Novice Form Checks - F1(7)+H1 PE1

Hey everyone.  F1/H1 novice here.  I bought F1 when it was released but had other priorities until now (I competed last month in the US Rowing Masters National Championships…and won silver & bronze medals!), and I just bought F1, so I'm in my first week of the program.  

The other night I filmed all the PE1 elements so I can get a form check on them.  I would appreciate any feedback.

If it matters, I'm 38, 6'4" and 210 lbs, with zero gymnastics background.  I was a rower in college and continue to train/compete for Nationals once a year.  I dabbled in CrossFIt off and on since 2007 (but I've since moved on from it), and have been focused on weightlifting for the past year or so.

My primary goal is long-term health.  I really like the integration of strength and mobility and the implications this has for long-term health/fitness, so I'm going to make GST my primary focus, adding in sport specific training as and when necessary.   

For now I'm doing F1(7)+H1 four days a week (with 2 days/week of Olympic lifting and conditioning), starting at PE1 week 9 (4x48s / 4x12r) for everything.  I'm sure as I progress past PE1 I will adjust this schedule, recovery permitting, but I've got a pretty high work capacity right now coming off of Nationals, where I was training ~8-10x per week.   

Anyway, here are the videos with some commentary from what I can see.  
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FL/PE1: Bent Hollow Body Hold
FL/PE1>iM: Cat Cow

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sPL/PE1: Scapular Shrug
sPL/PE1>iM: Swivel Hips
As seems to be common around here, I'm nowhere near being able to get my knees to the ground without my glutes coming off the floor.  Should I stop at the point where my glutes come off the floor, or should I push my knees all the way to the floor and let my glutes come up (as I'm doing in the video)? Which method will better improve my mobility?

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SL/PE1: Arch Body Hold  
SL/PE1>iM: Standing Hip Circle  

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MN/PE1: Tuck-Up
MN/PE1>iM: Stiff Leg Windmill
On the Windmills, I usually use a 35lb kettlebell, but I didn't have it handy so I improvised with a 12lb medicine ball instead.  Is there am ideal weight range for this?  It seems like 35 is too strength-focused while 12 is too light. 

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SLS/PE1: Deck Squat  
SLS/PE1>iM: Skiers
Is the goal to keep the knees glued together during Deck Squats?  Mine have a tendency to flare outwards during the transition, but if I focus I can make them stay together most of the time.  Not sure if it matters though. 

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HBP/PE1: Incline Pushup   
HBP/PE1>iM: German Arm Swing

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RC/PE1: Hinge Row
RC/PE1>iM: Upright Lat Lean
It's hard to tell from my video, but the only part of my body supporting weight are my heels.  My glutes occasionally barely brush against the floor, but they're never weight-bearing.  Is this the ideal?  It's about 100 times more difficult this way.

On the Lat Lean, it looks like my hold point is too low compared to the course video, so I've since raised it.  I've also learned that it's 30s per arm, not 30s total. 

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I'll come back and post the link to my H1 video here once i post that in the appropriate forum. 

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For grins, since I was already filming anyway, here's my squat and RDL sessions, if anyone cares to critique me:

High Bar Back Squat

3x3 @ 225/245/260 lbs

I'm new to the high bar Olympic squat style (I've been doing the low bar Powerlifting style for the past year, got to a 300lb 1RM), so it feels really awkward.  I don't think I'm going low enough, and I need to keep my neck/head more neutral.  I also need to push my knees out more as they are collapsing in a bit.  Anything else?

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Romainian Deadlift

3x5 @ 185/225/275 lbs

Thanks for the feedback!

Rob

Hey there 

With my untrained eye I think everything looks pretty good, but don't take my word for it. I do think you need more ROM in your arch holds though (don't worry, you're not alone on this one  ).

Enjoy the ride 

Need more ROM on the arch hold, and can't tell if your legs are appropriately together, but something to keep in mind as you work to improve the former. Also, I think you need a bit more depth on your skiers, as the glutes should be getting close to knee level. 

