Scaling the HSPU
30 HSPU is a whole lot for most people. There’s a lot of ways to scale the Handstand Push Up, but when looking at potential scales I tend to favor a few key points:
- Get upside down. It’s good for you, and you can’t have a good HSPU if you’re not comfortable being ass-over-teakettle.
- Work the full ROM. It’s real hard to build strength – especially at the hardest point, the initiation – if you never work the full range of motion. I like scales that still travel the full travel of an Rx HSPU.
- Be progressively loaded. Having the ability to use the same stance with variable assistance allows you to develop strength while remaining in an easily transferrable movement pattern for the majority of your training cycle.
We’ll be keeping that in mind today when setting you up with scales for the WOD. Instead of stacks of abmats or piked pushups or wall walks, we’re far more likely to have you kicking up into a handstand and pairing it with a pushing motion… or even using my personal favorite scale for the HSPU: “The Jetpack”. Check it out, and be open to giving it a try! It might become your favorite, too.
STRENGTH:
Front Squat
5 @60%
5 @65%
5 @70%
5 @75%
5 @ 80%
WOD:
10 HSPU
10 Strict Pull-Ups
10 HSPU
10 Push-Ups
10 HSPU
10 Strict Chin-Ups