Below, experts share advice on how to start<\/a> doing handstands.<\/p>\n A handstand is a full-body exercise<\/p>\n \u201cA handstand is a full-body inversion in which you support your weight through your hands while balancing upside down,\u201d says Frank Medrano, a calisthenics athlete and coach.<\/p>\n When the head is below the heart, oxygen-rich blood flow to the brain increases. Photograph: AleksandarNakic\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Although it looks like an upper-body exercise<\/a>, the position requires nearly every part of the body to work together, he says. The hands and forearms help maintain balance<\/a>; the shoulders, upper back, chest and triceps support and stabilize the body; and the core, glutes and legs create the tension necessary to keep your body aligned<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cA strong handstand is not simply about kicking your hands overhead,\u201d Medrano says. \u201cIt is about controlling your entire body as one connected unit.\u201d<\/p>\n Because it is such an advanced exercise and it temporarily increases blood pressure<\/a> in the head and upper body, there are certain groups who should be cautious or avoid handstands and other inversions, says Webb. These include individuals with conditions including high blood pressure; osteoporosis; neck, shoulder or spine injuries; and heart and eye conditions.<\/p>\n Graphic with three lines of text that say, in bold, \u2018Well Actually\u2019, then \u2018Read more on living a good life in a complex world,\u2019 then a pinkish-lavender pill-shaped button with white letters that say \u2018More from this section\u2019\u00a0<\/a>Assess and build up your strength<\/p>\n First, you need to figure out how strong your upper body<\/a> is.<\/p>\n \u201cI would start with downward dog, and hold that position for about 90 seconds,\u201d says Dianne Bondy, a certified yoga teacher and pilates instructor, referring to the popular yoga position in which the body forms an inverted V, with hips in the air and hands and feet on the ground.<\/p>\n In order to prepare the rest of your body and help with mobility, Webb suggests working on yoga poses<\/a> that help strengthen the core and hips, such as plank<\/a>, locust<\/a>, boat<\/a> and cobra<\/a>.<\/p>\n Use a wall for support<\/p>\n Once your upper body strength<\/a> is sufficient, Bondy suggests progressing to positions where your feet are against a wall. This helps familiarize you with \u201cthe feeling of going upside down and pressing weight into your hands\u201d, she explains.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Well Actually<\/p>\n Practical advice, expert insights and answers to your questions about how to live a good life<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Webb suggests building up comfort by learning to hold an L-shape against the wall, with your torso and legs at a right angle from each other, chest facing the wall. Your hands will be on the floor and your feet against the wall. How you get into this position is up to you \u2013 experiment safely to find your preferred method. This will help you learn how to tap into your breath<\/a> and alignment, and practice bracing your body while pushing the ground away with your hands, she says.<\/p>\n As you progress, you can inch your feet gradually up the wall, says Medrano. The higher your feet go, the closer your hands, arms, torso and legs will move to the wall, until you are almost flush with it. Keep your body tight, and \u201conly move as close as your strength and confidence allow\u201d, he says. This process teaches body proper alignment without relying on the momentum of simply hoisting your legs into the air.<\/p>\n Practice freestanding (briefly)<\/p>\n When you can hold a controlled wall stand, Medrano says you can try removing one foot from the wall at a time. Eventually, this may progress to removing both feet from the wall. Keep these attempts short. \u201cQuality is more important than duration,\u201d Medrano says.<\/p>\n Learn to fall<\/p>\n When it comes to handstands, it\u2019s not a matter of if you will fall, but when.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are absolutely going to fall, so how you can do so safely is the question you have to answer,\u201d says Webb.<\/p>\n Medrano suggests \u201cpracticing stepping down deliberately\u201d. One way to do this is learning how to turn out of the handstand, instead of falling over. This involves twisting from a handstand into a cartwheel<\/a>, so that your legs swing to the side and you land on your feet. Make sure you have adequate space. (If that is difficult to envision, an instructional video, like this one<\/a>, can help.)<\/p>\n More from How to start:<\/p>\n Keep practicing<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I learned to do a handstand for the first time, I was in my 40s<\/a>,\u201d says Bondy. \u201cI learned that it\u2019s never too late<\/a>. I still do them to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n Bondy says she also learned that handstands were a \u201cuse it or lose it\u201d skill. If you want to be able to keep doing it, you have to keep practicing.<\/p>\n Although it looks like an upper-body exercise, a handstand requires nearly every part of the body to work together. Photograph: fizkes\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Everyone\u2019s progress will be different. If you\u2019re miles away from doing a full handstand or wall stand, that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n \u201cComparing your journey to someone else\u2019s is going to keep you struggling to take the first step,\u201d says Webb. \u201cYour handstand or headstand on the wall, with blocks or supported by another person is just as valid as someone in the middle of the floor standing on one hand.\u201d<\/p>\n As with any physical goal, \u201cgive yourself grace and the space to see what you\u2019re capable of,\u201d says Webb.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My aspirations in life are modest: I want to write, spend time with my loved ones, and someday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[499,103,61,60],"class_list":["post-628234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789709436_926_500.jpg\")
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