Most people do overhead press variations and isolation exercises to train their upper body pushing muscles (e.g., triceps, shoulders, and chest). But there’s one bodyweight exercise that’s very overlooked and that will challenge even the strongest of humans… that’s the handstand push-up.
Now, it’s not for everyone as you do have to be able to lift your legs overhead and press yourself up from an upside-down position. But for those who are capable, it makes for a superior exercise that you can do almost anywhere.
In this guide, we’ve explained how to do it with variations, tips, and more.
- Target Muscle Group: Triceps brachii, deltoids
- Type: Hypertrophy, strength
- Mechanics: Compound
- Equipment: None/bodyweight
- Difficulty: Advanced
Muscles Worked
Triceps brachii
If you want to build big and powerful triceps it’s hard to beat the handstand push-up because it’s an arm heavy exercise. If you have weak triceps forget about attempting an exercise at such an advanced level.
The triceps muscles are three heads on the back part of the upper arm that include lateral, medial, and long. When you press against an object or support your bodyweight on extended arms all three heads are working to extend the arm.
Related: The Best Lateral Head Triceps Exercises for Bigger Arms
Deltoid anterior
Directly above the biceps on the upper arm, the deltoid anterior is a part of the three shoulder heads that give us movement in the ball and socket glenohumeral joint. The anterior delts brings the arm forward into arm flexion.
Deltoid lateral
The outermost deltoids head, lateral shoulder muscles abduct the arm starting at 15 degrees and ending at 100 degrees. If it’s width you’re after then these muscles are essential.
Read: Best Side Delt Exercises for Broader, More Powerful Shoulders
Pectoralis major clavicular head
The pectoralis major is primarily responsible for arm movement at the shoulder joint. Up near the clavicle is the upper portion of chest fibers that cause flexion of the extended arm. When you bring the arms overhead the upper fibers can work.
Elevating the feet during any push-up variation allows us to place more of an emphasis on this muscle.
Pectoralis major sternal head
The chest is a multi sectional muscle consisting of different heads. The lowermost head is called the sternal lower because it’s near the sternum. The fibers help pull the arms down below the chest and adduct them inward.
Related: How to Build Bigger Shoulders: Overhead Press Hypertrophy Guide
How To Do A Handstand Push-Up
The handstand push-up is more of an advanced movement which means you should already be able to do a handstand if you are to safely and effectively perform this exercise.
If you can hold a handstand then you’re most of the way there but here’s a basic guideline of how to do it.
- Get into a handstand with your arms wider than shoulder-width, feet together, and hands pointed forward. Find a hand position comfortable for you.
- Lower your body down by moving your shoulders forward and keep your head lifted. Your elbows should be back and not out to the sides. Your upper arms should be about parallel to the ground at the bottom.
- Making sure to keep your body straight, press yourself back up to the starting position. and repeat for the desired number of reps.
Here’s a great video example of the handstand push-up that also includes tips…
Handstand push-up tips
- You want to maintain a straight body throughout the movement. If you have to arch your back, this could be due to a lack of total body control and shoulder strength.
- Your body should not lower into a horizontal position as this also means overcompensation for a lack of strength and control.
- You want to keep your elbows back and closer to your body. This allows you to move your body forward and it also prevents shoulder injury.
- You can also use parallette bars that will allow you to use a larger range of motion but it also requires more strength.
- You should be able to hold a straight and bent-arm handstand comfortably to be able to do this exercise.
- If you can’t do a handstand push-up, use progressions until you can. Pike push-ups and negative/wall handstand push-ups are good ways to progress. Check the above videos for great tips.
Read: 13 Ways to Avoid Shoulder Pain in The Gym
How To Incorporate Handstand Push-Ups Into Your Training Regime
The handstand push-up is simply an exercise that you’d do to train your shoulder and triceps muscles.
That means you’d treat it like any exercise. Therefore, if you had limited resources, you could do this exercise only to maximize the challenge of training your shoulder muscles. But it’d be better to include it with your other shoulder exercises.
Because it’s technically a shoulder press variation, you may not want to do a lot of other overhead presses in addition to it, especially if you do pressing movements several times per week.
But how you incorporate it really depends on your goals because if you’re training just to get better at this movement, then practice makes perfect.
Sets/reps
We recommend anywhere from 2-3 sets to a few reps shy of failure for safety, or if you’re more advanced, you can go to failure.
But there’s no right answer to this as again, your goals will determine how you want to use it.
8 At-Home Shoulder Exercises For Big Gains
Wrapping Up
The handstand push-up is a challenging exercise and there’s no doubt about that. However, it’s also extremely effective for building up the upper body muscles and overall fitness.
There are ways to progress into the handstand push-up as everyone has to learn it at some point. But for those who want to hop right in, we hope you found these tips helpful.
