One of the best ways to practice HOLDING a handstand is against the wall with your BELLY towards the wall… Everyone practices by kicking up with their back to the wall. The gymnastic secret is to do it with your belly to the wall. This will help keep your back flat/flatter and you can really push out through your shoulders. You will also be able to use your toes to take one foot off the wall. This will also allow you focus on your hips, core and tush. Keeping all of these tight and straight is key to holding a handstand. When in the proper position, only your toes should be touching the wall. Your gaze should be in between your hands, which should be shoulder width apart. The top of your head should be pointing to the floor. So your head should be in line with your arms and not sticking out. This also helps keep your back and hips flatter and in line with your shoulders.

To get up, you can cartwheel up from the side or start from a downward dog with your feet near/on the wall and then walk yourself up. Another thing that is nice about this is that if/when you do fall you will fall on your back which is typically what most people are afraid of when practicing off a wall. Knowing this, you may want to prop you mat from the wall so you can roll out. The safest way to come down would be cartwheeling down or pirouetting out.

Hence, the other point of why this technique is great, as you get stronger and more confident, you can practice pirouetting out by moving either your right hand or left hand over to the opposite hand, roughly shoulder width away from the hand, now having your body sideways in a handstand to the wall. A full pirouette would be two hand placements now putting your back to the wall.

Being able to pirouette when you are away from the wall is a great way of avoiding having to roll out on hard surfaces.

As for flexed feet, I would disagree. It might help some, but thousands of gymnasts are in a handstand right now with their toes pointed.

It sounds like a lot but it should help you hold a handstand.

I once stayed after class to get her to help me but also talk me through it so I knew what I should be focusing on and one piece of advice that really helped is to keep your feet flexed (as if you were on the ground standing versus pointing your toes) and to squeeze your inner thighs and ankles nice and tight as you are focusing on straightening them.

Then, you breath. Big, deep, slow breaths. And it happened!! I did it myself!! She didn’t hold me, lift me, position me. And I held it for a good 20 seconds. Been doing it ever since.

Another helpful hint – men’s centre of gravity is in their shoulders whereas ours are in our hips. Keep your hips and core tight and straight. That is really important. If your core and hip flexors aren’t strong, try doing some exercises to build your way up.

Happy Headstanding!