Has anyone mastered MN/PE2 yet?

Hey Adriano, looking good from my p.o.v.

Honestly I wouldn't be worried about the consecutive days of training, I do the very hard training on hip and leg flexors the day after F1's SL/MN/SLS and it's been ok so far.

Adriano Flo said:

I have genu varo on the legs because so many years of soccer in my childhood and sometimes it seems they are bent but they aren't

Holy s#!t, I'm writing this down, I'm sure there's more than one case where I can use it!

Does it work if you need to get better airplane seats?

Thought I'd join the fun in this thread 

Some really useful pointers have been mentioned- I'd been doing the same as Adriano and lifting first then straddling after...

Here's my latest effort:

Better than when I started, but I think still quite a way from the form shown by the athlete- his shoulders are directly over his glutes! My chest is caving a bit in this example too.

Interestingly I randomly tried V-ups today for the first time since starting the course (I have NEVER been able to do them with anything even approaching proper form), but now they seem easier than straddle ups! 

This is my form with zero prep or practice:

Certainly not perfect, but that doesn't look too far from the form used by the athlete to me (someone please correct me if I'm way off!). Either way, I'm pretty chuffed as it's a massive improvement for me- those Jefferson curls must be doing the trick...

I'm only saying this as I'd put money on everyone else who's putting in the hours with PE2 will probably be as equally rewarded for their efforts- hidden progress 

Quite good, I think you are nearly there with PE2.

What is the weigh you are doing Jefferson'c with now (weight and/or % of body weigh)?

ajgregory said:

 

...but now they seem easier than straddle ups! 

 

It's odd, but I've also found this to be the case. Your ROM looks good, nice work!

piotro said:

Quite good, I think you are nearly there with PE2.

What is the weigh you are doing Jefferson'c with now (weight and/or % of body weigh)?

Had worked up to 20kg @ BW 70kg, but then hurt my lower back pushing too hard with 24kg. I'm now working up slowly again, currently only using 5kg. Interestingly, while lifting this weight is trivial, the stretch feels just as strong as when I was using more weight (I feel really tight behind the knees- not sure if that's hamstring or calf inflexibility).

Have also been working on pike/straddle stretches, compressing maximally with bent legs and then relaxing further into the stretch after a contraction of 5-10s.

ajgregory said:

Had worked up to 20kg @ BW 70kg

I'm comfortably doing 40 kg at around the same body weight, full ROM. But it seems that for me it carries over more to the V-ups than to straddle ups. Sometimes it feels like I can completely stretch out my hamstrings and I start to feel the stretch in my hips. Even then my straddle ups need a lot more compression. So clearly J-curls alone aren't the answer for me. Frustrating, but I'll keep at it. 

ajgregory said:

Had worked up to 20kg @ BW 70kg, but then hurt my lower back pushing too hard with 24kg. I'm now working up slowly again, currently only using 5kg. Interestingly, while lifting this weight is trivial, the stretch feels just as strong as when I was using more weight (I feel really tight behind the knees- not sure if that's hamstring or calf inflexibility).

 

I have the same, just feeling it behind the knee, for me Jefferson's haven't helped (at least visibly) with hamstring/pike flexibility (I must be doing something wrong), but I hope they do a lot of good for my back.

Someone on the forum said that tightness behind the knee means calf issues.

I felt them quite a bit behind my knees until I upped the weight.  I think at heavier weights they load your hamstrings up more and change the locus of the stretch.

piotro said:

Someone on the forum said that tightness behind the knee means calf issues.

80% of the time this is my experience. Probably 10- 15% of the remaining time is glute issues; I can stretch and stretch with a negligible effect on the hamstrings if I don't address these two first

Jon Douglas said:

80% of the time this is my experience. Probably 10- 15% of the remaining time is glute issues; I can stretch and stretch with a negligible effect on the hamstrings if I don't address these two first

My calves have always been a bit of an issue, though I've been improving them a bit with some lacrosse ball torture recently- I usually cramp up extremely quickly (and badly) when trying to do any interval style running/jumping work (e.g. soccer).

piotro said:

I have the same, just feeling it behind the knee, for me Jefferson's haven't helped (at least visibly) with hamstring/pike flexibility (I must be doing something wrong)

I think it's important to not just lock the legs, but to also squeeze your quads as hard as possible. This will help take advantage of reciprocal inhibition and allow the hamstring to relax more. Just a thought, perhaps you're doing this already.

