Handstands: Pursuing My Favourite Bodyweight Strength and Stability Exercise
I love handstands. I started practicing them seriously in 2018, and let me tell you, it was not an easy process. Jump up, tuck and roll. Jump up, tuck and roll. Repeat. Day in and day out. For a long time, it felt like I was getting nowhere. To be honest, at that point, my handstand practice wasn’t about the physical or mental benefits (more on the mental benefits in a future post); it was driven by ego. I just wanted to do something that was physically impressive.
I remember when I was still struggling, and essentially had no handstand to speak of, I started experiencing wrist pain. At the time, I was still in physiotherapy school, so I sought help from a local physiotherapist in HRM. They asked me to extend my wrist and, without even touching me, bluntly said I’d never be able to do handstands because I "didn't have the mobility for it." I was disappointed by this advice; mostly because someone esteemed in our profession was discouraging me rather than supporting my goals.
Fortunately, this feedback essentially went in one ear and out the other, and the wrist pain eventually cleared up… I returned to my routine of jumping and falling. After years of limited progress, my practice began to improve when I discovered guidance from an online yoga teacher. That’s when I truly learned what handstands were all about.
I learned that doing a handstand well comes down to a few essential elements: strong wrists (with adequate mobility), stable shoulders (with adequate mobility), and a strong upper back (Yes, with adequate mobility). When these three components are in place, your lower body can move as it pleases—though, of course, things are easiest when held in a straight line.
Building strength in my wrists and shoulders not only improved my handstand but also transformed my posture. How much time do modern humans spend with their arms fully extended overhead, locked out? Not much. Yet, we’re perfectly adapted for that position.
The most amazing part of this journey is that now I can do handstands anytime, anywhere, without needing to train them regularly. The way this practice has opened up my body seems to have provided lasting results, which I hope to maintain well into the future.
If you want healthy shoulders, trust me, pursue the handstand. But that doesn’t mean jumping straight into it. It means dedicating time to preparatory drills and progressively working toward the full handstand. Mobilize your back, scapula, wrists, and elbows. Strengthen them all. Take your time, and enjoy the process. Your handstand won't work well until all of the prerequisites are in place, and luckily these standards will set you up for success in many other areas of your daily life and athletic endeavors.
I’ll dive deeper into these preparatory steps in future posts, but if you’re eager to learn more right now, feel free to reach out to me on Instagram at @kelveyphysio.
Not only will this pursuit leave you feeling stronger and more resilient, but you’ll also be able to do something pretty darn impressive. So why not?
Keep learning, keep building!
Brandon
