Deficit Handstand Pushups Are KING!

[@NattyLifeYT]

I've only seen a couple extremely strong crossfit guys do these with a deficit. Really cool that you're not only strong af with weights but you have amazing ability to move your body in space.

[@tsa6394]

I remember in one of his upper body workout videos, he did front raises like it was cake. Was one of the first videos I watched with him and it was awesome seeing a massive guy do something like that.

[@jdj2022]

@@tsa6394 he’s only like 160-170 I wouldn’t call that “massive” by any means lol. Still impressive, I’m just saying he isn’t a heavy guy.

[@gustavwenhelseth7681]

He is actually 195 now

[@jdj2022]

@@gustavwenhelseth7681 I highly doubt that. He is not very tall.

[@gustavwenhelseth7681]

He said it in an interview with stat strength

[@chrisstanley9477]

10 Interesting facts about youtube fitness: 1 - Alphadestiny gets more out of less weight 2 - Alan doesn't move the barbell 3 - Mike thurston is natural 4 - Eddie hall is always dehydrated 5 - Brian is always late 6 - Jason blaha is definitely NOT bald 7- Mike O hearn is a lifetime natty 8 - Bald Omni man was born larson pressing out of the womb 9 - Kyriakos can cause a sonic boom just from walking 10 - Greg is that type of guy

[@AlexLeonidas]

Such a fine community we have here!

[@Ibrahim12538]

Greg is the type of guy 😂😂😂😂

[@whitefang9758]

These are intense, but very satisfying. Best callisthenics movement for shoulders in my experience

[@saadatspeaks]

The moment I could do these for 3x6, my shoulders were absolutely beastly

[@Fuckingboredrn]

How much you weigh cause I can do like 10 on my first set but my shoulders are like, meh

[@saadatspeaks]

@@Fuckingboredrn at the time I weighed 140lbs at 12% bf (like actually 12 not what ppl think is 12) about 5-6 months into training

[@andremorales4848]

@@saadatspeaks what did you use to check your body fat % ?

[@saadatspeaks]

@@andremorales4848 my eyes and the gym fat scanners would say I’m 6-7% bf so a good rule of thumb is to just slap 5 %pts on whatever those machine say

[@Fuckingboredrn]

@@saadatspeaks thanks for the clarification, just outta curiosity how tall are you and do when you say beastly do you mean you genuinely had really good size or like you were just nice and lean so whatever definition you had was just super visible. Only asking because I find my shoulders to not be great even tho I weigh around 150ish not super lean but leaner than the average person (doesn't mean much I know lol) and am not tall 5'8 and do 10 on my first set and yet my shoulders don't look great lol. For what it's worth my arms are long but I feel like that'd be helping my case cause it'd require longer rom and make the movement harder?

[@LeonGainsborough]

Deficit Pike Push Ups and Deficit Handstand Push Ups are the main builders for big shoulders at home/Calisthenics 🔥🦍💪🏻

[@AlexLeonidas]

That's a fact!

[@lored6811]

In my first years of fitness I only trained calisthenics and with that a lot of handstand pushups. Had an 85% BW OHP the first time I went to the gym.

[@AlexLeonidas]

85% is very good for a first time! In some others I've seen 100% or even a bit above.

[@MemoTraining]

@@AlexLeonidas Weighing 81/82Kg I was able to Clean and press (with terrible form) 85kg. I've got in on video somehwhere, it's hilarious how bad the technique is as had never touched a weight, but had been breakdancing and doing deficit HSPU for years

[@onurozen1683]

Insane ascension my friend

[@wallesdrop3026]

I can do over 100 percent bodyweight but not a single hspu

[@lored6811]

@@wallesdrop3026 thats very normal, the carryover is pretty much only one ways, since a hspu is a skill movement, even on the wall. Someone who can do a deep deficit freestanding handstand pushup can ohp his bw but not the other way around

[@markymarkeaton]

Been crushing some feet elevated and deficit pike pushups in preparation for one day doing these. Used to be able to do some freestanding HSPU before I bulked up so can't wait to be able to rep these out

[@CaneSugarCane]

I'm actually getting pretty great results with incline pike pushups. Will join you guys soon 💪🏾

[@petersouleyrette8484]

Something interesting I’ve noticed from handstand push-ups is the side deltoid activation. I remember seeing a post from Atlas power shrugged saying overhead carries smoke the side delts. In a handstand push-up you literally rest in an overhead position so it’s an interesting similarity. Love the video Alex!

