The CrossFit Open reveals everything: strengths, weaknesses, nerves, and grit. Every year, we’re challenged with some familiar — and some not-so-familiar — movements, testing not just fitness, but confidence under pressure. If you want to thrive in the Open, it comes down to preparation and understanding the fundamentals.
In this article series, we’re breaking down the movements most commonly seen in the CrossFit Open with clear tips, smart training progressions, and insights from CrossFit’s expert trainers. Whether you’re chasing Quarterfinals, a higher leaderboard spot than last year, or simply showing up to put in honest work, these articles are designed to help you move better, train smarter, and step into the competition with confidence.
If this series inspires you to dive deeper and learn more about training and movement, check out our course library, including the foundational Level 1 Course (available online or in person), or other online options on nutrition, anatomy, scaling, and more. See all available courses here.
Registration for the 2026 CrossFit Open, presented by Air National Guard, is live now with the first workout being announced Feb. 26. It’s proving season — will you be ready?
Handstands
It’s important to master the simple before trying the fancy stuff when it comes to handstands.
“Remember, just because it's simple doesn't mean you can't make it challenging,” says CrossFit Seminar Staff trainer Nick Pappas. “And the payoff will be better movement, better performance, and better health.”
If you’re new to being inverted, Pappas recommends tackling some simple progressions before attempting to kick up into a handstand.
“Kicking up is a skill all in itself,” he says.
Mastering some introductory variations will ensure that when it does come time to kick up to a handstand, you can do so safely and proficiently, under the watchful eye of an experienced coach.
Practice Kicking Up
Before attempting progressions that start with hands on the ground, practice the skill of maintaining a neutral spine and active shoulder before you initiate the kick-up. This can be done with a box or object against the wall.
“Put an object against the wall,” Pappas says. “Put your hands against the edge of it so you can press into it, and then walk your feet backward until your shoulders are by your ears in an overhead position.
“Focus on keeping a neutral spine and active shoulders by squeezing your glutes and abdominals while pressing into the box,” he continues.
Here, Pappas is performing the progression described above and adding a small kick-up motion with one foot.
While this progression is meant to be simple, it does not have to be easy. Vary the height of the object to whatever feels comfortable (the lower the object, the more challenging the movement).
Pike Handstands and Wall Walks
When an athlete is ready to get inverted, a pike handstand is a good first step.
“Pike handstands can be done with feet on the ground, and with your knees and/or toes on a box,” Pappas says. “If someone feels comfortable being upside down there, you can increase the loading of the position with a wall walk, in which an athlete slowly, and under control, takes small steps up the wall with their feet while their hands take small steps toward the wall.”
“If they can walk up, hold for 10 seconds, and then walk down, all while under control, that is a great sign that they have the prerequisites of shoulder strength to kick up into a handstand,” he says.
Handstand Push-Ups
Be sure you or your athletes master the simple before attempting the plethora of advanced skills that can be performed from the handstand position.
When an athlete is ready to work toward achieving handstand push-ups, Pappas recommends a few ways to increase strength and confidence. His first suggestion is to practice the negative and work from the top down.
“Move back to the pike handstand push-up position and slowly lower yourself down to the ground. As soon as your head touches the ground, press back up,” Pappas says. “Start easy, and make it more challenging. When you make it to a pike that is challenging enough that you can no longer press up as fast, stop, make it a smidge easier, and use that as a scale for your handstand push-ups in workouts.”
There is also some accessory work that will benefit any athlete trying to achieve or improve their handstand push-ups.
Two great pieces of accessory work for handstand push-ups are seated shoulder presses with dumbbells or kettlebells, and hollow-to-arch rolls. For the dumbbell shoulder presses, sit on a box, or, to make it more challenging, sit on the ground. For the hollow-to-arch rolls, start in a lying hollow position and roll sideways to your stomach into an arch (Superman) position, and then back.
Strict vs. Kipping
In terms of safety and efficiency, a great prerequisite is to have strict handstand push-ups before attempting kipping handstand push-ups.
There are many kipping drills an athlete can practice while working on their strict handstand push-ups. While working on strengthening through negatives, pikes, and accessory presses, an athlete can also work on kipping away from a wall on their back or from a headstand to a plank. Concurrently, working on awareness in the kip of a pull-up, and timing of a push press can have transference through more awareness of your body.
Freestanding Handstands and Handstand Walking
When attempting a freestanding handstand, make sure you are on a forgiving surface in case you happen to fall. The wall is a good place to start.
Practicing shifting your body weight onto one hand while in a pike or on a wall can help you practice the movement pattern of shifting to support on a single hand, rather than trying to scamper across the ground. Sideways walking on a wall can be a great way to practice handstand walking in workouts, and even shoulder taps can be a great start.
When you’re ready to move to open space, use a spotter with a PVC.
“If you have a spotter holding a PVC to catch you, they can provide feedback as you work on holding yourself in space,” Pappas says. “Grip the ground, squeeze that middle tight, and keep pressing … Use your fingers to help balance, and stay active.”
Common Faults
One common fault is not properly warming up the wrists and hamstrings. If your wrists hurt while holding a handstand, warm them up. Warming up your posterior chain is equally important to avoid pulling a hamstring when kicking up.
Another fault is loss of the neutral spine position while inverted against the wall. Squeezing your butt away from the wall and ribs toward the wall can help bring your spine back to neutral. The best bet, though, is to kick down and make that happen before kicking back up.
Points of Performance
When performing handstands on the wall, or holding or walking in free space, strive to hit all the following points of performance:
- Hands just outside shoulders
- Fingers spread on the ground for balance and grip
- Maintain a neutral spine
- Active shoulders
- Braced core
Maintaining a neutral spine needs to begin before kicking up and can be done by squeezing the abdominals and the spinal erectors tightly to create an imaginary belt of stability around the lower spine. This demonstrates midline stabilization and will give the athlete the ability to keep their lower body integrated.
When performing handstand push-ups, be sure to hit all the points of performance above as well as the following:
- Start with arms extended
- Elbows move forward on the descent
- Descend until the head touches the ground slightly in front of the hands
- Hips extend before the arms press (kipping)
- Finish at full arm extension with open shoulders
Like all high skills, mastering handstand movements takes consistent practice and dedication to the mechanics. Using this guide as a starting point, you'll be more confident if we get inverted in this year's Open.
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