sPL/PE3 Form Check

Sorry about the visible ass crevice.

A bit of piking is showed, increase the PPT activation by trying to push your hips closer to the floor.

Thanks Alessandro

Just when I think I've got good PPT, I need even more.

I'll try again and re-post a form check soon.

Is this any better Alessandro?

I find it very hard to drop my hips any further without developing a sag in my lumbar. Is this acceptable or do I need to get the hips even straighter?

Thanks!

Cam

Could one of the coaches comment on the latter form check (above)?

Thank you!

Cam

There's still some clear pike there. This will not improve if left untreated  best to work on this part a little more. You might wish to post a vid of elbow plank as that takes the arms out of the equation and is pretty much entirely bodyline.

You'll need to tighten it up that extra bit for FL F2 elements too; now is the best time to fix it.

Thanks very much Jon.... I think I just don't have the quad/hip flexor mobility yet to get the line straighter at the moment.

How should I go about correcting this? I've been doing front split and middle split since they came out.

Is it just a matter of staying on step 9 while my PPT gets better?

Suggestions are welcome!

Cam

Cam,

I do kneeling quad stretch daily (60 sec or 30 sec x 2ea) or back bending over big stability ball focusing on hips/legs, not thoracic. This one is more "relaxing" once you find your spot. Or I hang from rings at chest height with feet touching the floor way back (picture similar to Seal pose but with arms overhead).

I do any of these to open my hips and gradually chip alway at years of sitting. I see it as a restorative necessity for my built/history. Intensity is medium. My body is used to it. Sometimes I do it twice. 

Thanks Eva

So you've found that this has improved your PPT?

Yes, years and years in the making and still room for improvement.

When the one-joint hip flexors (mainly psoas, iliacus, pectineus and anterior joint capsule) are chronically restricted it's very hard to achieve a neutral pelvis or to flatten the hips (PPT) in certain exercises like plank, hence extra time/work is needed to rebalance your hip musculature. Also rectus femoris (much larger and two-joint) is often a probable suspect!

Thanks for the input

Looks like I have yet more work to do in this area!

I'll scale it back to PE2 and see how I do with PPT on that element, as well as supplemental quad/hip flexor work.

Cheers,

Cam

I wouldn't scale it back, unless a moderator says so. As you progress thru the FL elements, your PPT will continue to improve. I would use the quad/hip flexor as a warm up or extra work on the side. You'll figure out the palnk line by practicing with straight arms. Scale the time to just "good form" seconds with the help of a mirror.

Jon suggested posting a PE2 form check above... I took that to mean I should scale it back until my PPT is considered acceptable at the PE2 level. 

But maybe that's not what he meant... Jon could you clarify?

I said post it so that we can confirm your shape up till there. If the line is not at least ight there, I want it fixed at that stage (ie. In isolation) rather than trying to fix it on a harder element that adds more factors   I've got a suspicion that yes, you should drop back briefly to build shape at volume on the elbow planks.

As Eva said the FL pe's will improve your PPT. But it would be incorrect to recognise that and simultaneously train in a saggy planche line. Taking the hit to solve these problems as early as possible is much faster and easier on the ego than having to go back and re learn the shape of half a dozen different elements.

(Just trust me on that last )

If/when the elbow plank is fine then you should have no problems getting the last you need on this one by training it. But since its come up twice now and you have said you are near unable to go further with it, I think its best to first look back to be sure.

That's great Jon - thanks very much for taking the time to explain all that.

I have sPL work today, so I'll film a form check and go from there.

Cheers!

Cam

How's this?