FL form critique
Started by Chrono, March 27, 2014 · 10 Replies · 1,898 Views
Very nice dude. Body line looks good, only thing I'd recommend is straightening out the upper back/neck, and pulling your shoulders back/the shoulder blades together. Here's an example:
http://www.alkavadlo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/MG_5015.jpg
Akavadlo front lever is a frame of a video, he is arching the lower back. This is wrong
alex87 said:Akavadlo front lever is a frame of a video, he is arching the lower back. This is wrong
and his hips is a bit extended
Pay attention that there are different ways to extend the hips, from this pic is clear that lower back is arched, this means very poor control of hollow body position. extended hips is not sufficient to judge a front lever, in fact as you move forward through the foundation series you need to master the full hollow body position. this will move away you from wrong patterns in gymnastic skills.
alex87 said:Pay attention that there are different ways to extend the hips, from this pic is clear that lower back is arched, this means very poor control of hollow body position. extended hips is not sufficient to judge a front lever, in fact as you move forward through the foundation series you need to master the full hollow body position. this will move away you from wrong patterns in gymnastic skills.
I know that PPT takes strain of the lower back, but what's the purpose of scapular retraction in FL? is it only to strengthen the scapula retractors or will it avoid any injury?
first due to the anatomical position and dimension of the lumbar spine tendons and ligaments, you need to apply an impressive force to strain the lower back..far far far and the far from the PPT activation.
second, FL retraction is a myth. FL needs the widening of the scapulas to maximize the leverage of the muscles that generate counter force.
retract from neutral position for reps while holding a FL could be used as mobility drills by advanced athletes who have previously achieved a good front lever (at least 25-30 seconds ) , if not it will fall into upper back disorders of different types, from strain to contracture.
a parallel example could be done for people who perform benchpress with extreme high activation without a proper upper back conditioning. this activation leads to infinite problems.
Why do you say FL retraction is a myth? Don't you need to partially retract to get to the neutral shoulder position and to widen the scapulae? I know Coach says to not fully retract, but did he say what the widening of the scapulae is?
well, until the scapula position issue gets clarified I'll train FL with PPT and protracted scapula... 
Flavio85 said:well, until the scapula position issue gets clarified I'll train FL with PPT and protracted scapula...
Neutral shoulders or scapula widening is what you want to have in a FL so you can efficiently use your back muscles.
B1214N said:ok thanks! when I get a full FL with neutral shoulders I'll post an image to see if its ok