Straddle Press/ Lift
Straddle Press or Lift? -
The straddle press to handstand, or the lift as I prefer to call it, is not an advanced move yet an important skill to have and continue to refine. I normally do them as part of my warmup, but also integrate them into my practice on a regular basis in the end of many of my handstand sets in the form of a controlled negatives.
If done efficiently the straddle press/lift requires very little strength, and is more about flexibility, weight distribution and technique. In other words utilizing a good forward bend, straddle pancake, and middle split will make it very easy to lift up to HS as the lower body remains very close to the arms and torso (vertical) and allow the body to move up into handstand with a very little lean forward (planching). That said I’m not against working on the planche…
So STRETCH my friends, it’s usually good for you…
Yuval