I am proud to announce the results of this 3-month-long nerdy and grand experiment! If you haven’t read the earlier parts, please do so as they are chock full of info!

Part 1: I set the stage for the plan to do decline pike pushups nearly everday for 6 weeks with the goal of 9 reps specifically. (Plus much more details like % intensity at different heights, 1-RM calculations and more).

Part 2: I share the results and experience of those 6 weeks in great detail. I was “able” to do 1 handstand pushup but with unacceptable form: back arching to the max with feet floundering uncontrollably. (It made for a great video!)

I clearly needed to keep getting stronger, so I continued with a new cycle of pike pushups with the feet elevated even higher and this blog post is all about this part of the journey…

The new goal was to achieve at least 7 reps of these:

With the hips elevated to hip height, these are about 83% of the bodyweight load. And according to the 1RM calculator table, at 83% intensity, one might be able to perform a single HSPU (100% intensity) if they can do at least 7reps.

These pike pushups at hip height felt extremely difficult.

They are only supposed to be 7% harder than the previous setup (feet elevated to knee height) but they were way harder experientally. Every step of the way was a struggle. Just achieving 6 reps alone was a big deal. I remember being elated that day. Then when it came to achieving 7 reps, it was a real doozy! I had to repeat the previous days rep-scheme many times to consider it conquered. It took some perseverance to hit two sets of 7 reps to seal the deal!

Onto the Results!

Recap of the two cycles:

Coincidentally, each cycle was exactly 6 weeks long and I did them nearly everyday.

Pike Pushups with Feet Elevated to Knee Height

• October 22, 2018: 4, 3, 2, 1, 1 reps (11 reps in a session)
• December 7, 2018: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 reps (35 reps in a session)
• 6 weeks to go from 11 reps to 35 reps with 76% intensity.

Pike Pushups with Feet Elevated to Hip Height

• January 4, 2019: 4, 3, 3, 2, 1 reps (13 reps in a session)
• February 15, 2019: 7, 7, 6, 5, 4 reps (29 reps in a session)
• 6 weeks to go from 13 to 29 reps with 83% intensity.

Okay, so I hit my goal of 7 reps of decline pike pushups with feet elevated to hip height… could I do a proper handstand pushup yet?!

The answer is a resounding YES, YES, YES. Clearly, Medax’s licks were anabolic.

The form is very far from perfect. In fact, I consider it poor. My back is arched but at least it isn’t TERRIBLE like my previous attempts. And before this, in the previous cycle, when I tried 1 rep, I couldn’t muster up another. But yesterday, I did FOUR of these single reps. And today I did another 4 sets of singles!

Some musings on my newfound strength: The friction of the socks against the wall make it very difficult and keeping both feet pointed is a true challenge that actually makes it quite hard. I also learned that my hands were originally way too close to the wall and doing it slightly further away is perfect. The arching of the back, will get better with time as my pushing strength improves.

I feel really good about having this new shape to work on. Now my new goal is to do 5 reps of these in a row with perfect form. This will probably take a while.

So what’s next?

Well, as a result of this, I learned what it takes to do proper pike pushups perfectly! They are actually quite technically and very intricate to do consistently well. But lucky for you, I’ve been amassing all these tips for the next blog post so you can know you’re doing them right! Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

The post Using the Pike Pushup to do a Handstand Pushup (Part 3, The Finale!) appeared first on Antranik Kizirian.

Recap: Goal was to achieve at least 9 reps of these feet-elevated pike pushups

Why 9? Well, the question was… since those pike pushups are around 75% intensity of full bodyweight, and the 1RM (1-rep-max) table says you need to be able to do 9 reps of something at 75% intensity to potentially exert 1-rep at 100% intensity, will I be able to do one clean, proper handstand pushup if I can do at least 9 of these pike pushups with perfect form? That was the test.

So I did pike pushups almost everyday for 6 weeks to get to those 9 reps.

Initially it was simply a matter of getting used to the exercise and it was great that I was doing it so often. It felt truly difficult pushing in that vertical direction and it was quite humbling overall as to how difficult the true HSPU must be. In just 6 weeks, I tripled the volume!

