Handstand
अधोमुख वृक्षासन
Adho Mukha Vṛkṣāsana — an advanced inversion that works the shoulders, abdominals, wrists.
How to do Handstand
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Place the hands shoulder-width apart about a hand's length from a wall, fingers spread wide.
Step one foot forward into a short lunge with the shoulders already stacked over the wrists.
Press the floor away and swing the back leg up, following with the second leg.
Once the heels touch the wall, straighten the arms fully and draw the front ribs in.
Hold while the shoulders stay strong, then lower one leg at a time and rest in a forward fold.
Hold: 10–40 seconds. Keep the breath moving throughout — if you are holding it, the pose is too much for today.
Muscles worked
Where the effort and the lengthening land. Primary groups do most of the work; secondary groups assist or are stretched.
What Handstand does
Described mechanically — what the movement does to muscle and joint. Not a list of conditions it treats, because a pose does not treat conditions.
- Loads the entire body weight through straight arms with the shoulders overhead.
- Builds wrist, shoulder and trunk strength in one vertical stack.
- Trains fine balance corrections through the fingers and forearms.
Handstand is one of 20 inversions in this library and one of 61 poses rated advanced. Poses where the head sits below the heart. The group that needs the most care and the most teaching.
Who should skip Handstand, or change it
- Glaucoma or raised eye pressure, and uncontrolled high blood pressure.
- Neck or cervical spine injury, and any shoulder injury that limits full overhead range.
- Pregnancy — do not begin handstand work in pregnancy; whether to continue an established practice is a decision for you and your doctor.
- Menstruation: many traditions leave inversions out then, a personal choice rather than a medical rule.
- Recent ear infection, wrist injury or carpal tunnel problems — and the requirement to learn handstand with a qualified teacher spotting, not from a page.
General information only — not medical advice. Some asanas are unsuitable during pregnancy, injury or specific conditions. Learn from a qualified teacher and stop if anything hurts. If you are pregnant, recovering from surgery or managing any health condition, ask your doctor before starting a practice, and learn the pose itself from a qualified teacher who can see you move.
Common mistakes in Handstand
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeKicking up hard with the hands too far from the wall.
FixSet the hands a hand's length from the wall and press up rather than launching.
MistakeRibs flaring into a banana shape with the low back arched.
FixDraw the front ribs down, firm the glutes and reach the heels straight up.
What a practice like this costs in energy
Nobody has measured a single asana in a metabolic cart. The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities publishes MET values per style of practice, so Handstand is mapped to the nearest published code — 02175, yoga, Power, 4 MET — and the figures below are for a practice of that kind, not for holding this one pose.
| Time practising | 10 min | 20 min | 30 min | 45 min | 60 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 49 | 98 | 147 | 221 | 294 |
Calculated as MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 kcal per minute — the standard ACSM relationship, shown in full on the method page. Scale it to your own weight by multiplying by your weight in kilograms and dividing by 70. The whole activity dataset, including every non-yoga activity, is at BurnLab.
Questions
How do you do Handstand?
Place the hands shoulder-width apart about a hand's length from a wall, fingers spread wide. Step one foot forward into a short lunge with the shoulders already stacked over the wrists. Press the floor away and swing the back leg up, following with the second leg. Once the heels touch the wall, straighten the arms fully and draw the front ribs in. Hold while the shoulders stay strong, then lower one leg at a time and rest in a forward fold. Hold for 10–40 seconds.
What does Handstand work?
Primarily the shoulders, abdominals, wrists, with the triceps, upper back, glutes assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: loads the entire body weight through straight arms with the shoulders overhead.
Who should not do Handstand?
Glaucoma or raised eye pressure, and uncontrolled high blood pressure. Neck or cervical spine injury, and any shoulder injury that limits full overhead range. Pregnancy — do not begin handstand work in pregnancy; whether to continue an established practice is a decision for you and your doctor. Menstruation: many traditions leave inversions out then, a personal choice rather than a medical rule. Recent ear infection, wrist injury or carpal tunnel problems — and the requirement to learn handstand with a qualified teacher spotting, not from a page. This is general information, not medical advice — if any of these apply to you, ask your doctor and learn the pose with a qualified teacher rather than from a page.
Is Handstand suitable for beginners?
No. Handstand is rated advanced. The shape itself is rarely the problem — arriving at it years too early is. Work through the beginner and intermediate inversions poses on this site and learn this one in person.
How many calories does Handstand burn?
The honest answer is that nobody has measured a single asana. The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities publishes MET values for styles of yoga, not for individual poses. Handstand sits closest to Compendium code 02175, yoga, Power, at 4 MET — about 147 kcal for 30 minutes of that kind of practice for a 70 kg adult. Holding one pose for a minute is a rounding error either way.
Related poses
More inversions — first at the same level, then the rest of the family.
Asana names are traditional. Every step, benefit and caution on this page is written for YogaPath rather than reproduced from any book, studio or other library — see how this site is written. Energy figures derive from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. General information only — not medical advice. Some asanas are unsuitable during pregnancy, injury or specific conditions. Learn from a qualified teacher and stop if anything hurts.