Fine details on sPL/PE2 (Forearm Plank)

Hey guys,

first of all sry guys for digging for so many fine details on every element.

Hope you don't get annoyed...

I have two questions on the forearm plank:

1) how width should our forearms be apart? First i thought they should be shoulder width apart but

after reading a comment about armwidth in a full planche i am not so shure anymore.

Joshua Slocum wrote that in a full planche the width of the hands is pretty much individual depending on where you can contract the best. For most people it should be slightly wider then

shoulder width. So my guess is this carries over to forearm plank as well am i right?

2) i know we have to protract as hard as we can while performing the forearm plank.

should we also

    a) depress the shoulders

    b) pull our forearms together for maximal chest contraction

?

Or is it really just protraction?

Thx in advance guys

P5yx said:

Hey guys,

 

first of all sry guys for digging for so many fine details on every element.

Hope you don't get annoyed...

 

I have two questions on the forearm plank:

 

1) how width should our forearms be apart? First i thought they should be shoulder width apart but

after reading a comment about armwidth in a full planche i am not so shure anymore.

Joshua Slocum wrote that in a full planche the width of the hands is pretty much individual depending on where you can contract the best. For most people it should be slightly wider then

shoulder width. So my guess is this carries over to forearm plank as well am i right?

 

2) i know we have to protract as hard as we can while performing the forearm plank.

should we also

    a) depress the shoulders

    b) pull our forearms together for maximal chest contraction

?

 

Or is it really just protraction?

 

Thx in advance guys

1. Shoulder width, or the width that you feel confortable with, and that let you have the best protraction.

2. Depress your shoulders and protract them, remember on full protraction all the time.

Greetings man!

Dude, just do it.

Awarenesss said:

Dude, just do it.

BEST ANSWER, You win the thread

hm there really are significant differences in this exercise depending on the details i've stated above.

while some other elements are discussed here quite a bit the easier SEEMING exercices doesn't get as much attention.

try the move with the different things i've posted above. it differs quite a bit.

It really isn't significant. You're just over thinking this. The purpose of the forearm plank in GB Foundation is mainly for protraction and core conditioning. Width between arms should be shoulder width or what is most comfortable for you. Shoulders should stay depressed and you may also squeeze the floor if you want.

ok thx. it's pretty hard for me to recognise when i begin to overthink things and when not.

so please don't be annoyed!

I always find these kind of posts very valuable.  And If the goal is perfection/mastery, you can never over think the moves...

P5yx said:

ok thx. it's pretty hard for me to recognise when i begin to overthink things and when not.

so please don't be annoyed!

xray said:

(...) you can never over think the moves...

LOL... Yet we've all seen plenty of that in the boards... :D

FredInChina said:

LOL... Yet we've all seen plenty of that in the boards... :D

Ive only seen people whining about others trying to delve into the moves to make sure they are being performed correctly.  The important points on RCPE1(no weight on glutes) and ABH (squeeze the glutes/foam rolling) came several pages into those threads.  I think that attitude is counterproductive to the purpose of the forum.

xray said:

Ive only seen people whining about others trying to delve into the moves  (...)

You do need to look a bit harder then

There is an important distinction to make between performing an exercise while at the same time gaining a better understanding and fine tuning of it, often with the help of peers that share videos and pointers on the form, and asking for details ad infinitum about the angle of the pinkie in relation to the curve of the neck, before even attempting the drills.

To me Foundation is more about learning through sensorial experiencing than it is through experience sharing, or, God save us all, academic reading.

Foundation is watch the video, read the two pointers, do! repeat and improve strength, form and endurance, then progress to the next step that Coach prepared.

Curating 35 pages of advice on arch back hold is vain if you don't get down and dirty.

You want to learn how to swim: get in the water! There is nothing anyone can tell you that will replace that experience.

FredInChina said:

You do need to look a bit harder then

There is an important distinction to make between performing an exercise while at the same time gaining a better understanding and fine tuning of it, often with the help of peers that share videos and pointers on the form, and asking for details ad infinitum about the angle of the pinkie in relation to the curve of the neck, before even attempting the drills.

To me Foundation is more about learning through sensorial experiencing than it is through experience sharing, or, God save us all, academic reading.

 

Foundation is watch the video, read the two pointers, do! repeat and improve strength, form and endurance, then progress to the next step that Coach prepared.

Curating 35 pages of advice on arch back hold is vain if you don't get down and dirty.

 

You want to learn how to swim: get in the water! There is nothing anyone can tell you that will replace that experience.

Well said.

To expand, where do you think the people giving that fine advice got it from? Experimenting with what worked and what didn't. Spending time with an exercise to understand the gross movement first, then the fine detail. General to specific, it's a thing.

FredInChina said:

You do need to look a bit harder then

There is an important distinction to make between performing an exercise while at the same time gaining a better understanding and fine tuning of it, often with the help of peers that share videos and pointers on the form, and asking for details ad infinitum about the angle of the pinkie in relation to the curve of the neck, before even attempting the drills.

To me Foundation is more about learning through sensorial experiencing than it is through experience sharing, or, God save us all, academic reading.

 

Foundation is watch the video, read the two pointers, do! repeat and improve strength, form and endurance, then progress to the next step that Coach prepared.

Curating 35 pages of advice on arch back hold is vain if you don't get down and dirty.

 

You want to learn how to swim: get in the water! There is nothing anyone can tell you that will replace that experience.

I disaggree on several points here.

First of all if foundation really is only watch the video, read the pointers and try the movement then i don't really get the purpose of this forum. Furthermore i ask questions regarding an element AFTER i played around with it for a while.

Indeed that is the exact reason why i all these questions come into my mind.

It's kindof hard to say where we should sepperate between an legit question and one which overanalyses things.

i mean who makes that sepperation? Fine details seem important for the one and totally unimportant for the other.

