A word on perserverance

I'm posting this in the hopes of helping other beginners that may be feeling like they've stalled and may never get past one of the foundation elements.

This is how FL/PE2 (bent hollow body rock) has felt for me for the past 6 months. I spent the better part of 2 months on Step 7, gritting my teeth and collapsing to the floor during the last set. The day came when I broke through and was able to complete the prescribed sets and finally hit that stupid smiley face. The work was only just starting at that point. I then spent the next two and a half months (!) on Step 8 -grinding. And then the day came recently when I could knock that out and Step 9 fell pretty shortly thereafter. I repeated Step 9 twice to make sure it wasn't a fluke and pounded that smiley face again. Here's what I learned through the process:

1. Do the work: Come to the mat day in day out -especially if you don't feel like it. Its consistency that allowed me to get anywhere with this movement as it challenged me so much. While working on Step 7 I did the movement 2x/week, with Step 8 it was 2-3x (alternating workouts with v-ups as I could only do one or the other on a given day without sacrificing form).
2. Keep a good attitude: Part of what has allowed me to keep up with the consistency is having a good attitude. Doing the work day in day out and being able to joke about it. I expected that I may just need to rock around the floor of the gym everyday, like a moron, forever. A smile makes the pain more bearable.
3. Get creative: I ended up taking a "grease the groove" approach at one point while stuck on Step 8 where a few times a day I'd just take a minute and do one set. Nothing to failure, just one set, then carry on my business. The regularity seemed to get my body to believe this movement is something that I better be able to accomplish.

That's about it. Hope something from my experience helps you reach your goal. Now, get after it.  

Nice work. It's great to hear the different ways that people go about achieving their fitness goals. 

Thanks for sharing your experiences and adding to our community.

I needed to read this - it's sobering but really reassuring.  I'm not alone!  Thanks 

Hi Rosemary,

This is what the GymnasticBodies forum is about - a community built around sharing our successes as well as our trials and tribulations where we can all grow and improve together. It's great having you with us! 

Does anyone have an opinion on why a high-rep move like bent hollow body rocks can be so stubborn to progress, as opposed to lower-rep strength movements like arch ups? I have been stuck at step 5 for longer than I can remember and don't seem to be progressing at all. I've tried extra sets, weighted sets, and recently one day of 50% protocol. Some workouts I even feel like I've lost strength. With lower-rep movements, I almost always feel a little stronger day-to-day.  It may be worth noting that I can do the sets as prescribed if I take a longer rest between sets than the follow-along videos show, but I assume this is the wrong way to make progress and so I stick to the shorter rests.  Would longer rests be appropriate if they allowed me to do the sets as prescribed and move to the next step? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

There are many factors involved:

-efficiency of the energetic system

-efficiency of breathing

-proper breathing which ensures a correct gas exchange and good energy restore

-posterior chain tensions which need more strength on the anterior chain to hold the position

-technique

all of them can be a cause of less progress.

Thanks, Alessandro, all good points.

Daniel, before the follow along videos were available I was taking longer rests too. In retrospect I think this was just part of the evolution for me and once I saw what the actual rests were meant to be I tightened things up. It forced me to take a couple of steps back too but ultimately I was able to work through it. One trick I used was to convince myself that the mobility iM was my rest! Might not be what you want to hear but I recommend sticking with it until you can complete with the prescribed rest time between sets before moving to the next level.

Alessandro, I would also add mental strength to that list. At times I really had to do some self -talk to continue working through the discomfort and not give in to that voice that says "just rest, you'll get it next time". F* that voice.

3 hours ago, Dustyevsky Silvester said:

 

Alessandro, I would also add mental strength to that list. At times I really had to do some self -talk to continue working through the discomfort and not give in to that voice that says "just rest, you'll get it next time". F* that voice.

 

 

 

I agree mental strength is the most important Learning movement is about trial and errors. Without going out the comfort zone, there cannot be trials

I thought there was something wrong with me. I've been stuck on that same stage forever. 

Hi Michael, 

If you feel like you have been stuck for a while i would highly recommend that you submit a video for review. That one of our coaches will be able to determine if there are any specific factors like the ones listed by @Alessandro Mainente that are limiting your progress.

@Alessandro Mainente, how would breathing during this exercise be conducted? I find it crazy difficult to breathe efficiently during the rocks... I either hyperventilate or hold my breath. I know that both of those are incorrect and have been trying to remedy them.

What strategy do you suggest?

I'm one month in with GST and currently on Step 9 of FL PE1 - now I'm a little bit afraid of what comes next!=D

Huge respect for your perseverance!

1 hour ago, Lorenzo Bohl said:

@Alessandro Mainente, how would breathing during this exercise be conducted? I find it crazy difficult to breathe efficiently during the rocks... I either hyperventilate or hold my breath. I know that both of those are incorrect and have been trying to remedy them.

What strategy do you suggest?

Hey lorenzo

for what it's worth I find it beneficial to breathe slowly and deeply Into my belly (this actually helps me flatten my lower back to the ground also ) rather than quick breaths that seem to exhaust me . I've read coach say somewhere that breathing deeply into the diaphragm is what we after and in this move it certainly helped me  

1 hour ago, Leigh Kettle said:

Hey lorenzo

for what it's worth I find it beneficial to breathe slowly and deeply Into my belly (this actually helps me flatten my lower back to the ground also ) rather than quick breaths that seem to exhaust me . I've read coach say somewhere that breathing deeply into the diaphragm is what we after and in this move it certainly helped me  

 

Leigh answered exactly as I thought, try to sit on a chair, squeeze your abs and slowly try to breath in your belly without losing contraction. a bit hard at the beginning. but it comes with practice.

Keep your legs locked straight during FL, too. Toes pointed. Nothing will suck the energy out of your core more than floppy legs.
 

I shall put those tips into practice. Thank you for the input. I'm wondering if it is worth the time to regress this move with this breathing technique in mind.

I just can across this post that’s now 3 years old and man did it hit home. I’m on 4x48 hollow body rocks for over a month after comfortably moving through all the other progressions before this. Tough to stay motivated! With other workouts I feel like I stay motivated knowing I’m making progress every few weeks. This one has been a mental challenge for sure!

Gregory,

Three years after writing this it still applies to my practice! I've moved beyond the hollow rocks but spent quite some time there, as I did with the bent hollow bodies. Stick with it and stay positive!