Pushups & plank form check

Hello everyone!

I recently regressed to PE1 of RC progression, not knowing before my glutes should be OFF the ground  . I was hitting a wall at ground rows, and I believe thoroughy mastering PE1 & 2 will solve my issue.

So in the spirit of doing things right, two more form checks. I can do 4x6 pushups with this form, but it's hard. Plank I can do 4x60 protracting as hard as I can and 5x60 probably won't be a problem.

Pushups:

Plank:

This is just a short hold to show my form, I did 60s but the camera angle didn't show my back, but here it is anyway:

All comments and suggestions from everyone are much appreciated.

(Thanks Joakim )

[ media ] youtube-link [ / media ] to embed.

The pushups look good and dedicated and the plank looks solid, if you raise your lower back/ass a bit then it would be perfect. 

Dont get this wrong but you might also want to consider changing your diet up a bit, it will help build on that starting strength

PU - Protract at the top. Your tempo is to slow for the mastery set; I know you'll be looking good form and pace tempo, and it's ok, but when you increase the reps you'll have to be slightly faster, just for the sake of mastery.

Plank - Same as Robmob. 

Robmob said:

The pushups look good and dedicated and the plank looks solid, if you raise your lower back/ass a bit then it would be perfect. 

Dont get this wrong but you might also want to consider changing your diet up a bit, it will help build on that starting strength

I do look skinny, don't I? 

I used to be even leaner, but I've gained about 2-3 kilos in the last couple of months.

Adriano Flo said:

PU - Protract at the top. Your tempo is to slow for the mastery set; I know you'll be looking good form and pace tempo, and it's ok, but when you increase the reps you'll have to be slightly faster, just for the sake of mastery.

 

Plank - Same as Robmob. 

 

Thanks, I noticed the lack of protraction too. I used to have a pretty big arch in my lower back, is my pelvic tilt ok?

One detail that I notice is your traps are sticking up in the plank. As your work towards a planche lean, ideally I think that bulge should disappear with stronger scap depression. If you look at the planche lean video in particular, the athletes traps are really stretched out. It's a minor detail, but it's something you might want to keep in mind as you progress. It should help concentrate the tension in your upper back, as opposed to the middle.

And don't feel bad if push ups are especially hard for you, it looks like you've got some looooong arms. With each push up you've got a lot further to go than most people, keep at it! 

One thing I noticed is you move backwards and forwards while doing the push-up. You should be moving as straight up and down as you can. Try resting on the top of your feet or pressing your feet against a wall to stop that.

ausswe said:

One thing I noticed is you move backwards and forwards while doing the push-up. You should be moving as straight up and down as you can. Try resting on the top of your feet or pressing your feet against a wall to stop that.

But isn't this normal to a degree? Wouldn't I be doing almost PPPs if I kept my forearms vertical and my head above the same point during the pushups? 

Duff said:

But isn't this normal to a degree? Wouldn't I be doing almost PPPs if I kept my forearms vertical and my head above the same point during the pushups?

Not unless your hands are way lower than necessary for regular pushups

Jon Douglas said:

Not unless your hands are way lower than necessary for regular pushups

Ok, I'll work on that.

Look at your feet on the video and you will see them moving back and forward. That movement makes the push up easier as you are pushing backwards rather than directly up so the top part of the push up has less lean than the bottom. When I corrected this it made the exercise quite a bit harder

Am I supposed to feel the biceps work during the plank?

Today I tried to focus on depressing the shoulders. I felt the biceps working, and after the set there was some numbness in my right palm, especially my thumb. Also I lost almost all protraction focusing on depressing. The position wasn't comfortable and it didn't feel strong. Is this due to me not being adjusted to it or am I doing something wrong?

I did the pushups faster today, and it was a whole lot easier Still can't protract all the way on the top, but it will come.

Honestly I think protraction in the plank is more important than depression. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but the athlete in the video does not seem to be depressing to his fullest. When I've played around with this progression a more neutral scap elevation felt strongest, while protracting as hard as I could and pointing the pits of my elbows forward. Coach doesn't stress scapular depression until the planche leans when you follow the notes.

That said, I'm testing mastery on the planks this week, and I did feel my biceps working harder at the very end. I think it came from resisting the urge to let my elbows collapse inward.

Duff said:

and after the set there was some numbness in my right palm, especially my thumb. Also I lost almost all protraction focusing on depressing.

It might be some irritation of the ulnar nerve that can become entrapped, possibly in the shoulder. I've had a similar sensation, but it has greatly diminished over time with improved shoulder mobility, some deep tissue work on the forearms and wrist stretches/strengthening. Plance lean greatly increases the pressure on the thumb, so go slowly as you progress. But this is an excellent thing to catch now, as you'll be much more prepared to work on planche leans if you start preparing now.