Additionaly i do really like the "academic" part of gst too. For me it's just fun do digg deep to get maximal understanding of the movement. Once again it is difficult to draw the line between overanalysing and ask "legit" (i don't like that word, in my opinion every question is legit as long as it's not repetetive) questions.

e.g. if coach wouldn't have mentioned that a ring support hold needs to be done with RTO would it be legit to ask or is it overanalysing? Many people do the without RTO.

my questions aren't that far away from the above example. it's fact that a forearm plank feels different when doing it

forarms pulled inwards or keep them in a neutral position. neither feels wrong just different. so that's when i think i want to

collect more opinions.

finally i don't want to replace things by just asking questions but add new information while i train and so be able to improve my form.

please do not take this post as offense. it's far away from it.

In the exercise notes it says:

1) Keep the hips tucked (PPT), and back curled (protraction and forward spinal flexion).

2) A neutral chin will be the most comfortable

So, you just read those two notes, watch the video and then do the movement. Video yourself after a while when you feel that you have a pretty good grasp of the movement and then compare it to the demo video. If it looks good and you are making sure to be paying attention to the form details included in the course, then you are good.

This thread reminds me of the one about sPL PE1 where people were going back and forth about how much one should depress or elevate the scraps while protraction and then Coach finally came in and said "I have always had my athletes focus on protraction for sPL PE1."

If scapular depression or pressing the forearms together were important, then Coach would have put those form cues in the exercise notes. You can do them if you want, but they aren't necessarily required to perform the exercise correctly.

That's my approach to F1/H1 anyhow.

Charm said:

Well said.

To expand, where do you think the people giving that fine advice got it from? Experimenting with what worked and what didn't. Spending time with an exercise to understand the gross movement first, then the fine detail. General to specific, it's a thing.

C'mon.  People are obviously doing the exercises while they are also coming on the forum to refine technique.  Neither of these statements are justifications for why P5yx feels he has to apologize in his opening post for asking a question.  

I dont know where this attitude comes from.

If it bothers you then dont read forums that address elements you have already mastered.

xray said:

C'mon.  People are obviously doing the exercises while they are also coming on the forum to refine technique.  Neither of these statements are justifications for why P5yx feels he has to apologize in his opening post for asking a question.  

 

I dont know where this attitude comes from.

If it bothers you then dont read forums that address elements you have already mastered.

Never said they have to apologise. I'm speaking in generalities and agreeing with the sentiment Fred has expressed.

Nor has P5yx apologised. Instead they've given a reason for the question. Fair enough, there isn't an argument here, just a small conflict of viewpoints. It's a physical skill, so my money is on physical learning. This is what I have learnt in my various physical pursuits, that overthinking leads to disjointed movement, and more physical learners tend to progress faster than me (as I have/had the bad habit of overthinking techniques before putting in the reps). I have learnt this the hard way and seen people excel past me by shutting up and doing the work.

I'm not beating anyone down, I am passing on what my experience has taught me and in my own small way I am trying to help people avoid the same mistakes.

P5yx said:

I disaggree on several points here. (...)

Excellent

Charm said:

(...) shutting up and doing the work (...)

PS: @Charm & KeeganY, I ran out of "like" ammo.

Y'all crack me up.

What? You're supposed to squeeze the glutes for ABH? I've been training this exercise for five months, visiting these forums virtually everyday, and only now I hear about this?

wheezer said:

What? You're supposed to squeeze the glutes for ABH? I've been training this exercise for five months, visiting these forums virtually everyday, and only now I hear about this?

*Lift* from glutes. Pull with em. Don't just squeeze

wheezer said:

What? You're supposed to squeeze the glutes for ABH? I've been training this exercise for five months, visiting these forums virtually everyday, and only now I hear about this?

ABH is basically a shoulder flexion/spinal extension/hip extension exercise. While technically the hamstrings can extend the hips, the Glutes are the primary hip extensors and thus yes, should be activated during this exercise (otherwise there is no hope of ever getting the legs off the ground like Dillon does in the demo video).

There is a whole thread dedicated to ABH where Glute activation (as well as some strategies to improve hip extension ROM) has been discussed thoroughly.

wheezer said:

What? You're supposed to squeeze the glutes for ABH? I've been training this exercise for five months, visiting these forums virtually everyday, and only now I hear about this?

Thanks for proving my point! :-)

@P5yx: If you are on planks, I will assume you have eked every little bit of progress out of PE1 and the associated iM. Which leads me to ask, what helped you nail the Swivel Hips? I understand that you had trouble with them in the other thread, but how did you manage to get both knees on the floor?

Thanks

Oh yeah, guys, there are 20 min+ videos on YouTube of people dissecting everything about the Olympic Lifts, from using the right muscles to what you should eat 86.321 hours before training. Why should GST be any different if progress is the final aim of the training?

Aadil Siddiqi said:

Oh yeah, guys, there are 20 min+ videos on YouTube of people dissecting everything about the Olympic Lifts, from using the right muscles to what you should eat 86.321 hours before training. Why should GST be any different if progress is the final aim of the training?

I realize you were being intentionally facetious with this post, but there really is such a thing as overanalyzing movements (be it the Oly lifts or GST movements) and doing so will not necessarily improve performance (in fact it will often hinder it).

Most of the time it is best to focus one 1-2 important "focal points" (movement cues) when learning a new physical skill. This allows the athlete to give each cue his/her full attention and at least perform the new skill with adequate form.

Yes, there are generally more detailed cues that they could use to fine tune the movement, but those shouldn't really be emphasized until the athlete has the basic form down (assuming they aren't doing any movement compensations that are drastically incorrect or risking injury).

Just trust that coach knows what he is doing with the way the course is laid out.