Open Gym, 9/5 to 9/11

Handstand Push-Ups

For this week’s Open Gym programming, we’re turning your world upside down. We’ve included mobility, multiple steps to help you work towards kipping handstand push-ups, and even a little bonus unique to this week’s Open Gym.

Pre-Mobility for ALL LEVELS

• 3-4min Upper Back & Thoracic Spine Rolling
  • WATCH THIS VIDEO from Train Heroic on rolling out the upper back with a foam roller and lacrosse ball
• 3-4min Band Assisted Bully Stretch
  • WATCH THIS VIDEO from KStar/Mobility WOD on using a resistance band to help loosen up internal rotation of the shoulder (as well as neck tension)

Handstand Push-Up & Kipping Handstand Push-Up Progressions

15-20min practice, start at Step 1, and work as far through the following steps as possible. Continue working on any step in a progression you struggle to complete, and do not progress beyond any step you fail to complete or advance to a step you are uncomfortable undertaking.

1. 5 Wall Walks
   • hold for a 3-1000 count at the top of each
2. 10 Handstand Kick-ups
   • don’t know how to do a kick-up? check out CFDC’s blog post, “Handstand Push-Up 101,” with a great intro on the subject, including a link to an awesome demo video
3. 1 x 5 Tripods
   • start with head on ab-mat, hands on floor; engage the abs and attempt to place the knees on the elbows (one at a time) to get into tripod pos’n, hold for a 3 count, & drop feet back to floor
4. 10 alternating Single Knee-to-Chest in Handstand Position
   • kick-up into the handstand position, press your low back into the wall, slowly lower one knee down to the chest, extend the leg straight, and then lower the other knee down to the chest; repeat for 10 total reps (5/side)
   • all reps should be performed unbroken (without dropping out of the handstand position)
5. 5 Handstand Negatives (head to an ab-mat)
   • kick-up into the handstand position, then slowly lower down until your head touches the ab-mat, then drop away from the wall
   • do NOT crash onto the ab-mat and do not progress beyond this step if you lack the requisite control to lower down to the ab-mat
6. 5 x 1 Tripod + 1 Knee-Lift
   • once in tripod position, engage abs, lift knees up off of elbows for a brief second, lower, and then drop feet back to floor (scale-up by extending feet all the way up into a headstand)
7. 5 Double Knee-to-Chest in Handstand Position
   • kick-up into the handstand position, press the low back into the wall, slowly lower both knees down to the chest, and then extend legs straight again; repeat for 5 total reps
   • all reps should be performed unbroken (without dropping out of the handstand position)
8. 3 Strict Handstand Push-Ups
   • kick-up into the handstand position, then slowly lower down until your head touches the ab-mat, then press back up into the handstand position without any kipping
   • do NOT crash onto the ab-mat and do not progress beyond this step if you lack the requisite control to lower down AND press back up
9. 3 x 1 Tripod to Handstand against wall (sorry, grainy video, but you should get the idea)
   • once in tripod position, engage abs, then explosively drive the hips and heels towards the ceiling to press up into the handstand position; perform as individual reps

BONUS
Since this week’s Open Gym ends on September 11th, we’re adding this extra bit of conditioning. For those of you who have already undertaken the above progression, complete the following version of CrossFit’s 9-11 Workout (you may either complete the RX’d version, or the Scaled version; do NOT mix and match scaling options)

RX’d
2001m Row
11 Box Jumps (30”/24”)
11 Thrusters (125/83)
11 Burpee Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups
11 Power Cleans (170/120)
11 Handstand Push-Ups
11 KB Swings (American Standard, 32kg/24kg)
11 T2B
11 Deadlifts (170/120)
11 Push Jerks (110/75)

Scaled
2001m Row
11 Box Jumps (24”/20”)
11 Thrusters (95/63)
11 Burpee
11 Pull-Ups (band assisted, or scale further to ring rows)
11 Power Cleans (115/83)
11 Close-grip Push-Ups (tips of the thumbs should touch while doing all push-ups)
11 KB Swings (24kg/16kg)
11 T2B (/OR/ scale to Hanging Knee Raise)
11 Deadlifts (115/83)
11 Push Jerks (75/53)