Do a perfect Handstand in 30 minutes. [Calisthenics]

Handstand

Handstand is a Calisthenic body-weight exercise, Handstands are known by various other names. In yoga, the handstand is known as Downward-facing Tree Pose (Adho Mukha Vrksasana) . In capoeira it is named bananeira.

Handstand is skill of supporting the body in a stable, inverted vertical position by balancing on the hands.

How you can learn handstand step by step. Today we are going to cover some basic and fundamental key factors to master in handstand. Before starting make sure you warm up your self to prevent injury in short term or long term warm up also helps in mobility.

We gonna cover

1. Form/ Execution.

2. Preparation + Mobility work.

3. Beginner Exercises + Progression.

4. Mistakes.

5. Variations.

Form/ Execution

Let's start with the execution in the first example we see a Banana Handstand which is certainly easier to stand but has no advantages over the straight Handstand. But it will help you in further for building shoulder strength and understanding the function of handstand if you can a banana handstand this may be something plus point.

The second example, we see the Str,aight Handstand which represents our goal the straight handstand has the advantage that you spare your joint because the body stand in a straight line this means less stress on the shoulder and lumbar spine in addition by doing the straight handstand. You tense and control the muscles in the torso, the hips and leg more effectively as we let the legs hand forward and form an arch back. The positive aspect is the improved control over your body because you are only able to stand straight when the shoulders, pelvis and legs are coordinates right. When you do the handstand you balance your body mainly through the wrists, the shoulder, the pelvis and the legs often a banana handstand only occurs because the mobility and the shoulder joint is missing to do is right, you have to tilt your pelvis backward and open the torso without forming and arched back.

Point to note.

• Banana Handstand has no advantage.

• Less stress on shoulder and lumbar spine in straight handstand.

• You tense and control the muscles in the torso, hips, and legs.

• Body mainly balanced by Wrists, Shoulders, Pelvis and Legs.

Preparation + Mobility Work

You can read this Basic Flexibility and Mobility guide for beginner. article for basic mobility program.

You can do

• Arch on Exercise ball - Doing arch on exercise help in spine and lower back mobility.
• Shoulder mobility - You can mobile your shoulder with rotating your hands in clock or anti-clock direction or you can learn from above mention link.
• Superman with hollow abdominal- This exercise help you to mobile your upper and lower back and also engage your core.
• Wrists warm up - You can do warm up your wrists by rotating your fist, putting some pressure on wrists and pulling wrists aside or opposite of your body.

Beginner Exercises + Progression

Now, let get to the exercises and progression. First you can start with

• A pike stand - Again it's important to open the angle between arms and torso. You can also do pike push up which is one of the best exercise to build shoulder strength choose a higher platform for get more benefit from this exercise.

• Crow pose - This exercise increase your power of straight arms which is quite important for a balanced handstand. This is a yoga asana in which you put your all body weight on your arms and keep in mind arms should be very straight. Including this exercise in your handstand progression will help you to reach your goal soon.

• Wall handstand - First you practice the kick up there are several methods of standing on wall is standing back and belly ones because you stand slightly away from the wall the body will not become completely vertical but you have to make sure that the body is straight itself.

• Closer to wall- Now, we move closer to the wall. If you kick up too hard you simply bounce off the wall you therefore, already train the right amount of kick up for free handstand because you are closer to wall your body is now vertical. Handstand on wall with belly side closer to wall give you muscle memory how it feel while free handstand.

• One-leg assisted wall handstand - The final progression is the one leg assisted wall handstand, here now only leg is placed on the wall and the other one is stretched out straight up. Now try to lose the other leg slowly and stand up straight because you still practice on the wall you can always rotate your self before you start with the free handstand.

• Exit - You should practice the correct exit form handstand here, you can either roll or rotate lateral relief from the handstand. This will help to become more fearless and you can do handstand anywhere.

Mistakes

1. Wrists placement

Wrists are the pillar for your handstand. Mostly people mistake with wrists placement and can't balance for long.

• Try to stretch your fingers.
• Connect your palm with ground.

2. Shoulder form

Shoulder is like structure of your handstand. Make sure you do these following this with shoulder.

• Push out shoulder.
• Push floor down.
• Push the scapula down.
• Make your arms super straight.

3. Alignment

For a perfect handstand for long period you should do handstand in straight alignment.

4. Engaging Core and hip.

Most of people don't engage core this could be biggest mistake.

• Activate Core.
• Bring your Hip back.
• Bring you feet slightly forward.

5. Pointing legs.

This help you in engaging your calves to your quads, hamstring all the way to your Core. That going to keep your body in like a straight line. Its going to be easier to control you body weight.

Cheat- Focus on one point straight of your nose.

Variation

There are tons of variation of handstand.You may also do the variation of handstand but the risks are loaded differently by the different form therefore, the body must also learn to balance with different angles. This is one of the most popular skill/exercise all over the world. Some popular handstand variations are

• One arm Handstand
• Stag split Handstand
• Hollow back Handstand
• Straddle split handstand
• Handstand on Parallet
• Handstand on Single bar
• Handstand Push Up

If you have further Question just leave a comment.

