SLS PE2 Twisting Squats

Hi everyone,

I can't do twisting squats, like at all, yet. So I'm doing what I can to help myself get there. Is this OK, or dodgy as? 

Thanks!

I held a kettle bell out in front of me which enabled me to do them.  I'm reducing the weight so hopefully I'll eventually do it on my own.

Nice job with breaking down the movement Steven! Be patient with these and keep doing what you're doing.

I think doing the seated version and gradually lowering yourself will work. Something that really helps me is using a 5lb weight as a counter balance to help me up, along with slowly and mindfully moving through the movement.

Hi Steven,

working on these myself... What I found is that the initial position was key for me. If I focus on having the feet as close as I can to my butt and the hips as open as I can (knees close to the ground), then the movement is way easier. If the feet are further away, it becomes really difficult. After that, lean forward and only after try to raise yourself up.

Hi @Steven Gilmore, when i was first doing the twisting squat i used a bench in front of me or a smith machine or a pole for assist(trying not to use my arms to pull as i go up). i gradually lessen my support as i grew stronger and eventually was able to do it with mastery. i hope this helps.

Thank you everyone for your feedback. Very encouraging. I'm going to give all of the above suggestions a go!

Hi Steven, as per this video your struggle here may purely be anatomical.

Keep consistent.

Matty

As some one else has said I think you need to try and change your starting position a little.

- when sitting cross your feet and make the distance between your crossed feet much greater, so the cross happens much closer to your knees.

- Can you get your knees closer to the floor in the starting position? Doing this also puts the pressure in the outside of your feet which you want.

Doing both of these allows you to lean forward with you body a little which let's you push your body weight up more over your legs. At the moment because your knees are so high you can't get body weight over you feet which men's It's get difficult to lift yourself up.

I know in the first video for the PE shows the start portion to be closer to yours but I think the guy in the videos is so much more advanced/stronger he has no problem doing them from that start portion

Compare your staying position with the one in the second video on the PE page, that if the position I'm trying to describe.

Hope this helps

Mark

Hi Steven,

How is your twisting squats progress going? I watched your video and I think you need to start twisting as soon as your ass comes off the ground. I think it is just a bit of co-ordination lacking, like you just get to the tipping point and then retreat. Have you tried doing just the negative portion? 

I am probably not qualified to make a real assessment, just going on what I see in the video.

yeah twisting squats are a real pain in the ass.  One of my problems when I started them was psychological, I was worried I was going to break my knees if I put my full weight on them from the ground.  lol

@Steven Gilmore, I honestly think that you are much closer than you think. My hips were really tight too in the beginning (it took only a few sessions of Twisting squats to loosen them up). When I couldn't lift my booty (just like you couldn't), I just gave myself a little push from behind (just like you did when you had the balance thingie under you)…. just very tiny push and when I was on my feet (just like you were), I just continued the complete motion whole way up and around and down… the negative phase helped a lot. Landed not too elegantly, ha ha, and kept going… another push, twisted myself up and around, and kept going… actually after 3–4 sets it already went almost without the push. In a next few training sessions, no push was necessary. I didn't look very pretty those first attempts, and everybody in the gym was staring at me like "what is wrong with that spas-lady?"… but the progress went really fast. Keep trying it, without any rings and weights and stuff. Just push off the ground from behind you how you demonstrated in the beginning of the video. Do 5 sets of the mastery reps, and you see you'll be able to do them on your own in short time. 

Hi Steven,

The way you broke the exercise down, as Everett said, was very smart. I am interested to see how things have improved in the past couple of weeks. Sometimes getting better is a VERY long process, but I hope that you are seeing small improvements day by day.

Hello fellow twisty squatters,

On 9/23/2016 at 3:24 PM, David Lawlor said:

Hi Steven,

 

How is your twisting squats progress going? I watched your video and I think you need to start twisting as soon as your ass comes off the ground. I think it is just a bit of co-ordination lacking, like you just get to the tipping point and then retreat. Have you tried doing just the negative portion? 

I am probably not qualified to make a real assessment, just going on what I see in the video.

I watched it again as well, to see how my 10 year old does it. Hey, you're right about the early twisting! Good pick up. I've been trying negatives, landing my butt on a rolled up camping mattress to soften the blow.

On 9/15/2016 at 4:18 PM, Mark Allen said:

As some one else has said I think you need to try and change your starting position a little.

- when sitting cross your feet and make the distance between your crossed feet much greater, so the cross happens much closer to your knees.

- Can you get your knees closer to the floor in the starting position? Doing this also puts the pressure in the outside of your feet which you want.

Doing both of these allows you to lean forward with you body a little which let's you push your body weight up more over your legs. At the moment because your knees are so high you can't get body weight over you feet which men's It's get difficult to lift yourself up.

I know in the first video for the PE shows the start portion to be closer to yours but I think the guy in the videos is so much more advanced/stronger he has no problem doing them from that start portion

Compare your staying position with the one in the second video on the PE page, that if the position I'm trying to describe.

Hope this helps

Mark

 

 

Mark, this is helping. After 3 badly sprained ankles, one playing soccer, one basketball and one at a bush dance (the best looking girl finally became my dance partner and I stepped on her foot and went down like a bag of potatoes), putting that pressure on the outside feels counter intuitive and nasty. So Adam Kirby I'm hearing you. This feeling of weakness is just the reason I need to do it. Because of your post, I'm paying more attention to the starting position. Suzanna, you are a machine! Very encouraging story, basically man up and keep trying. Love it. Jeffrey, I'm committed to the long haul with mobility. I'll post a video in a month or so as weekly is too short a time frame!

Hi Steven,

I'm curious about your Deck Squats. Can you do them easily? Can you stand up after you do the roll/tuck? In both Deck and Twisting, there seems to be a lot of ankle mobility involved.

Glad that helped, it certainly helped me when I was starting them.

Like Mark says, maximise the distance between the feet and pull them towards the glutes - this is crucial. 

Hi Samin,

I can do the Deck Squats now. I couldn't to start with because of a fat gut and tight ankles, but now I can and I enjoy them! I am trying to love twisting squats but at the moment our relationship is at that awkward, "Gee I hope I don't have food between my teeth" on date night level.

Well here's an update. It's a confidence in your body thing. Confidence is 'to expect a good result' and to start with, it felt like my ankles and knees could get injured doing this. As the workouts went on, the confidence increased. It's all about functional fitness for me, and I felt stronger in my ankles out in the bush stepping in rabbit holes, where before that might have been a rolled ankle. Long way to go and this is a very small time frame, but my dicky knee has gone too. Brilliant!

Awesome Steven! Proof that consistency pays off. Nice deck squat/twisting squat combo too.

10 hours ago, Steven Gilmore said:

Well here's an update. It's a confidence in your body thing. Confidence is 'to expect a good result' and to start with, it felt like my ankles and knees could get injured doing this. As the workouts went on, the confidence increased. It's all about functional fitness for me, and I felt stronger in my ankles out in the bush stepping in rabbit holes, where before that might have been a rolled ankle. Long way to go and this is a very small time frame, but my dicky knee has gone too. Brilliant!

 

Nice. These are amazing to avoid daily bumps and twists like you say; GST goals aside the leg prep is one of the most valuable and immediately helpful aspects of Foundation

Respect Steven! great work buddy really fantastic to be privy to ur progression with this. Here's to knee health

matty