[@maninclass]

True, did these and my delts blew up especially side delts.

[@ArM-wo6wd]

Did regular handstand pushups for a few weeks and my planche game exploded. I can imagine what these will do!

[@jayden_2_savage635]

This KZbin channel is GOATED

[@az9324]

I hope he keeps growing .

[@Arms.Enthusiast]

This movement is even accessible to intermediates thorough the deficit pike push-up , which can be a really useful way to do this for people who aren’t strong enough to do a full body weight version.

[@fatcat22able]

Me who can’t do a handstand: ah yes I should do deficit handstand push-ups like Alex does

[@maxalaintwo3578]

7:49 Tell em Alex! The basic movement patterns are essential, but the way in which you do the movement pattern doesn't matter as long as you progress and are safe

[@adamd9166]

Great point about freestanding HS pushups vs against the wall. While the SKILL of freestanding is impressive, it can never match the muscle-building effect of the against-the-wall version.

[@nonattylimits]

Such a rad variation to build some beastly Shoulders!! Will add it into the next meso cycle.

[@DominicT4799]

Thank you bro, just implemented these now. Make sure you guys master pike push-ups before you do this!

[@keelanenns4548]

Bro pike and pushups are no joke. I came barely get 3x10 imagine the overload potential for when I make it to actuall handstand push-ups and then add a deficit!

[@wallesdrop3026]

​​@@keelanenns4548yeah. and people still say that calesthenics is not scaleable. when people say that, I tell them to do 4 sets of 12 deficit tribble clap planche push ups. if they suceed, then they can say that again

[@StandStrength]

I started doing these again when I started wrestling The benefits to sport are incredible

[@AlexLeonidas]

Crazy to do them at your weight!

[@user-qv4fp9vm8u]

I can barely handle déficit pike push ups, cant wait till i can do these Thanks for inspiring us Alex!

[@ProteinMArchives]

Glad to see calisthenics content from you! I would love to see you try doing feet Elevated Ring Pikes!

[@DaLooseGoose11]

Went from a powerlifting routine to an all calisthenics routine recently as I'm cutting, and OMG i been doing these too!!! I can do them pausing at the bottom, and exploding up. I do it on my parallettes, myself, for full range of motion!!! My OHP is guaranteed gonna still be very strong if not stronger lol (best was 225lbs, 2 plates)

[@AlexLeonidas]

Crazy man!!!

[@nonattylimits]

Thats some crazy ohp strength!

[@MonkeyBarsEveryday]

that's sick

[@DaLooseGoose11]

@@nonattylimits yeah makin it to 200 was surprisingly easy, but makin it to 225 at the time, my god that was hard AF. was mostly a mental block, because it's 2 plates lol

[@someone-yj2im]

@@DaLooseGoose11 That's awesome! I'm also thinking about starting calisthenics and learning all these mobes. Any suggestions how to start?

[@lusitanus6504]

Love this exercise! After a long layoff from strength training I had to regress to an easier progression and rebuild my base with no rush.

[@azerty97212]

Same almost 1month without trainning

[@fornoRaisin]

This would be safer for the lower back I always used to get a pain in my back when I would over head press because of arching thanks for sharing this exercise your content is better than 99% of fitness videos

[@michaelsteinberg205]

Hey dude yesterday I tried doing my handstand push-ups like this. I still like facing away from the wall better, but I elevated the part where I push off from my hands for the first time ever instead of pushing off the floor. WOW!! My ant delts are the most sore they have been in months!

[@spencerschubert5001]

Good topic. I have only been able to get to the gym 2-3 times a week the last few months, so I swapped my shoulder press with these so I could do them on home-training days. It did take a long ass time to get from 2 to 4 reps though

[@PropertywithTeo]

Alex, you’re a beast. You continue to excel in all aspects of fitness. I’d love to see some content of your burpees or running (cardio) workouts!

