Looking through the course...

KeilaniG said:

what iM's, Mark? like the inverted pull one's?

The first one.

Pe3. Looks like we are using a funrniture slider under our feet?

Pe4-Pe5. The text says on both Pe's says press to knee hight. Is this correct? Looks like Allan presses inbetween knee and and toe on Pe5?

Or whats the difference?

Mats Trane said:

Pe3. Looks like we are using a funrniture slider under our feet?

Pe4-Pe5. The text says on both Pe's says press to knee hight. Is this correct? Looks like Allan presses inbetween knee and and toe on Pe5?

Or whats the difference?

I noticed that too. Both say knee height but PE5 is to the middle of the shin bone. Video seems more logical to follow than the focus point. Would be nice if they matched to one's understanding though.

Furniture slider... what's the word for that in swedish?

Yes, i read those three as knee-shin-ankle too

Mats Trane said:

Pe3. Looks like we are using a funrniture slider under our feet?

Pe4-Pe5. The text says on both Pe's says press to knee hight. Is this correct? Looks like Allan presses inbetween knee and and toe on Pe5?

Or whats the difference?

- Yes on the furniture slider.

- Sorry, guys.  A missed typo.

Progress from Knee height, to Shin height, to Ankle height.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Joakim Anderson said:

Furniture slider... what's the word for that in swedish?

Havn't seen them in Sweden even though I havn't been looking. I picked them up in the states. Used for moving furniture slippery on the bottom and rubber on top. Here is a pic.

Is frisbee a suitable substitute

Anything that helps you slide.

my days of counting slip and slides as a workout.....are not over.

Joakim Anderson said:

I noticed that too. Both say knee height but PE5 is to the middle of the shin bone. Video seems more logical to follow than the focus point. Would be nice if they matched to one's understanding though.

 

Furniture slider... what's the word for that in swedish?

On the site enklareliv.se they are called möbelflyttare. Pretty cheap but I doubt they are necessary. I'm guessing resting your feet on a pair of socks or something could be just as good, depending on the surface of the floor/ground.

Thanks for the replies, swedes. Yes gohei_, there are probably many alternatives that work fine.

I have tiles at home and picked up a couple thick carpet offcuts free from local hardware store, where they use them as möbelflyttare

Alternatives to furniture slider: Frisbees (flying disk); socks on carpet; also round cake pans. The cheap ones from the supermarket can work. Works better on carpet than stall mat.

Jon Douglas said:

 where they use them as möbelflyttare

I must admit I don't see why f2 is recommended before starting h2. From what I've looked at I can see you need some serious flexibility and hip compression which is where f2 manna progressions could be a pre req but can anyone explain to me why all of f2 is the minimum requirement?

I tried the first PE and my right elbow wasn't too stoked on it. the straight arm aspect can creep up on you of your straight arm strength is lacking. (apart from other things that can go wrong.)

Even that should be taken care of by the end of spl f1 though? I am just trying to get a better understanding of the high requirement. If my flexibility in pike position was better I feel like I'd have no problem starting this and I haven't mastered any of f2 yet. I messed around with the first few progressions though and there was really no issue except I need a little bit more flexibility.

Being able to do it is just one factor. There's also a) being able to avoid bad habits by compensating for gaps and b) being strong enough to benefit from that stimulation.

It's no surprise that Coach has high pre-req standards for any complicated work. Plateaus are wasted time you're better off spending improving somewhere else, so if it means delaying presses for a little while to ensure that strength/mobility aren't the limiting factors and you can focus on the technique improvements without hitting any significant plateaus....

Jon's statement above is the key. Can and should are very different things, and coach specifically mentions in the intro essays to H2 that bad habits may make the straddle press easier, but will inhibit and in fact guarantee against, future progress. My sense is we shouldn't train the strength aspect until we're ready for it, and coach, whom we're paying to guide us through this process, has determined F2 strength is important. Initially he had said F1, but changed to F2, so he must've thought there was a good reason. My guess is the mobility aspects more so than the strength aspects, although I could see both being very important. Just playing around a little, the first few PE's seem quite easy, but i am not going to train them until it is time. The mobility on the other hand, I love. I am going to spend some time on the first iM as I think that is going to help my MN progress immensely. Plus, it may help me prevent a road block later if I do more of it now. It feels a lot like jefferson curls, just in a different way, and it allows me to feel it more whereas the jefferson curls have kind of been milked already. I'm excited to formally train H2, like you guys, but it's important to follow the programming and prereq's set out for us. It's nice to have goals, so it keeps us motivated. In GST, there are no shortage of long range goals, but we have to be patient and look at it like a school class. Even though i might really want to learn calculus, I need to learn algebra first or else I will make no progress! Cheers, all.

