How to get started with the Deck Squat?

Hi there,

I've been following the foundation 1 programm together with handstand 1. for like 7 weeks now. Actually I see very good progress in almost any area on both strength and mobility. Except for the SLS: I spent quite a lot of time practicing the deck squat, but yet I don't manage a single rep so far - at least not in an even close to acceptable form. Any suggestions on how to get started with this? I spent a lot of time on squatting both loaded and air squatting - it has been a major part of the training that I did within the last 1 1/2 years. I also spent some time on yoga routines to open my hips and improve mobility. Still I don't mange a single rep - even my first tries on real single leg squats were not as bad as my attempts on the deck squat. It's really depressing. Maybe I should just skip this one and continue to the next progression?

Thanks a lot and best regards,

Gerhard

Could you please upload a video ? That way is easier to see what the problem is. 

Gerhard said:

Hi there,

I've been following the foundation 1 programm together with handstand 1. for like 7 weeks now. Actually I see very good progress in almost any area on both strength and mobility. Except for the SLS: I spent quite a lot of time practicing the deck squat, but yet I don't manage a single rep so far - at least not in an even close to acceptable form. Any suggestions on how to get started with this? I spent a lot of time on squatting both loaded and air squatting - it has been a major part of the training that I did within the last 1 1/2 years. I also spent some time on yoga routines to open my hips and improve mobility. Still I don't mange a single rep - even my first tries on real single leg squats were not as bad as my attempts on the deck squat. It's really depressing. Maybe I should just skip this one and continue to the next progression?

Thanks a lot and best regards,

Gerhard

There are a lot of suggestions on the forum for people having trouble with this one.  Have you tried elevating what you roll back on?  Put down some pads or blankets.  Gradually lower until you don't need it anymore.

As mentioned above many have found that rolling on a raised surface helps. 

In general the rolling movement is pretty critical to gymnastics, so we don't recommend skipping it.

It is ok to use momentum here to get onto your feet you can try quickly bringing your feels to you butt to help accelerate the roll.

Hi everybody,

thanks a lot for your quick replies! 

Deck Squats where not on my program for today, but I performed some sets after the regular training.

Here is a short video of some tries - I hope it doesn't look to funny for you

https://youtu.be/snX71DgzD1g

The last tries are on a slightly elevated ground and look a bit better than the first try, I guess. Yet I have the impression, that I would require a lot more momentum. What do you think?

Do you have any suggestions on how to improve that? Are there any other options apart from practicing deck squats? I fear, that this will not yield any results after all... 

What kind of strength is required to generate the necessary momentum and make the transition from rolling to squatting possible? It would be great if you could suggest some exercises I could add to my routine to improve this area.

Thanks a lot and best regards,

Gerhard

IMG_2382.mp4

Sorry for attaching the video.

You'll find it here:

https://youtu.be/snX71DgzD1g

Gerhard said:

 

What kind of strength is required to generate the necessary momentum and make the transition from rolling to squatting possible? It would be great if you could suggest some exercises I could add to my routine to improve this area.

 

 

I'm new to GB myself, but Deck Squats felt really easy to me. You don't really need strength to generate the momentum, you only need some strength for the standing part.

Don't sit with straight legs, instead initiate the roll as soon as your butt touches the floor. Your back seems a bit too flat, keep it more round so you can roll smoothly. If you own the TB series, the rolling movement should be more like the Rock n Roll exercise. It's also a bit easier without shoes, especially the sole of those running shoes are too soft. Even if you could do Deck Squats, those shoes would tire you out a lot faster.

Gerhard said:

Hi everybody,

 

What kind of strength is required to generate the necessary momentum and make the transition from rolling to squatting possible? It would be great if you could suggest some exercises I could add to my routine to improve this area.

 

Thanks a lot and best regards,

 

Gerhard

Your problem isn't lack of strength; it's a lack of mobility. I would do the following:

1. Get into a squat position (i.e the position identical to what you achieve after rolling, with your feet on the ground, but before standing up) and see if you can balance in a squat position with no distance between your feet.

2. If you roll back (i.e. lose your balance) repeat the same squat position, but try to widen the gap between your feet until you are able to remain in that squatting position without rolling back.

3. Now note the distance between your feet that prevents you from rolling back, and apply the same distance between your feet while doing the deck squats....It's very likely that you'll be able to do them without a problem.

4. After you can do the deck squat movement properly, try to reduce the distance between your feet, so that with time you can do the deck squats with your feet as close to each other as possible, and without using any momentum to get up.

