SLS/PE1: I got nothing

I cannot stand up.  I roll on my back, and that's where I stay.  It is clearly a mobility issue, but how do I advance?  Will the mobility drill pull me out of the mire?

Hey Geoffrey,

This is  common issue and the iM will certainly help. Try stacking a padded surface behind you to a height that you are able to stand back up from. As you improve, decrease the height of the stack until you are getting up from the ground. Panel mats work great for this.

Have a look at both the SLS/PE1 video's, the second explains how to scale this element.

2 hours ago, Everett Carroll said:

Hey Geoffrey,

This is  common issue and the iM will certainly help. Try stacking a padded surface behind you to a height that you are able to stand back up from. As you improve, decrease the height of the stack until you are getting up from the ground. Panel mats work great for this.

Just watched video 2 again.  It apparently froze the first time I watched it.  Makes a lot of sense now.  Thanks! 

My question now is, if I can do the prescribed number, but need mats, do I repeat week 1, or proceed on through the weeks, but stopping at mastery.  Also, how do I tell the system, "Yeah, I did it, with help.  Did 'em all, but sub-awesomely."

Hello Geoffrey, please remove the mats one by one until you reach the full range of motion for the movement as in the video scale explanation. Once you've reached the full range of motion and you can do the required rep ranges you can check complete, until then the movement is not complete. Be persistent and good luck , with consistency you will be there before you know it.

Thanks, Luke.  So, I do advance from one week to the next, but do not claim mastery until I actually have it.  I look at the progression, and happily understand it will take a while.  I mountain bike, and see this as a way to be injury-free in the long run.

I understood, from another thread, that we go through the 11 step (week) cycle with our mat stack, then when we can do the requisite number of reps and sets on the stack, we remove as many mats as we are able and go back to week 1.  Repeating these cycles until we can do it from the floor?  I think if I was to stay on step (week) 1 until I could remove a mat, I would be on step (week) 1 for a long, long time.

This is the approach I'm taking, unless the advice is otherwise?

As for the scheduler, I think it's not like we are fooling anyone if we mark as complete, with a note of how big our stack is in the bottom box.  The scheduler is just an incredibly clever way of tracking where we are this week, and what we are going to do next week, keeping us on track and making progress.  Just don't move on until true mastery has been achieved.

Cheers

That's sound logic. Increasing the volume of assisted reps as appropriate is obviously going to help you gain the required str/mob faster than very short sets. Personally I prefer in this sort of case to increase-- read double or more-- the sets rather than increase the reps per set, but it's different roads to the same result.

The thing to keep in mind is that short sets without assistance are the goal, not big volume or psuedo-mastery with it so unassisted (by which I mean, on the floor without matts) for short sets is preferable as soon as possible. By this I mean, while you should increase the number of quality reps using the matts, it is not necessary to build to demonstrating eg) 'mastery with two matts' before starting on 'mastery with one matt' and then 'floor.' Mobility tends to come in ebbs and flows, and after a deload I often find that something that was out of my reach two weeks before is anticlimactically no big deal so it's certainly worth testing how close you are to full reps on a regular-ish basis too.

Also spend a lot of time in a squat during your day. While watching tv, while brushing your teeth etc.

2 hours ago, Mats Trane said:

Also spend a lot of time in a squat during your day. While watching tv, while brushing your teeth etc.

Funny you mention that.  I have a sit/stand desk at work.  I am trying to make it more of a sit/stand/squat/stretch desk.

Nice. That will make a big difference Geoffrey. 

Actually I am a big fan of "greasing the Groove", Geoffrey - you can make remarkable squat flexibility gains by doing something as simple as sleeping on a futon so you have to squat to stand up and lie down or even better - buy a special toilet attachment so you can squat while you go to the toilet (sounds silly I know), but basically following the same principles of your standing desk.

8 hours ago, Luke Searra said:

Actually I am a big fan of "greasing the Groove", Geoffrey - you can make remarkable squat flexibility gains by doing something as simple as sleeping on a futon so you have to squat to stand up and lie down or even better - buy a special toilet attachment so you can squat while you go to the toilet (sounds silly I know), but basically following the same principles of your standing desk.

I am trying to convince my wife we need a futon for that reason.

Hahahaha Great Mark!

Whe I struggeled with these my first time around I stacked mats and followed the volume increase as prescribed, but I played with removing mats between sets. So for a 5 set trainin, set1 would require 3 mats, set 2 2 mats, set 3 only 1 and back up with the number of mats for for set 4 and 5. Also did deep squats whenever I visited a bathroom and was this got me to no mats within 8 weeks. The hardest part was not giving up and being patient. Still hate those skiers..

Wow Hans! Great approach

Outstanding, Hans! Those Skiers get people where they want to be, no matter how hated they are.

I love to hate them too Hans

I have no problem with deep squatting with both feet flat and less than hip distance apart. However, when it comes to performing this maneuver, I am unable to come up with my feet together. They are about 6" apart. Do you think adding the mats would improve this specific issue, or simple repetition or some other suggestion? 

Thanks.

Hi Mary, I think a combination of mats and simple repetition would solve this specific issue. It can also be your familiarity with the movement as well as a mobility issue. Please give the suggestion a try and update us.