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Technique

  1. Place your palms on the ground and the crown of your head in front of your hands, forming a triangle with these three points of contact.
  2. Straighten your back and legs while bending at the hips, so that the hips are stacked above the shoulders and the feet are touching the ground.
  3. Press on your hands and slowly lift your legs up until your whole body forms a straight line.
Risks
  • This exercise puts a lot of pressure on the head. Make sure to warm-up your neck thoroughly before starting.
  • Risk of fall. If you feel yourself falling backwards, tuck your chin to your chest and round your back to do a Forward roll, to avoid falling flat back on the ground.

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Muscles

Strength

Primary

  • Neck

Secondary

  • Back
  • Serratus anterior
  • Shoulders
  • Spine
  • Chest
  • Sternocleidomastoid
  • Longus capitis
  • Rectus capitis anterior
  • Longus colli
  • Semispinalis capitis
  • Splenius
  • Rectus capitis posterior major
  • Rectus capitis posterior minor
  • Obliquus capitis superior
  • Longissimus cervicis
  • Longissimus capitis
  • Upper trapezius
  • Obliquus capitis inferior
  • Lower trapezius
  • Serratus anterior
  • Anterior deltoid
  • Middle deltoid
  • Spinalis thoracis
  • Longissimus thoracis
  • Iliocostalis

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Equipment

Ground (hands or body)
Ground (hands or body)

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Appears in

Joint movements
Neckflexionextension
trains stretches

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Progressions

e028

Bent-arm pike press-to-handstand

Advanced

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Regressions

e04x

Tripod headstand

Novice
w01c

Tripod headstand forward roll

Intermediate
e0ti

Assisted front neck bridge front and back

Novice
e0v9

Supported advanced fish pose

Novice
e0bw

Straight-arm headstand

Novice
w01m

Table top to supported L-sit

Novice
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