Handstand Push Up
Trains the shoulders. No equipment needed. None of our programs use it yet, but you can add it to any session you build.
Free to use. The app works out every weight and times your rest.
In the programs
None of our programs use the Handstand Push Up
It is in the app, so you can add it to any session and log it like anything else. It is just not written into one of our 50 free programs. If you want a shoulders exercise that is, there are 11 on the Shoulders page.
Muscles worked
What Handstand Push Up trains
Technique
How to do the Handstand Push Up
- Place your hands on the floor about shoulder-width apart near a wall and kick up into a handstand with your heels resting against the wall for balance.
- Keeping your core braced and your body straight, lower your body by bending your elbows until the top of your head lightly touches the floor.
- Press through your palms to extend your arms fully, pushing your body back up to the handstand position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions, then lower your legs back to the floor with control.
Form cues
Getting it right
- Lower yourself slowly and with control; do not let your head hit the floor.
- Keep your elbows at roughly a 45-degree angle to your body rather than flaring them straight out.
- Brace your core and squeeze your glutes to keep your body from arching.
- Build strength with pike push-ups or partial ranges before attempting full repetitions.
Substitutes
Swap Handstand Push Up for
The app's swap picker ranks these the same way: same muscles, similar movement, similar equipment.
Let the app run the Handstand Push Up for you
Durata picks the weight, times your rest and adds load when you earn it. That works on any of our 50 free programs, or on a session you put together yourself.