Beginning F1 - Suggestions and more

federicoC said:

What you say is 99% right. Don't think that everything is high quality, e.g. I have experience with private clinic (urology) back home and the same clinic here in CH. Well, the latter is worse, even though you pay more.

 

That said, I go back to your questions.

 

1) I feel "pain" (now I just adjusted to ROM s.t. I don't at all) deep inside my middle gluteus as soon as I approach a position parallel to the floor. It happens symmetrically on both sides.

 

2) I didn't get it

 

3) No pain but stiffness in all the ones that require stiff leg work. However, I felt an improvement, e.g. my ABH ROM went back to normal. In contrast, over the last couple of weeks it was largely limited as well.

 

4) Certainly everything involving calves (deactivated), piriformis, hip flexors and lower back. Kit made me trying different piriformis stretches which I now currently perform and we reached the conclusion that stiffness in my piriformis is preventing mobility in my lower back

 

5) Upper and middle back, quad.

This would be so much easier if I could see you in the flesh, rather than online.

Can you post a video an active straight leg raise. Lay on your back and lift your leg up. Keep both legs straight. A side on view is ideal.

Can you also post a video of a single leg bridge, inline lunge(back knee touching the front heel) a forward bend and a backward bend with hands overhead.

You can PM me if you don't want others to see.

@Bipocni: I was wondering whether this is beneficial in any way. I now learnt how to keep my body straight. That in the video is my max ROM, and I think it is comparable with what is shown in the sample video.

@Mark: thanks a lot. Let's keep this discussion public, other people will benefit from it What I am doing right now is to go through Kit's material and learn which version of what stretch works for me. I'm understanding the concepts and principles underlying the C-R method and I'm starting my journey. I can certainly record the movements you asked at some point this week.

federicoC said:

@Bipocni: I was wondering whether this is beneficial in any way. I no learnt how to keep my body straight. That in the video is my max ROM, and I think it is comparable with what is shown in the sample video.

The athlete in the video definitely has more ROM than what you are demonstrating.  Your glutes need to get down to the same level as (the inside of) your knees.  You're almost there, just a little bit further.

OK then next time I just record them with my normal form and from the front. It appears as if trying to keep the entire body hollow does not add.

federicoC said:

OK then next time I just record them with my normal form and from the front. It appears as if trying to keep the entire body hollow does not add.

I thought we were talking about the skiers.  Your scapula shrugs are fine, just maybe a little elevated at the shoulders.  I'm pretty sure you should be pushing them down and keeping them down for the whole movement.

federicoC said:

@Bipocni: I was wondering whether this is beneficial in any way. I now learnt how to keep my body straight. That in the video is my max ROM, and I think it is comparable with what is shown in the sample video.

 

@Mark: thanks a lot. Let's keep this discussion public, other people will benefit from it What I am doing right now is to go through Kit's material and learn which version of what stretch works for me. I'm understanding the concepts and principles underlying the C-R method and I'm starting my journey. I can certainly record the movements you asked at some point this week.

Kits work is great on mobility. Combined with Coaches mobility you can't go wrong. I am interested in how you move and your stability. You also could have some localised spasm and joint stiffness that is causing the hamstring pain. The tricky thing with the body is that the pain is not always where the problem is. It could be as weird as having a stiff joint in the neck causing hamstring pain.

Yes, I think the key is to be patient and keep learning how to feel a certain stretching exercise, perform gentle contractions, etc.

I will certainly record what you asked. My stability might be an issue as well. Let's see.

Bipocni said:

I thought we were talking about the skiers. Your scapula shrugs are fine, just maybe a little elevated at the shoulders. I'm pretty sure you should be pushing them down and keeping them down for the whole movement.

Coach has stated to simply focus on protraction with the Scap Shrugs; the time for worrying about protraction and depression will come later.

@Bipocni: sorry, my fault. I didn't read carefully enough the entire message. Got it (and today I recorded another set).

@Keegan: sure, thanks. I will do that, actually this is what I always did so far besides the set I recorded with that form by purpose. Thanks again.

Today I tried out the new element. I'll write about that tomorrow and will upload the video as well. I'll need some feedback/help on some elements.

OK, here I am.

I recorded some elements and I'd like to discuss with you about my form. Notice that what I recorded is set 1, meaning my first attempt ever on the elements. Did so to be conservative. Here it is:

1) FL/PE2. My rocking seems way too much. I moved by 2 meters in 40 reps. I could to 40x2 and 30x3 with ease, but I am not sure the form is right. Certainly I rock too much, but how come that I slide so much on the mat? Any other suggestion or things I should really care about? Warmup set of 60s PE1 felt super easy. Depending on your feedback I will decide where to start from.

