HS/PE4

I think my shoulder mobility is getting good, then I progress to the next element...

 

A couple of questions on this move:

 

1) I use a small 2.5lb plate to weigh my broomstick, but this limits the flexion ROM with this move.  Should I perform this movement lying on my kitchen counter so the wrists fall just over the edge and the plate doesn't limit me?  I found that the last few inches of motion are the real killer this movement and I'd hate to miss out.

 

2) In attempting to flatten my low back, I find that my feet splay apart and that my legs lift up (I have a feeling of tightness in the psoas area in front of my hip), and that the entire leg tends to externally rotate.  Should I attempt to force correct these aspects and limits my shoulder flexion ROM?  I leg lift tightness occurs almost immediately upon flattening my back.

 

Thank you!

Add. 1) You should be able to get your hands just off the floor (if lying on the floor), if your kitchen counter is going to be safe option you could use that, problem is how will you know when to stop and avoiding dropping your hands too low (maybe it could be some idea to drop them bit lower from time to time, but I guess not too much).

 

Add. 2) Try to keep your feet together and bend legs at your knees up the point when you can keep your back flat, for now this will be ok (this is repeating after Coach in some other thread). Then work on your hip mobility .

Thanks Piotro!  Regarding 1, I was thinking my wrists contacting the counter might give me some feedback; I'll try it out next session.  I appreciate you pointing out the knee bending option; I've been working on hip mobility but as a student I'm in a chair a good deal of the time so fighting tightness is an ongoing thing.

Yes, it's okay to use bent knees as you work on this, but you eventually need enough mobility to straighten the legs out for mastery of this element. Just wanted to make that clear. That part's definitely going to be tricky for me.

Regarding the first quesiton,

Have you tried shower curtain rods? I'm not joking! It'll allow you full ROM. Some can weigh a good bit. Just take it from your shower and put it back when you're done! I'm sure home depot will have a lot in stock if you have a glass shower, and you could probably find rods of varying weights and materials.

And how about buying a 10 lbs or 5 lbs barbell? They're cheap!

Currently, I'm using the lat pulldown bar I found from a broken 15 year old bowflex machine. It's about 1.5" thick and weights 3lbs, which means it works for HSPE4 perfectly.

In this exercise, are the hands at shoulder-width or one hands-width outside?

 

It looks from the video that at the top of the move (full flexion), your knuckles are resting on the floor.  You're not expected to hold the weight off the floor for 30s, right?  The weight on the bar matters for the moving part of the move, but not the full flexion hold, right?

 

Thanks.

1. shoulder width 

2. yes you're expected to hold the weight just off the ground. 

3. what exactly do you mean by "if the weight matters"? are you refering to what weights we should master? 

1.  Thanks

 

2.  The video doesn't show the athlete holding weight off the floor.  The knuckles are connecting and you can even see a little thud when it lands right around 0:03-0:04.  Did you get that answer from a course or a different thread?  I know it looks like there wouldn't be any challenge in holding the full-flexion position if you aren't holding the bar off the floor, but fully pressing the back down and not letting the ribcage or upper back pop up for 5x30s is still real work.  It's not like you're just lying there.

 

3.  I didn't say "if the weight matters."  I said that the weight matters for the moving part of the move, meaning that if the hands rest on the mat, as the video pretty clearly shows to my eyes (and the unbiased eyes of family members who don't do GST), the weight of the bar doesn't really impact the difficulty of the flexion part of the move that much.  But once you start moving, the weight of the bar makes a big difference.

i can't link you right now but searching "hs pe 4 weight form" might bring something up

https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/11446-hs-pe-4-6/?p=112125

Thanks, guys.  I searched "pe4" but not "pe 4".  This forum is very helpful.