So the idea is that until all of f2 is mastered then people will probably not have the strength to receive any stimulus from starting h2? Also I can understand people compensating for weaknesses but if you are serious about this course you will be filming yourself to make sure form is correct and not trying to fool yourself by doing it incorrectly to "look" as though you are progressing. If you aren't doing that then there seems little point I trains this at all.

I have attempted the first few progressions and although I haven't finish f2 there really is no issue of for me doing them. I'm not training them as my flexibility needs work and aside from that coach has stated f2 as a pre req so not going to doubt he knows what he is talking about just trying to figure out why f2 is the pre req. some things exercises it makes sense (manna) but others it doesn't to me and I find it hard to blindly follow something without knowing the method behind it.

I actually don't mind the idea of plateauing in h2, it just means ill be perfecting what ever exercise I am on while the rest of my training catches up and I can continue then.

I'm not the most patient person when it comes to something I'm passionate about, which is why it's hard for me to hold back on training presses for the next year but I am trying very hard !

Anyway sorry for the long winds post, I am just trying to figure out why f2 and not f1 is the pre req or perhaps specific elements in each level rare than the whole thing ( manna f2, spl f1 etc etc)

Cheers

ausswe said:

So the idea is that until all of f2 is mastered then people will probably not have the strength to receive any stimulus from starting h2? Also I can understand people compensating for weaknesses but if you are serious about this course you will be filming yourself to make sure form is correct and not trying to fool yourself by doing it incorrectly to "look" as though you are progressing. If you aren't doing that then there seems little point I trains this at all.

I have attempted the first few progressions and although I haven't finish f2 there really is no issue of for me doing them. I'm not training them as my flexibility needs work and aside from that coach has stated f2 as a pre req so not going to doubt he knows what he is talking about just trying to figure out why f2 is the pre req. some things exercises it makes sense (manna) but others it doesn't to me and I find it hard to blindly follow something without knowing the method behind it.

I actually don't mind the idea of plateauing in h2, it just means ill be perfecting what ever exercise I am on while the rest of my training catches up and I can continue then.

I'm not the most patient person when it comes to something I'm passionate about, which is why it's hard for me to hold back on training presses for the next year but I am trying very hard !

Anyway sorry for the long winds post, I am just trying to figure out why f2 and not f1 is the pre req or perhaps specific elements in each level rare than the whole thing ( manna f2, spl f1 etc etc)

Cheers

It's a heuristic. Many of the movements in F2 are not strictly required for press handstand development. However, an individual who has completed F2 will have more control, discipline and body awareness and will be experienced with more complex movements than one who has only completed F1. 

ausswe said:

... I have attempted the first few progressions and although I haven't finish f2 there really is no issue of for me doing them. I'm not training them as my flexibility needs work ...

Your mobility needing work is exactly the point.  

Strength and mobility go hand in hand in GST.  Without both, there is no progress.

Rather than wondering 'why, why, why'; focus on finishing F2 and then move on.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I plan to finish on finishing f2 before attempting h2 but I think blindly following something because someone more knowledgable said so and not trying to understand the method behind the system leads to a lack of intellectual development. If I had the mobility and strength of f2 manna ( hip compression seeming to be the main factor holding me back) without any other changes to my level of progression, would that not be sufficient?

Honestly just trying to understand the why behind it all. If there is a set pre req of f2 that's fine but I would like to know if that is just a simplified response and what is actually necessary is only specific aspects of f2 or if all of f2 is truly required. Either way ill do what coach states is required but I'd like understand the method a bit better.

Edit: just saw your post Joshua thanks for that, makes more sense.

An other thing to consider is that when doing a press HS you go trough a position similar to a tuck planche.

mitko said:

An other thing to consider is that when doing a press HS you go trough a position similar to a tuck planche.

This is absolutely incorrect and only appears that way to the uneducated eye.

A tuck planche is performed with protraction/depression and press handstands are performed with protraction/elevation.  

There is a world of difference between them.  

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer