Some stuff you’ll need to know
The following workout templates are best suited for those looking to develop bent-arm pushing strength prerequisite to handstand pushups. There is no balance work in here, so I can’t say it will get you closer to the handstand pushup skill itself. But it will improve your capacity to progress if/when you do decide to address the technical balance component of the handstand push-up.
For those of you who are very eager to make this work apply to the HSPU skill directly: if I had to add one exercise, it would be tuck kipping HSPU from tripod headstand. There’s no tutorial on this exercise on the site yet, which is why I didn’t include it in the template. But if you incorporate this exercise on both workout days, after the working sets of pike pushups and before the accessory work, you can start to integrate the balance component of HSPU with the strength you’re developing in this program.
This is just a format for you to learn something generally about the way I might think about selecting/organizing exercises and progressive overload. For those who have some experience, you can add other exercises you like or find useful, and subtract exercises you don’t favor as much.
A bit about frequency
These workouts are meant to be rotated on a loose schedule, meaning you can vary the frequency (number of rest days between workouts) as you need. For those without much experience in strength work, generally higher frequency is okay. So maybe consider taking 2 days rest between workouts (Ex: pushing on Mon, Thu, Sun, Wed, and so on). For those on the other end of the spectrum who have significant experience with strength work and are quite strong, consider taking 3 or 4 days of rest between pushing days. This doesn’t mean you can’t practice handstands; but no bent-arm pushing work on those rest days.
The reason for my recommendation above is this: the stronger you are, the greater the tissue damage you can inflict on yourself in a workout. The greater the tissue damage, the greater the duration needed to recover or repair those tissues. Someone for example with a 5-rep max squat of 2x bodyweight will be able to cause far more tissue damage in a workout than someone with a 5-rep max squat of 1x bodyweight. Therefore the second person won’t need as long to repair those tissues and safely repeat or best their performance from the previous workout. This is an important general principle to understand when programming frequency (how often you do an exercise).
The RPE scale and why you should use it
Okay, lastly: before you take a look at the workout structure you’ll need to understand something about the RPE scale. RPE stands for “rating of perceived exertion,” and refers to the intensity of a movement. It’s based on a scale of 0-10. 0 represents no effort at all, at rest. 1 represents a very light effort that could be repeated for a long time. 10 represents an effort that is absolutely maximal and at the very edge of failure.
It’s useful to use a 10-rep set as an example here to give concrete context to RPE. Let’s say I can do 10 pushups, and even if you put a gun to my head I couldn’t do 11. That means this set is a true RPE 10. But if I stop at 8 reps, that means the set might be roughly RPE 8. If I stop at 4 reps, that’s maybe RPE 4. Notice I say “maybe.” It’s important to recognize that the scale is not necessarily about the number of reps. It’s about how difficult it FEELS.
This is an important distinction because our capacity to generate force (strength) varies from day to day, week to week, month to month—depending on a number of factors like psycho-emotional state, sleep, other recovery factors, nutrition, environmental stimuli, and on and on. So RPE offers a subjective scale by which we can rate the intensity of an exercise in any one given workout. Maybe a set is RPE 7 today, but next week the set at the same weight is RPE 10. Or maybe it’s the other way around. We need to have some way to account for that discrepancy and adjust accordingly, instead of jamming ourselves stubbornly into a set of numbers abstractly.
Keeping to the RPE scale listed here will help 1) ensure the work you do is recoverable and 2) mitigate the risk of injury and/or psychological burnout. In other words, moderating RPE helps make training more productive and sustainable.
Workout 1
Wrist warmup
Shoulder warmup, band-resisted overhead stick press: 2 sets 3 reps, slow tempo
(4 sec up, 4 sec down).
Pike pushup progression of your choice: 3 sets x 4 reps, 4 minutes rest, RPE 7
Full ROM horizontal pushups: 3 sets x __ reps, 4 min rest, RPE 7.
Choose a rep number that allows you to stay at this intensity.
Banded-resisted overhead stick press: 3 sets x 4 reps, same slow tempo.
Reclined breathing: 4-5 sec inhale, 8-10 sec exhale
(make sure you’re not still out of breath when you start this)
Workout 2
Wrist warmup
Shoulder warmup, band-resisted overhead stick press: 2 sets 3 reps, slow tempo
(4 sec up, 4 sec down).
Pike pushup progression of your choice: 3 sets x 4 reps, 4 min rest, RPE 7
Banded lateral raises: 2 sets x 8-10 reps, 3 min rest, REP 6-7
Banded overhead triceps extensions: 2 sets x 8-10 reps, RPE 6-7
Reclined breathing: 4-5 seconds inhale, 8-10 seconds exhale
(make sure you’re not still out of breath when you start this)
Applying progressive overload
After two rotations of these workouts, add 1 set to each exercise (except warmups).
After 4 rotations try increasing RPE by 1-2 for two rotations, and then return once again to the set numbers and RPE listed on the template. It’s okay at that point to increase the number of reps in a set (as you’ll be stronger) in order to keep RPE the same.
For more experienced practitioners who have been regularly incorporating bent-arm pushing strength work, it’s okay to start the first rotation with 3-4 working sets, and increase to 4-5 sets on the second rotation. But ask if you’re doing this because you truly need to increased the stimulus, or because you’re trying to prove something.
Actually this applies to everyone: it’s always worth it to ask, “Am I making this choice because it’s really in the best interest of my progress, or am I trying to prove something in front of myself or somebody else.”
I hope applying all of this proves useful for your practice. Please feel free to let me know in the comments what you think and how it goes for you.
Thanks to all of you for the continued support and awesome feedback you’ve given so far.
Devin