Xiaopengs

What is the recommended weight range for Xiopengs? Im currently using an 8# DB.

Hi Justin,

Unless you are already a beast with perfect R.O.M., that is far too heavy to start.  Drop down to 2lbs.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Haha. I guess I would like to think of myself as a beast but probably not. I guess ignorance is bliss. Will step it down.

Thanks Coach!

I started at 5 lbs two weeks ago, now I do 7.5 lbs… Maybe I am a beast   or maybe I need to get a form check?  They feel so easy for me... 

14 hours ago, Suzanna McGee said:

I started at 5 lbs two weeks ago, now I do 7.5 lbs… Maybe I am a beast   or maybe I need to get a form check?  They feel so easy for me... 

Hi Suzanna,

If they feel easy for you, you are doing them incorrectly.  

Do not fret about this.  I just ran a master class in Singapore for some of my senior students and crushed ALL of them on this very movement with 2lb weights.

The goal on backward xiaopengs in to achieve shoulder extension as early as possible and as close to overhead vertical as possible.  And on forward xiaopengs to stay in shoulder extension as long as possible and again as close to overhead vertical as possible.

This is very different from simply allowing the arms to circle around.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

14 hours ago, Suzanna McGee said:

I started at 5 lbs two weeks ago, now I do 7.5 lbs… Maybe I am a beast   or maybe I need to get a form check?  They feel so easy for me... 

I used to perform Xiaopengs with 5 lbs at the gym, but I've just recently moved to 6.6lbs/3kg because that's the only dumbell I have at home. It is such a HUGE jump. It really burns in the 4th and 5 th set(s)

I'm not exactly a weakling and I'm using just an empty 2lb db bar and my arms are dead by set 5!

1 hour ago, Paul Wallbridge said:

I'm not exactly a weakling and I'm using just an empty 2lb db bar and my arms are dead by set 5!

Then you are doing something right

6 hours ago, Coach Sommer said:

Hi Suzanna,

If they feel easy for you, you are doing them incorrectly.  

Do not fret about this.  I just ran a master class in Singapore for some of my senior students and crushed ALL of them on this very movement with 2lb weights.

The goal on backward xiaopengs in to achieve shoulder extension as early as possible and as close to overhead vertical as possible.  And on forward xiaopengs to stay in shoulder extension as long as possible and again as close to overhead vertical as possible.

This is very different from simply allowing the arms to circle around.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Coach Sommer, I have been doing just the Xiaopengs backwards because I am still "stuck" on the pushups (PE2)… I haven't thought about a form check before as I felt like these were "easy" but you put a seed of doubt in my mind, so I took a video:

Hi @Suzanna McGee,

Do you  feel like you work through a stretch over the top?

Your form from looks pretty good to me. The only thing I see that probably made the exercise easier was that your pelvic was moving along with your torso. Try to keep it more fixed/stationary and rotate as little as possible just from your torso

This is not an official answer, so you might want a GB coach to confirm  

8 hours ago, Suzanna McGee said:

Coach Sommer, I have been doing just the Xiaopengs backwards because I am still "stuck" on the pushups (PE2)… I haven't thought about a form check before as I felt like these were "easy" but you put a seed of doubt in my mind, so I took a video:

 

Too fast, do it slowly especially the backward part, I experimented that 4-6 seconds it is the best in therms of fascia stretch. Keep in my that when I hit the 10 kg xiaopeng I was working on it since 2.5 years.

Hi Suzanna,

For a beginner what you are doing is fine!  Won't hurt a thing for you at your level of development to continue doing exactly what you are doing.  Just be sure to not go overly heavy and strain to lift the dumbbell during the movement.

If you would like to experiment with refining the movement to an intermediate/advanced level try the following:

As the weight goes over the top focus on internally rolling the shoulder so that the thumb is pointing directly down to the ground and the shoulder is in complete extension.

This extension should feel quite similar (but harder!) to holding a weighted dowel behind your back with a shoulder width grip and then lifting it up to shoulder high.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thank you @Coach Sommer, @Alessandro Mainente and @Ron Roitman for the tips. I will definitely explore this intermediate/advanced option that you suggest. Also I will slow down the movement (and keep my hips steady). I'll stay with my current weight 5–7 lbs and will fine-tune the movement with your suggestions. I wrote them in my journal now  

I've always done this movement keeping my chest as stationary as possible and trying to achieve maximum movement through the shoulder. Essentially I treat it like a weighted arm circle and it completely fries me.

