Half lay progression.

[Tavis G]

Is it completely ok to skip straddle and hold half lay granted you can hold it. I don't have enough room to do straddle and half lay is the only choice. My FL and PL I can hold a straddle and FL i can hold a full half lay. Is it ok to bypass straddle as i get stronger in half lay for FL and advanced tuck for PL? Also straddle feels unnatural compared to half lay for me.

[Alessandro Mainente]

the jump from straddle to h full  lay is a matter of strength but before a joint conditioning problem. skip a stage is equal to skip a step of proper joints conditioning...is under your own risk

[Chris Edgar]

I don't know about you, but half lay is way more difficult than straddle for me man!

 

I don't think it has to be so black and white with regards to progressions. Why don't you partially extend out to half lay FROM the tuck lever over time, and get used to the leverage and progress from there. It's what I did to help get into straddle levers from tuck and it worked for me!

 

Having said that, it goes without saying that you should get foundation 1 and try yourself against the mastery levels for each exercise and see how far you get!

 

It'll humble you right up and show you where your weaknesses are! 8 weeks ago I had a decent 5 second front lever, I had 6 weeks off for an injury, came back doing foundation work and I popped up today and held a front lever for an easy 8 seconds, could have gone longer!

 

We all want to be able to do the cool shit, but how many times is Coach and everyone else going to have to re-iterate that 'TO LOOK AND PERFORM LIKE A GYMNAST, ONE MUST TRAIN LIKE A GYMNAST.'

 

I'm sure everyone here came and jumped right in to trying HSPUs and ring sequences and Levers, but not many people got anywhere. Go back to basics and do high volume hollow/arch holds/rocks, rows and push ups. You will gain strength in all the areas you seek, not lose it!

 

Chris.

 

 

[Jon Douglas]

I didn't have a problem in BL and FL going to half lay from flat tuck.

 

 

As an expansion on the above recommendation for F1 though, the hip mobility work in it will quickly take care of it feeling unnatural to hold a straddle lever. I had this for FL so I didn't bother with straddle, but I think I could have made significantly faster progress if I'd taken more time with straddle.

 

If it feels weird, although it makes sense on one hand to skip it, fact is there's a reason it's used. If it feels weird, you need to change something so it doesn't.

[Andrew Long]

I understand the no room for straddle work I just did 1 leg in and 1 leg out for front lever it felt pretty similar in difficulty as a straddle but I had to pay particular attention to my form when I did it as I tended to pile a bit not from lack of strength just unfamiliarity with the movement .

Also the idea to go from flat tuck and then just extend you legs out to half way from flat tuck to half lay is a good in between step as well.

Is agree with the others in not skipping progression. I can hold full Lay front lever now for a few seconds but even though I know I shouldn't be training at that level. So I'm actually sticking to a wide straddle for now building a bit more endurance and focusing more on good form.

It is hard to hold back but worth it in the end . Use the harder positions for showing off sometimes if you want but keep your training where it should be.

[Tavis G]

That is what I'm doing. Slowly increase my lean on PL and bringing my legs farther and farther out. My FL i am just slowly extending my knees in the same fashion as PL. Foundation One focuses on everything gymnastic strength correct?

[Joshua Naterman]

Is it completely ok to skip straddle and hold half lay granted you can hold it. I don't have enough room to do straddle and half lay is the only choice. My FL and PL I can hold a straddle and FL i can hold a full half lay. Is it ok to bypass straddle as i get stronger in half lay for FL and advanced tuck for PL? Also straddle feels unnatural compared to half lay for me.

Like everything else, it is a matter of degree. Moving from 90/90 at the hips/knees to 130/90 (hips/knees) is a big jump, but the really hard stuff starts happening in the last ~30 degrees or so as you move into half lay.

 

If you can't train straddle at home, it might be a good idea to train the straddle somewhere else. If you are just dead set on not doing that, you need to take the transition from flat tuck to half lay one degree at a time.  Start at 100 degrees of hip extension, and then 105, and so on. There's no need to jump right into 180 degrees of hip extension  (which is the half lay when your knees are still flexed).

[Tavis G]

Yes i am taking it very slowly focusing on the lean and protraction. The farther i lean it seems my legs automatically unfold. I will let you know of my progress in 2 months aka SSC.

[Brian Li]

My straddle and half lay feel about the same to me because I don't have good straddle flexibility. I would say it's alright to skip straddle and move into the half lay if you can already hold it or progress to it by extending from adv tuck position if you have no room for straddle legs. 

[Andrew Long]

I can't see how it's not possible to find space for a straddle planche .... It's on the floor and I'm pretty sure no matter your situation you could find room. Fl I understand because normally people do them in door ways and such and you don't have as much flexibility with where you can do a front lever.

[Samuli Jyrkinen]

I believe the one leg extended is one of the best progressions for FL before the full lay because even that progression can be altered harder by moving the bent leg further. People usually tend to have all kind of problems with the straddle but with the one leg extended version the body alignment is almost always solid.

[Paolo]

Is it completely ok to skip straddle and hold half lay granted you can hold it. I don't have enough room to do straddle and half lay is the only choice. My FL and PL I can hold a straddle and FL i can hold a full half lay. Is it ok to bypass straddle as i get stronger in half lay for FL and advanced tuck for PL? Also straddle feels unnatural compared to half lay for me.

I think I remember somewhere Coach mentioned that you CAN skip the straddle and go straight to half lay. From my experience, I worked on half lay straddle because it's easier to bring your legs together to a full half lay. But when I attempted the transition from straddle half lay to full half lay, I noticed what felt like unnecessary arching in my back. It just didn't feel natural. So I decided to go back to advanced tucked planche and gradually extend my legs out backward until my legs were straight but my piked hips/feet were low to ground. Then it was a matter of days until I was able to lift my my hips and have the coveted straight body line for a full planche.

 

I've never seen a tutorial where someone mentioned the planche progressions I described - straight legs and low feet/piked hips, so I decided to call it the "Advanced Planche Lean". Be careful not to arch your back though. As always maintain hollow body and protracted scapula.