Handstand Push-Up Progression

The handstand push-up (HSPU) is the bodyweight overhead press, loading the deltoids (especially anterior/medial), triceps, and upper trapezius. Progression raises the hips over the shoulders until the body is fully inverted, increasing the share of bodyweight pressed overhead:

1. Pike push-up — feet on the floor, hips piked high so the torso angles toward vertical; a push-up performed in this folded position. → pike-push-up
2. Elevated pike push-up — feet on a raised surface, hips stacked higher over the shoulders for more vertical loading and ROM. → elevated-pike-push-up
3. Wall handstand push-up — full inversion against a wall for balance; press head-to-hands and back. → handstand-push-up
4. Freestanding handstand push-up — the same press with no wall, requiring a solid freestanding handstand balance first. Top of the ladder.

A reliable wall/freestanding handstand hold (handstand-progression) should precede full HSPUs. Within each step, deepening ROM (e.g. hands on parallettes/blocks for the head to pass below them) is a major added progression.

• Order: pike push-up → elevated pike → wall HSPU → freestanding HSPU.
• Each step raises the hips over the shoulders, increasing the bodyweight pressed overhead.
• Prerequisite for full HSPU: a stable handstand hold (wall, then freestanding).
• Deeper ROM (deficit on parallettes/blocks) is a key progression within a step.

• pike-push-up / elevated-pike-push-up / handstand-push-up — the steps.
• handstand-progression — balance prerequisite.
• deltoids / triceps — prime movers.