Skills
Handstand push-up
From the pike push-up to the freestanding handstand push-up on parallettes, alongside the handstand path.
- Steps
- 7
- Levels
- N1–N7
- The goal
- Freestanding on parallettes
- Crosses with
- Push-ups · Handstand · Planche · Human flag · 90° push-up
Before you start
The pike push-up does not wait for a freestanding handstand: this path runs alongside the handstand path.
The main path
HSP-1Level 1
Pike push-up
Feet on the floor, hips high: the head touches the floor in front of the hands.
- Achievement
- 1 rep
- Mastery
- 3 × 8 reps
More about this step
Good to have first
- Push-ups · Push-up: 3 × 8 reps — Triceps and shoulders: the same push, vertical.
If it won't come today
- Partial range.
HSP-2Level 2
Box pike push-up
Feet on a hip-high box, with the same head-to-floor descent.
- To start
- Pike push-up: 3 × 5 reps
- Achievement
- 1 rep
- Mastery
- 3 × 8 reps
More about this step
If it won't come today
HSP-3Level 3
Wall negative
Chest to the wall, the head lowers to the floor in front of the hands, in a tripod.
- To start
- Box pike push-up: 3 × 5 reps
- Achievement
- 1 negative of ≥5 s
- Mastery
- 3 × 3 negatives of ≥7 s
More about this step
Good to have first
- Handstand · Wall handstand: 30 s — Tolerating 30 s upside down.
If it won't come today
- With a cushion to shorten the range.
HSP-4Level 4
Wall
Chest to the wall, in a tripod, forearms vertical, no kipping; arms locked at the top.
- To start
- Wall negative: 3 × 3 negatives of ≥7 s
- Achievement
- 1 rep
- Mastery
- 3 × 5 reps
More about this step
If it won't come today
- A cushion to shorten the range. Back to the wall is easier and does not count for this step.
HSP-5Level 5
Wall deficit
Hands on parallettes or blocks: the head goes below the hands.
- To start
- Wall: 3 × 5 reps
- Achievement
- 1 rep
- Mastery
- 3 × 5 reps
More about this step
If it won't come today
- Less deficit.
HSP-6Level 6
Freestanding
The freestanding handstand push-up, head to the floor.
- To start
- Wall deficit: 3 × 5 reps
- Achievement
- 1 rep
- Mastery
- 3 × 5 reps
More about this step
Good to have first
- Handstand · Freestanding handstand: 3 × 30 s — No balance, no freestanding push-up.
If it won't come today
HSP-7Level 7The goal
Freestanding on parallettes
The freestanding handstand push-up on parallettes, full range.
- To start
- Freestanding: 3 × 5 reps
- Achievement
- 1 rep
- Mastery
- 3 × 5 reps
More about this step
If it won't come today
Training it
Reference, not a prescription.
How it's trained
Few reps, long rests
The base is worked with 5 to 7 sets of 2 or 3 reps and 2 to 3 minutes of rest. Strength is trained separately from balance: the pike push-up works even if the freestanding handstand is not there yet.
Prepare the body
Wrists, pushing strength and ease upside down
Wrists are warmed up before loading them, as in the handstand. To start, 10 dips, 20 push-ups and a chest-to-wall handstand are usually asked for: pushing strength and being comfortable upside down.
When to stop
The head never drops onto the neck
On the way down, the head touches the floor slowly, without hitting it. If your neck hurts, stop for the day.
Wrist pain still there the next day
It is the joint that complains most when the weight is on the hands: more than half of people who practice handstands have chronic wrist pain. If the pain is still there the next day, the previous step or parallettes, which keep the wrist straighter, load it less. Under 18, see a doctor.
Pain that gets worse
Discomfort up to 2 or 3 out of 10 can be tolerated if it does not get worse during the session, afterwards or the next day. If it goes past that or gets worse, stop for the day.
How to read it
Every step has three marks. “To start” is what you want to have before training it, measured on the previous step or on another progression. The achievement is the first clean one, and mastery is repeating it within a single workout: “3 × 8 reps” means three sets of eight in one session.
Levels run from N0 to N16: N1 to N4 beginner, N5 to N8 intermediate, N9 to N12 advanced and N13 to N16 elite; N0 covers the steps before that.
Added weight and assistance are written as a percentage of bodyweight (BW): +18% BW is 12.5 kg if you weigh 72 kg. “Per side” means the numbers apply to each side.
When two steps sit together —“one of the two”— either one counts: whichever you do opens what comes next.
How a Skills step is counted: On holds, arms locked on straight-arm skills and no more than 20° off the line: a sagging hold does not count. Transitions end in the final position, held for 3 s. A freestanding handstand is timed from when the legs come together and stay still until the first hand step, the first foot down or a touch of the wall.
Myosin keeps track
Here's the sequence. In the app, each step ticks itself when you finish the workout that meets it: the achievement the first time, mastery when you repeat it. And when you master a step from your routine and the next one is a different exercise, it offers to swap it in.
