Exercise guide · Advanced · Compound

Handstand Push-Up: How to Do It & Muscles Worked

The handstand push-up is a challenging bodyweight exercise that targets the triceps, shoulders, chest, and core. It requires significant upper body strength, balance, and coordination, as well as experience with inversion movements.

Primary muscles
Triceps
Equipment
Body Weight
Level · type
Advanced · Compound
Demonstration of the handstand push-up
Front view: muscles worked by the handstand push-up. Primary: triceps. Secondary: obliques, shoulders, abs and chest.
Back view: muscles worked by the handstand push-up. Primary: triceps. Secondary: obliques, shoulders, abs and chest.
Primary Secondary

How to do the handstand push-up

  1. Step 1: Find a wall and face away from it, standing a few feet away.
  2. Step 2: Place your hands on the ground shoulder-width apart and kick your feet up against the wall, coming into a handstand position.
  3. Step 3: Bend your elbows and lower your head towards the ground, keeping your body in a straight line.
  4. Step 4: Push through your hands and extend your arms to return to the starting position.
  5. Step 5: Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Sets, reps and programming

Suggested sets, reps and rest for the handstand push-up by training goal
Goal Sets Reps Rest Effort
Strength 3–5 3–6 3–5 min 1–3 reps in reserve
Muscle growth 3–4 6–12 2–3 min 1–2 reps in reserve
Muscular endurance 2–3 12–20 1–2 min 1–3 reps in reserve

Ranges follow the ACSM position stand on progression in resistance training. Muscle grows across a wide range of loads when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), longer rests between heavy sets support strength and size (Schoenfeld et al., 2016), and stopping a rep or two short of failure works about as well as training to failure (Grgic et al., 2022). Estimate your working weights with the strength calculators.

Handstand Push-Up alternatives

More exercises that train the triceps as their main target:

More triceps exercises

See the best tricep exercises, ranked →

Sources

  1. American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708.
  2. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508-3523.
  3. Schoenfeld BJ, Pope ZK, Benik FM, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(7):1805-1812.
  4. Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Orazem J, Sabol F. Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2022;11(2):202-211.

Step-by-step instructions and demonstration media are from the ExerciseDB exercise dataset.

This guide is general fitness information, not medical advice. Stop if an exercise causes pain and speak to a doctor or physiotherapist about injuries or health conditions before starting a new programme.