Note: 180 Degrees of Shoulder Flexion. Note the lower back is flat on the wall.
A common problem adults experience when learning to handstand is a lack of shoulder flexion. They lack the strength and/or flexibility to open the shoulder angle to 180 degrees of shoulder flexion.
This affects the alignment of the handstand.
The workaround is to arch the spine.
This allows us to align our wrists, elbows and shoulders and balance our hands, resulting in a banana handstand.
A banana handstand isn't wrong, but it will limit your handstand progress.
If you're working toward more advanced handstands like tucks, straddles, pikes, or press-to-handstand, you will need the strength and flexibility to open your shoulder angle to 180 degrees of flexion.
Note: Closed shoulder angle (banana) vs open shoulder angle (straight).
This is where shoulder strength and flexibility both have a critical role to play.
In this post, I will share some flexibility drills that can help improve your shoulder flexion (overhead position). You can use these drills when training handstands, overhead presses or pull-ups, and even Olympic lifting (jerks and snatch).
Tight pecs, biceps, lats and teres major are the main muscles that impact shoulder flexion range of motion.
You can use the following test to determine what muscles limit your shoulder flexibility.
After performing these tests, you'll know the tight muscles.
Note: The pecs, teres major, and lats are all shoulder internal rotators. If you struggle with shoulder external rotation, these muscles are likely tight.
I'm not a huge fan of foam rolling for long-term changes in flexibility. However, foam rolling can offer short-term changes that can benefit a training session’s duration.
By using foam rolling at the start of the session, we can open up new ranges of motion. Having access to these new ranges of motion allows us to train them.
World-renowned strength and conditioning coach Charles Poliquin often said, “Strength is only gained in the range of motion trained."
So, here are a few of my favourite foam rolling exercises to improve overhead flexibility:
Note: The ball I’m using in the first two videos is called “The Orb Ball”. I got this one from amazon
Pec Smash, Orb Ball
Lat Smash, Orb Ball
Lat/Teres Foam Roll
It is best to spend about 60 seconds foam rolling each specific area, which is 6 minutes in your warm-up.
One of the best shoulder flexion stretches is the butcher block.
2-3 rounds of 45-:60sec in the butcher’s block is a great way to stretch the lats, triceps and teres major muscles. This is an excellent stretch to improve shoulder flexion in your handstand, overhead press, and barbell front rack position.
Butcher Block
Consistently adding this movement into your warm-ups will go a long way to increasing your overhead flexibility by opening up new ranges of motion that you can target with specific strength exercises in the main body of the workout.
I want to learn to handstand
If you’re an adult who has a fear of being upside down. check out the TSTM Adult Beginners Handstand Program.
I’ll talk more about the strength exercises in part 2.
Learning to do a handstand can be a daunting task, especially for adults who don't know where to start or lack the confidence to overcome the fear of falling.
I get it. I’ve helped hundreds of adults overcome their fears and unlock a freestanding handstand.
However, you don't have to give up on your dream of doing a handstand just yet.
Introducing the FREE TSTM Adult Beginners Handstand Program!
This program has been designed by an expert (someone who didn’t learn to handstand until he was 35 years old) to help adults learn the art of handstands.
It is perfect for those who are struggling to build the necessary strength, flexibility, balance, and confidence to stand on their hands successfully.
Whether you're too afraid to be upside down on your hands or simply don't know where to start, this program is the solution you have been looking for.
Don't let your age hold you back from achieving your handstand goals. You're never too old to learn this new skill.
So, if you're an adult who wants to learn to do a handstand, check out the TSTM Adult Beginners Handstand Program.