Technique
- Start in a Pike stand position, with your feet on an elevated surface, your hands on the ground, and your hips placed vertically over your shoulders and hands.
- Slowly shift the weight forward towards your hands, so that your feet can come off the support.
- Hinge at the hips to bring your legs up and stack them vertically to reach a Handstand position.
- Be careful not to let your legs drop on the box.
Form tips
- A common mistake is to allow the shoulders to close (= reducing the angle at the shoulders and leaning more forward). This makes the exercise, which is already difficult to start with, much harder from a strength perspective (and more similar to a Planche). So focus on keeping the shoulders as open as possible, to keep your hips, shoulders and hands stacked vertically.
Muscles
Strength
Primary
- Back
- Serratus anterior
- Shoulders
- Neck
Secondary
- Pelvis
- Quadriceps
- Hip adductors
Individual muscles
Individual muscles
- Lower trapezius
- Serratus anterior
- Posterior deltoid
- Upper trapezius
- Levator scapulae
Equipment
Appears in
Joint movements
Shoulderflexion backward
trains stretches
Progressions

Straight-arm straddle press-to-handstand
Advanced

Wall straddle press-to-handstand
Advanced
View Similar Exercises
View Similar Exercises

Incline bridge
Intermediate

Wall handstand block walk
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Straight-arm pike press-to-handstand
Elite

Straddle handstand block walk
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Handstand walk
Advanced
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