HBP/PE1 Inclined pushup mastery test

This is my first mastery test - the inclined pushup

Your feedback is welcomed.

Looking good Carlos.

Its tough to tell from the side view what your shoulder blades are doing. I would like to see a little more rounding in your spine. Protracting your shoulders at the top of every push up and keeping tight posterior pelvic tilt in the hips with strong core engagement through out the whole movement. 

Very good first attempt Carlos. Let's follow Tanya's excellent advice and post another video. Good job brother.

Thank you Tanya and Luke for your feedback.

Excuse my ignorance. When you say "protracting your shoulder blades" do you mean, push hard at the top and turn the elbow pits forward.

With respect to rounding the spine a little more, I thought I had to keep the back straight/flat as possible? Anyway, I'm assuming the rounding is at the top of the spine since the PPT (I'm learning the lingo) keeps the lower back flat.

I'll give this a go for a few more days and post a new video (from different angles).

It's remarkable how technical a simple movement like a pushup can be. I thought I would kill the inclined pushup  when I first started since I thought I could do a regular pushup. I was never this 'tight' doing what I thought was a pushup.

I feel GREAT doing GST and I can't wait to master PE1 (especially hip swivels) since I know it will feel amazing.

Protraction could be reached by trying to achieve the retraction and then perform the exactly opposite movement, it is a lateral movement of the scapula.

I love that explanation Alessandro.

Keep up the good work Carlos. GST is not only physical training but the mental training you gain and body awareness is amazing. Looking forward to your next video. 

Myself as well Alessandro

Updated video with a little more protraction.

This next video is from a different angle (and shirtless - I guess its the GB thing for guys)

I understand what you mean by 'rounding' now - a hard protraction rounds the spine.

1 hour ago, Carlos Jimenez said:

Updated video with a little more protraction.

This next video is from a different angle (and shirtless - I guess its the GB thing for guys)

I understand what you mean by 'rounding' now - a hard protraction rounds the spine.

 

nice effort @Carlos Jimenez  looking a lot better than before. keep it up.

Nice improvement Carlos!

Thank you Leo and Everett for the encouraging words.

What more do I need to do to pass mastery?

Hold the last form and complete the 5x15 rrequirements and the paired mobility.

Thanks ... I should of mentioned that was 4th and 5th set. 

But i'll upload my German Arm swings

Sorry for the delay in uploading the paired mobility.

Please note that I am unable to lift my arms vertical overheard. I'm about 5-10 degrees of vertical (and improvement from about 30 degrees! Progress is glacial).

Keep working on these. We want you to be reaching the opposite shoulder wIth the top hand. 

Carlos, 

Way to go buddy, great improvements. Alessandro nailed it for you for mastery. Keep up with training and posting your progress. Great advice from Everett on the German Arm Swings. 

Thanks guys, I’ll keep working on the German Arm Swings and post an update of both exercises (say in a month’s time).

When I first started German Arm Swings it felt very ‘crunchy’ but now it feels a lot smoother.

The way I see it is that I have two problems to correct –

1. My inability to  raise my arms vertical (I think this is called limited ‘shoulder flexion’) My compensation is to move my head forward or out of the way.

2. Once my arm is raised the it's hard for me to move my arm closer to my ear so that my hand to touches the far side of the opposite shoulder (as opposed to the “traps” of the opposite shoulder). I think this is abduction

A couple of questions regarding the German Arm Swings –

- What is the purpose of German Arm Swings? Is it to help with shoulder abduction or something else?

- Are there any stretches (or other drills) I can do to facilitate my progress? I just listen to Coach Sommers on the Tim Ferris podcast and he says that obliques are usually tight (and weak) for older adults - could this be a limiting factor for this movement?

Hi Carlos,
It won't hurt to stretch your triceps and your lats like with the RC >ims.
Saludos!

Hi @Carlos Jimenez 

i would like to share when i was first starting foundation one, as a warm up i would do slow arm rotations to loosen up my shoulders. by any chance you have the fundamentals course. going through it will really help you loosen up. mobility also takes time so please be patient with it. keep up the good work.  

Hi Leo,

Unfortunately I don't have fundamentals.

I figured that, if it took me 40+ years to do the damage, then its going to take awhile to undo the damage. German arm swings are going to be just like hip swivels - they are going to take time.

Mind you, I can't wait until I can do them properly because I can already feel the benefits this early into my journey.

With hip swivels I'm chipping away at it where possible - for example, I have a rule: I do a few "half swivels" during commercial breaks whenever I watch TV . For German arm swings I'm looking for some sort of drill I could do at work when I take a break from the computer.

On another note, with respect to the stretch series, are they structured the same as Foundation 1 with exercise progressions and mastery standards before moving onto the next progression? I like this type of system

The stretch courses are run a bit differently Carlos. You perform the entire sequence in order, each time you stretch. As was stated above, the Thoracic Bridge Series will address the issues that are making German Arm Swings difficult.