Q&A: Fear of falling/ Falling Safely/ Preparing the wrists - The Art of Handbalancing

[@themeparknotice9247]

Natalie thank you for making these videos, there aren’t really any professional hand balancers who make tutorials so I find your videos very helpful

[@NatalieReckert]

Thank you very much! That is very encourraging to hear!

[@vincentduhamel7037]

Thanks for teaching us.

[@martin__chaser]

Nice, but I can't wait for the next week's part already :D !

[@SHANCHAOLINSI]

Thank you so much for all your effort and help, Natalie 🙏😊

[@NatalieReckert]

Thank you for the feedback and support!

[@alexiscabareda7800]

I am your fan!! 💙

[@sylwiavaclavekphotography]

Thanks for great and very informative video. Especially like the tips on wrist exercises, will start implementing them today.

[@NatalieReckert]

Hello Sylwia, thank you! That is great!

[@lionkingmatiouz3441]

Thank you Natalie ;)

[@clray123]

The first tip not only makes falls less likely, but it also helps a novice like myself enter the handstand with more confidence and less effort in the first place. I'd call it a bold vertical dive onto your head into the swimming pool aka the floor rather than tipping over like a stick while trying to slow down when reaching the vertical position (which is, for beginners, where the core will give out and you will continue the deadly backbend created as soon as your hands touched the floor in that head-and-chest forward position). Obviously you don't want to take it too literally with diving on your head, so the arms must be ready to support your full weight. But as Natalie described it, momentum directed toward the floor with an intent to push away vertically off it is very helpful. And if you wanted to push someone away forcefully, you would not do it with your chest popping forward, you would most likely round the back and brace... same move works against the floor in handstand. As for wrists, I do a lot of the turning out thumbs, and I find it far less painful and aggravating for wrists that way. In contrast, flexibility exercises, alas, seem to make the wrist soreness after a handstand session more risky. (Although doubtlessly my wrist flexibility has increased through the handstand practice.) Based on recommendations from yoga instructors for positions such as downward dog it seems anatomically more sensible to put more weight on the inside of the wrist rather than on the outside, so that the crossed forearm bones form a straight line with and distribute the weight onto the base of the index finger. I imagine that the amount of rotation of wrist which accomplishes that might also differ individually. Or is there a reason why non-parallel wrists are "bad" for handstand (except for aesthetics)?

[@NatalieReckert]

Hi, thaks for the elaborate response. I agree that you should push through the L-Shaped inside part of your hand between index finger and thumb. If you want to advance in handbalancing the finger-facing-forward position is important because for more complex balancing positions and moves that go beyond and planch or a normal straight line handstand you need to use the biggest possible range for balancing that the wrists have to offer. And that is best achieved with fingers facing front as the strongest balancing adjustments occur front and back for which it is better to have 4 fingers available than one. Thumbs turned to the front also make it harder to elevate the shoulders while maintaining the holow body shape, you are more likely to sit in your shoulders. And when it comes to one arm handstands, it will make your body rotate. In a one arm handstand you can observe that the body naturally alligns itself in a way that the thumb faces the side.

[@clray123]

@@NatalieReckert Thanks for the explanations!

[@dhruvayogadesevilla497]

Thank you very much for this video. It's very useful to me. The most the first part of video

[@NatalieReckert]

Thank you! Happy to hear that!

[@TaniaHegger]

Hi Natalie! I'm so happy that I found you on the internet! I have a mismatched hips problem due to the birth of my daughter....my hips never were the same after that...I have the feeling there're not really conectect to my body, because they're kind of heavy to lift from the floor...do you have a tipp for me? thanks in advance!

[@NatalieReckert]

Hello Tania, Thank you for this contribution. I wish I had an online forum for questions like this because I have had a few mothers approach me in the last years with similar questions. I don't have a lot of experience with this but my advice would be to do an intensive core workout, something like two sets of 60 sits ups of different types, involving the side muscles and the diagonal abdominal muscles and/or pilates every day. I used to have a very unstable lower back and the only way to change this was to do a rigorous core workout and create a corset of supporting muscles around my spine.

[@TaniaHegger]

@@NatalieReckert thank you so much Natalie for the Tipp ! I'll look into it! Have a lovely day!

[@helenbarrett6451]

Hello Natalie:) what sports benefit most from learning to hand Stand? I imagine swimmers could benefit. Kids at school just being able to sit at their desk longer also. Ps opening and closing Ur hands in the swimming pool could be a good thing to do

[@NatalieReckert]

I think it prepares you really well for most other physical activities. During last year's lockdown I mentored a group of young adults through my 30 day couch to handstand course and they really enjoyed it. I think it is great for anyone really. thank you for your thoughtful comments.

[@limonera]

Thanks for your videos, Natalie

[@NatalieReckert]

Hi Sara, thanks for your feedback! I know what you mean! When you kick up you should not allow the hips to evver tilt backwards but instead focus on hitting the hollow body shape straight away. I will see if I can make another video that relates to your question.

[@freddydancer]

Hugs Natalie Reckert & thanks for the tips ,I just stared last year but still difícult but not imposible ,,, So please letme know how i could get more power to stand at my rigth hand or left or how is the tecnic please

[@NatalieReckert]

Hello Alfredo, thank you for the compliment. Here is a video on one arm handstand practice that you may find helpful: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaemdGieqs59h7s

[@brandonx19]

Thank you Natalie for your informative videos. Do you have any advice on how to integrate the handstand practice with my regular workouts? Because I find the handstand practice to negatively affect my regular workouts and vice versa.

[@NatalieReckert]

Hello Brandon, remind me of what your background is and what you practice as a regular workout?

[@brandonx19]

@@NatalieReckert Bodyweight training, pull ups, dips, push-ups, squats. Plus I lift things all day at my job. I find handstand practice puts a lot of pressure on my shoulders.

[@NatalieReckert]

Mhh, its hard to tell from a distance but it sounds like you would benefit from including mobility training in your routine. My guess is that your shoulder opening and thoracic spine mobility is not great and you are not in an optimal handstand position. Because ultimately handstands should make you better at whatever else you train. And if you do bodyweight training, handstands should not be too challenging for your shoulders unless the weight distribution is not in a straight line. I hope that helps