Handstand ProCore · On the floor
Pike leg raises
Sitting on the floor, legs straight in front of you, hands beside your knees. You lift one leg, then the other, then both. From the outside it looks like nothing at all. It is still what will decide whether you can one day do a press to handstand, because it's the same movement, the other way round.
Compression, the word that comes up everywhere, means that and nothing more: bringing your chest toward your thighs with your belly, without pulling with your arms.
- Family
- Core
- Equipment
- None
- Type
- Reps
Train this exercise in the app
How to do it
- Sit in a pike, legs straight in front of you, back straight, hands by your knees.
- Start with one leg only, then the other, then both together.
- Bring your chest toward your thighs through the effort.
- Lower with control, without letting the leg drop.
The two mistakes that keep your legs on the floor
Pushing on your hands. Your arms push the floor away, your torso rises, and your legs come up by leverage. Your belly does nothing any more. Your hands are there to steady you, not to carry: keep their contact light.
Sitting with a rounded back. When your hamstrings pull, your pelvis tips back and your back rounds. From there your legs have no chance of leaving the floor. Sit on a folded cushion or a book to lift your pelvis, and straighten your back before you start.
A coach in your ear
Upside down, you can't read a screen. In the app, a voice guides you through the exercise and tells you what to fix right when you need it. For example, when your legs barely leave the floor:
“Even a small lift counts”
Train this exerciseRelated exercises
Hollow body holdThe handstand shape, practised lying on your back with the lower back pressed down.
Wall pike holdBody folded at a right angle, feet on the wall at hip height: the position where your shoulders start to carry.
Wall plankFeet on the wall at hip height: the first time your shoulders carry your weight overhead.All exercises: the catalog