HANDSTANDS EVERY DAY

Handstands are extremely underrated as an exercise and the main reason for that is that most people think they just can’t do them.

 
Just because you aren’t a gymnast or an advanced yogi, yet, doesn’t mean you can’t start doing handstands today. Have you tried doing a handstand? We admit, it is pretty challenging, but of course if something is challenging that usually means it comes with amazing benefits. Challenges come with training and training makes you better.

 
Besides bringing out your inner child and just being fun to do, there are actually several ways that handstands can be beneficial to you, especially if you do them every day.

 
So whether you do them against the wall or manage to do them free standing, here are our TOP 10 REASONS why you should do handstands every single day.

 
#1 Upper Body Strength
In order to stay upside down in a handstand for any length of time, you need massive amounts of shoulder, arm and upper back strength. It’s not uncommon at all for beginners to start shaking almost immediately when going up into a handstand. Just think about it… Handstand means that you are literally standing on your hands, therefore you have to support all your body weight with your arms and upper body. In the beginning you may not be able to hold yourself up for a very long time, but keep at it and increase the time you are in a handstand slowly and we have no doubt you will notice improvement in upper body strength in no time. Once you built up the strength in your upper body, try some handstand push-ups. We know they are extremely challenging, but they will help you make your arms and shoulders a lot stronger.

 
#2 Spacial Perception
When you get into a handstand, you literally turn your world upside down and get a whole different view point. If you haven’t done a handstand before, it can be very disorienting, but the more you practice handstands, the more your brain will get used to the new perspective and improve your spacial awareness.

 
#3 Increased Balance
Like we just mentioned, handstands improve your spacial awareness and therefore your proprioception. Proprioception is the sense of your relative position to neighboring parts. Improving proprioception will improve your ability to balance by being able to react more quickly to changes in your position.

 
#4 Mood Booster
We do this all the time… when we need to boost our mood, we go upside down for a few minutes and the effect is immediate. Exercise, even something as simple as doing a handstand for a moment, causes your brain to release happy hormones. Endorphins are naturally produced feel-good chemicals that your brain releases when you exercise. We’ve all heard about a runner’s high before… this is caused by the release of endorphins. Similarly, if you go upside down you directly influence your happiness and mental state of being.

 
#5 Reduced Stress
Handstands can help you reduce stress by increasing blood flow to your brain, which decreases the production of the stress hormone cortisol. And of course, we all know that exercise in general is good for your mental health. Additionally, like we just mentioned above, handstands release certain happy hormones, including endorphins, which will make you happier, reduce stress and can also reduce the effects of anxiety and depression.

 
#6 Core Strength
Like we learned earlier in benefit #1, of course handstands train your arms, shoulders and upper body to be stronger, but that isn’t all. Being upside down standing on your hands forces you to engage your core. In order to balance on your hands, you have to muster all the abdominal strength that you can gather. Because handstands require a lot of balance, it forces you to use various muscles in your core to be able to stay stable on your hands.

 
#7 Stimulates Endocrine System
The Endocrine System is a collection of glands that release hormones into your body. These hormones aid in the regulation of things like metabolism, mood, sleep, sexual function, growth, development, reproduction, stress and tissue function. Being upside down in a handstand leads to an increased amount of blood flow to your brain and this increased blood flow also stimulates the thyroid glands, which help regulating your metabolism. More specifically, the increased blood flow causes an increased production of T3 and T4, two hormones that help boost your metabolism and therefore help you burn more calories and assist in weight management. Another gland that benefits from this increased blood flow are the adrenal glands, which produce the stress hormone cortisol. Being in a handstand decreases the cortisol production and reduces stress. Last but not least, the pituitary gland is also affected. The pituitary gland sets a healthy weight point for your body with increased blood flow. So the bottom line is that handstands help your glands to be more effective in the production of healthy hormones.

 
#8 Improved Musculoskeletal Health
A huge benefit of handstands is that it increases the musculoskeletal health in your upper body. Simply put, we are talking about bone health. You increase bone health by performing weight bearing exercises and of course doing handstands is considered weight bearing. You hold your entire body weight with your arms. Improving bone health works the same way as increasing muscle strength. Weight bearing exercises force your bones to create more bone matter and the more weight bearing exercises you do, the more cells your bones create. So handstands force the bones in your hands, arms and the rest of your upper body to produce more bone mass.

 
#9 Improved Circulation and Breathing
Flipping your body upside down in a handstand, ‘inverts’ normal blood flow. This means circulation is increased in your upper body while at the same time relieving pressure on your feet and legs. The increased blood flow to your upper body stretches your diaphragm, which increases blood flow to your lungs and improves your breathing. The flood of blood to your brain is at the same time calming and energizing and invigorates your nervous system.

 
#10 Break Down Barriers
Handstand is an advanced pose and you are bound to be unsuccessful in the beginning. Additionally, a lot of people are afraid to even try to go upside down. But if you have the determination to stay committed to get through the fear and challenges even if you do get frustrated every now and then, you will feel a huge sense of achievement when you do master your handstand. If you take the time to develop handstands and build the strength to get it done, you find yourself capable of a lot more than you thought. This will build confidence, strength and perseverance that can flow over into other areas of your life as well. And just to be clear, we are not talking about egocentric confidence, but helping to break down barriers and stories that stop you from thinking you can do something.

 
After reading this, we hope we inspired you to start doing handstands today. But start slow, find a wall or a friend first and begin with assisted handstands. Once you become more comfortable and gain more strength you can go full force and try doing them unassisted. Of course it’s always a good idea to find an experienced yoga teacher to help you master one of our favorite poses. We’ll be happy to help you.

 
ARE YOU READY TO GO UPSIDE DOWN?
Joschi & Monika
#BoldNaked