happen:
- You’ll naturally develop the strength for phase 2.
- You’ll understand shoulder position.
Read The Next Part Carefully:
How do you go from pike to handstand?
In phase 2, you are moving the shoulders forward. That’s how you create the leverage to balance in pike.
In phase 3, you’re moving the shoulders back. This is so important!
What I just said is the key to developing a press handstand that looks (and actually is) light, effortless, and repeatable.
While I could go into even more detail, I want to explain something about jump throughs to you.
Have You Felt Like This?
Do you feel “stuck” trying to get the feet through?
Do you feel like your arms are too short? Or do you just feel “heavy”?
The most difficult part of a jump through is the part where you pass your feet through your arms. In order to make progress in your jump through, you have to do exercises that develop the muscular strength, like this exercise here.
In addition to that, like I talked about in a press handstand, you need to learn to really push with your triceps. Why? Because that’s how you create clearance from the floor. And when you create that space, you legs and feet will start to get all the way through.
And then there’s the pure core strength component. When you jump, you need to control yourself down. You’re “catching” yourself at that low point and then guiding yourself through.
Quick advice for this. If you’re having a hard time jumping through, work on trying to jump into crow. The same set of muscles that catches you when you land on your triceps are the same set of muscles that catch you as you slide though. Pretty cool huh?
Not To Mention…
That same set of muscles also helps to make you more resilient in your handstand. By training the above exercise, you effectively become resistant to falling!
Have you been avoiding jumping into crow?
When you start to practice and learn it two things will happen:
- Your jump throughs will get substantially easier.
- Your handstand will get substantially more stable.
Great Payoff I Think.
Oh, and something for you yoga teachers out there:
I get asked tons and tons of teacher training related questions yet I’ve been so focused on handstands and press handstands the past few months, I haven’t given you teachers an equal amount of time. And believe me, I love helping new teachers get off the ground running as much as I enjoy helping students get off the ground flying. I’ve got something coming soon for you, too. 🙂
Now over to you, answer this questions for me below (and I’ll answer you ASAP):
“If you could have 1 superpower to instantly improve your yoga practice, what would it be? ;-)”
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Great post Brian. Thank you! Always learning new things for you.
Zachery, glad you enjoyed it!
Jump throughs: Long torso. Short arms that do not touch the ground when sitting in dandasana. Can get through on blocks. Only skid through without. Can I really get enough lift with this body?
Darlene, yes you can! Have you tried doing an L-sit on blocks? Work on trying to pull your hips back without the feet actually leaving the floor. Hold this for as long as you can. It’ll make a huge difference in your practice! What are you currently doing to work on your jump throughs?
I’m like you Darlene. Even pushinges down as stretching my arms as hard as I can my arms still don’t touch the ground in dandasana. I’m happy to hear that jump through are still a possibility for me though!
Love, love, love your emphasis on developing the strength (and the muscles in which you need to develop it) and flexibility to get into these poses! I left studio yoga for my own practice this year because I was leaving the studio frustrated seeing the same set of students keep trying the same things and getting nowhere.
I started learning Ariel arts (silks & trapeze) and have found the two practices (Ariels and yoga) to be complementary. Weak core, hip flexors and tight hamstrings are even more painfully obvious!
Your posts are the most helpful training I’ve come across. Excited to see what you’ve got coming up!
Cherie, that’s great to hear that your Ariel practice is helping out! What your currently self practice like? Are you making better progress that way?
Thanks, Brian! This is, as always, great information!
The one thing that I didn’t learn in TT that I wish I had was drills for learning how to pike jump into handstand. Is it best to first learn how to tuck jump before progressing to the pike? Does it make sense to start at the wall? It’s been a work in progress in my personal practice for a long time, so teaching it has been virtually impossible!
Kelly, they are both great exercises to work on! If your hamstrings are tighter (or your hip flexors are weak) it’s best to work on the tuck jump first because the pike jump will be physically impossible then while you’re doing that work on developing the necessary flexibility. And using the wall is a great first step but not becoming overly dependent on it. Do you currently have a self-pratice?
Thanks so much for the response, Brian! I’m glad you mentioned the issue with tight hamstrings and pike jumping, because it’s something I hadn’t thought of! I’ll try it out next time, post stretching 🙂
I hope that it’s okay if I ask one more question. In short, I’ve been very dedicated with core training over the past several weeks, putting in about 15-20 minutes every other day. While I noticed a difference in the beginning, I feel like I’ve since plateaued. If you could recommend one super effective core exercise, what would it be? I’ve stopped getting sore the day following my core workouts, which makes me think that the exercises that I’m doing aren’t effective enough. How often and for how long do you work your core? I’d love to get to the point where my transitions are as fluid as yours!
