SL/PE9 form check

Hello!

Here is my SL/PE8. Although my gym has no stall bars, at least we got plenty of those at work Using the first portion of the lunch break is a good way to squeeze in a couple of exercises. Unfortunately I haven't attempted the IM yet, along with many other IMs like the stall bar pike stretches etc, because I'm trying to careful pace the dosage due to my hernia. Things are progressing forward with Jefferson curls and weighted pike stretches though.

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to drop down with my hip like that or keep it glued to the stall bar?

Keeping your hips to the bar requires greater compression ability. It's not a requirement for the exercise but it is a beneficial aspect to develop.

For you, as you can see in the video your hips stay up until the legs are completely down-- hips are the last to move. However they are the first to move coming back up, making this more of a straight body movement than a lower back exercise. So if you can't avoid this consciously, I would recommend keeping the hips on the bar to police that whilst also getting the 'fun' of better compression development

Thanks for the reply Jon!

Ah, right. I'll try to keep my hips to the bar, hadn't thought about whether it was correct or not, but I suppose it translates better into the handstand variety somewhere down the road if I can keep that compression better?

Is this form better? Another question is, when 5x5 is mastered here, would it be a good idea to start gripping  higher so I can lower my legs further down?

Nice, you've got your shoes on too (extra weight to work with  ;-) )!!! I am working on this one as well, and getting into the position from standing (rather than kneeling) which allows me to get my feet closer to me on the bottom (more compression). I think you could like it a lot. I am on 5x10r and fine-tuning my form. I love this exercise  :-) 

Hey Suzanna. 5x10 sounds brutal I'm not there yet, still polishing up the form on 5x5 and then I was thinking I'd try progressing through one rung at a time or something to have a clear path forward in the exercise. This one feels like a keeper to me in the long journey towards a press handstand. And yeah, I love this exercise too ^^

13 hours ago, Jonas Winback said:

This one feels like a keeper to me in the long journey towards a press handstand.

Yup, same for me. I decided to love this exercise just because of my future press handstand  In the beginning, I struggled with my grip. On the last set I always had to focus not to lose it and drop down on my head. Even now, at 5x10r, during the last set, the last two reps, I am super focused not to fall off. That's why I know I need more work on it. But I don't mind it at all. I will be following your journey up the rungs! 

I feel the same when I do the last sets, like my grip is a limiting factor. Struggling a bit with an ulnar nerve entrapment though so I've had to skip or limit certain exercises like chin hangs and false grip hangs, which doesn't help. But I'm sure the grip will improve as long as I keep going with the exercise.

Now when you're at an awesome 5x10 reps, are you gonna keep the exercise on maintenance level or what's the plan?

@Jonas Winback, I keep doing it so I start feeling strong with the grip even in the last set, last rep. Meanwhile, I will keep working on making it prettier (more compression when going down with the legs) and with a graceful entry and exit. It looks cool (and feels good actually) to enter the move with a straddle lift :-)  I have a feeling that my grip strength is improving relatively slowly, so I just bought those Captain Crunch thingies and will do some extra grip strength work and see if it will make a difference. 

Here is my straddle entry that I was playing with

Nice! I gotta work on that too tbh, I've just been sort of cheat-kicking my way up into position before starting the first repetition, but that straddle variety is a better idea

I used to do grippers a lot a few years back (RB-grippers, similar to CoC) until a classmate thought it was a good idea to demonstrate a BJJ throw on me resulting in a sprained finger that made me unable to use grippers for like a year or something.. after that I never really got into it again ^^