Handstand Push-Up
front deltoid
What moves the load, and what it costs
6.0MET
Front deltoid is the prime mover, with the triceps, upper back, abs assisting. The hardest bodyweight press there is. Build to it through pike push-ups with the feet progressively higher, not by attempting it cold.
Cue: Kick up against a wall with the hands slightly wider than the shoulders and lower until the head touches a folded towel.
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·വെയ്റ്റ്സ്, കഠിനം എന്നതിന് കീഴിൽ·REVIEWED JUL 2026
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN VALUES FROM ONE TABLE · HIGHLIGHTED ROW IS THIS MOVEMENT
The compendium files handstand push-up under a category, not a lift. Read the ladder as position, not precision: this is heavier work than sitting quietly by a factor of 6.0, and at the top end of what a gym floor produces.
Turning that MET value into a real energy cost
- Map the movement to a published category. The compendium measures categories of conditioning work, never individual lifts, so handstand push-up is filed under റെസിസ്റ്റൻസ് ട്രെയിനിംഗ് (വെയ്റ്റ് ലിഫ്റ്റിംഗ്, ഫ്രീ വെയ്റ്റ് അല്ലെങ്കിൽ മെഷീൻ), പവർ ലിഫ്റ്റിംഗ് അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ബോഡി ബിൽഡിംഗ്, കഠിനമായ അധ്വാനം.
- Take the category's MET value — 6.0. One MET is the cost of sitting quietly, so this is 6.0 times resting metabolism.
- Multiply by 3.5 to get millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute, the unit the MET is actually defined in.
- Multiply by your bodyweight in kilograms and divide by 200. The result is kilocalories per minute of work.
- Count working minutes only. Under load, not under the roof — a set of eight is about 25 seconds of the hour you were there.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body mass (kg) ÷ 200 Handstand Push-Up: 6.0 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 7.35 kcal/min
SOURCE·ACSM metabolic equation + 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·REFERENCE BODY MASS 70 KG·REVIEWED JUL 2026
What is actually doing the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| Front deltoidAnterior deltoid | Prime mover | Raises the arm to the front (shoulder flexion) and assists horizontal adduction. Prime mover in overhead pressing, heavy synergist in every bench press. |
| TricepsTriceps brachii | Synergist / stabiliser | Straightens the elbow. The long head also crosses the shoulder, so it is stretched and loaded hardest with the arm overhead. |
| Upper backRhomboids and middle trapezius | Synergist / stabiliser | ചുമൽപ്പലകകളെ പരസ്പരം ചേർത്ത് നട്ടെല്ലിനടുത്തേക്ക് അടുപ്പിക്കുന്നു (സ്കാപ്പുലർ റിട്രാക്ഷൻ). എല്ലാ ഹൊറിസോണ്ടൽ റോയും ഇതിന് ഭാരം നൽകുന്നു; എല്ലാ പുൾഡൗണും ഇതിന് കുറഞ്ഞ ഭാരമേ നൽകുന്നുള്ളൂ. |
| AbsRectus abdominis | Synergist / stabiliser | Bends the trunk forward and, more usefully, resists it being extended backwards. Both a crunch and a plank load it — differently. |
The prime mover produces the movement against the resistance; synergists assist and stabilisers hold a joint still without moving it. An exercise trains the whole muscle it loads — there is no way to work only part of a muscle, and no exercise removes fat from the area around it.
Set up, then earn the rep
Bodyweight. Every rep should look like the first one. The moment it stops looking like the first one, the set is finished.
പാറ്റേൺ · പുഷ്
- Take the load at shoulder height with the elbows slightly in front of the bar, not flared out to the sides.
- Stand with the feet hip to shoulder width, glutes and abs braced so the ribcage cannot flare — the press is as much a standing plank as an arm movement.
- Kick up against a wall with the hands slightly wider than the shoulders and lower until the head touches a folded towel.
- Press straight up and very slightly inwards so the weights finish stacked over the shoulders, not out in front of them.
- Lock out with the biceps beside the ears and the shoulder blades rotated up.
- Lower under control to the start position rather than dropping into the catch.
Where this one breaks down
Not theory. These are the faults you correct on a gym floor, and the correction that actually works.
Leaning back to get the weight up.
A press that turns into an incline bench press with a lumbar arch is telling you the weight is too heavy. Squeeze the glutes and let the range be honest.