You can check out some of the forearm work in this thread for some ideas: https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/13657-gem-for-fkp-mobility/

And in addition to the standard mobility drills from foundation I've found this stretch particularly effective on the front of my shoulders recently:

Thanks Colin for the Kit-video, I hadn't seen that one before... Tried it and during that torso-twisting part of it I saw the light.

thecolin said:

 

I'd agree, perhaps not full depression, but I think it's also important the shoulders don't hunch up around the neck.

 

edit: I checked with quick plank and I definitely tend towards depression, pulling the shoulders down strongly. And to me the athlete in the video does look like he's pulling his shoulders down, but there's so much freaking meat on those shoulders it's hard to be sure. 

 

Don't forget these guys have these things on auto-pilot and only engage what they need to some of us are not so lucky....

In F2 PL work, specifically SE3, if I don't focus on depression I lose the strong engagement in my lat on the left. Doesn't make a difference to previous elements because there isn't as much weight on the hands, but as the sets get longer this is becoming more and more the determinant as to whether I can complete the hold or not. The arms are locked but relatively lazy, all the work is in my serratus area.

Tried doing plank today, I can notice a big difference in lat engagement if I add some depression. I'll have to film myself to see how my shape looks like. I probably won't be able to do 5x60 anymore, but hey, my lats will get stronger, right?

That strecth took a couple of times to get right, adding some protraction or lifting the arms higher seems to make it more effective. I had no idea I had muscles back there . But I can feel it on both sides when stretching either arm, is this correct?

I also feel like the new GB post on facebook is directed at me...

So, I've been playing around with protraction and depression.

This is without depression:

And this is with depression:

The second picure I can clearly see the lats working more. Is this the correct form? Unfortunately I can't fully protract and depress at the same time due to poor flexibility.

Can anyone recommend any specific stretches? I can mainly feel the tightness on the inside of my upper arm, from the armpit to the elbow.

I think the second picture looks stronger.

I've got a stretch you can try, it's a bit hard to describe so I'll try to take a picture to upload tomorrow.

thecolin said:

I've got a stretch you can try, it's a bit hard to describe so I'll try to take a picture to upload tomorrow.

That would be much appreciated, Colin .

Totally more stronger the second one, besides of the fact that your lats gets visible in the body and that's cool because they're helping you to create a piece of body.

Good form there Duff, good progress

Yeah, second one looks stronger. My last post may have been misleading. I didn't mean to say that depression was not important, only that, like you, if I focused on depressing my scapulae absolutely all the way down it would interfere with my protraction and feel less stable. That said, active depressing is still required to really lock in those arms. At high volume I definitely feel my lats working hard to screw my arms into the ground. So "neutral" was the wrong word to use. And Jon makes a good point: for we amateurs, better to tense everything than risk a weak link.

Here's the idea more or less:

It's a variation on a stretch from Kit's book for the upper back with the upper back and arm position being similar to a plank/planche lean position. As such it's the first thing that came to mind when you mentioned tension in that pose. When I started on it, I also felt the stretch a bit in the chest/upper arms like you mentioned.

Keeping the feet high focuses the stretch in the upper back with the scapula protracted. Raising the hands elevates the scapula and the shoulders, and moving them lower depresses them more. The tension is created by pushing with the legs which allows the upper back to relax completely.

Obviously I'm doing these on stall bars which is really comfortable, if you don't have stall bars (why don't you have stall bars?!) then you'll have to find an alternate solution.

Try it out and let me know if this position can stretch out the area you were mentioning.

Thanks for taking the time to show me the stretch.

Unfortunately, it doesn't stretch the area I feel restricted in. It might be because I don't have stall bars(I know), so I had to improvise the set-up a bit. I can do it correctly in a forearm plank, but once I extend my arms, I seem to lose it.

Maybe it's just a lack of strenght in the new position that i feel as tightness. I just got Kit's book, so I'll try to find a stretch that will help.

Anyway, I'm going to spend another microcycle on this. Makes sense since all the next PEs in F1 have the same body position, only the arm position changes.

Duff said:

Thanks for taking the time to show me the stretch.

 

No problem!   I realize it's more of a back stretch, but it was worth a shot. Perhaps your back is tighter and you can't get deep enough into the stretch to feel it in your chest, or maybe it's just completely the wrong one. Good luck working it out.

If you hadn't seen, Kit will be in northern Italy next year for a gymnastics flexibility workshop (it looks like you're not that far away). Keep an eye out in the community section for an announcement if you're interested.