#catshandstandtips

[catbradleyyoga]

How to: Find some hang time. After 8 weeks of living the sloth life my handstands were crap! I had to start from scratch and if I'm honest all i did was work on pressing, it helped me with stability and control and it also helped re-condition my wrists. ♡Find your handstand shape♡ When I first learned a few years ago I found stag leg and scorpion the easiest for me to find balance in (nbr 1&2) Tuck and L shape(3&4) were impossible for me for a very long time and even now I get the least hang time in those shapes. Straight handstand seems to be my go to if I want a long hold. I can do an individual post on each shape as there are slightly different alignment cues for each. All the same set up as per my previous post👉 WARM UP - zilch 🙈 Its the truth... my best handstands & pressing happen at the start of every practice. I'm so unfit right now that after a workout the idea of a handstand is enough to send me back to sloth life 🤣 Perhaps the simple act of kicking up is enough to warm me up. It sounds like bad advice but I'm just being honest. Kicking to handstand is a lot of work for most so it's a decent warm up I guess 😜 SHOULDERS - Elevated & protracted FULLY! And continue to work on this even as you're holding. Whichever shape you choose push down as hard as you can to get that shrug in the shoulders and reach the hips as high as you possibly can! The biggest problem people have is keeping shoulders stacked over hands. (I say hands rather than wrists because no matter how hard you try, when you're learning there will be a sink forward) do try to resist this as much as you can. Obvs when you become super human you can do planche with your shoulders that way but for now try to keep them stable. 😉 HANDS: wide base with fingers spread, cambered hands - finger pads, base of fingers, base of hand pressing down, finger knuckles lifted. Start with a few seconds hold at a time don't hang out too long that you can't control the exit. You learn alot on the exit! So conserve that energy 😉 I hope this helps. I can't fit everything in one post so I've lots more to come 😘 #yoga #catshandstandtips #handstand #sorryabouttheessay 🤣

[catbradleyyoga]

How to : press to handstand using blocks 🤔 Before I begin i should start with one major disclaimer; I am nowhere near ever being a handstand press expert so please don't expect this to be the yoga bible page! Yoga police can chill out now 😉 What I am trying to share here is what I've learned through learning these skills myself. If you want expert advice then go read a book. 😜 Straddle press to handstand was and still is a struggle for me. I swear I can do it no problem once a day at the very beginning of my practice when I'm not warned up, if I'm remotely warmed up then it just won't happen. To be fair I am a very lazy presser I don't give it the time it deserves.... I love when it happens and I couldn't give a hoot when it doesn't. 😩 Anyway someone asked me what my thoughts are on using blocks under the feet and my honest answer is it never worked for me. I know why it didn't - because I lack flexibility. I rely on upper body strength for pressing. You can even see when I press that my hips aren't as stacked as some tutorials would make you bekeiev they need to be. If I was flexible then they would stack. Hence why I prefer the strap for learning to press. My advice is if you're flexible then this is a great approach and if you're not then give the strap a try. 1. Using a block or even something higher under each foot. I have my blocks about shoulder width apart. Squeeze thighs to belly. 2. I have a weird cue that helps me here, I dip low with my arms and pretend I'm going under something first and then scoot hips as high as I can coming on to tippy toes. 3. I round the upper back as much as I can and then I try to stuck my butt out behind me as I get as high as I think I will get and as far forward as I can go without falling on my face. 4. I take a big inhale and then exhale to lift up. You'll always see me catch my breath about halfway up. That's me saying holy crap I'm up now relax and get all the way up now 😂 Hope this helps someone out there. L❤X #catspresstips #catshandstandtips #yoga #questforthepress

[catbradleyyoga]

How to: Kick up to handstand 🤸 Kicking up to handstand is the easy part, staying up there may require a separate post 😜 If you're learning to handstand using the kick up method rather than the pressing method that I have suggested in the past then hopefully these tips might help ✌ . - Turn hands outwards slightly if your shoulders and/or wrists are tight. - Hands directly under shoulders or slightly narrower. - Eyes of elbows rotating forward. - Upper arms drawing towards eachother. - Shoulders protracted and elevated. - Don't even begin to kick up until shoulders are stacked over hands. - Gaze can be wherever you feel comfortable, I prefer between my thumbs or slightly forward. - Inhale to prepare and exhale to execute😉 . - . Next, choose your kick up method. Everyone is different and learns differently but these two methods are what works for most. People seem to freak out about banana backs when learning to handstand, to the best of my knowledge no one has ever died from a banana back! I doubt you'll be holding it long enough for a banana back to leave any lasting damage. But as you progress and learn you'll figure out how to improve your alignment. But first work out how you're gonna get up there then work on staying there. It doesn't have to look perfect while you're only learning so ignore the perfectionist rules and learn your own way! . 1. Stag leg kick up - This was my favourite way to kick up when I was learning. I felt I didn't need as much kick in my kick. When you kick up do your best to keep shoulders exactly as they are, don't let them go forward of your hands. Also start the kick up with the shoulders already set up and in place. And only focus on lifting from the hips. Relax the legs, don't worry about lifting the legs they will follow what the hips do. Think about kicking the butt with the heel. . 2. L shape kick up- This requires a little more activation in the legs but same rules as above applies. Lift from the hips and reach upwards with the feet. . Hope this is useful, any questions just ask . 😘Lx . #yoga #handstandtutorial #handstand 👉👉Tag to follow for more - #catshandstandtips 👈👈