Problem with HS/PE2 Major extension in back

Hi guys, 

Clearly I am arching my back and I feel it after the set, but when I am in the set I feel like I am straight.

This is the video with me arching, and I noticed the arch started when I mimicked the hand placement of the video guide, my head is a good 4-6 inches north of my hand placement.

Before, in the video below, I was unaware of the hand placement and placed it fairly parallel to my head, I had much less arch occur.

Any cues I can use to fix this ?

Thanks !

Try thinking about tilting your pelvis (ppt) and drawing the abs in to flatten the lower back. It's not required to get totally perpendicular on this element. Work more on a straight body while leaning towards the hands for now, later you can try to get perpendicular to the ground.

As far as feeling like you're straight, you need to work on your proprioception (body sense). You need to film or observe yourself with a mirror until you are actually straight, then reprogram your brain to understand what that feels like so what you're doing matches up with what you're feeling.

Can you post a video of the PE1 mobility element as well?

Squeezing your glutes can help. Also try reaching to the ceiling with your toes.

Recording yourself is a good way to get feedback so see if the above helps.

If all else fails you could try doing them up against the wall.

Here is my mobility element

And here is new video I took of HS/PE 2 with actively tucking my hips... looks a lot and feels better. How does it look now ?

Headstand is a lot better, nice!. Still, hands are too far from head, bring them in. In the last video, your hands were too close. Bodyline is better, though.

For the mobility, keep your arms a bit farther apart so you can bring the stick up to parallel. It is under parallel. I would also focus on packing the neck instead of jutting it out as you are currently doing. Lastly, add some weight to that bar! 5 lbs is the minimum. It will make a world of difference.

like Micawberian said - it is much better. but it seems like because your hands are a bit far, the effect is that your triceps are working extra hard to balance the body. keep them closer to the head. a good indicator is the one mentioned on the Ex. page: you need to barely see your fingers on the corner of the eye (meaning being closer but not wider like before)

another tip is to keep everything tight; point the feet, tighten the quads and glutes, tight abs. when everything is tighter, you'll see that the more you hold, the body will align more and the Ex. will be more about really small shifts in balance rather than working hard to keep the legs from falling forward. 

I think its beneficial later on also.

I mimicked my hand position based on demonstration of PE2 by the athlete.

Alhumbraer said:

I mimicked my hand position based on demonstration of PE2 by the athlete.

Yes, but when you look at the fine details you didn't mimic well enough. Look at the angle of your wrist and forearm and compare with the athlete.

Thanks for all the feedback guys ! I will post again on my next H1 day. Making fast progress ! :-D