One of the most badass exercises you can do in the gym, the handstand push-up is a humbling experience when you first try it. But persevere and you will develop excellent upper body strength. 

What is the handstand push-up?

A handstand push-up is performed against a wall in the handstand position. You slowly lower your head to the ground and push back up again. The legs are not used in this exercise, it entails purely shoulder and arm strength with a bit of core for stability and balance.

Why is it such a great exercise?

The handstand push-up is a genuinely challenging bodyweight exercise, even for the very strong, because it is so difficult to shift one’s own bodyweight directly against gravity using only arms and shoulders.

It is also very versatile as you need no equipment and everyone can get a lot of mileage out of this exercise. If you ever get to the point where this exercise or its variations no longer does anything for you, you will indeed be ninja!

How to perform the handstand push-up

Because it is so difficult, most people will not be able to do many (or even any) full handstand push-ups at first. But that’s not a problem because there are many ways to work up to it.

The rule is that the lower your legs are, the easier it is. If you are new to training, I would suggest starting with your legs on the floor, so that your body forms a triangle. However, most people who have been training for a while can manage starting with their legs at 90 degrees. You can use a chair, a low wall, anything you can rest your feet on that is reasonably secure.

Step 1: Starting position

Get into position by placing your hands on the floor and springing up into the handstand or stepping up into it if you are using a chair. If you are doing the 90 degree version, walk your hands back towards your feet until your body is at right angles to your legs.

Step 2: Bend arms, then straighten

Start with straight arms. Slowly bend your arms and lower your head towards the ground, then push upwards and straighten your arms. It helps to look through your arms, not down at the ground.

Step 3: Full range of motion

Make sure you are doing the full range of motion. There is a sticking point at the bottom of the move and it is easy to try to avoid this by stopping short. If you are worried about hitting your head on the ground, put a folded-up towel underneath it. You can also slowly work up to the full range of motion by putting a stack of thick books (such as phone books) underneath your head and removing one after each rep.

If you can crank out plenty of full handstand push-ups, increase the range of motion by putting your hands on bricks or parallel bars, so that you can lower your head even further.

How to use the handstand push-up in your training

The handstand push-up can be used as part of a strength or bodybuilding routine as the compound shoulder exercise, either in addition to or replacing shoulder press.

It is also a great core exercise if performed without using the wall for balance. This is most useful for those who do martial arts or breakdancing, where balance and core strength is key. Having your legs wider apart makes it easier to balance when trying free handstand push-ups for the first time.

Video clips

Handstand push-up variations from Crossfit – shows lots of variations from quite easy to very difficult!

Freestanding handstand push-ups with good range of motion. And from a heavy guy, too! Note how spread out his fingers are – this makes it easier to balance.

My full body no-equipment routine incorporating 90-degree handstand push-ups.

Related posts

Bodyweight or bust – article describing full body routine with handstand push-ups

I like going to the gym, but sometimes I wish I could have my own gym at home. A power rack in the basement, a pull-up bar in the lounge, maybe some gymnastic rings and a rope on the tree outside.

Except that I don’t have a basement. Or a garden, let alone a tree. I don’t even have a back yard. I live in a small flat with an outside stairwell and a concrete area that’s about half the size of a small back yard!

However, this doesn’t mean I can’t do my strength training at home. I just have to be more inventive about it. There is a wide range of strength exercises you can do using only your own bodyweight and whatever walls, railings, stairs you have to hand.

But surely, you are thinking, you can’t get really strong with bodyweight exercises? Well, here’s what strength training expert Alwyn Cosgrove has to say on the matter:

“In my training facility everyone begins with bodyweight exercises. You have to earn the right to lift weights in my facility. Now I’m sure some of you are jumping up and down right about now, convinced that your bodyweight is not enough for you to get a ‘good workout’. You think you’re much too strong. And you’re probably right. If you’re an Olympic Gymnast that is. Remember – most gymnasts use primarily their bodyweight in their conditioning programs and have no problem developing great physiques and great strength levels.”

It’s possible to work the whole body using just your bodyweight. You can train strength, core and explosive power. There are many exercises you can use; in the following video clip I demonstrate a few of my favourites.

The exercises I demonstrate in the clip are:

1. Strength

Pull-ups – with an overhand grip, these work the back (particularly the lats), arms and core. Unluckily I don’t have a bar, just a rather awkward bit of wood that I can’t grip properly. If you don’t have any kind of bar to hand you can use a ledge instead. Not ideal, but at least your fingers will get really strong and you can consider taking up rock climbing!

