Need help with deck squats please

[SaNdMaN]

so.............i start off standing up - sit down - roll back - as im coming back up i need to take a little hop backwards to keep my balance. Should i just do them like that or should i just roll back down after i realize i cannot go any further.

[Joshua Naterman]

Are you starting from a shoulderstand on your back? Body straight up in the air, balanced on your shoulders and neck? I noticed that it is much easier for me when I perform the deck squats from that position, otherwise like you I find it hard to roll enough to get centered over my feet.

[SaNdMaN]

i start standing straight up and still have trouble getting back up ( i am very new to all this so my body is not used to these motions, i am very unbalanced).

[Blairbob]

It means as you sit up, your weight is still behind you.

For the deck squat, you need to get your knees over your toes which will place your hips over your knees. If they aren't, your hips will be behind your feet and you won't get out.

Focus on getting those knees over your toes and reaching as far forward as possible. Eventually this won't be an issue when you're stronger.

If you rock back to the shoulderstand/candlestick position, you can get more momentum unless you just allow your hips to fall down and pike as you roll forward out of the shoulderstand/candlestick.

[ajhoover]

Tight hamstrings, adductors and glutes will make this much harder to do. I work out with a guy who lifts weights and I am sure he can squat far more than I can but he has trouble with these because he does not have the range of motion necessary. If you have the flexability you hardly have to roll at all to stand up. If you are new to this I am guessing flexability has a lot to do with it as most people do not bother with it unless it is part of a sport they do. Try stretching before you do these and see if it helps.

Andrew

[Nobodystopsdblob]

Another option is to not work on the deck squat but develop the pistol a different way. I already came to deck squats able to do a pistol and because of it the deck squats were no sweat. Pavel has a lot of how to do pistols but the best method I found to get better at them is to work gradually down. So start by sitting down on a chair and standing up on one leg. Then get a lower thing to sit on, and so on and so forth as you get stronger until you can go down and come up on one leg. Adding a roll back will be easy at that point.

[Steve]

Here's a simple progression that might help you work up to doing it on the flat ground.

If you're doing your workout at a gymnastics club, they will likely have an incline or "cheese" mat. Do the exercise as described at the foot of the mat, so that you sit down and roll back and up the incline...you'll then roll down the hill to your feet and it should help you go forward.

If you don't have access to the inline mat, find a place where you can come out of the roll and place your feet lower than where your back is rolling, so the squat isn't quite so deep (maybe off one of those air bed mattress, or even down a hill).

Good Luck

[Joshua Naterman]

Another option is to not work on the deck squat but develop the pistol a different way. I already came to deck squats able to do a pistol and because of it the deck squats were no sweat. Pavel has a lot of how to do pistols but the best method I found to get better at them is to work gradually down. So start by sitting down on a chair and standing up on one leg. Then get a lower thing to sit on, and so on and so forth as you get stronger until you can go down and come up on one leg. Adding a roll back will be easy at that point.

This is great advice. If you don't have the ability to roll into a SLS yet, you definitely want to do this first. And you'll get to where you are doing pistols no problem!