Defining Mastery

Hi everybody,

I am new to this forum and have two questions.

First,

When someone masters a step in foundation. Does he need to prove it many times and to what degree. If i have good form but get the shakes on the last 10 secs is that ok or should I aim for full and perfect control during the whole 60 sec.

Secondly, do you need to squeeze (tense) your muscles as much as you can during a hold. For example in a bHBH should i sqeeze my butt like im trying to crack open a nut or just try to maintain position without squeezing like a mad man. In a planche, should i be squeezing every muscle in my arms as hard as i can. Im asking because tensing my muscles during holds makes it much harder then flexing to get into position while trying to get comfortable at the same time.

1) You should aim for perfect control for the entire duration of the set, and also if you can do an extra sets after your last set it would be even better.

 

2) I think you don't need to squeeze like a mad man, you just need to use the necessary tension to keep a good shape and form. At the first time doing an exercise maybe it's natural to squeeze every single muscle because you don't know how to activate the right muscles, but through time you will get accustomed to the position and you should ideally by relaxed when performing it. For example, when you're learning the HS, the first months you will be as hard as a rock but eventually you should be able to hold a relaxed handstand with a good shape and being able to hold a conversation when performing it.

Hi, welcome.  Enjoy your journey.

 

1) You need to pass mastery once.  You won't need to do it again, though keeping certain exercises as a warmup set is highly recommended.  Ideally every rep or hold in a mastery set is perfect, but as fatigue mounts that becomes harder and harder.  If your form does not break and your tempo remains constant, you've almost certainly done it.

 

Coach has specifically said that shaking invalidates a mastery attempt.

 

2) You want to develop an economy of motion.  Ideally, you squeeze your muscles just enough to perform a movement or hold with good form.  Squeezing extrahard will fatigue you with no added benefit.  I believe it was Alex, an advanced forum member, who said that learning to 'lay off' the early FL series, the long hollow holds, was much easier and more productive than just brute forcing it, every muscle going 110%.  This mainly comes with practice.  Your goal isn't necessarily to make it harder or more comfortable, but to work the right muscles.

 

That said, some exercises seem to benefit from whole-body tension.  I know that, personally, I did my best pushups when I made sure to tense my legs, my glutes and feel like my hands are cork-screwing through the ground.  You'll have to try and see what works for you.

All good points and to add if you want to know if you mastered a PE or better yet are you working at it in the right direction then make use of the form check. Many here do vids of themselves performing the movement first and compare to the course material before posting a form check. After that they post vids of themselves for review by GB coaches. I often find my own corrections by doing a vid of myself first.

 

Some movements you'll squeeze like a mad man because you have to to perform the movement until stronger. Like JP said tho many movements benefit from full body tension applied in a certain way. I recently had a form check done on my HSPE2 and had a bit of wobble. I was reminded to squeeze the glutes and  kept tension in the legs, I did and the wobble disappeared almost instantly. Just a little thing I wasn't paying attention to because I was more focused on staying up. Maybe review some of form check vids to get an idea? Good luck....