[@AlexLeonidas]

Will definitely get some GPP footage for you guys!

[@PropertywithTeo]

@@AlexLeonidas You're the man Alex. Thank you for everything you do.

[@jack8998]

Going to do these when I hit peak bulk this winter, cinderblocks in the snow style. Awesome vid I’ll definitely refer back to this!

[@AlexLeonidas]

Best time is when bulked!

[@nonattylimits]

Bro! Post a vid that training!

[@jack8998]

@@nonattylimits for sure brotha I’ll do a training comp video in a few months!

[@jumbothompson]

I just watched one of your old videos on the same topic yesterday. Doing shoulder pressing just about everyday now. This movement is one of the best.

[@09dariii]

Is it usual to train the same thing every day with calestethics?

[@jumbothompson]

@@09dariii Sure, why not? Especially if you're trying to focus on a movement or body part that you want to get better. Just vary the intensity and the movement itself. For example if you're focusing on pull-ups, don't do overhand all the time or else there's a higher chance you'll injure something. With pressing you can do wall pushups, dumbells, barbells, kettlebells, sandbags etc ...vary it up, that's the key.

[@09dariii]

@@jumbothompson i was thinking because of sorenese ( idk if i spelled that corectly😅🙈). But it makes sense what u say, thnx 🙏🏼

[@jumbothompson]

@@09dariii If you're too sore obviously take a day or two off. Like I said vary the intensity. For myself I find that I can work certain movements almost everyday, others it's impossible. Shoulder pressing i can do often and I feel great. Pull-ups, not really.

[@brendan638]

2:13 "Quite honestly, disqualifies many of you" had me laughing so hard haha. I'm definitely included in this because I'm uncoordinated as shit.

[@AlexLeonidas]

Lmao this includes me too, can't barely balance myself without the wall!

[@isaacchurchill8068]

Finally hit a 225 standing OHP earlier this week. Can’t wait to try these out my next shoulder workout!

[@AlexLeonidas]

Well done on a serious 225!!! Even with your strength, these will still be humbling.

[@isaacchurchill8068]

Appreciate you Alex! Couldn’t have done it without all the great advice you put out.

[@craigpage1261]

Excellent vid, man. You’ve put this movement in my head already but now I’m going to work it in to the program.

[@Zhadowz]

Yeah this exercise just humbled me. I can do like 2-3 with my stomach facing the wall & around 5-6 with my stomach facing away. I think I’m going to build with my stomach to the wall for a couple of months & then move onto the harder version. I like how this exercise just bullied me. Now its time to go ape shxt. Thanks for your take Alex.

[@alexbaxter5167]

Alex, thankyou for uploading this!! Im recovering from a slipped disc and iv been looking for a way to push my shoulders hard without spinal loading. Tried these out today and they are amazing!!

[@mikemcnut3204]

You keep coming with fire bro. Keep up the real strength movements.

[@mihajlostosic2647]

Ayy caught the vid early. Keep up the great work Alex!

[@nahuelise4055]

The Legendary Paul Anderson used to do them and had one of the strongest presses of all time

[@boonga585]

Love the idea of the deficit. I usually just do these with paralettes.

[@MK-yt3ct]

I just got a quick suggestion for anyone doing these off plyo boxes and your boxes are wobbling a lot . Buy some bicycle tire tubes from Walmart, cut them and place them under the part that's wobbling to level it out till everything's stable. This exercise is hard af if you do it right.

[@rampagesmackssons508]

Appreciate the tip g 💯

[@DexFlex_YT]

the goat has posted again

[@SuperSeamus]

I’m below 120 lbs and did 69 parallette elevated pike push-ups today. I’ve never felt my shoulders worked this hard

[@jakezaragoza6091]

These by far are Golden💪🏽going to start implementing these in my work outs.let’s get jacked!

[@TeutobergForestryService]

I do handstand push-ups but I have never done them with a deficit. Chest and traps today, I’m bout to do these!!

[@N_L12]

That’s what missing me to bridge the gap between straddle and full planche. I’ve been such a lazy sh*t in terms of overhead pressing. Goal: 3x5 reps @10 kgs, with a deadstop at the end.

