The handstand is popular with many people, sports or not. In fact, almost everyone would like to hold and if possible walk on their hands. This position, as difficult as it is rewarding , requires a lot of balance, a minimum of strength and sheathing, and above all a lot of practice…
But there is a technique that allows you to hack the time needed to learn it, to be able to master it much faster: the technique “one action = one minute of handstand”.
The “one action = one minute handstand” technique
It’s such a simple and yet so effective technique. This idea comes from a bodybuilding partner who told me to do it to learn an exercise, I don’t know anymore whether it was the pistol squat (squat on one leg) or precisely the handstand … It doesn’t matter, the operation remains the same.
He told me that when he was at home, every time he entered his living room, he had instructed himself to try this exercise before he could continue what he wanted to do. For example, if he got up from his sofa to go to his kitchen, he had to do a handstand when he returned to the living room in order to be able to sit down on the sofa.
I immediately thought to myself “But this is great! “. The great thing is that learning to exercise is part of a routine, and the learning happens without realizing it. This is particularly useful for the handstand which requires patience and persistence.
How to adapt this technique for yourself
Of course, we can change the action at the origin of the handstand, the goal is not to make 2000 attempts per day. Because doing it every time the ‘entering the living room can quickly be restrictive for someone who comes and goes a lot in their apartment. The goal is to keep the experience fun, and above all, you must not create a constraint.
Otherwise, the exercise will bored you, you will be less concentrated and you risk learning a bad placement on the movement which will take a long time to correct. I modified a little the original version, only 1 handstand per action is too tight, unless you already have good technique. On the other hand, 1min of handstand per action is a good compromise. Here are some examples of actions that are performed between 1 and 10 times a day, and which therefore allow you to do between 1 and 10min of cumulative handstand per day (10 actions = 10 x 1min of handstand):
- I make my bed, I do a handstand (1min handstand)
- I do my training, I start with a handstand (1min handstand)
- I turn on the TV, I do a handstand (it depends on you, say between 1 and 3min of handstand)
- I just brushed my teeth, I’m doing a handstand (3min handstand)
- I’m getting ready to eat, I do a handstand (3 to 5min of handstand, counting snacks)
- I get out of the toilet, I do a handstand (it depends on you, say between 3 and 10min of handstand)
- I text, I do a handstand (yeah, it should be a little over 10, the shoulders will be in pain )
I remembered this fairly recently and incorporated it at the start of each of my workouts. I don’t do it personally for 1min but 8min, and I do it during warm-up or in the morning (excluding training).
This allows me to stay within the performance test criteria my challenge , but also improve the technique gradually (you can see in the photo just below that I am not yet straight, and my feet have not joined).
This method is really interesting to add handstand every day without forcing yourself too much, to learn on a regular basis . Because to learn the handstand or any other fairly technical exercise, it is better to do 1min per day for 10 days than to do 10min for 1 day…
You can even do it in pairs with a training partner by adapting the method so that the handstand becomes a pledge, for example with the instruction to force the partner to do 1min of handstand from that you change exercise. Which greatly increases the number of handstand… but which can quickly become quite vicious (since when do you do 18 exercises per session?).
But as explained above, it has to remain fun to learn well. Remember to lean against a wall at the beginning to avoid surprises.
If you want to know other essential exercises to exercise with body weight, you can also read my article on the 5 most effective exercises to start weight training without equipment . You can also find bodybuilding videos on the TreeningLife Youtube channel .