• October 22, 2018: 4, 3, 2, 1, 1 reps (11 reps in a session)
• December 7, 2018: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 reps (35 reps in a session)

So after I achieved that, the time came to test if I could do one HSPU. What were the results?

Not really a success, but not really a complete failure either considering this was only one training cycle in just 6 weeks.

I was able to do 1 rep with bad form. Then, a clean negative but couldn’t press out of it. And then a couple partials which felt really good.

Lucky for you, I took video of these candid attempts complete with laughter at my graceful fails:

So I couldn’t muster up a clean, proper HSPU yet from this single training phase, but I am very close. I feel stronger than ever and the negative felt super solid and I knew I could push back at any earlier point. It’s that final point where the nose boops the ground where it’s hardest. Note that, I’m also doing my darndest to make sure my forearms never move backwards. Also, if my hands were further away from the wall, it would’ve been much easier probably, but I’m doing it with my hands close to the wall because this mimics the true HSPU.

So what now? More Pike Pushups?

I spent a couple days to rest and research how to proceed:

1. Do I do more reps of pike pushups with the feet at the same height?
   • Nope, I’m way too bored of this exercise already.
2. Do I do partial-ROM HSPU and increase reps/range?
   • It sounds nice but a failed rep would mean my head hits a wooden yoga block.
3. Do I raise the feet up higher to increase intensity and build the reps up?
   • This was the winner!

New cycle: Pike Pushups with feet elevated even higher (and hands on blocks for more range)

This is my life now:

• OLD: Pike Pushup with feet elevated to knee height (18″/46cm) = 135lbs / 61kg (77% of 180lbs)
• NEW: Pike Pushup with feet elevated to hip height (30″/76cm) = 150lbs / 68kg (83% of 180lbs)

I thought 6% was not going to be a big difference, but the exercise felt significantly more difficult.

And now, with the blocks elevating my hands, I know that I’ll be stronger in a fuller range, more akin to an overhead press using weights or a handstand pushup using parallel bars. Also, a 13° gain in range is great!  Strength is built in the range you train it in (+7°) so I know that one day I could just go into a tripod headstand and push myself up into handstand. (Oh boy that’s gonna be cool!)

Side Note: The decline blocks are one of my favorite tools. They help reduce all wrist pressure off any hand-balancing endeavors. (By the way, should I make and sell these decline blocks? If anyone would be interested, let me know. I might make a limited batch of them.)

So according to the 1RM calculator table, at 83% intensity, I might be able to perform at least one HSPU if I can do 7 of these pike pushups.

In conclusion, in 6 weeks, I tripled the amount of pike pushups I could do with the feet elevated at knee height. When I got to 9 reps, I tested to see if I was strong enough to do a single HSPU. I wasn’t, so I continued the pike pushups, but with the feet higher up, making it about 7% more intense. When I get to 7 reps of that, I will test to see if I can do one HSPU and then this experiment will be over. But the journey never ends and by that point I’ll have a goal of hitting at least 5 HSPU’s, which I will probably methodically document as well!

Update: Here’s Part 3 of this HSPU Journey!

Hope that was helpful or inspirational in some way! In the meantime, I’m almost done with my Hip Flexibility Program, woohoo! It’s one of the most progressive, feel-good videos I’ve ever made that includes fantastic passive and active flexibility including functional flows that end up stretching nearly every muscle of your lower body all in a nice flow. (Yep I’m kind of proud of it!) Anyhoo… see you soon! (Update: Here’s the hip flexibility program, too!)

The post Using the Pike Pushup to do a Handstand Pushup (Part 2, The Results!) appeared first on Antranik Kizirian.

Note: I am not talking about a freestanding HSPU. That requires a solid freestanding handstand which I have not maintained. I am only talking about the goal of achieving the strength for a chest-to-wall HSPU.

This is one of those moves that I worked on in the past, but have neglected for at least a couple years so I have to build up the strength for it again. And that’s somewhat of a blessing in disguise because I get to do it in a methodical manner and share how I am doing! And will update as I keep going.