[@bilbobaginutopi2284]

I was waiting for this video!!!! Love deficit hspu!!

[@joon8161]

Yo alpha, I have a question only you can answer. I deadlift 365*2 squat235*1, 160 bw. having issues increasing max is on deadlift and rep work with deadlift makes me very nauseous. I use straps I don’t do sumo I’m 6’2 “DO I need TO WEAR a belt. Will that fix my problems and am I also at risk of injury for not wearing a belt.

[@AcidDeathRitual]

In this video a swarthy Celtic Roman destroys your upper body

[@powerlifting2k219]

Make a Deficit HSPU tutorial, bro. Great work!! 🏃🏻‍♂️

[@bmorgan2342]

Yes, i just realized why im lacking muscle in shoulder unlike last month and I just remember i did deficit handstand 8 reps back then

[@xyzz8722]

Learned wall hspu by mistake by doing deficit pike push ups because I train at home

[@KurokamiNajimi]

Lately I’ve gained more of an interest in calisthenic movements because of stimulus to fatigue. Once you know you can build muscle at any rep range that allows you to reach muscular failure and about what heavier weight does to the body you really start to see the value. Gonna buy some rings soon

[@AlexLeonidas]

Exactly! It's all about proximity to failure and there's a lot of great bodyweight movements that easily allow for this.

[@raymakerscalisthenics660]

Credit 99% of my shoulder gains to HSPU and planche work

[@AlexLeonidas]

Now that's what's up!!

[@samkim231]

I've been doing these as my main shoulder movement for a long time, mostly because I don't have access to weights. One thing though is I would recommend wearing socks or a sock on one foot so you can slide up more easily. Sometimes when I do these my foot gets a bit stuck on the wall.

[@AlexLeonidas]

Good suggestion, we want smooth gliding!

[@BrawnyKingFitness]

One of my favourite exercises. Really wished I had a way to elevate my hands. Still, made great progress with just normal handstand pushups.

[@alexchaney5582]

Buy two 1-step plastic step stools at your local hardware store.

[@kevinboueri1051]

I always find these a pain in the ass to set up, chairs or boxes will slide off, getting up and down is tricky, and this exercise is so frickin hard

[@ParvParashar]

Your strength is amazing! Excellent work. 💪👍🙏

[@MonkeyBarsEveryday]

I cannot do a single one yet 😄 I do partials, barbell OHP, and ring pike push-ups

[@RomanKondrachov]

Fully agreed! Handstand push ups are indeed amazing for shoulder growth. Also, they don't beat your CNS as much as the barbell overhead press variations do. 👍

[@hamin.]

for me, hspus helped grow my side delts very well without isolations even being needed

[@davida.calisthenics2705]

hell yeah hspu are insane, love your channel bro 💪

[@garrettbaratheon567]

I get the craziest chest pump ever when I do extended ROM regular horizontal pushups

[@AlexLeonidas]

Likewise brother, deficit pushups pump my chest more than anything else.

[@DarkMatter7283]

You know your doing it right when your front delts and serratus are sore af the next day. That’s me right now 😮‍💨

[@proper127]

Solid content as always 👊💪💪💪

[@compteyoutube3636]

Faire des pike handstand en decifit avec les anneaux de gym est aussi excellent!

[@AlexLeonidas]

Absolument!

[@az9324]

This topic deserved a separate video.

[@Bubz_Anonymous]

Was doing these during quarantine.. my head was red as a tomato after an amrap. Great for your upper chest too

[@gustavtennenbaumbinett9339]

Another way to increase ROM without equipment is to touch your chin on the ground each rep

[@TheoneD11]

Even regular push-ups are goated. Can use multiple variations. 😍

[@westcoastnaturalwolverine4068]

I did those since I was a kid inside when there were no weights to use and they do build ,but both backwards work top end better then facing the wall . Just do both its better for sure

[@nmnate]

I can't imagine how difficult these are. I can only shoulder press (for reps) about 90% of my body weight. Eventually I might be able to try 😅

[@domepiece11]

Even pikes with your knees on a box are hard. Put your hands on mini bosu balls (set of like 6” diameter for $30) and you get the instability plus a few extra inches of depth. They are great for push-ups too.

