The shoulder is an interesting joint. It’s construction allows your arm to have some serious ROM (range of motion) letting you to do some incredible shit. But then on the other hand, that also happens to be it’s downfall since biomechanically it’s a very vulnerable joint… it’s only surrounded by muscle at the top, under the armpit area there is nothing, which is why it’s so easy to injure and dislocate.

Just look at football players… when they tackle, the ram their shoulders into the person, which (biomechnically) is the stupidest thing to do since there is no muscle under the shoulders to keep the joint in place. Therefore it pops downwards. I remember this lesson from my anatomy class where we got to play around with a real life sample of the shoulder joint. Good times…

Another example is the Jiu-Jitsu armbar. See, a lot of people think that this move is meant to dislocate just the elbow joint, but in my opinion if you want to inflict maximum damage (with the least amount of effort) it would be MUCH easier to do a deep arm bar and dislocate the shoulder then to try and hyper extend the elbow. Legend Royce Gracie demonstrates this in the picture above.

It’s not just Royce though, I’m talking form my personal experience here too. I’ve been put under countless arm bars, some have put the pressure on my shoulders and others my elbows… and the scariest feeling is when you feel that sharp pain in the shoulders because there is pretty much nothing you can do to fight it. Where as for the elbow joint, you have your biceps which can be flexed as hard as possible to prevent sever pain which can buy you a precious few seconds to perform the escape. Either that or you can tap… which would be a smart fucking idea if your rolling partner is adept.

Before we begin talking about the exercise, I need to give a lil shout out to my homeboy Rafi, over at Passionate Fitness. Check out his site, he’s got a nice lil community there which I’m part of.

So, when it comes to working out your shoulders, there is one exercise that stands above all of them. It not only increases your shoulder strength by a fair margin, it also helps with mobility. The only drawback that I can think of is that it cannot be performed by a total beginner… this shit is for intermediate/advanced dudes and dudettes only.

It’s called the handstand pushup!

Coming from a guy that loves weight lifting, are you surprised? Well you shouldn’t be, since you also know I have a gymnastics background. But really, the handstand pushup should be a STAPLE in any shoulder workout routine. Now lets go over some ways that you can start doing these.

The only equipment you’ll need is a wall or a partner who can hold your legs. Lets begin with the starting position: The most important thing I want you to remember is that you arms stay by your ears the ENTIRE time. If I look at you from the side, I should not be able to see those ears… this is crucial.

The rest of it is easy shit. Go into a lunge position and keep those arms up. As you reach down for the floor, kick the leg furthest from your body into the air (will depend on your lunge position) followed by the other one. Make sure you kick hard enough so that your legs will go up and rest up against the wall… if you do some wimpy-ass kick, you’ll fall back down.

Also, make sure your elbows are LOCKED solid. There should be no bend in the arms yet.

Once you’re in the handstand position, space out your arms so that they are slightly wider than shoulder width. Now, slowly begin the descent towards the floor. Another thing to keep in mind while doing handstand pushups is that you shouldn’t look at the floor, it cases your back to arch. This is no good. Instead, keep your head in a neutral position so that when you do a pushup, the TOP of your head gently touches the floor.

© crossfiteastsac.typepad.com

Taking Shit To The Extreme

Once you can do about 10-15 handstand pushups against a wall or with a partner, it’s time to step it up a notch. There are two ways that you can make this challenging exercise even more challenging. First, you can try to do the handstand pushup without any resting aids. Personally I fluctuate from anywhere between 3-5 handstand pushups on my own… then I have to reset since my legs end up coming down.

Another way is to get a deeper pushup by using pushup bars (or high parallel bars) as shown in the picture below. Undergoing this absurd range of motion while performing the handstand pushup is more satisfying than any other press movement I’ve ever done. I’m serious, it’s really THAT good.

© beastskills.com

Doing It The FitJerk Way…

Evolution is a beautiful thing. Alright, so you can do handstand pushups by yourself and you also have no trouble cranking them out using the pushup bar. Now what?

Now you combine the two. Handstand onto the pushup bar, and start doing the pushups without the aid of the wall.

WARNING: This exercise is pretty dangerous if you lose your balance… so make sure you know how to come down safely if your body starts tilts in EITHER direction. You are to perform everything listed in this article at your own risk. Don’t come bitching if you fall and break your head. I’ll just laugh.

Personally, when my body starts to tilt forward, I basically twist my upper body and step down safely. The last thing you want to do is collapse onto your back…because that will most likely wind the shit outta you.

FJ’s Note To Pussies & Scaredy-Cats

Although the handstand pushup looks all “exotic” and “hardcore” it’s really not that bad. If you’re an avid bench presser or have performed lots of dumbbell shoulder presses in your lifetime, then give the handstand pushup a go. You might not be adept at it on your very first try, so just make sure you keep on trying. Practice makes perfect.

- FitJerk

Discuss – How many handstand pushups can YOU do? With or without aid?