It’s not about being able to handstand.

It’s not about being able to handstand…it’s about not being able to do handstands (which fortunately I am very good at!). If we never fail to perform a complex movement pattern, we stop learning and stop developing new interesting neuro muscular pathways. There are three phases to learning new movements: phase 1, you can’t regularly successfully perform the movement due to poor neuromuscular control, phase 2, you have the movement down and can do it with concentration, phase 3, you are an expert. For most of us that train in the gym we operate in phase 3 all the time…in fact, machine weights generally work to remove the requirement of phase 1 and 2. You instantly become an expert because the machine won’t allow you to move in any other way. Of course, the machines are designed for the average human which isn’t a great thing these days…it won’t challenge your brain. The result is an epidemic of tight shoulders, hips that only work through one plane of motion, thoracic spines like broom handles and most of the other issues I see day to day as an Osteopath. It results in an epidemic of ‘looking fit’ but not actually ‘being fit’. If we challenge ourselves to new movements we can expose our true weaknesses. The beauty of the handstand comes from understanding that it is a stepping stone to other movements; single arm handstands, handstand walking, press to handstand, the list is endless, the handstand is just a door to pass through to other movements… Start opening doors!