2) Table. To me it looks not so bad, could keep it for 30" with no problem. I need to define a better starting position, so that I don't have to move my feet afterwards. Felt heavy in my shoulder girdle, it was really opening it up. Should I raise my glutes a bit further?

3) Cossack. I could do 5x10r. I noticed that the exercise is an amazing active stretching for hamstrings. In addition, I think I should increase a little bit further my ROM. Any other major point? I think I may have an advantage on this as I've been a sumo deadlifter used to "chinese" or ultrawide stance, e.g. see this one from Nationals 2009

The Im instead simply did not work. I tried to do it on a low bench but I get stuck, there is no rotation. I have to repeat and see. week 9 for this.

4) RC/PE3. Sorry for having cut my hands. I could do 10,10,10,8,8 reps. I think I should improve on it and keep my body more straight. Anything else? I'll start from week 9 for this. Ah, the Im simply feels amazing.

Thanks a lot to anyone who has the patience to have a look at this!

It looks like you are rocking too much with the BHBR and your knees are too close to your chest. If you watch the athlete on the demonstration his hip angle does not change through the movement.

The Cossack squats could also go deeper. You should be able to feel your hamstrings touch the calf.

When I use to do twisting squats to a box I could not twist, so it became more like a crossed leg squat. Once I could do this from the ground the twist was easy to add in.

BHBr - your knees are too compressed, if you have them set as if you were sitting in an invicibl chair, you'll keep it together and about the sliding idk what could be causing it since every time i test the rocks, i dont slide.

table - i see a bit too much arch in your back, hollow out at the bottom and when you lift, keep the distance between your abs and hips the same

ground rows- i see your abs and back moving too much. pretend your doing an inverted pushup, hollow out, straight legs and point the feet for aesthetics(if you want, i dont know if this is mandatory but I feel solid when I do. every once in a while it'll give you a foot or calve cramp. )

Thanks Mark and Keilani! You gave good hints. I decided to start from week 5 for BHBr. I will just put 2 mastery sets of PE1 to ensure I don't loose any conditioning on it as 24r of BHBr should not kill me at all.

I will then start by doing crossed leg squat and trying to reach the floor in some time. I'll then add some set with rotation at the end to practice. I noticed that the athlete does not rotate on his ankle side. This is what I was trying to do, no surprise I failed then.

For the table I have to bring my hips further up. I compared myself with the video and I have to raise further. Overall seems promising, though, I thought I could not even reach the position before doing it.

Ground rows, got it and I will work on it. One limitation are these stupid giant white pipes running 10cm behind my head. They limit myself in space and also limit the alignment between rings and my shoulders.

Attempt #2 video coming soon.

Attempt #2. Today I did F7 again. Hope you also realized and can fully appreciate the beautiful piece of math I put as my profile picture

Coming back to training:

I managed to reduce the rocking. I think I got the concept, though it's not yet perfect I believe. However, 24r were just right, this time I felt the movement deeply in my abs and I didn't slide. Last set was really close to failure. And it's only 4x24r. Please let me know if I still do something dumb besides the fact that reps don't yet look all the same. I did 2x60s mastery sets of PE1 as WU, I'll cut it back to one set.

I recorded the Table again. Here I'd like to ask you what do you use to warm up for this movement. It comes in the first block in F7 and I felt some discomfort in my shoulder girdle that I can attribute to a suboptimal WU. I generally do 5' cardio to increase my HR, then I move onto some easy dynamic stretch for shoulders and pecs. However, this doesn't really prepare my shoulders for the table. I also tried to push my hips further up, but I think I should raise them further.

Tried to reach deeper in the Cossack. I observe that I round my lower back a bit once in bottom position. This is definitely a mobility issue. Felt the movement great overall, felt it deep in the glutes. Actually, I still had DOMS from the previous session. 4x8r was comfortable. Let me know if you expect the ROM to be increased further. I also recorded a set of twisted squats. I managed to do them off a low mat. Plan to work on full control in the next 2-3 sessions and then I'll try from the ground or from 1/2 the height.

Finally, ground rows, so that you can see what is going on better in this one. If I compare myself to the athlete in the sample video, I see that he keeps his body straight, while I somehow arch my back (somewhat similar to a bench press arch). This might be due to my posture, at least partially, but I guess I can try to keep it more straight. Probably I have to think about Kit calling a "tuck the tail" movement once I reach the bottom of each rep.

Let me conclude with one observation. After the WO I do Kit's work and feel really great. However, in the evening, I am as stiff as I can get. 

hey federico,

twisting squat looks solid but not till you drop down on the mat. looks too much like falling the last cm, when i compare to the vid, he s getting down with more control. i have some good reps where i have full controll through the pressing with my quads till i am sitting, think that can help you. And i'm really bad in the "twisting" part, so you should try this also right now from the beginning. 

