The Handstandcast

In this episode of the Handstandcast, Emmet and Mikael have a special guest: Dr. Helgi Freyr Rúnarsson, handbalancer and Dr. of Physics, to discuss the physics of the handstand. Going deep into detail about the difference between centre of mass and centre of gravity, the inverted pendulum and more, plus how these variables are important to understanding the handstand. We hope you enjoy it! If you...

In this episode, Emmet and Mikael answer more questions from our listeners, discussing the topics of being able to do a handstand cold, learning a one arm on canes, what canes are good and what to look out for with them and finally good exercises and stretches for prehab/rehab for handstands. If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we should host any special guests, don’t hesitate to se...

In this episode of the Handstandcast Emmet and Mikael discuss the topic of “Fake” One-Arm Handstands, the problem with judging it by an image alone, their thoughts about handbalancing and how it relates to social media, as well as how to fool anyone with your fake One-Arm. If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we should host any special guests, don’t hesitate to send us a message via...

In this episode, Emmet and Mikael answer more questions from our listeners, discussing hand position in the handstand, conserving energy in longer handstand holds , different shoulder positions in advanced handstand position and handstands and longevity If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we should host any special guests, don’t hesitate to send us a message via handstandfactory.com...

In this episode of the Handstandcast Emmet and Mikael discuss the topic of obsession and how this relates not only to handstand training, but to any hobby you may have. They talk about the positive and the negative aspects of becoming obsessed with something, and how to avoid the potential pitfalls of finding your obsession. If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we should host any spe...

In this episode Emmet and Mikael discuss what "ribs in" means in a handstand, good reading materials for learning about flexibility training, keeping energy up for longer training sessions, how circus artists actually train and why it’s hard to breathe in a flagged handstand. If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we should host any special guests, don’t hesitate to send us a message v...

In this very special episode of the Handstandcast Emmet and Mikael are joined by two wonderful guests, Zoe Jones and Signe Anderskov, to discuss their handbalance training and careers with the focus on how pregnancy has affected them. If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we should host any special guests, don’t hesitate to send us a message via handstandfactory.com/podcast-question o...

In this Q&A with Emmet and Mikael, they answer more questions from you, our listeners. Covering the benefits of block training, oversplits, exercises for someone who trains gymnastics and how much hypertrophy can interfere with handstand training. If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we should host any special guests, don’t hesitate to send us a message via handstandfactory.com/p...

In this episode of the Handstandcast Emmet and Mikael discuss reaching and moving beyond the 30 second handstand milestone. Explaining the various approaches that can be used to increase variety in training and improve capacity in the handstand while hopefully avoiding training pitfalls. We hope that you enjoy it! If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we should host any special guests...

In this Q&A with Emmet and Mikael, they answer more questions from you, our listeners. Covering how strength and technique intertwine in handbalancing,  elbow hyperextension, Emmets training and more! If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we should host any special guests, don’t hesitate to send us a message via handstandfactory.com/podcast-question or via Instagram A transcr...

In this episode of the Handstandcast Emmet and Mikael go into Mikael's creative process with Váld (RWD Circus). They discuss Mikael's thoughts as to why he wanted to do this, the creative process in general, the limitations of handstands when performing, as well as influences from various other genres of performance art. We hope you enjoy! If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we shou...

In this episode Mikael is away creating his newest performance, so Emmet has fielded our listeners' burning flexibility questions. A massive amount of topics are covered, from how to balance the longest lunge, top 3 exercises for back bending, how to train your point, how to get tent hands like Morgan to more general concepts like how to enter flexibility positions once you've gained the range, ho...

In this episode of the Handstandcast Emmet and Mikael discuss the benefits of handstanding. They go into the obvious and somewhat unknown physical and mental benefits, of not only training handstands, but of taking any physical practice to a high enough level. They go into any various factors that may affect your training performance, their personal experiences with how they sense their body in ha...

In this Q&A with Emmet and Mikael, they answer more questions from you, our listeners. Covering how to measure where you're at with your handstand training, how Emmet and Mikael met and decided to collaborate on Handstand Factory, our first audio user submitted question on fixing a planchy handstand press and closed shoulder handstand, are you allowed to turn my feet out in a side split? As we...

In this episode of the Handstandcast Emmet and Mikael discuss anatomical quirks that we all may possess and how that relates to the handstand, this is an episode choked full of references, to various handbalancers that have very individual styles, to various anatomical things that you may have to take note of, so make sure you head to the handstand factory website to check the references list so t...

In this Q&A with Emmet and Mikael, they answer more questions from you, our listeners. Ranging from topics such as: When to transition to more endurance holds in handstands, what happens to the body in the handstand both acute and long term changes, rating the difficulty of handstand variations and is it worth it? How to transition from tuck planche to straddle planche work and how to correct...

In this episode of the Handstandcast Emmet and Mikael finally discuss the one-arm Handstand! Going over the most important elements that you have to develop for the one arm handstand, the sequence of movements and cues that you go through to move into a one arm handstand, the process of programming and development of the one-arm handstand as well as more of the finer elements and potential issues....

In this episode, Mikael and Emmet answer some more of our listeners' questions, covering training volume, training equipment in relation to learning the handstand, managing distractions when training, internal/external rotation in the hips for side split, managing and preventing injuries and advice for the one arm handstand. If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we should host any spe...

In this episode of the Handstand Factory Handstandcast, Emmet and Mikael discuss their experiences in Circus school, their opinions on current circus trends, as well as tips for any prospective listeners about getting into circus school: what qualities are best? how should you prepare? If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we should host any special guests, don’t hesitate to send us a...

In this minisode Emmet and Mikael discuss about the Handstandcast and their plan for the future. As well as answering questions from listeners, covering topics ranging from how they learned all they know, developing endurance in the handstand, building multiple reps in stalders, rebalancing strategies for one arm handstand and more. If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we should host...

In this episode of the Handstand Factory Handstandcast Emmet and Mikael dive deep into the mindset of handbalancing, including determination and resolve, frustration in the face of the inconsistency of training, community as a force multiplier, zooming out on the progress curve and all the other bits and pieces that make up the mindset around what it means to train handstands. Enjoy! If you have a...

In this episode, Emmet and Mikael discuss the methodology and theory that went into the creation of the Handstand Factory programs, focusing on the capacity of learning how to teach yourself to handstand, as well as answer questions from live viewers. If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we should host any special guests, don’t hesitate to send us a message via handstandfactory.com/p...

In this episode of the Handstand Factory Handstandcast Emmet and Mikael take on the lofty topic of #tucklife, where they breakdown everything tuck in the most extreme of detail, such as how they define the tuck handstand and its 3 main variants. They also go into working on shoulder flexibility/mobility for the tuck, starting your journey towards the tuck and it’s progressions, as w...

In this episode Mikael and Emmet answer a few more questions from listeners. They cover a range of topics from the benefits of training handstands, to whether or not training oversplits is a good idea, as well as providing advice on integrating Handstand pushup training into your program (with the exercise progressions), a very effective pancake compression drill and how to use that flexibility in...

In this episode of the Handstand Factory handstandcast Emmet and Mikael take a deviation from the highly technical discussions they’ve had so far and have instead talked about “the dark side of show business”; sharing tales of their worst show experiences, as well as their training history and how they got to where they are. If you have any questions, episodes ideas or think we should host any spe...