[@tanzo619]

This video was sick af haha

[@hypertrophydisciple]

Almost knocked over a vase trying to get out of the position. Other than that a great move lmao.

[@AlexLeonidas]

Lmao be careful man, making those gains though!

[@MatteoFitness]

It def not a waste of time without the deficit. If you move your head out the way the bottom becomes like a heavy incline press

[@Derwynn]

gonna try these in my program really cool video. Given you can do 3x15 or close to it at 180-190 I don’t think many can do 1 rep above 220lbs doing the math. I think deficit pike push-ups elevated would be a smart safe way to go

[@stoneageprude3021]

I'm a pretty uncoordinated guy and I just find that I feel wayyy more mobile doing wall assisted handstand/pike push ups instead of standing ohp

[@AlexLeonidas]

I feel you bro, I still struggle to balance myself on handstand support despite having all the strength.

[@UnprofessionalAthlete]

I gotta cop some shit to do a deficit on. I ain’t got no outside furniture lol. Might progress the ROM by using yoga blocks or whatever cheap thing I can find

[@ArminEghdamiDrums]

Checkin in early bois

[@AlexLeonidas]

Welcome aboard homie!

[@kobab4270]

Great video but I would add, there is a difference between headstand push up (touching ground with head) and handstand push up (touching ground with nose). The later is harder and also lengthens more the muscle. If you are too weak to do deficit HSPUs, do them without deficit and touch the ground with your nose at the bottom. And if you are strong you could do deficit handstand push ups while touching the ground with your nose. If you do proper form and properly align your body you are also hitting upper chest with that

[@kcmacdonald]

6’4” 220 Just got my nose to ground headstand push-up back, doing doubles with a pause and no stretch reflex I warm up by increasing the ROM of partial reps Last year I had clean sets of 5 going on, in between my rope climbs and I was doing doubles on parallettes with an extra 3 inch of ROM I think BTN and side pressing helped me with these because I don’t have the strongest OHP but I find these much easier than a 135lb strict press

[@scottpope6210]

You can do handstand push-ups at 220 pounds bw, but your strict ohp is 135? You are obviously very strong but carryover to bb press has a huge gap. I would concentrate on handstand push-ups and enjoy them, you are a natural.

[@richardhill4938]

Your posterior chain lag too far behind your shoulder and triceps. The movement patterns are too similar to have a gap that large. Working on lower back glutes the entire base that is used to stabilize your body when you OHP.

[@kcmacdonald]

@@scottpope6210 yeah the ROM of a headstand push-up is comparable to a press to the eye line, with a spotter I repped out 165 to the eyes for 10+ reps For me the strict press from a front rack compresses me too much and at 135 it’s a max effort single lol probably bad breathing mechanic/posture

[@scottpope6210]

Ok, that makes sense, your bb press weight you gave was for reps, those are good numbers as well, but l imagine handstand push-ups are much more fun. Also read back in 70's bodybuilder Frank Zane was big advocate of getting feet and legs higher than head to flush the brain clean, made sense to me

[@kcmacdonald]

@@richardhill4938 (rewrite for clarity + tone) Yeah I think it’s a lat/bracing problem my back is strong in extension and flexion but my rack obviously needs work I’m working pullovers and windmills to try to get my ribs working, plus rack holds and learning a different line of pulls for my rows Unfortunately most of my barbell pressing r n is Z or kneeling because of space limitations My deadlift and back extension are really strong my best lift is a snatch grip back ext deadlift, I need to improve my understanding of the clean and press

[@techyb8614]

If you can do 10 full range deep reps of this movement you have very, very strong shoulders

[@AlexLeonidas]

Agreed

[@luffebassen]

The dude bench 405 LOL I dont think more needs to be said.

[@techyb8614]

@@AlexLeonidas if you can do these weighing 170lbs and above you're a beast

[@keelanenns4548]

Bro I can’t even do one 😅 that is humbling. My shoulders aren’t proportionally small but clearly they aren’t strong. Looking forward to using this as a max effort shoulder exercise

[@wasabi5338]

Alex's core is strong as hell. I wonder how he avoids hernias though.