Thanks again for your response, but also for your articles and your awesome handstand program!
Kelly, work on doing an L-sit on blocks and instead of trying to lift your feet off the ground, focus pulling your hips back as much as possible and holding for 30 seconds or so! That will make a huge difference. Also, be on the lookout for Double Your Core Strength. It’s an extremely comprehensive program for developing core strength that will benefit you greatly. Hope that helps and glad you’re enjoying the blog! 🙂
Thanks, Brian! Your website and program are the best resources I’ve ever come across regarding all things yoga. Looking forward to the double your core program!
Kelly, thank you, glad you’re enjoying the blog! 🙂
I would make all my age related back problems disappear, so I wasn’t always in pain
Georgina, sorry to hear! What type of back problems do you have? Did they come from practicing yoga?
I get stuck on phase 2. I think it’s the back stability. I feel my triceps and shoulders are strong. I feel like my back should be strong too and sometimes feel like it’s a lack of thoracic mobility, but I’m sure it’s really lack of strength too. How can I strengthen my back?!
Abby, try working on exercises like Eka Pada Bakasana (one leg crow). They work a ton in developing back stability. Also, another really effective version of that is to just to crow with one knee on your tricep and the other hovering in between your arms touching your chest. What is your regular practice like?
Hi Brian. I can come up into headstand with legs straight and bring my legs down half way in a straight position. I can hold navasana no problem etc. but I can’t do jump throughs? I read your info with interest as it seems that strong hip flexors etc. are key to handstand. I can come up into handstand from standing if I jump both legs up at once but as this is a fast movement, I can’t stabilise once up and therefore hold it there as it is not controlled. I’ve been doing your suggested L-sit ups and planks etc. but I feel I just fall like a sack of potatoes when trying to jump through. I can do it with blocks but not with hands on the floor both with straight legs and crossed legs but with no real control. It’s more of a throwing myself through. All very frustrating. I was nearly on your Union Yoga Course in Edinburgh but couldn’t make it at the last minute! Love your info. And what I didn’t get on my teacher training course was how to fully develop my TvA! Also at aged 44 should I really be trying to continue doing jump throughs as I feel I keep injuring my shoulder doing it?
Elaine, aw maybe next time! And of course you can continue to work on jump throughs, but like I tell everyone no matter what the age, you have to work safely within your means to improve so that you don’t injure yourself. If you can be consistent and work with a plan you’ll get there! 🙂
Jump throughs – I actually find jumping through with straight legs easier than crossed. I think when I cross I am trying to get my hips high first and then sneak through with a push. Like 2 different movements, up, then down to get through. With straight legs I just look ahead, switch on the core and swoosh through. Maybe need to work on jumping into Bakasana to find the trick.
Lisa, you’re right. It is, as long as you have the hamstring flexibility to do so. The crossed leg version is a lot more strength intensive than straight legs. And yes, jumping into Bakasana will help you tons!
Thank you from the heart for your excellent advice and for helping all of us out there to pinpoint things to work on. You are a dispeller of darkness 🙂 Namaste.
Glad I could help Lisa!
Hi Brian,
Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us, much appreciated. I have done my teacher training as a total beginner a year ago so I can possibly have a looong list of what I would like 🙂 Currently, I am working on my hips because I find it a great solution to my minor scoliosis. Things are moving and scoliosis is disappearing but I don’t push too much. I’m a delicate flower and although the pain is my great teacher sometimes is too much. I know I have to build more strenght in my core and I would like to stretch my back a bit more. I’ve always had a weak centre, what would you suggest? In the evening I’m twice more flexible than in the morning so for example, when I do the plough in the morning I struggle with pain to touch the ground with my feet but in the evening, easy does it. Also you know, when you do sitting forward bend with legs wide apart? I would like to work on that as I find it particularly hard, other leg bends are fine and moving. What should I stretch to progress with that? Also I don’t know if it’s down to my scoliosis but I find it difficult to have a sense of alignment with my hips when in inverted poses. Any cure for that? 🙂 I’m doing lots of hamstrings stretches and hips openers as to prepare for splits. I’m busy working & studying but I do basic stretches in the morning everyday and 2-4 good sessions a weak in the afternoons. I find your posts very inspiring with a good range of different stretches. Keep a great work! Thank you so much.
Luiza, glad you are enjoying the blog! Lots of questions packed in here, I’ll tackle one of them, scoliosis. Having your spine curved to one side does affect your balance in inversions and it can cause the hips to rotate, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed with awareness and consistency. The hips can also rotate in inversions when one arm is stronger than the other (which is also very normal in people).
Are you subscribed to my newsletter? Try those free sequences, they’ll help with your core strength a lot which will stabilize your entire body, especially when you’re upside down! Hope that helps!