Inverted rows with underhand grip – these also work the whole back and the underhand grip gives the biceps a bit more of a workout

One-legged squats – also known as pistols, this exercise works the legs (particularly quads and glutes) and the core. You can do these standing flat on the ground, but using a step or a box will allow you to go lower and get a more beneficial range of motion, especially if your hamstrings are not very flexible. You can add weight to the move by holding a heavy object out in front of you. An old telly, perhaps! This exercise is great because it trains balance, flexibility and co-ordination as well as leg strength.

Modified handstand push-ups - handstand push-ups are excellent for working the shoulders. I’m sorry to say that I can’t crank out many full handstand push-ups, so I use this modified version with my feet on a wall at right angles to my body. The closer your hands are to the wall, the harder the exercise is. If you don’t have a handy wall of the right height, you can use a chair. A tip is to keep your head between your arms, so you are looking at the wall behind you not the ground below you. If full handstand push-ups are too easy for you, increase the range of motion by putting each hand on a brick or a concrete block.

Chest dips – a wide arm grip works the chest more, whereas a narrower grip works the triceps.

Tricep extension – this works the triceps and the core. This version of the exercise is more challenging than it looks, but if you find it too easy, raise your legs up so that your body is parallel to the floor to increase the difficulty.

Don’t forget, you can add a weighted vest to any of these exercises for additional challenge.

2. Core

Most people know the popular bodyweight exercises for core, such as sit-ups and crunches, bicycle, twists, plank and so on. For this reason, and because the core is being worked in most of the other exercises, I have only included one core exercise in this video demo.

V-ups – works the core, particularly the abs. Holding a weight in your hands will increase the intensity.

3. Explosive power

This is an area of strength often neglected in training. Power is a function of strength and speed and I believe it is necessary for anyone who wants to claim all-round strength.

Clap push-ups – also known as pylometric push-ups. I demonstrate the basic version here but you can spice up your clap push-ups by using blocks or steps. For example, you can use the corner of a step to do power overs (check out my Fun With Press-ups article if you don’t know what power overs are).

Stair jump – this is my outdoor replacement for a box jump. If you have a sturdy box, that would probably be better as you would be able to perform the exercise faster. The flight of steps I use happens to be 25 inches high. I recommend the stair or box jump to be at least 24 inches, more if possible. This is a great exercise for explosive leg power and vertical jump training.

Tuck jump – this exercise trains the explosive power of the legs and is also a great conditioning exercise. Really try to get the knees as close to the chest as possible, no half measures on this one! A good exercise to finish with.

So, no more excuses. See how inventive you can be in your own backyard or garden. Ross Training and Dragon Door both have plenty of ideas too.

What’s your favourite no-equipment bodyweight exercise?

I have abs of steel but I am a sit-up free zone. I don’t think sit-ups are useless, but I do think there are better exercises out there so I don’t bother with sit-ups in my own workouts.

So what are these better exercises? Well, anything that involves working to maintain your balance is brilliant for training your whole core, not just the abs. Personal Trainers in gyms might give you some balances to do on a wobbly board or a swiss ball, which do the trick, but my favourite exercise is handstands.

Much more fun than a wobbly board and can be done anywhere – in the garden, on the beach, in the lounge. I discovered how effective they were when I took up breakdancing in my late twenties and spent a lot of time balancing upside down on my hands in various funky shapes. My core became extremely strong!

And if you are really tough, you can work up to handstand push-ups, which works core and shoulders very well. The Crossfit London site has a guide on how to master the handstand push-up showing the different stages of progression.

Another very effective exercise is plank. Plank comes from yoga and is very popular. Most people do it for 30 seconds or 1 minute.

This is fine when you first start, but to get greater benefits from it you need to do it for as long as possible. Once you get past the two minute-mark, your core really starts to get strong.

My record is 4 mins 10 seconds, but it took me a while to work up to that. When I was at 2 minutes, it just didn’t seem possible to get to 3 or 4 minutes. But you add a few seconds every time you try it and it soon adds up. Some of the guys over at Warrior Training and Ross Training have reached 5 minutes or above! It’s hard work – your limbs are shaking and the sweat is pouring off you. But it is really effective.

What’s your favourite core exercise?