[@AlexLeonidas]

I wonder about that. Is it genetics, or smart training?

[@wasabi5338]

@@AlexLeonidas some said to avoid the valsalva, others said its genetics because its the fascia that breaks and that the core strength had nothing to do with it. My gymmate busted a hernia near the belly button on an OHP setting a rep PR, terrified everyone to not doing the OHP for quite sometime.

[@EBMproductions1]

Im doing decline pushups but gimme time ill get to these just to strengthen my shoulders.

[@AlexLeonidas]

One progression at a time!

[@EBMproductions1]

@@AlexLeonidas always brother, thanx for sharing your knowledge here.

[@stefandrpa770]

Paul Anderson used to do them as well 😄

[@stefandrpa770]

Lol commented that before finishing the video 😅💪🏻

[@giovannidalpozzolo3363]

I'm currently progressing them by slowly adding rom. Went from hands to the ground not even touching the ground with my heads to using low parallettes with max rom and my shoulders have exploded. Helping yourself with your feet is also a great regression when strenghtening new range of motion.

[@CoNiCuZn]

This light be dumb but next time you show these, can we also please set what your best are doing. I’m curious as to if you have your feet flexed or loose or where your feet are making contact with wall.

[@AlexLeonidas]

Will do, but doesn't matter that much since you'll find your groove and feet are gliding on the wall. The angle may change (more skinning at the start) but the form should come naturally/improve over time.

[@koleary1798]

Hi Alex, could you do a video showing how to get into position to do these?

[@MOJOverseManny]

If you can freestand freestand then mechanical drop set to the wall that way u don't lose the balance that took a long ass time to achieve

[@nikospantelis6492]

HSPU are vertical. You are doing them vertical at the bottom and horizontally when getting up (looking like a pushup). Your body isn't vertical head to toe.

[@AlexLeonidas]

Doesn't need to be 100% vertical, actually a slight angle lengthens the delts more (which is what I also do for seated OHP). Like I said, I'm doing this for hypertrophy, not to follow normal form standards.

[@nikospantelis6492]

@@AlexLeonidas So anybody could use this technique, even with standard no deficit HSPU, when his goal is hypertrophy?

[@AlexLeonidas]

@@nikospantelis6492 Yup, if you only care about size this is how I'd recommend it. For skill work, face the other way.

[@lolmaomgreat]

i could rep my 85 kg body 8 times with deficit handstand pushups but i could only ohp 84 kg once. it has a very good carryover for arms, shoulders and overall shoulder stability but ohp really really taxes the posterior chain and abs more than you think.

[@youpickedthewronghousefool4188]

ricardo milos is that you?

[@mr.potatohead6138]

Can't even do with no deficit, hard af!!

[@bernardoalbano1816]

Tf, almost noone can shoulder press their own weight, if you can do this exercise you are already a advanced lifter

[@FRHFourteen]

Hello Alex, I can do the non-defecit handstands and even then I can't fully get myself back up once my head touches the floor. What is a good workout to bridge the gap so I can atleast get comfortable with doing non - defecit one? And eventually get to doing the non defecit ones?

[@wherethewildthingsarenot]

NO ALEX, NO! *you're goated*

[@yahyag]

Not an elite over-head presser by FAR (it's probably my weakest movement when done standing haha). But have tried handstand pushups against a wall in the past and will definitely try out the deficit version. Thanks Alex.

[@othsasaa5386]

big salute to @fitnessfaqs

[@John_vs_Wild]

Yeah don’t worry Alex I definitely am not doing free standing deficit handstand pushups. It’s definitely because they aren’t optimal for hypertrophy that is absolutely the reason why I am not doing them

[@harisjaved994]

Is there anyone else who love to hear alex saying cuss words?

[@fornoRaisin]

You could play bane in a Batman movie

[@hajvozdra]

How to start doing this movement?(would do it on two chairs at home against a wall)

[@AlexLeonidas]

Zero difference to what I showed you here. The chairs are just like plyo boxes. Position them about a 25lb plates distance away from the wall and get to work!