SL/PE1 (ABH again) and SLS/PE1 check

Another week 12 goes by and I am still finding what I think are shortcomings in my performance on these two skills that require another block.  I think.

First, here's a clip from me doing an ABH.  What I'm concerned about is that I don't think I'm raising the legs off the floor enough.  And I can't find a way to bring the legs higher by additional force from the glutes.  I can crease the lower back a little more but end up with some significant back strain.  Do you folks think what I show is sufficient (at 60 sec of course) or do the legs need to be higher.  I do know the arms weren't as high as they could be in this clip, but that I can fix.

http://youtu.be/IAHiUqqp3-A

Second there is the deck squat.  I was convinced for weeks that at 6'2" my shins were just too long to make this work.  Finally I started getting them strung together, got up to the required 15, and on the last week, re-checked the reference video to find that I was using momentum from swinging my arms to pull back up to standing.  Without the swing I was stalling after the feet hit the floor.

Experimenting some more I found that grabbing my ankles and pulling back towards the glutes did allow me to succeed a few times.  I do not seem to be able to get ankles that close simply by flexing at the knee.

Does this sound like a flexibility issue I can work on in some way?  Or just something to resolve with more practice?

Thanks!

-Paul

It says the video is private.

Gavin S said:

It says the video is private.

Oops fixed

Hi,

I think that probably you need a good hip flexors opening routine, this should help you a lot with

the two exercises.

If you have those muscles thight and  the pelvis in an anterior tilt it is very difficult to raise the legs back

in the ABH and to achive a good legs to chest compression that is necessary for the deck squat.

This is the exercise that is usually recommended:

http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=qHwyBHS6MQs

Hope this helps.

Ste'

Thanks... I do have some hip flexor and flexion stretches (pancake/pike) in my routine but will try this one for a while as well.

Decades of desk jockeying does contribute to anterior pelvic tilt!

Paul,

One thing that I noticed, which I had been doing as well prior to noticing that I was doing it too, is that you are centering your weight back over your hips on the ABH. Doing that makes lifting the shoulders much easier, but makes getting the legs up nearly impossible.

What I started to do was to lift my legs as high as I could first (while keeping my shoulders/arms on the ground), and only then lifting my upper body. This results in the balance point being more around the belly button or even up towards the ribs/further up the body and making lifting the legs more feasible.

Cool! I had not thought of that, but I've seen some examples where the movement started ... differently than I would have expected.

I'll have to try that tomorrow. Thanks!