I believe, as said elsewhere, that if you don't feel enough stretch on the hamstrings, in most of cases you're not using your hips the right way.

Keeping your legs straight is important, but without using hips correctly, you'll have poor if no stretch.
There are even cases where you can stretch, hammies with sightly bent legs if you tilt your hips the right way.

There was a similar talk in another thread: https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/14076-mnpe6-for-so-long-time/#entry138138

Also found this, interesting:

http://kitlaughlin.com/forums/index.php?/topic/311-tightness-in-the-calf-during-hamstring-stretches/

This one look interesting, although in my case it feels a bit too gentle, maybe I need thicker stick.

piotro said:

Also found this, interesting:

http://kitlaughlin.com/forums/index.php?/topic/311-tightness-in-the-calf-during-hamstring-stretches/

 

This one look interesting, although in my case it feels a bit too gentle, maybe I need thicker stick.

Fred posted this a while ago and reported good success with it IIRC, just around the time I pulled my hamstring mildly; I don't know whether I was doing it incorrectly (I suspect I was) but (complete) rehab was accomplished via the hamstring-focused IM's in F1 and 2, supplemented with static shoulder bridge curls, that sort of thing

 Wow.  I looked exactly like my avatar when I tried this today.

Also found this, interesting:

This one look interesting, although in my case it feels a bit too gentle, maybe I need thicker stick.

 

lol Jen, me too >_<

good thing i started with a 1" thick stick and not something more extreme because it would produced curse words, beads of sweat AND flying objects hahahahah

Sorry for using this thread as a Form check, but I think that put progress on it would be helpful to some people.

Today I didn't warm up as long as usually, and still felt a lot of hip mobility and compression, so despite of be in the gym, I recorded myself.

I know about my lower back, it's difficult to me, I have a funny buttock but still I can do it without curve, just I don't realise until I saw it. 

I have a question on this. It would be acceptable do the PE in hollow body? I mean by that without feet touch the floor, same as hollow position.

Thanks in advance!

Adriano Flo said:

I have a question on this. It would be acceptable do the PE in hollow body? I mean by that without feet touch the floor, same as hollow position.

 

I reckon that if you don't use too much momentum and "muscle bounce", doing it from hollow body it's harder, provided you block the stance up and down.

I did my one like that and remember the last set as being pretty tough, at that point I wasn't in hollow anymore, meaning I could clearly feel my lower back arching.

You're one looks very nice and clean on the form, but also pretty fast when compared to the reference video.

This said, I'm pretty sure it would be totally good for mastery!

I've found an excellent new mobility element for straddle compression:

All I need to do is dislocate my hips, then I'll give this a shot!

holy cow, man. hahahaha

thecolin said:

I've found an excellent new mobility element for straddle compression:

All I need to do is dislocate my hips, then I'll give this a shot!

Wat...

Mastery ROM

I can do that, hold my beer....

Has Coach weighed in on the question of whether it is encouraged to master a pancake or pike stretch before MN/PE2 or any other F1 exercises?  I do not have access to F2-4 yet and am wondering if I'm jumping ahead of the programming.

Jefferson curls are exactly what the doctor order, apart from actually getting the motion down with active flexibility. 

I get the most out of a jefferson curl session(I usually do them for 2-3sets since im still working on windmills) when I pull myself downwards and pull myself upwards. the focus points speak enough for themselves(I'll be honest though, it's really tiring and really sucks. my butt/hamstrings and abs are fried by the time I'm done. 5x5 of this must be hell )

doing the iM's on the side if you've mastered the mobility of that particular PE+PE/iM level is not frowned upon; for example, I'm working on some of the F2-F3 HBP as shoulder mobility(after the workout is done) on F1a(sPL/RC,etc etc) and hip flexor/psoas mobility drills on F1b days.(those are my problem areas though, so that doesn't mean everyone should be working on it.)

so maybe you'd benefit from working the Bridge progressions in F1a days and do some Shoulder Bridges as a warm up before ABH.(I remember distinctly reading that someone does that, but I can't remember who it was. maybe they'll chime in to give you more feedback.)