arch body hold SL PE1

Question;

Do our feet & knees have to touch in the arch body hold or is our feet touching sufficient if there is a little gap between our knees? 

In the demonstration & focus points it doesn't really say and its hard to tell. Plus, its very difficult for me to make my knees touch while in the arch body hold.

Does this mean I'm weak in that particular exercise or does it NOT matter? 

Thanks guys 

Ricardo 

It matters.  Knees and feet together.  

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Coach Sommer said:

It matters.  Knees and feet together.  

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Oh boy!! This is gonna be interesting! Any pointers on getting the strength or flexibility necessary for that to happen?  

Have you looked at Wheezer's summary on ABH?  It's at the top of the forum.

Lock your legs together as much as possible in the Foundation exercises where you can e.g. Planks, leans, HBR, pull ups, dips, Scap.shrugs etc etc.

Problems with locking knees together is mostly a body awareness problem, but when you can do that for a short period of time it will not take long for you to level the strength (and mobility) required regarding closing your knees.

Thanks for the tips guys, I will apply them in training.  

Ricardo 

Interestingly, for individuals with a tight IT band/TFL it seems that the further into hip extension they go, the more the leg tries to externally rotate or go into abduction. Can be seen a lot in runners, with the foot rotating behind them, and quite clear when running an Ober's test (would be easier to search on YouTube than try and explain here).

A common cause for this tightness could be a weak or misfiring glute med, leading to over-compensation in the TFL? You would be creating a lot of tension in that area by fighting this tightness with strength (adductors) and even possibly shutting down some of the force output from the glute max?

Thanks George. Now what's the diagnosis for the opposite problem? When I abduct my legs I can't manage as much hip extension as when they're together. If I externally rotate at the same time then it's even worse. Any suggestions appreciated.

Haven't really looked into this, but for the sake of a quick ramble I would think about:

a) is there any obvious tightness in that ROM. If I stand with my feet wide apart and try and push my hips forward into extension, I feel a lot of tightness in my hips. Moreso in the hip capsule (slightly uncomfortable and harder end feel) than in the hip flexors. My CNS is then going to limit my glutes' output to prevent me causing injury. If you don't have the passive ROM, you won't get there active.

b) if it feels fine, and isn't at the limits of your passsive ROM - do you just feel like the muscles/fibres haven't learned to fire effeciently yet? Maybe if you do a few warm-up sets with gradually wider feet from together to full width. Does that highlight anything for you?

c) Do you get the same issue if you invert (lay on your back with feet wide) and lift hips up with just feet/shoulders on the ground? This might indicate that you're stronger when your feet are planted so your strength might improve with coordination once you have practiced more.

Perhaps I should have elaborated more. It's definitely a problem with passive ROM. Lying on my back with legs straight and together, heels on the floor, I can keep my lower back in contact with the floor (thus demonstrating passable hip extension). As soon as I straddle my legs - not even a very wide straddle - I can no longer keep my lower back in contact with the floor (ie, my hip extension becomes limited).

I'm really trying to work out where I should target my stretching to overcome the problem. Looking at a diagram of the hip muscles, I suspect tight psoas major, since this connects the femur to the lower vertabrae. Does this mean I should be focusing on straight-leg hip flexor stretches? I would expect some release work would be beneficial too, but this seems like a tough pair of muscles to get at.

Anyone's tips appreciated.