** Disclaimer: This was the process I used to "get" deck squats. It might not be the recommended way, or it might be incorrect. But I found them to be a little bit "easy" after I made this adjustment, and I continue to close the distance between my feet as I progress with this element.

Looks like your trying to get up too fast and need more ankle flexibility. I don't have perfect deck squats yet but I've had much better progress after using the stretch program and just sitting in squat position. I try to sit in squat for a few min every day. At least 3-4 days a week if I can't do it everyday.

I agree with the mobility comment, though Anterior Tibialis strength (or lack of) can also make Dorsiflexing the ankles enough to pull your body over your feet more difficult. So, doing some strengthening exercises for them may also help.

The other issue you are having is that by throwing your feet out in front of you to gain momentum you are placing your heels further from your hips, meaning you will now have to pull your body up onto your feet from a further distance away/less advantageous leverage position.

Like Atticus said above,

-start from a stand, squat down as low as you can go (I often touch my hands to the floor as I hit the bottom of my deck squats)

-then while keeping your abs tight (to keep your back round) and your knees pulled into your chest, roll backwards (you can roll back further onto your shoulders at first so you gain more momentum on your forwards roll, but will want to shorten up the movement as you gain strength and proficiency with the movement)

-once you hit the "back" point on your roll, roll forwards while continuing to keep your abs tight and knees pulled to your chest as much as possible (it's a roll, not a "kip up"). I've found that the better I can keep this "compression" the more smooth and efficient my deck squats have become. This is because your hips and legs falling to the ground create momentum in and of themselves, and keeping your chest connected to your legs allows you to most efficiently use this momentum to pull your forward onto your feet

-just as you are about to reach a sitting position pull your heels as close to your butt as possible (you can also add a downward swing of your arms at this point to give you a little extra momentum to get up onto your feet) and use your Anterior Tibialis (muscles on the front of your shins) to pull your body up onto your feet. At first it will be helpful to pause slightly in the bottom squat position to really be sure you are on top of and balanced on your feet

-now push the ground away with your legs to stand up (like a regular squat)

Rinse and repeat.

For the record I couldn't do a single rep when I first started Foundation either, but lots of stretching (both active and passive), practice and hard work have gotten me to the point where I plan to hit Mastery next microcycle with minimal momentum.

Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot for all your answers and great support. :-) Tomorrow I'll have my next training session : I'll try to follow your advice to see how I can improve my deck squats.

Thanks again for the great feedback guys. Yesterday I was was strongly focussing on the rolling movement and keeping my heels as close to my body as possible. I was also doing the exercises with bare feet, which was definitely a good idea. Altogether I see some progress, but of course still a long way to go.

brown.3794 which part of the stretch program would you suggest?

Gerhard,

one other small suggestion, from a guy who needed 5+ months to master deck squats:  as you roll forward to stand up, reach both hands forward as though you were trying to grab the handles of 2 small, imaginary kettlebells on the ground in front of you.  On your failed attempts, It looks to my amateur eyes that you are trying to rise up while much of your mass is BEHIND your heels.  Reaching LOW and forward might help you get more of your mass OVER your feet before you try to rise.  

That being said, the other commentators here are right -- there's no magic bullet for these, just time & practice.  You know that little balancing step-back you have to take to keep from falling down backward at the end of a rep?  After I could do 5 sets of 15 from a flat surface, it took me 2 months to get rid of that step-back.  Good luck in your journey.

-Craig

Front split deals a lot with ankle and calf mobility. However I use front split and middle split so I'm not sure which has had more of an effect on me.

Hi guys,

I just wanted to give you an update about my progress. After getting all your great input, I decided to step back and work on some basics, like continue the progressions on core strength, improve mobility of hips and ankles aswell as on my general form on air squats.

When I finally came back to work on the deck squat I was surprised to see that I had made some big progress. Suddenly I'm able to get up as I shoud. There's still some improvement on the form necessary, but I guess the biggest part is done. Last time I did 5x6: I was able to stand up with everyone rep. I think that every third rep was pretty good in form - no need for corrections like small steps back or to the side. On the other part of the reps I required some small corrections when getting into fully erected standing position.

I think that this is some pretty good achievement and I'm finally again pretty excited about what lies ahead of me. For the first time I'm really confident that I will master the deck squat and get to the next progression to SLS.

Thanks a lot for your great support! :-)