Feel free to share.

Thanks.

Get extra 20% doing Warm Up before your exercises.

Warm Up

 This article is about pre-exercise activity means Warm up. The Warm up is a preparation for physical exercises or a performance by exercising or practicing gently beforehand.Warm up is used before performing or practicing physical activities. Athletes, bodybuilders, Gymnastic, Yoga Practitioner, and Physical sports people used to do warm up before performing. A warm up generally consists of a gradual increase in intensity in physical activity, joint mobility exercise, and stretching followed by the activity. For example, before running or playing an intense sport, the athlete might slow jog to warm their muscle and increase their heart rate.

Why Warm Up is Important?

Warm up is not just an expression- you actually want to heat up your body. Warm muscles are looser and thus stretch better without the risk of injury. Working to increase your pulse rate as well, warm up, also known for pulse raiser. Unless you want to increase your risks of injuries and reduce your performance, a good warm up is critical. It is important that warm ups be specific to the activity, so that the muscles to be used are activated. The risk and benefits of combining stretching to warm up are disputable, although it is generally believed that warming up prepares the athletes both mentally and physically. In a study showed improvement in performance.

• Warm up programs can improve the strength of the knee muscle, in turn may decrease injuries.

• A comprehensive warm-up program did not significantly decrease injuries in football campared to a control group.

• In baseball, warm up swings using a standard weight bat are effective in increasing batting speed.

• Also in boxing, it shows that warm up before match helps in foot-work and increases response actions.

Some of the best Warm Up exercises.

• Jogging : A slow pace jogging a very basic and effective full body warm up. Jogging help to warm up every muscles add on increase heart rate.

• Jumping Rope: Jumping rope is HIIT (High intensity-interval training) a full body warm up exercise . To know the benefits of jumping rope you can check out this article. 

• Surya Namaskar: It is one of the best exercise combinations with 12 yoga pose which helps the whole body warm up and stretching. Step by step complete guide for surya namaskar.       12 asanas (pose) of Surya Namaskar.  

1.  Pranamasana (Prayer pose)
2. Hastauttanasana (Raised arms pose)
3. Hastapadasana (Standing forward bend)
4. Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Equestrian pose)
5. Dandasana (Stick pose)
6. Ashtanga Namaskara (Salute with eight parts or points)
7. Bhujangasana (Cobra pose)
8. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward facing dog pose)
9. Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Equestrian pose)
10. Hastapadasana (Standing forward bend)
11. Hastauttanasana (Raised arms pose)
12. Tadasana (Mountain pose)                                     

• Dynamic Warm up: A dynamic warm-up uses stretches that are "dynamic," meaning you are moving as you stretch. Dynamic stretching improves range of motion . So if you feel like you can barely bend over to tie your shoes after a long day at work, a dynamic warm-up routine can help you feel more limber.
  

Some of best Dynamic Warm up exercises.

1. Jumping jacks.
2. Arm circles.
3. Side shuffles.
4. Lunges.
5. Leg Swings.
6. Jumping Squats.
7. Inch-Worm.
8. Dynamic peiogen.
9. Frog Walk-In.
10. Hindu Squat (Uthak-Baithak)

I hope it’s now clear that a solid  warm-up can effectively prepare your body for exercise. The next time you go for a jog, play some hoops, or hit the gym, give this warm-up a try. Your body will thank you!

Don't Forget about stretching also.

Feel free to share your view .

Meditation | Meditation for beginner | Guide How to do

Meditation

Meditation is a training, where we use to train our mind for deep calm and overcome from mental and social problem. In today world where stress catches on faster than the eye can see or the mind can perceive. It is a necessity. Meditation  give inner peace. It is one of the main reason why monk and meditaion practitioner is so calm and centre. This create a positive "aura" circumstance which lead us toward calmness and success.

Benefits of meditation :

• Help in being focused 
• less anxiety
• less negativity
• improve blood circulation
• maintain heart rate
• deeper relaxation 
• lower blood pressure.

Some popular form of meditation

Focused attention method.

Open monitoring method.

No thought method.

Meditation Asanas

Asanas provide practitioner to sit for extended periods of  time without moving the body and without discomfort. Deep meditaion requires the spinal column to be straight and very few asanas can satisfy this condition. A proper meditaion asanas help you to meditate for a long period .

Basic meditation asanas for beginner.

• Sukhasana ( Easy Pose )
  
• Ardha Padmasana ( Half-lotus Pose)
  
• Padmasana ( Lotus Pose)
  
• Siddhasana ( Accomplished Pose for Men)

How to do .

      1. Do these following selected pawanmuktasanas series for preparing the body for the meditation

• Adrha titali asana   (Half butterfly)
• Shorni chakra         (Hip rotation)
• Poorna Titali          (Full butterfly)
• Vayu niskasana      (Wind releasing pose)
• Kawa chalasana     (Crow walking)
• Udharkarshan        (Abdominal stretch pose)  

     2. Choose a comfortable asana from above Meditations Asanas.
     3. Do Anulom-vilom first for better breathing and concentration.