Things look pretty solid though, great job.

- Chris

Thanks for the feedback.  I *WANT* more arch, I promise...but wishing for it doesn't seem to make it happen, unfortunately.   

My feet are together (even more so since I recorded that video).   I'm unable to get my knees together no matter what I do, but I saw Coach responded in another thread that the knees aren't important as long as the feet are together. 

I'll work on the skiers depth as well.  Thanks for the pointer. 

Time to build endurance.  4x48 & 4x12 are crushing muscles I didn't even know I had.  My wife thinks I'm getting a little too attached to my foam roller and lacrosse ball. 

Almost correct, if you are somewhat bowlegged you will not be able to get the legs together; otherwise keep them together!

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Too newbie to give you feedback on the GST, but overall looks very solid to me!

Instead, I'd like to give you a suggestions on your SQ. Try to work on pushing knees outwards, and I recommend you introduce some box squat, Your SQ, besides the position of the bar, is closer to a PLing SQ than to an OL SQ. Don't be too concerned with the depth until you fix this problem. With a PR of 300 @ 210, you can aim at a 2BW squat with ease.

federicoC said:

 

Instead, I'd like to give you a suggestions on your SQ. Try to work on pushing knees outwards, and I recommend you introduce some box squat, Your SQ, besides the position of the bar, is closer to a PLing SQ than to an OL SQ. Don't be too concerned with the depth until you fix this problem. With a PR of 300 @ 210, you can aim at a 2BW squat with ease.

Thanks Federico.  I'm actually trying to learn the Olympic-style high bar squat, and stop doing the PLing style.  I've only been doing the PL style for awhile, which is why it's so ugly right now, as I'm sort of doing both (or maybe neither) at the same time.  I'm currently working my way through Greg Everett's "Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches" book and DVD.  Hopefully that will help.

Coach Sommer said:

 

Almost correct, if you are somewhat bowlegged you will not be able to get the legs together; otherwise keep them together!

Thanks Coach.  I think I qualify as bowlegged, as the only way I can make my knees touch is to internally rotate my hips, which causes my heels to separate (which I obviously won't be doing).   Otherwise, I can't get them together.  I'll keep trying though! 

Same for me, I also have to rotate the hips to get my knees touching.

For the OLs, I understand. I think it is extremely important to get an OHS done with correct form and same stance ad the OL Squat. Out of curiosity, why do you want to get into OLs and prefer them to, say, PLing training?

Btw, for your romanian DLs, do a google search for "Dimel deadlift" and include couple of sets (15 to 20r or up to tempo/technical failure) in your routine 1 x week, they will teach you a lot.

your squat stance is too wide.its like you are trying to do low bar squat with hight bar position.looks like you are not pushing your knees out enough (to sides) and also it looks like you need to work on your flexibility.ankles and hips in particular are most importatnt.maybe you should start with front squat which will improve your high bar squat as well.your ass should be going between your ankles

For the distance between feet on the squat is just a personal matter. to unerstand your REAL distance you have to perform 3 depth squat jump as high as possible. take as a reference the distance after the 3rd  jump when you land on the floor. as vartik said, you are moving the knee inside on the beginning of the ascent movement. consider the idea to use an elastic loop band around your knees an think abou to opush the knees on the side, or you can use 2 different loop bands on each side of the rack that avoid the inside-squat motion durin the ascent.

I would like to comment on those squats for anyone else that sees that video. 
Those knees caving in at the bottom are a big deal and kind of represents a loosening and falling to the bottom position, only to try to recover at the bottom and work your way back out. This is incorrect form and represents a weight that is too high for their current strength (the legs can push that weight, but the knees and/or hips will suffer over time). 

Barring a discussion of if its the AB or ADductors being weaker( the answer wasn't intuitive) the knees shouldn't buckle at all and should remain as still as possible laterally. If anyone wants a better detailed explanation i'll pull out my Starting Strength, as there is a good half a page on the why.