Thanks William, I agree. This is what I mean by I will work on "Plan to work on full control in the next 2-3 sessions". I'm following Mark's advice to first get to the floor. Thank you!

It still looked like you were flexing the hip too much as you roll onto the shoulders. It may be the angle of the video though.

Was both Cossack squats equal depth? It looked like the right was not as deep. Was there any difference to how they felt in terms of strength and control? And was the DOMS the same side to side? I ask these as it could be related to your problem with the windmill.

Thanks Mark. Yes, I should figure out where to put the cam s.t. I can record from the side. Cossack depth looked similar to me on both sides (and I agree with you it does not look so from the video), I think the angle of the video there really matters. I had DOMS on both sides, equally felt.

federicoC said:

Thanks William, I agree. This is what I mean by I will work on "Plan to work on full control in the next 2-3 sessions". I'm following Mark's advice to first get to the floor. Thank you!

I must overlooked it  

i also think working more with the back to get down as controlled as possible is no mistake, means leaning more forward for balance(tense your abs hard here!)if this brings you closer to the full rom and reduces the small bouncing when getting down.

Yes, tomorrow I will improve further.

What is of most concern at the moment is to find a proper WU for the table. I also feel some slight DOMS in my shoulders and quite some in my glutes/hamstrings.

Today I did F7. As a WU for FL/PE2 and table I introduced some sets of table where I do not hold the final position but I rather get to it in the last set. At every set I push myself a little bit further up, until I reach the top position in 3-4 sets.

Overall I think I did a decent job. Some notes:

1) I think I further improved the rock on the HBR. This made them considerably difficult. In the last set, I had to stop and get back to a HBH before getting out the last 10 reps. 4x24r has been challenging. I will try to see what happens in week 6.

2) I did the Cossack facing a front mirror. I didn't see any asymmetry. On the twisting squats I started working on the rotation as well. I'm afraid of doing this movement, feels so unnatural and in first place, I can't imagine it's healthy in the end. I might be wrong.

3) I recorded a set of ground rows.

Although you may not be able to see it, I don't touch the floor (of course). Tried to tuck the tail in starting position and recalled that after some reps. To me it looks like I keep my body straight. Keilani, is it better?

Finished with 4 sets of RTO support and Kit's recommended work. Felt very nice, I have the feeling I'm slowly starting benefit from this, both in my body and in my mind.

federicoC said:

Today I did F7. As a WU for FL/PE2 and table I introduced some sets of table where I do not hold the final position but I rather get to it in the last set. At every set I push myself a little bit further up, until I reach the top position in 3-4 sets.

 

Overall I think I did a decent job. Some notes:

1) I think I further improved the rock on the HBR. This made them considerably difficult. In the last set, I had to stop and get back to a HBH before getting out the last 10 reps. 4x24r has been challenging. I will try to see what happens in week 6.

2) I did the Cossack facing a front mirror. I didn't see any asymmetry. On the twisting squats I started working on the rotation as well. I'm afraid of doing this movement, feels so unnatural and in first place, I can't imagine it's healthy in the end. I might be wrong.

3) I recorded a set of ground rows.

 

Although you may not be able to see it, I don't touch the floor (of course). Tried to tuck the tail in starting position and recalled that after some reps. To me it looks like I keep my body straight. Keilani, is it better?

 

The rows look good to me Maybe make a really short pause when you're at the top position, just for making sure you have full control. Body line looks good. I hope my looks the same while doing the rows. Maybe because of the camera angle it looks like you are moving your neck on the top, but difficult to say-you will know if you do so!

Have the same thoughts about twisting squats...maybe can someone tell us the benefits and the idea behind it?

William said:

 

Have the same thoughts about twisting squats...maybe can someone tell us the benefits and the idea behind it?

from what i can see right now, skiers are a dynamic medium glute stretch tied into a squat. 

twisting squats and inside squats, i can't see too well but it seems to work the rotators in the glutes and also the inner and outer muscles of the leg (abductor and adductor) 

aside from that, there could be more(or less) of what i mentioned

Thanks William, Keilani what do you say? Do they match closer to your suggestion? Next time I do the ground rows I will nevertheless raise the rings 4-5cm, this is too borderline.

I thought skiers and twisting squats aim mostly at working on the knees. There are bunch of other exercises for medium glutes and adductors/abductors, isn't it? While I'm fine with the skiers (and feel like I'm still gaining ROM) I feel like I have to be way more careful with the twisting squats. Perhaps I started too low or lowered too fast but this morning I had the feeling my ligaments/soft tissues in the knee were targeted too heavily. I don't want to injury myself by going too fast on this element. Rather, I may continue with a slower pace and perform more WU sets with PE1 and work on the ROM of the cossack.

federicoC said:

.....this morning I had the feeling my ligaments/soft tissues in the knee were targeted too heavily....

Wait until you try inside squats.