HBP PE2 struggling to pass

I am sitting at HBP PE 2 (or pushups) at step 5 for a few weeks now. 4 x 9 reps. I can knock out the first 2 sets easy with great form, but come set 3 and rep 6 things start to get a little shaky.

I have a few quick questions for arm positions and the things that seem to be failing first. 

1) I have some really bad wrists, the stretches I do from handstand can be painful if I push a little too far. This is also an issue in strength for my pushups, how do I fix this?

2) my core and lower back seem to be the first to go when it comes to form, but it is only momentarily before the front of my shoulders blow out and I am unable to lift myself up. Tips to strengthen to get past this?

In the mobility, I understand that we are trying to increase mobility, but what is the weight recommended for this? I have used 5, 8 and 12 lbs. I was figuring that the heavier weight would also increase strength of the shoulder in that range, am I wrong in this thinking?

Any help would be great.

Thanks

Hi Bret,

If you are having trouble doing Step 5, I recommend going back and spending some more time perfecting Step 4 before moving on. This will give you a better opportunity to build the strength necessary to handle Step 5.

With your wrists, make sure that you are not pushing too hard and the wrist push-ups. These are a great exercise for strengthening the wrists, but if done incorrectly or too vigorously they can lead to further injury. We patient with your wrist strength and mobility. It may take some time to correct. In the meantime, you might consider using some parallettes for your push-ups.

If your shoulders cannot handle lifting back out of your push-up, you are on a Step that is too advanced for your current strength. Remember that you should only progress as far as you can with proper form. This is the only way that you will build the strength in the correct position necessary for mastery.

On the iM for this exercise, you should start with a small weight (about 3 lbs). Once you have mastered technique and your joints are used to this movement, you may add weight little by little until you are doing it with about 10 lbs.

Please feel free to post a form check to Video Review or to the Form Check portion of the Forum if you have any more questions about technique. We are happy to take a look and to give you any pointers that will help you improve!

I was stuck in the same spot, would have 2 easy sets then on the 3rd set struggled through 8 and 9.  Then the 4th set I'd die on about rep 7.   

I'm doing f7 workouts twice a week, I started adding in an extra few sets of push-ups on off days.  Finally got through them and when I did I also did 5 sets of 9.  Now I'm not ready to move on yet but the extra sets did get me through the 4 sets.  

Good luck

I am stuck on this too for a while. Front deltoids would burn as hell making my elbows flare out etc. I realised I was doing the im wrong though. The forward xiao pengs felt quiet easy using 10lbs (as I was more or less just doing front raises), but they would tire out the front delts so much that by the 4th set of push ups the burn was intense making it hard to go full rom.
Coach's posts about Xiaopengs https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/27427-xiaopengs/  helped me a lot to get a better idea of proper execution. Totally different animal. Just 2-3lbs are a challenge now! 

The other flaw: Core would give in.  It was hard to accept not being able to do 5x15push ups (with good form) while I used to do sets of 50(without ppt or protraction) before starting gst. My ego was not helping at all!
For the past 2months I had to lay off any press/pull upper body exercises due to shoulder surgery to fix an old injury. That made me focus on core a lot more. It already pays off! Just recently did some one arm planche holds and was surprised how easy it was to keep ppt compared to before the lay off. I bet when I get back to push ups in a few weeks my core won't be an issue (...well, let's hope)

Besides Jeff's recommendations one thing that might help to make progress: Bottom holds. When you're about to fail in the next rep just don't  press up, but hold the position for as long as possible before you lose ppt or your shoulders give in. Same goes for top holds(planches).
 

On 1/19/2017 at 6:22 AM, Jeffrey Bittner said:

On the iM for this exercise, you should start with a small weight (about 3 lbs). Once you have mastered technique and your joints are used to this movement, you may add weight little by little until you are doing it with about 10 lbs.

@Jeffrey Bittner, does mastery require 10 lbs?

No need to go heavier then 10lbs, Thomas.

Ok @Tanya Hill, but would you say no less than 10 lbs to pass? 

6 hours ago, Thomas Nordman said:

Ok @Tanya Hill, but would you say no less than 10 lbs to pass? 

It s not so much about the weight, but more about getting the movement right. E.g. same as w Jefferson curls: No one will ask you to up the weight and going heavy from the start will rather keep you from doing it right. 

Hi, 

There is no specific requirement for lifting a certain weight to pass on Mastery.

Mastery is about mastering the movement, the weight that you choose should be all that is required to get the job done.

Focus on the quality of your movement not the quantity of weight that you are using. and as Jeffrey started earlier Please feel free to post a form check to Video Review or to the Form Check portion of the Forum if you have any more questions about technique. We are happy to take a look and to give you any pointers that will help you improve!

Thanks for verifying that. I've been using 5 lbs and movement was fine (I posted a video review). Just wanted to be sure. 

5 hours ago, Thomas Nordman said:

Thanks for verifying that. I've been using 5 lbs and movement was fine (I posted a video review). Just wanted to be sure. 

For the pass I prefer a minimum of 4-5 kg. having a minimum of weight guarantess you to develop a minimum of active strength in the shoulder girdle, if not there is basically no difference in between arms weight and 0.5 kg. aim for more with quality and not for minimum with quality.

If in doubt about the weight necessary please ask.

No problem with that @Alessandro Mainente. The Mobility Focus Points said 5 to 10 lbs so I've been using a 2.5 kg dumbell (5 lbs) and focusing on the movement, not thinking too much on increasing the weight.

I'll try to step it up a bit. 

No problem, you got the idea. weight it is adjusted in function of the rest, the contrary never happens.