sPL iM 2 form check - limited hip mobility

following  up the swivel hips and making progress in mobility, i took the liberty of checking up  sPL iM2 to see how it's doing and how to take it to mastery. 

this photo was taken tonight and it was to demonstrate how tight my rectus femoris is and how it impacts my hip extension or lack there of. it's surely improved and this sPL iM with PPT is certainly giving me some funky feeling cramps on the side and middle of my glutes. yeesh. 

onward with mobility. 

I a,ways did these with neutral hip position... Wondering if I need to go back and work on them with ppt? Would it not be mastery if I don't have ppt?

i dont think its something to be so tedious on from the get go, only to develop as time goes on.

i say that because if sPL iM's are to develop glute strength, the only times i feel involvement from my glutes are when I PPT. anything else and my lower back arches and there's no true hip extension.

I see improvement.  

still dialing in how the lower back is supposed to look/feel. any tips from the people who are farther along on these progressions? 

Keilani, what I did notice about the way the athlete is doing the movement is that he seems to be rotating his leg such that the outside edge of his foot is parallel to the floor and his toes are in a vertical line with respect to the floor.     It's this little rotational movement that I noticed a large difference in glute activation after I compared my own vid to the course vid.  

Hopefully, someone more knowledgeable will comment.

you are SO right, Jen

and this is exactly why we post form checks. now I know what I need to work upto. 

thanks for the grain of sand.

Jennifer said:

Keilani, what I did notice about the way the athlete is doing the movement is that he seems to be rotating his leg such that the outside edge of his foot is parallel to the floor and his toes are in a vertical line with respect to the floor.     It's this little rotational movement that I noticed a large difference in glute activation after I compared my own vid to the course vid.  

 

Hopefully, someone more knowledgeable will comment.

Thanks for this!  Anatomically it makes sense too considering it functions as not only a hip abductor, but also a hip external rotator too.  If you're performing external rotation during all the sPL>iM's, all the more reason to master swivel hips (a hip external/internal rotation mobility exercise) and to not skip the exercise

Jennifer said:

Keilani, what I did notice about the way the athlete is doing the movement is that he seems to be rotating his leg such that the outside edge of his foot is parallel to the floor and his toes are in a vertical line with respect to the floor.     It's this little rotational movement that I noticed a large difference in glute activation after I compared my own vid to the course vid.  

I hadn't noticed this in the video until now, but fortunately it's what I've been doing anyway. When I started these, I was getting cramps in my lower back, so I knew I was doing something wrong. What helped me was to follow Kit's cue for ABH: Focus on extending the leg backwards. So I point my toes towards a point behind me and a bit to the side; I dont't really think about lifting. This gets my leg to a horizontal straddle position and I can then focus on trying to go wider.

Kit has written that external hip rotation (turnout) is essential for achieving a wide straddle. Without it it is not possible to get much past a 90 degree straddle, as the hip joints limit the movement. With turnout, this limitation is removed and you begin to stretch the ligaments (which apparently is safe in this context).

Just out of interest Keilani, why are you extending both legs at once in your form checks? This looks more like PE3 iM, or something beyond that even, which is going to make it a lot harder.

KibboKift said:

Just out of interest Keilani, why are you extending both legs at once in your form checks? This looks more like PE3 iM, or something beyond that even, which is going to make it a lot harder.

that was taken with a timer I have on my camera. it wasn only a small 10s hold (i could feel it in the hips bit it wasnt inbearable.)

also, to check mobility on both sides, at same

time

reviving this thread.

does anyone have trouble breathing in this iM? i find myself needing to take a breath because of shortness of breath. not to say that takes away from the intensity of the iM any tips from the people doing these on less than ideal surfaces? maybe i just need to think outside the box and use something else. thoughts?

the iM speaks for itself. i'm a little stiff in this position, i see that if i focus on the lift with external rotation, i cramp to high heavens, when i dont and just lift, it feels more like a regular straddle leg lift and don't feel as much engagement.

Man, those are some tight hips!

I "sip the air" on this one. The harder the squeeze the glutes, the more the extension comes from the legs only (vs arching lumbars) and the easier it is for me to breathe.

Sven Ravnstag said:

Man, those are some tight hips!

I "sip the air" on this one. The harder the squeeze the glutes, the more the extension comes from the legs only (vs arching lumbars) and the easier it is for me to breathe.

tight as in you like my mobility, you think im cheap in my use of ROM or just plain ol' zombie?

edit: i'll keep that bit about the pure leg extension in mind. thanks again.