Healthy Handstands

February 1, 2020

Circus Acrobats, hand-balancers, gymnasts, dancers, yogis, or your everyday upside down enthusiasts…!

Did you know that you can optimize your handstand alignment and prevent injury with expert advice from a specialized physiotherapist?

Issues that can impact symmetry & alignment in a handstand include…

  • Restrictions in overhead soft tissue mobility
  • Restrictions in thoracic mobility
  • Restrictions in wrist extension mobility
  • Imbalances in the scapula & shoulder girdle
  • Poor core strength & control
  • Restrictions in hip mobility & strength

Any of these limitations can lead to poor handstand technique and make you susceptible to injury.

Your weightbearing tumbling skills require a good handstand so correcting these imbalances can also speed up your acquisition of future hand-balancing and tumbling skills.

And more good news… correcting these issues will also improve the aesthetics of your handstand.

Our Physiotherapists will determine your personalized compensatory movement patterns using a whole body approach, and use physiotherapy techniques like IMS/dry needling, specific exercises & manual therapy to identify & correct your specific hand-balancing issues.

I chose to work with Kyra because she is a specialized performing arts physiotherapist which I absolutely love. She is thorough and empathetic regarding how to properly care for my body so I can successfully improve what I need to do – in this case, my handstands. With the training exercises and suggestions, I have been able to hold my handstands longer and have been able to understand how to square my hips! If you need a physiotherapist for anything, she is the one to see – professional, caring, and respectful 🙂

Rachelle Calasin (acrobat/aerialist)