I’ve seen calculators for how much weight you actually lift when you do a press-up or a chin-up.
Anybody have any idea how much weight you’re (if you weighed 177lbs for instance like me) actually lifting when you do a hand-stand push-up?
hmmm…it would be the same weight as it says when you stand on a measuring scale. but either way, if your bodyweight is 205lbs and you can overhead press 225lbs, does that mean you can rip out HSPUs easily? If that was the case, then I wouldn’t be so worried about even doing one HSPU because it should be a piece of cake. But HSPUs are not easy at first, I am still working on my first 5 good ones.
But don’t you have to take your arms (forearms anyway) out of the equation because you’re not actually lifting them.
I can do a set of 10 or 3x5 - never managed 3x10.
I’m not sure how useful they are once you have the technique mastered.
I assume you saw this ‘cool tip’-
Today’s training tip comes from John Paul Catanzaro:
How Much Do You Chin?
To calculate the actual load for pull-ups or chin-ups, take 94% of bodyweight since you don’t actually “lift” the hands (0.7% each) or forearms (2.3% each). So if a 200-pound individual performs pull-ups with 100 pounds hanging from a chin/dip belt, he’s actually lifting 288 pounds. Calculation = 200 x 0.94 + 100.
Now you know exactly how much you’re lifting when you add weight to pull-ups and chin-ups!
I think same would apply to HSPUs.
hspu’s are a matter of aligning the bones correctly and stabilization…
you can’t just be tight in your arms… your whole BODY has to be tense.
Its really incredible when you get right down to it.
Ok, so you can knock out a few against the wall…
now try them suspended, raise yourself with mats or parallettes or what have you.
ok so you can do that…do some un supported (no wall)… ok you can do that…
try them with one hand.
The variations are endless…
lets not mention what happens if u get an X vest 
I’ve ben doing them for a good 10 months now, and they’re great. I can bang out about 18. My triceps development was really good.
As mentioned, HSPUs are a lot about stablization and balance. If you’re leaning on a wall, that will take a little of the weight off, won’t it?
But also think about ROM. Unless you’re using books or chairs, you’re only lifting from your the top of your head to lockout! With a military press, you’ve got a good 12" more to lift. So if you press 225 at 250 bodyweight, you should certainly be repping HSPU once you get the balance.
When you are in push up position you lift about 60% of your bodyweight
see what Chad tink about that
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=460371
Keep fighting
adonail
[quote]adonail wrote:
When you are in push up position you lift about 60% of your bodyweight
see what Chad tink about that
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=460371
Keep fighting
adonail
[/quote]
I didn’t look at the link, but 60% has got to be for a regular pushup, not a vertical handstand pushup. IMHO, the calculation is the same for a pullup (see post above = approx. 94% of bodyweight). Unless of course 40% of your bodyweight is in your hands and forearms. And I would agree that a shoulder press weight doesn’t translate real well into HSPU weight due to the CNS stress on the rest of the body.
DB
Keep in mind that HSPUs to the floor have a shorter range of motion than overhead presses from the shoulder.
[quote]Xen Nova wrote:
The variations are endless…
[/quote]
you forgot to mention hand hops. those are a lot of fun also with the blood rushing to the head. 
laters pk
[quote]greenslade wrote:
…
But also think about ROM. Unless you’re using books or chairs, you’re only lifting from your the top of your head to lockout! With a military press, you’ve got a good 12" more to lift. So if you press 225 at 250 bodyweight, you should certainly be repping HSPU once you get the balance.[/quote]
Good point. I can press about 90% of my bodyweight (with no “arching”), but I can do 17 or 18 HSPUs. To get that many reps on a press, I have to go to about 60% of bodyweight.
By the way, learn from my mistake and don’t even try the chairs.
Handstand Pushups take some time to get comfortable with and master. Regardless of how much you can Military Press. Also, while you are lifting most of your weight, if you are using a wall then that takes some of the stabilizer muscles out of the equation and makes the exercise much easier than doing a free standing HP. Also, doing a HP to the floor is like doing a Mil Press to the top of your head. You have to use stools to increase the range of motion. Just be careful that you do not go too deep as that can mess up your shoulders.
Mike Mahler