Pressing around the face instead of past it.
The bar path should be as close to vertical as possible. Move the head back out of the way, not the bar forward.
Stopping short of a full lockout.
The top of the press is where the lower traps and serratus do their work, and it is the range most people skip.
Flared elbows at the start.
Elbows under and slightly in front of the load, not out at the sides.
Regress it, or progress it
Regress — earn it first
Progress — the next demand
This sits at the top of its progression here. Add load, add range, slow the tempo or go single-limb before you go looking for a new exercise.
Prescription: load, reps, rest
Read off the goal, then hold the technique constant as the load climbs. Derived from the movement's mechanics, not invented for this page: a compound lift loads several joints, so it tolerates heavy loads and needs long rests.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–5 | 3–6 | 3–5 min | Heavy loads need long rests. Cutting rest to two minutes turns a strength set into a conditioning set. |
| Muscle size | 3–4 | 6–12 | 90–180 sec | Take most sets to within one to three reps of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle matters more than the exact rep number. |
| Endurance / fat loss | 2–4 | 12–20 | 45–75 sec | Lighter loads and shorter rests. Fat loss is decided by the diet; this preserves muscle while it happens. |
| First month | 2–3 | 8–10 | 2 min | Well short of failure, same weight every set, until the movement looks the same on the last rep as the first. |
Time under load, in kilocalories
Read these as minutes of work, not minutes in the building. A set of eight takes about twenty-five seconds; the rest of the hour is rest, chalk and queueing.
Mapped category: റെസിസ്റ്റൻസ് ട്രെയിനിംഗ് (വെയ്റ്റ് ലിഫ്റ്റിംഗ്, ഫ്രീ വെയ്റ്റ് അല്ലെങ്കിൽ മെഷീൻ), പവർ ലിഫ്റ്റിംഗ് അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ബോഡി ബിൽഡിംഗ്, കഠിനമായ അധ്വാനം — 6.0 MET. That is the published category this movement is filed under, not a measurement of this specific lift.
Worked at 6.0 MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 = 7.35 kcal per working minute for a 70 kg adult. Scale it by your own bodyweight; the equation is linear. The full activity dataset lives at BurnLab.
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·CATEGORY VALUE, NOT A PER-EXERCISE MEASUREMENT·REVIEWED JUL 2026
If the rack is taken
Substitutes train the same prime mover through the same pattern with different kit. Computed from the muscle and pattern data on this card, not hand-picked to fill a grid.
ഇതിന് ഒരു ഉപകരണവും വേണ്ട, അതുകൊണ്ടാണ് എല്ലാ യാത്രാ, വീട്ടിലെ പ്രോഗ്രാമുകളിലും ഇത് ഉൾപ്പെടുന്നത്. എല്ലാ ഉപകരണങ്ങളില്ലാത്ത ചലനങ്ങളും ഒരുമിച്ച് പട്ടികപ്പെടുത്തിയിരിക്കുന്നു.
Where it sits in a week
One movement is not a programme. The twelve templates put these in order, including 6 that need no gym at all.
The questions that come up on the floor
What muscles does the handstand push-up work?
Handstand Push-Up is a compound movement in which the front deltoid is the prime mover, assisted by the triceps, upper back, abs. Raises the arm to the front (shoulder flexion) and assists horizontal adduction. Prime mover in overhead pressing, heavy synergist in every bench press.
Is the handstand push-up good for beginners?
No. It rates 5 out of 5 for technical demand — high skill and high strength prerequisite. not a movement to start with. Build to it through the easier progressions on this page; the z press is the usual step before it.
What can I do instead of the handstand push-up at home?
Nothing is needed — the handstand push-up already requires no equipment at all, which is why it belongs in any home programme.
How many sets and reps of the handstand push-up should I do?
For muscle size, 3–4 sets of 6–12 with 90–180 sec rest. For strength, 3–5 sets of 3–6 with 3–5 min rest. In your first month, 2–3 sets of 8–10, stopping well short of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle group matters more than the exact rep number in any of these ranges.
Does the handstand push-up burn fat from the front deltoid?
No. No exercise removes fat from the area it trains — spot reduction has been tested repeatedly and does not happen. Training the front deltoid builds the muscle underneath; where body fat is lost from is decided by an overall calorie deficit and by your genetics, not by which exercise you chose.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
SOURCE·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·REVIEWED JUL 2026
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