Freestanding handstand

A handstand with no wall: a balance skill that takes strong shoulders, a tight body line and fine corrections through your hands.

How to do it

1. 01Practice early in the session while you are fresh; warm up your wrists and shoulders, then kick up as in the kick-up drill.
2. 02Bring your legs together, lock your arms, push the floor away so your shoulders reach your ears, and squeeze your abs and glutes with pointed toes in one straight line.
3. 03Balance through your hands: when your legs start to go over, press your fingertips into the floor; when they fall back the way you came, shift pressure to the heels of your hands.
4. 04Look at the floor between or just ahead of your hands and keep breathing in short, steady breaths.
5. 05Come down by stepping one leg at a time to the floor; if you go over and cannot save it, lift one hand, turn sideways and land on your feet.

Common mistakes

• Arching into a banana to stay up — pull your ribs in and squeeze your abs and glutes to stay straight.
• Bent elbows or sinking shoulders — lock your arms and push tall through your shoulders.
• Grinding out attempts when tired — keep attempts short, rest well and stop when quality drops.

In the Handstand progression

1. 1Chest-to-wall handstand
2. 2Wall handstand shoulder tap
3. 3Handstand kick-up
4. 4Freestanding handstand

Standard to move on: 5 sets × 30s, two sessions in a row.