I'm having some trouble with movement, especially with my back. Should the back be straight; if so, how straight should it be? And how far apart should my legs be?
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Stiff leg windmill
Started by Jesse Kim, September 12, 2015 · 12 Replies · 619 Views
The spine will rotate. Legs apart enough to get the hand to the floor. As you get more mobile bring the feet closer together.
The back should be pretty straight. Generally start with the feet a little wider than hip width apart. Adjust from there to find what works for you.
You generate the movement from the shifting of the hips to the side and back.
The foot on the side you are bending to will be turned almost all the way out and the other foot a little bit in. This facilities the shifting of the hips.
The torso will be going diagonally off to the side, not straight forward nor straight to the side.
Sometimes if a student is having a difficult time working it out, we'll use stall bars a do what cold be thought of as a sideways pike lean. This makes it easy to feel that hip shift.
Okay that makes things a lot more simplified. I just finished week 1 of F1 and I am stoked to start again tomorrow. Would being able to bring your feet together be a sign of proficiency? Just for future reference.
Jesse Kim said:Okay that makes things a lot more simplified. I just finished week 1 of F1 and I am stoked to start again tomorrow. Would being able to bring your feet together be a sign of proficiency? Just for future reference.
No.
Keep the legs at or just outside of shoulder width.
Yours in Fitness,
Coach Sommer
Great. Thank you everyone 
I append a short question here regarding this iM:
How important is it for mastery that the dumbbell is not exactly above the shoulder? I saw this post with a video:
https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/19218-am-i-ready-for-mnpe2-im/#entry178207
From what I read at the exercise page, I thought the arm must be straight vertical. Is it really mastery in the video? Or is the exact location of the dumbbell not that important?
Thanks 
It's self correcting, the student in the video is using a very light weight, which is very forgiving in terms of positioning. Once you have enough weight, you will instinctively balance it right over your shoulder.
Cole Dano said:It's self correcting, the student in the video is using a very light weight, which is very forgiving in terms of positioning. Once you have enough weight, you will instinctively balance it right over your shoulder.
Is there a specific goal weight we should progress to for this iM?
IIRC, very recently 5-10 lbs were mentioned as goal weight.
That seems to be a very light weight to aim for, in my mind... I would think a good weight to aim for should at least be double of that. Depends of course on your strength/size etc.
William Str said:That seems to be a very light weight to aim for, in my mind... I would think a good weight to aim for should at least be double of that. Depends of course on your strength/size etc.
Seems like we were both right:
Good!
For me at least, 76kg/183cm, 8 kg is even at the lighter side. I am not by any means athletic or particularly strong. But I think you need more weight for this in order to force yourself to have the vertical arm and stable shoulder. Too light weight will make you move it all around and lose too much benefit for this excellent exercise.