HBP/PE2+iM form check

Been playing around with these for some time now. Thought it was about time to get a form check - Could any1 plz check my form on the videos below?

Thanks in advance!

On the PE: You need to try and keep the same shape in your lower back all the time. It's quite good at the top, but you release it immediately when you begin the descent. Otherwise everything looks fine.

On the iM: What's going on with your head, why are you looking over the opposite shoulder at the end of every rep? Just look forward and perhaps backward as you follow the arm back. In general, it's looks like you are going through the motions a bit, try to really be aware of the shoulder movement that's happening, and 'maximise' it. One reason for this may just be that weight isn't heavy enough to command your attention. Try going up a pound or two.

Thanks for your guidance, Cole!

Hmm... any idea what can cause not having the same shape in the lower back at all the time? Not tight enough ppt? other?

I differently have to watch the course video for the iM more carefully. I'll work some more on this element and try to fix the things you mentioned

Good work. Regarding cause: you said it, breaking your initial ppt. Also not enough core engagement and body line awareness. Use a mirror to see at what point you start losing your initial shape in your lower back. Try locking the ppt and core upfront and don't let it change. Initially you can try going slower so you can better notice what happens and when. You're so close!

Thank you for the nice explanation, Eva! I'll keep working on these elements some more and hopfully nail it someday

Found myself a mirror today trying to correct my problem with the lower back. Can't really tell if its getting any better or it's kinda the same :\

However, how does the iM look? Tried to bump up the weight a bit

Don't take my word as anything official, but you are trying to make up for hip extension/PPT with lumbar spinal flexion at the top of the movement. This results in the "piked"/flexed hip position at the top.

What you need to do is work more on tucking the hips under/posteriorly tilting/Hyperextending your hips to flatten out your lower back. Yes, there will be some lumbar flexion as a result and your abs must still engage to help stabilize the position, but right now it is all coming from the spine and none from the hips (which is why you immediately lose it when you begin to descend).

Again, just my two cents.

IM range of motion looks good, but slow it down a bit. Reduce momentum from the start and keep a slower even pace. 

Engage your glute muscles, that alone should put you in a ppt i believe.

Oh boy; there's a bunch of stuff to work on here. No worries, that's a pretty standard pre-GB pushup though.

Rather than overwhelming you with details on the HBP/PE2, lets start by rolling it back one step to PE1 where it's much easier to work on details. So if you can submit a video of that next and then we'll gradually get you back to the floor.

The other key element is sPL/PE2, so hopefully you are working on that, it directly corresponds to the push up, the top in particular, but defines the shape you want to learn to hold all the way through.

On the iM there is one very important thing you aren't doing which can even lead to an irritated shoulder in the future.

You aren't fully rotating so the weight is pointing straight back behind you. In the beginning with this, turn your head and torso so you can see where the weight is and make sure your arm traces a path that goes straight behind you, not to the side at all.

Thank you guys. Really appreciate your help!

@Cole Dano the video below is from my HBP/PE1. Wish I could start working with sPL/PE2, but seems like to me I'm making no progress at all on my sPL/PE1

Wow that was quick. This looks much better than PE2, you are holding essentially the same shape throughout the entire rep compare this to your PE 2 video and notice how your bodyline changes dramatically from top to bottom.

Now even on PE1 if you look at your first rep vs. last you'll see that you begin to sag in the lower back a little, but it's not ver pronounced, just something to take note of. You also could have a bit more PPT, but you have just enough tension to be considered acceptable at this stage. But you can still think about trying to flatten your lower back a bit more.

Let's try this next time you do this work out, lower the bar so you are more horizontal but not yet on the floor and see if you cna maintain your bodyline in the same way.

As extra work, if you have time, do a single set of sPL PE2 in addition to PE1 so we can start that.

You might find it helpful to play both your form check and the course video side by side - it will show up the differences/cues quickly. PE: look at the bodyline, iM: watch how and where the weight rotates.

Here we go again - Yes, my body line is definitely a problem that needs to be fixed :\

Had some extra time to play around with HBP after my workout today, so decided to film PE1 with the bar a bit lower. Had the bar around knee level... What do you guys think?

So this shows that the problem is load and angle related.

Can you see how much more of a bow you have in your lower back in this variation compared to the higher one? And if you look at your video of doing them on the floor, there is even more bowing.

I think this is actually a good level for you to work this for a bit until we can get that line more in shape.

The main two things you want to think are tight abs and tight buttocks. Really keep them tight so the shape doesn't change at all from top to bottom.

The final thing you want to work on here is elbows point straight back.

One thing I don't want you to worry about right now is trying to touch the bar, only come down so far as you can and keep that solid line.

Thank you, Cole!

I can  definitely see there is much more of a bow compared to the high one. Can you guys see when the bowing is starting? Is it immediately when going down? 

I'll keep working on this element the next couple of weeks and check back in hopfully with lots of improvements :-) 

It develops over the trip to the bottom. Knowing you're doing it, then starting to feel it and finally being able to control is the usual process.

Cole is a forum team leader, so his opinion carries more weight than mine. But to my eyes it looks like your hip angle (degree of PPT/lumbar spinal flexion) remains pretty consistent throughout the rep and is lacking right from the start. Your thoracic spine however goes from flexed to extended/changes shape as you start to descend.

To me it looks like you lack the ability to Hyperextend your hips/achieve a PPT with the hips straight, most likely due to tight hip flexors and/or weak Glutes. That is why you were "piking"/overly raising your hips in your initial video to allow you to achieve a "hollow" shape (which you then must abandon to perform your reps as you descend).

I would check out Mark Collins' thread about his Psoas release and definitely start working on the PPT iM's in the Handstand course if you have it. 

Hope this helps.

The lower back is pretty close to neutral at the top, there could be more PPT but I'm not asking for perfection at this stage. There is more arch at the bottom, especially in later reps. Coaching is a process, fix one thing at a time.

Couple of workouts later, my form now look like this. What do you guys think? any improvement?

That's the stuff!

I don't know if there's anything you can do about the lighting in your vids though, it's like watching an episode of Game of Thrones.

Is it on all my videos, or just that specific area of the centre the video above is posted? I tried to play around with some color filtres.... think i made it too dark

No worries, at least the silhouette shows  your body line well. It's good enough to tell you've made some solid improvement.

Thanks, Cole! Glad I've made some solid improvement on this element. What should be the plan looking forward? Staying with these HBP/PE1.5 for a couple of more workouts for muscle memory and then try PE2 again?

Yes, build them up to 5x15r as if you were doing PE1 or PE2. And work on those hip flexors.