The main progression exercise I’ll be using as a stepping stone will be these feet-elevated pike pushups

Pike pushups, with feet elevated or not, require mastery of proper pushups. Proper form is crucial and easily neglected for pike pushups, even more-so than regular pushups. (Even I, a stickler for form, used to do it poorly before as well.) Notice how my lower arm (forearms) and elbows never go backwards or flare outwards during the movement? The forearms never go backwards even the slightest bit. The cue is to send the shoulders forward so the head goes well ahead of the hands. And notice how I go until the nose boops the ground.

Curious about how far away pike pushups are from HSPU’s in terms of intensity, I got my scale out and put my hands on them in the pike pushup positions to see what my weight would be.

As of this time my bodyweight is exactly 180lbs (81.5kg).

When I put my hands on a scale…

• Other interesting observations are that making the distance of the feet and hands further apart by a few inches (in case someone doesn’t have the hamstring flexibility), doesn’t reduce the intensity by more than a few pounds (only 1-2%)!
• Another notable observation is that raising one leg up doesn’t intensify the movement as much as one would think. It only makes the scale read a few pounds heavier (only 1-2%)!
• And just for fun… when I did a downward dog (shoulders far behind the wrists), the scale reads 83lbs. (46% of bodyweight)

So with this info at hand, we can calculate how many pike pushups one would need to do, to get to one handstand pushup using a 1RM chart.

Now that we know that a pike pushup is ~66% of the intensity of a HSPU. And a foot elevated pike pushup is ~77% of the intensity of a HSPU, we can use a 1RM (one-rep max) chart to find out how many reps of these exercises one should be able to do, to get to one HSPU.

The above chart shows that if you could do a maximum of, say, 9 reps of an exercise (first column), that is around 77% of your 1-rep max (second column). So if you could do 9 reps of an exercise, you probably have the strength to do ONE rep of that same exercise, with 30% more weight or intensity (third column).

You could put it the other way around too: If someone could do only 1 HSPU, and a pike pushup is 66% of your 1RM, then that person should be able to do 12-15 pike pushups. And since a foot elevated pike pushup is 77%, maybe around 9 of those.

So the question now for me is… if I build myself up to 9 reps of foot elevated pike pushups, will I be able to do one HSPU?

That is what I will find out, because at the moment I cannot do a full-ROM HSPU with perfect form. This vertical pushing strength is something I am eager to build up and have been building it up daily. Here’s my current plan that’s underway…

For this month, I’m focusing on feet-elevated pike pushups

• Exercise: Feet Elevated Pike Pushups
• Setup: Feet are 18″ high on a chair. And hands are always 36″ away from the feet for consistency.
• Program: Applying pavel’s “fighter pullup” descending ladder rep scheme. (Detailed here)
• Started at: “4, 3, 2, 1, 1” reps with perfect form.
• Starting HSPU capability: I can only do a few 10-second controlled negative HSPU’s.
• Goal: Get to “9, 8, 7, 6, 5” reps and test my HSPU.

I’m also training these concurrently with my one arm pullups, which are going swell as well and I will probably give an update part 2 of that blog post before this HSPU program is complete as I’m making great progress there.

Will I be able to do ONE HSPU eventually?   Let’s find out. For the results and complete training log…

CLICK HERE FOR PART TWO!

After I get the handstand pushup solid, my goal is to see what it’s going to take to attain the hollowback press, which will require me to work on my handstands in all sorts of ways.

• What do you think of my plan?
• Anything wrong with my calculations?
• What are some pitfalls I may run across, you think?
• Will I need to do HSPU-negatives to bridge the gap or will 3x9reps of pike pushups with perfect form be enough? 
• Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

In the meantime, since my hamstring flexibility program was so well received, I’ve been working on another flexibility program, specifically for gaining passive and active flexibility for the hips and legs. This has been months in the making and I’m almost done beta testing it with all sorts of people to get it nailed down. (Woohoo!)

Update: The hip flexibility program is released and here.

The post Using the Pike Pushup to be able to do a Handstand Pushup appeared first on Antranik Kizirian.