Taking stocks: how to track progress in Handstands programing

We enter the year by asking ourselves where we are at, and defining where we are going: for this, we will discuss the proper way to track your handstand progress like a nerd.

Be honest - what is tracked can be improved.

Be playful - don’t take the results too seriously. It doesn’t matter if you’re not where you want yet ;)Go easy.

No one sane would do this entire assessment in one go and expect realistic, decent results.

I suggest you either:

→ do one block at a time, or

→ assess all 5 blocks for one shape at a time

Taking stocks

Pick the shape that suits for:

→ A closed shoulder angle, straight-ish handstands (this can be feet together, split legs, bent legs…)

→ An open shoulder angle, straight-ish handstands (ditto)

→ An open shoulder angle, piked handstand (this needs an overshot pelvis, ie tuck, diamond, straight pike or straddle).Then, assess:

'

Kick-up Technique

Kick-up into closed shoulder, straight position + freeze before landing: ___ out of 10

Kick-up into open shoulder, straight position + freeze before landing: ___ out of 10

Kick-up into open shoulder, piked position + freeze before landing: ___ out of 10

Finger control

Land B2W

.How many seconds can you hold yourself off the wall within one rep (no ping pong)?

Assess for:

The closed shoulder, straight position: ___ seconds

The open shoulder, straight position: ___ seconds

The open shoulder, piked position: ___ seconds

Overshot control

Set yourself up C2W.

Take-off (with clean technique).

How many seconds can you hold yourself off the wall within one rep (before going back to wall or bailing)?

Assess for:

he closed shoulder, straight position: ___ seconds

The open shoulder, straight position: ___ seconds

The open shoulder, piked position: ___ seconds

Freestanding floating capacity

Freestand

.How many 2-second freezes can you achieve?

Assess for:

The closed shoulder, straight position: ___ out of 10

The open shoulder, straight position: ___ out of 10

The open shoulder, piked position: ___ out of 10

Freestanding stamina

Your current FS PB.

Assess for:

The closed shoulder, straight position: ___ seconds

The open shoulder, straight position: ___ seconds

The open shoulder, piked position: ___ seconds

The next level

You can go much deeper down this rabbit hole.

And you can also (and often should) set yourself free of it to practice in a state of flow - where your handstand training is much more than a sum of numbers but first and foremost what brings you joy.

How you should take this vastly depends on your profile - what you likes, what motivates you, what holds you accountable. That's the kind of things we discuss in our first call through online coaching.

Depending on your needs and progress, other variables will be very interesting to track. Here is a snippet of the metrics I use myself:

I suggest you set a handful of times during the year where you take stocks, set a direction and a plan.

And then you adapt how closely you watch your progress depending on what suits you.