     4. Breath naturally.

     5. Choose a comfortable form of meditation from above .

     6. Practice meditation at least 15-20 minutes ( for beginners).

Most asked questions.

Q. Which meditation asana is good for beginners?

 Ans.  Try EASY POSE (Shukhasana) as name it is easy and very comfortable for beginners.

Q. Which type of place is good for meditation?

Ans. A fully ventilated room with natural sound is best place for start. Once you mastery in                           meditation you can do anywhere.

Q.  Which type of cloth recommended?

Ans.  Always wear loose and washed cloth or choose according to your comfort.

Q.  Best time for Meditation?

 Ans. 2 hours around sunrise or sunset is suitable time for medititon.

Q. How long meditation could be?

Ans.  For beginning you can do for 10-15 minutes . A regular practitioner can do for 3-4 hours.

Click here to learn about mental illness

Comment your question.

Yoga - Yoga Asana , yoga for beginners , Yoga classes

Introduction of Yoga

"Yoga is not an ancient myth buried in oblivion . It is the most valuable inheritance of present . It is the essential need of today and the culture of tomorrow "

- Swami Satyananda Saraswati

The word yoga means "UNITY" or oneness and is derived from sanskrit word ' Yuj" which means "to join" this unity or joining is described in spiritual terms as the union of the individual consciousness with the universal consciousness.

The science of yoga begins to work on the outermost aspects of the personality, the physical body, which for most people is a practical and familiar yoga moves on the mental and emotional levels.

Branches of yoga :- Raja, Hatho, Jnana. Karma, Bhakti, Mantra, Kundalini and Laya.

Hathasya prathamaangatvaadaasanam pooruamuchyate
Kuruyattadaasanam sthairyamaarogyan chaanglaaghavan

Means;- Prior to everything, asana is spoken of as the first part of hatha yoga .Having done asana, one attains steadiness of body and mind freedom from disease and lightness of the limbs.

Yoga Asana

Asana means a state of being in which one can remain physically and mentally steady, calm, quiet and comfortable.

"Sthiram sukham aasanam"

- That position which is comfortable and steady.

Read this before starting Yoga (aasana) practice

Brearthing : Always breathe through the nose. Try to coordinate the breath with the asana practice.

Awareness : This is an essential for the You. The purpose of asana practice is to influence , integrate and harmonise all the levels of being: Physical, park , mental, awareness is essential in order to receive optimum benefits from practices.

Relaxation :

Shavasan maybe performed at any point during asana practice especially when you feeling physically or mentally tired. It should also practiced on completion of the asana session .

Sequence : After completing shatkarma asana should be done followed by pranayam the prathyhara and dharna which led to meditation.

Counterpose : When practicing the middle and advanced group of asanas particularly, it is important that the programme is structured so that backward bends are followed by the forward bends and vice-versa, and the whatever is practiced on one side of the body is repeated on the other side. This bring balanced state of body.

Time of practice : A very frequently asked question. You can practice at any time of the day except after meals. The best time however, is the two hours around sunrise. In the evening the two hours around sunset is also favourable time.

Place of practice :

Yoga classes

Place matters alot while performing asana. Choose a well-ventilated room where it is calm and quiet. You can practice outdoors also but take care that surroundings should be pleasant.

• Do not practice in a strong wind , in the cold, in the air that is dirty, smoky or which carries an unpleasant odours
• Do not practice in the vicinity of furniture or anything that prevents free falls to the ground.

Blanket :

Use a folded blanket of natural material the practices as this will act as an insulator between the body and the earth.

• Do not use a mattress which is spongy or filled with air. This affect your spine.

Clothes : During practice it is better to wear loose, light and comfortable clothing.

• Remove spectacles, wristwatches and any jewellery.

Bathing : Try to take a cold shower before starting. This will greatly improve the effect of asanas.

Detoxification : Choose one time daily to go to the toilet before doing asanas. The stomach should be empty while doing asanas. One of the reason why early morning practice is recommended is that the stomach is sure to be empty.

• Do not use laxative drugs.

Diet : If you practice asana although it is better to eat natural food and in moderation. There are no special dietary rules. Half empty stomach is recommended for better result.

• Contrary to popular belief, yoga does not say that a vegetarian diet is essential although in the higher stages of practice it is recommended to take non-veg.
• Avoid food which cause acidity or gas .
• Specific dietary restrictions are recommended for certain diseases.

Straining : A very common reason why people do not practice asana. Beginners may find their muscles stiff at first but after regular practice of week you will be surprised to find that your muscles are more supple.

• Never exert undue force while doing asanas.

Age limitation :

No age limitation sets in yoga all age group, male and female practice asanas.

Conta-indications : If you are dealing with fractured bones, chronic diseases such as stomach ulcer, tuberculosis or hernia, should consult a yoga teacher or doctor before practice asanas.

Sunbathing :

Never practice asanas after a long period of sunbathing as the body period of sunbathing as the body will be overheated.

Terminations of asana : If you feel excessive pain in any part of body immediately stop asana.

• Do not stay in an asana if discomfort is feel.