Max

11 hours ago, Maksis Riley said:

I've always done this movement keeping my chest as stationary as possible and trying to achieve maximum movement through the shoulder. Essentially I treat it like a weighted arm circle and it completely fries me.

 

Max

I do them similarly. However I use a looser grip.

10 hours ago, Rayne-William Fitzgerald said:

However I use a looser grip

I've been trying to keep a "firm" grip, as I watch for the dumbell to be square to my body as a cue that I'm getting the correct degree of rotation. With a looser grip, I feel like this cue isn't accurate, as the dumbell could be rotating a few degrees in my grip (I take this position with dislocates as well, and there I find it very noticeable). Coach/coaches -- is this a concern, or a case of the overthinkings?

Hi William,

Agreed.  I prefer the firmer grip as well.  Difficult to rotate the shoulder sufficiently with a loose grip.

Plus as the dumbbell get heavier, the firmer grip prevents the dumbbell from slipping and crashing down on top of the head. 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I can work with 10kg but it gets less than pretty above maybe 3 reps. Solid 5r sets for me are 7-8kg

If only because the definition of most adjectives is relative to point of view...

Something to consider and personally speaking... Part of my competitive sports experience is in rock climbing with some 91 meter climbs. My "firm" grip allows me to dead hang from a ledge that is about half centimeter wide. My "Looser" grip maybe your "Firm" grip strength.  I frequently roll knuckles when I shake hands with a lot of males.

I am using a "Looser" grip to make the mobility elements harder anyway, not because it is what everyone else does. While I am holding onto a dumb bell I am using a false grip.

Hi Rayne-William,

Regardless of what you call it, I want to see the handle of the dumbbell seated firmly in the palm of your hand with no daylight showing when you grip the dumbbell.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

22 hours ago, Coach Sommer said:

Hi Rayne-William,

Regardless of what you call it, I want to see the handle of the dumbbell seated firmly in the palm of your hand with no daylight showing when you grip the dumbbell.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thank you.

If I am ever financially able to make it to several different seminars for the purpose testing mastery in front of you, I will be using a form and a grip that is firm enough to pass your standards. 

Please read my workout notes that I have left behind to get an understanding of my overall indoor training environment.

Suzanne I am on the same exercise and did a form check too and it helped alot. You are doing the forward one, the backwards on is where the back of the hand leads. 

Do you get coach Sommers tip? As the weight goes over the top focus on internally rolling the shoulder so that the thumb is pointing directly down to the ground and the shoulder is in complete extension.

I'm watching your video and trying to work out how the thumb points to the ground at the top? 

I think this is what the coach meant. Thumb down, like all improvements I'm noticing, makes it harder! 

I had a look at the tutorial and Wes said, 'palm down' on the extension and on the follow along they both had palm down on the extension so I may well be barking up the wrong tree.

On October 21, 2016 at 5:00 AM, Steven Gilmore said:

Suzanne I am on the same exercise and did a form check too and it helped alot. You are doing the forward one, the backwards on is where the back of the hand leads. 

Do you get coach Sommers tip? As the weight goes over the top focus on internally rolling the shoulder so that the thumb is pointing directly down to the ground and the shoulder is in complete extension.

I'm watching your video and trying to work out how the thumb points to the ground at the top? 

I am thinking that in my video, I finish my arm rotation when my arm is slightly behind my head. I think that according to @Coach Sommer's advanced tip I should start and finish my rotation when  my arm is by my head, by internally rotating my shoulder at that moment, which will get the thumb down already there, rather than further behind my head. I think it will be a cleaner movement with more action in the shoulder. I've been working on it and it feels good—after a few gentle cracking sounds in the beginning  

All I know is that I feel far better now about the slow progression I've had with 10 pound weights. Felt like a pussy lol, because they were the lightest weights I had and they were more than enough for me for a very long time. Now it feels comfortable, but the volume is still pretty taxing. Shoulders feel amazing after doing them tho *thumbs up*. I'll try the thumbs down refinement on my next workout.