Learning to stand on your head is a prerequisite for learning other cool gymnastics techniques. Handstands are not only fun, but they’re also a great workout and look super cool too. If you spend some time practicing every day to improve your balance and strengthen your core and upper body strength, you will soon be able to complete a steady and beautiful handstand. But always remember, be patient. Practice makes perfect.

Method 1: Stand Upside Down without Support

• Find a suitable place to stand on your head. You’re going to fall a few times before you master the handstand, so it’s best to find a place with a mat to practice. The grass in the park or your backyard is a good choice. In these places, the surface is soft and the space is open. You will neither bump into others or other things nor hurt yourself.
• Stretch your limbs and joints. Be sure to do some warm-up exercises before doing a handstand. Warm-up exercises relax your muscles and make your body more flexible, thereby reducing your likelihood of injury. Before doing a handstand, do the following warm-up exercises: Move your wrists, ankles, and neck until these areas are completely relaxed. Put your legs together, bend over, and touch your toes with your hands. Without bending your knees, hold for 30 seconds. Stand up, place your feet about one foot wide apart, and bend over again to touch your toes. Run quickly around the neighborhood to relax your muscles. You don’t need to run too far. This is a warm-up exercise before challenging the handstand. Just run until your body is warmed up and you feel fully prepared.
• Find someone to watch you. When doing handstands for the first time, you can find someone to support you until you completely master your balance. Have a friend or family member stand in front of you and hold your legs to help you stand upright.
• Stand upright with your legs naturally apart. This is a preparatory action. Your feet, knees, torso, and head should be in a straight line, and your entire body should be perfectly straight. Then place your hands naturally on your sides.
• Kick your dominant foot forward, bend your knees, and land in a lunge with your back leg straight. The lunge when landing should not be too low, it just needs to be able to provide you with enough upward force. The direction of the kick and the direction of the lunge when the leg falls must be kept straight ahead, and not stagger around. Leaning to both sides will cause the body to twist when inverted, making it difficult to maintain balance.
• Lean forward. Just as your kicking foot is about to land, lean forward and imagine that you are on a seesaw. Straighten your arms and move your head toward the ground. Use a little force on your upper body and lean forward naturally. In this way, your body has established a balance system, and gravity is no longer an obstacle but can help you complete the handstand.
• Keep your arms straight as your hands touch the ground. Think of yourself as the letter T. The leg behind you is the upright part of the T, and your arm and dominant foot are the horizontal part. Stay in a T until your non-dominant leg comes off the ground. Draw your shoulders toward the sides of your neck, like a shrug. The shoulders cannot be relaxed and the elbows cannot be bent, otherwise, it is easy to get injured.
• Straighten your legs and body upward. The entire process of handstand, from stepping your feet, turning your body, placing your hands on the ground, to raising your legs, must be done in one go.
• Distribute the stress on both hands well. Distribute your weight between your palms and first knuckles. When moving your hands to balance the center of gravity, you should move forward, that is, toward the fingertips. If you move backward, that is, toward the base of your palms, you will easily lose your balance.
• When you want to end your handstand, spread your legs apart and lower your dominant foot first. Stand up after both legs are on the ground.
• Complete the final movement as you finish your handstand. When you finish the handstand, your arms should be touching your ears. Drop your arms to your sides with your palms facing out.
• Kick your legs upward to complete the handstand. The center of gravity must be above the shoulders so that your body can fall backward. When you first practice falling, you can bend your arms, curl up, and roll your body. When you become more proficient in the movement, you can try straightening your arms. This is the standard way to complete the fall. Learn to use your body to absorb the impact rather than tensing your muscles due to impact. Never put too much weight on either hand or ankle. Be sure to bring your head to your chest before rolling your body, otherwise your head will easily suffer too much impact.

Method 2: Stand Upside Down with Support

• Find a solid wall or a sturdy tree. Sometimes it is easier to learn a handstand against a wall or other support. If you are not sure about falling headfirst to the ground or are worried about falling, you can use this method to learn slowly.
• Think of your body as a folded shelf, with your face facing the wall and your feet on the wall. In other words, you lean against the wall and use your hands to push your body upward from your belly. So you should be close enough to the wall and your feet should be against the wall.
• Put your feet on the wall and then use your toes to walk up little by little. At the same time, his hands moved closer to the wall little by little. As you move closer to the wall, your body will slowly become vertical to the horizontal plane. Stop moving forward when your hands are about 30cm away from the wall. At this time, you have completed the handstand against the wall.
• Push against the wall to complete the handstand. Take one foot off the wall first, and slowly let all the weight of the body fall on the two hands to maintain balance. Then keep your body in a straight line, perpendicular to the ground, and keep your toes straight.
• Try starting a handstand facing a wall. Now that you are used to the feeling of being upside down, and roughly understand how to do it, it’s time to start doing it differently. Before you were leaning against the wall and climbing up bit by bit, but now you have to stand facing the wall. As long as you learn to stand on your head while facing the wall, you can do it anywhere and at any time.

Method 3: Challenge Yourself

• Stand on your head and make a horse. This is a very elegant way to end a handstand. It usually ends with a body roll to end the handstand, but this method ends with doing splits on the ground.
• Walk with your hands. Once you’ve mastered your handstand and feel confident in your balance, try walking around with your hands! Doing this regularly will make your muscles stronger.
• Do handstand push-ups. As your muscles get stronger, try doing handstand push-ups.
• Front flip. If you’re an aspiring gymnast, theoretically you should learn to do a front flip once you’ve mastered the handstand.