Pike Press

So I've had a pike press from the floor for a few months now, and almost can press from L-sit/or sitting pike. My regular handstand form I have perfected (shoulders opened, ribs in, etc etc), but my pike press form is terrible and I've tried everything to fix it but I have to result to asking all of you for help haha!

When I do a pike press from the floor I start off rounding my back and going a bit over my shoulders, but as soon as my toes start lifting all the weight goes straight to my hips and I begin to arch. It happens every time, and I know it is a problem with my ribs and hips combined.

Does anyone have any input to help me out or any drills or exercises I can do?

Thanks

To give any feedback I would need to see a video of the press, a slow negative with the best form you can manage, and also your handstand from the side. Most probably you are not strong in your scapular muscles to stay stacked on top when you lift, and you compensate with letting your shoulders sink a bit(losing the protraction) andarching it up. One thing you can do is to lower down with the best form you can manage and press back up. Dont go to your limit because its then likely that you will repeat your mistake. FIlm it to see how it looks like. 

Post up a video and i will give you some feedback

Handbalancer said:

To give any feedback I would need to see a video of the press, a slow negative with the best form you can manage, and also your handstand from the side. Most probably you are not strong in your scapular muscles to stay stacked on top when you lift, and you compensate with letting your shoulders sink a bit(losing the protraction) andarching it up. One thing you can do is to lower down with the best form you can manage and press back up. Dont go to your limit because its then likely that you will repeat your mistake. FIlm it to see how it looks like. 

 

Post up a video and i will give you some feedback

That's what's great about this community.

Handbalancer said:

To give any feedback I would need to see a video of the press, a slow negative with the best form you can manage, and also your handstand from the side. Most probably you are not strong in your scapular muscles to stay stacked on top when you lift, and you compensate with letting your shoulders sink a bit(losing the protraction) andarching it up. One thing you can do is to lower down with the best form you can manage and press back up. Dont go to your limit because its then likely that you will repeat your mistake. FIlm it to see how it looks like. 

 

Post up a video and i will give you some feedback

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MmOhBOajYxo

It's a mobile link, hopefully it will show on a desktop if you're on a computer

link for desktop computers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmOhBOajYxo

palmcron said:

link for desktop computers:

Thank you haha

You need to focus on using your upper back/trapezius for the press. Once your feet leave the ground, think about pressing your hands in the directions your fingers are pointing until they are behind your head. 

Another way to think about it is that once your feet leave the floor, you want to get your shoulders fully extended before you start to lift your legs. Doing half presses is a good way to work this. 

Its not terrible, but you need to focus on your trapezius push. Once you will start to push you need to feel your traps shrug towards you ears and due to the protraction of your shoulders, feel that your sternum gets "pulled" towards your spine(this is more of a mental picture of what your torso should be doing). I have a question, when you do it, do you feel that your abdominals are working hard? In either case, during a press with a rounded back your abs are very active in the compression. Im asking since i have never pressed through arching my back. When you do it correctly you shouldnt feel your shoulders go forwards at all, only that your trapezius are pushing so hard into the floor that everything gets lifted on top of them. Way down looks better and I think you should be training to lower down and press back out, REALLY focusing on it being your traps that work with the sternum sucked in. The weight is not allowed to go more towards your fingers at all. Imagine that you have it somewhere between the knuckle of your index finger and teh base of your thumb. Reason im very picky is because you are flexible and strong so you can get it perfectly.

Your handstand is pretty good, but notice that you have the same tendency when straight as when you press. The alignment looks very good but its visible that you arent rounding your back and letting your traps and scapular muscles do the full work. When you achieve that you can literally be so hollow that you can just place all the weight on the heel of your palm and not use the fingers at all.

Handbalancer said:

Its not terrible, but you need to focus on your trapezius push. Once you will start to push you need to feel your traps shrug towards you ears and due to the protraction of your shoulders, feel that your sternum gets "pulled" towards your spine(this is more of a mental picture of what your torso should be doing). I have a question, when you do it, do you feel that your abdominals are working hard? In either case, during a press with a rounded back your abs are very active in the compression. Im asking since i have never pressed through arching my back. When you do it correctly you shouldnt feel your shoulders go forwards at all, only that your trapezius are pushing so hard into the floor that everything gets lifted on top of them. Way down looks better and I think you should be training to lower down and press back out, REALLY focusing on it being your traps that work with the sternum sucked in. The weight is not allowed to go more towards your fingers at all. Imagine that you have it somewhere between the knuckle of your index finger and teh base of your thumb. Reason im very picky is because you are flexible and strong so you can get it perfectly.

 

Your handstand is pretty good, but notice that you have the same tendency when straight as when you press. The alignment looks very good but its visible that you arent rounding your back and letting your traps and scapular muscles do the full work. When you achieve that you can literally be so hollow that you can just place all the weight on the heel of your palm and not use the fingers at all.

Yeah when I do the pike press I don't feel my abs working too much! Everything your saying makes complete sense, but when your talking about handstand form in general, how would I neccessarily use my traps and scapular muscles more? Would that involve rotating them upwards or downwards? Opening the shoulders more? I know what you mean by a hollow back, but as a visual learner I need to mentally paint a picture of what exactly the scapular muscles are doing hahaha. Thank you for extensive input I appreciate that, I need 'picky' input on my handstands lol. Ill probably try this and take a picture of it for input

Thank you for your help!!

Handbalancer said:

Its not terrible, but you need to focus on your trapezius push. Once you will start to push you need to feel your traps shrug towards you ears and due to the protraction of your shoulders, feel that your sternum gets "pulled" towards your spine(this is more of a mental picture of what your torso should be doing). I have a question, when you do it, do you feel that your abdominals are working hard? In either case, during a press with a rounded back your abs are very active in the compression. Im asking since i have never pressed through arching my back. When you do it correctly you shouldnt feel your shoulders go forwards at all, only that your trapezius are pushing so hard into the floor that everything gets lifted on top of them. Way down looks better and I think you should be training to lower down and press back out, REALLY focusing on it being your traps that work with the sternum sucked in. The weight is not allowed to go more towards your fingers at all. Imagine that you have it somewhere between the knuckle of your index finger and teh base of your thumb. Reason im very picky is because you are flexible and strong so you can get it perfectly.

 

Your handstand is pretty good, but notice that you have the same tendency when straight as when you press. The alignment looks very good but its visible that you arent rounding your back and letting your traps and scapular muscles do the full work. When you achieve that you can literally be so hollow that you can just place all the weight on the heel of your palm and not use the fingers at all.

Is this handstand better? Using my scapular muscles is a bit more confusing to me than I thought haha

It seems you need to get the understanding of how to "close" your chest properly(meaning protracting the shoulders) in your handstand. This is really confusing and counterintuitive because closing the chest part closes your shoulder angle. This means that you need FULL 180 degrees opening of the shoulders even with the shoulders protracted. You should work on looking at your toes in a straight handstand as this has a tendency to force you to protract.

Most people dont physically understand this detail. It is absolutely fundamental to getting press hs with good form. I will try to make a short clip where I show and explain how this works. 

Handbalancer said:

It seems you need to get the understanding of how to "close" your chest properly(meaning protracting the shoulders) in your handstand. This is really confusing and counterintuitive because closing the chest part closes your shoulder angle. This means that you need FULL 180 degrees opening of the shoulders even with the shoulders protracted. You should work on looking at your toes in a straight handstand as this has a tendency to force you to protract.

 

Most people dont physically understand this detail. It is absolutely fundamental to getting press hs with good form. I will try to make a short clip where I show and explain how this works.

Okay, thank you a short video would help alot!