How to Do an Elbow Balance

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How to Do an Elbow Balance

How to balance on your elbows in various positions. Warm up, be careful and good luck!

Carly Dick

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Step 1 of 13

Before you start, warm up your limbs and back!! In elbow balances, you MUST push out of your shoulders and lower back, or it causes problems. Your shoulders should feel like they had a good workout!

Step 2 of 13

Lazy vs. Pulled Up Shoulders: notice how much strighter my back is in the second photo and how much higher my head is. See the bend in my armpit area in the first, where the second is a straight line.

Step 3 of 13

Lazy vs. Pulled Up Back: lazy back is painful and puts pressure on your lower spine. I don't know why, but I couldn't do it without flexed feet, and it just felt gross and unnatural.

Step 4 of 13

Now, onto learning how to do it right! :)

Step 5 of 13

Start on your hands and knees. Your arms should make a V, with your hands close together, and your elbows wider apart, under your shoulders. This makes a wider, more stable base to balance on.

Step 6 of 13

Raise your hips so you're only on your feet. Pick a leg to start with and swing it above your head. Too much power will throw you off balance. Your foot still on the floor is your jumping leg.

Step 7 of 13

Don't think about placing your foot straight up, or you won't balance. Your feet will be past your torso so that your hips can be above your elbows and shoulders.

Step 8 of 13

Final product: hips, shoulders, and elbows are aligned. If losing your balance, shift weight in your elbows/hands to adjust. Remember to breathe when upside down, and fall the way you came, not over!

Step 9 of 13

Once you master the basic elbow stand, try some variations! Your back will have to bend, but still keep your hips over your shoulders. This and the next three are just different variations.

Step 10 of 13

Step 11 of 13

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Step 13 of 13

This is all of them combined so you can see them all :) You can see me push out of my shoulders at the beginning as a demonstration of what not to do. Be careful and good luck!

You're Done

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Carly Dick

BC, Canada

I'm a dancer and acrobat - artsy, 18. I love books and music :) If you're attempting my acro guides, I'm not responsible for any injuries incurred. Be careful!

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Taylor B..(:

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Monique Rivera

Like getting your legs all the way up? Or pushing out of your shoulders? And practice is really up to you, how much time you have and how much you really want to be able to do this

Carly Dick (author) last month

How often should we practice this?

Alyssa James last month

Cool! Do you have any suggestions for people that are new to this? I'm having trouble pushing up.

Alyssa James last month

Go up against a wall to make sure you don't go over, and it'll help you learn how far your legs need to go without falling out of it

Carly Dick (author) 4 months ago

Wish I could do these I just carry on bailing! >.< Lolz

Annabelle Ormesher 5 months ago

Love these.

Ceci Haydel 5 months ago

I love doing these!

chloe stylinson 11 months ago

Amazing!

San Ng 12 months ago

And have someone spotting you when you are learning

Carly Dick (author) 12 months ago

Well I sprained my back on the handspring so make sure to exorcise

Ally Ramirez 12 months ago

Wow I would do that but I sprained my back muscle

Ally Ramirez 12 months ago

Yep they're already on my list :) I don't know exactly when, but they'll go up

Carly Dick (author) 12 months ago

Can you please make a guide teaching us how to do a round off and or back handspring?

Steph   12 months ago

It probably took 6-10 shots of each to get one I liked :p these are somewhat of a challenge, but it just takes practice :) I can feel my abs and shoulders for sure today!

Carly Dick (author) 12 months ago