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Started by Giulio Pizzini, March 6, 2017 · 16 Replies · 282 Views
Hello,
here is a video of me doing HS PE2. I only raise the legs half-way since if I raise them all the way I can either 1) keep them quite piked or 2) fall forward because I arch my back
Does it make sense to work on this position until I can avoid arching? Or would it be better to raise the legs anyway? Or do something totally different?
Not sure what would be more productive.
Thanks for your feedback!
Hi Guilio,
I recommend working these next to a wall. Doing so will allow you to extend the legs into a headstand without having to worry about falling over. I also suggest moving your hands closer to your head so that they are directly underneath your elbows. By doing this, you will have better control of your headstand.
Hi Guilio,
I'm not a coach, but I can tell you what worked for me.
i agree with @Jeffrey Bittner that your hands are too far away. This is setting your shoulders angled away from your head right from the off. Did you get a form check on PE1, it may be a habit you've had from the start. By angling at this point, you're having to compensate by arching your back. Brining your arms (aim for a right angle at the elbow to get the correct hand placement) in might fix this immediately, but you may need to re-ingrain the habit in PE1 for a few goes.
I have always found that if you try getting into your headstand with you legs in a pike position and your feet on the floor (e.g. Using lower back, stomach and hamstrings to pull your legs into the vertical) ensures that you head and hands have to be in the correct alignment, otherwise the leverage is simply to great to be able to get up easily. This could be just me, but I have never had a problem getting to vertical this way.
also, ensuring you have pelvic posterior tilt in your headstand should help remove the arch. To do this, pull you belly button back and tilt your upper thigh/lower pelvis forward. This 'should' help make your headstand a bit stronger, too.
i hope that all helps! I also hope I haven't give any bad tips, so please take my suggestions under advisement, in case they are counterproductive for the GST path!
Thank you Jeffrey, will fix the hands immediately and will work straightening the legs using the wall.
Hi Paul, thanks for the tips. I am not able to stay upright with a flat back, if I do the headstand on the wall I cannot flatten the back against the wall, I suppose the issue is that my shoulders are too tight and cannot get into enough flexion.
By the way, can someone explain to me how to embed the youtube videos next time? Thank you!
On your video, look at your position at 4 seconds. That is where you should stop. You continue to rotate your hips for further 2 seconds, which is what makes you arch your back. If you stop at the first position and build from there by straightening your legs, rather than rotating your pelvis, it may help you.
You could set up a monitor or mirror to look at so you can see when you're at the right position. Then gradually aim to straighten your legs through that body line. You will notice on the exercise video that the gymnast is not perfectly vertical.
I have a question: I know that I cannot hold proper PTT in a handstand, I can test it by hanging on the stallbar and while I can maintain PTT with piked legs if I try to bring them down I lose the PTT. Same if lie on the floor: I can hold PTT piking the arms but I cannot rest the arms on the floor without losing PTT.
Here comes the question: is the same degree of flexiblity required for HS PE2? Or does the head and hands stance let you achieve it with a lower flexibiily requirement?
(and a sub-question: is all the flexibility requirement just a shoulder matter or is there something else as well?)
Thank you guys for your support.
HI Giulio, can you try please to lie completely on the floor, hands to the side like in a T position, how does your mid-section works? is your lower back completely in contact wit the floor?
Hi Alessandro, if I lie down in a relaxed fashion my lower back is not in full contact with the floor, it is naturally arched. I have to contract the abs and force PTT to get the lower back in contact with the floor. Naturally I have a bit of a lordotic posture.
Ok, I was suspecting the correct thing, you have extremely tight hips flexor. I had a same identical case last weekend during a course where I was teaching the mobility and GST part. in case of tight hips flexor during an inverted position the lower back tend to arch and it is not possible to achieve correct PPT. stretch the hips flexor strongly and then try again.
Stretching the hip flexors improved things a bit but I can still slide a hand below my lower back if I stay fully relaxed.
So either I can't stretch my hip flexors properly or hip flexors are not the onlu issue!
The hip flexors are anyway the muscles I find the most difficult to stretch properly
I've tried the headstand next to the wall. I can do it two ways: don't touch the wall or lean on the wall.
In the first video I follow the first approach, I don't raise the legs further because I feel my hips going past vertical.
In the second video I lean the back on the wall and raise the legs as much as I can without losing lower back contact to the wall.
I'd like some advice on which approach would be more productive for me at this stage to work on.
Thanks!
Hi Giulio,
Give your flexibility some time to improve. It may take many weeks for your hip flexors to loosen and improve your position here so stay patient and consistent. Continuing with the stretch courses is also going to help you tremendously.
A couple of things I noticed from these videos:
-Your hands were still not quite directly under your elbows so move them in a bit closer to your head.
-Try starting from a tripod and, keeping your legs tucked, lift/uncurl them straight up above you (more like the second/bottom video). Gradually extend your legs but fight to keep them stacked over your body. That is the method that I think will help you more easily find the correct position. This might make it a little easier than straightening your legs out away from you first and then trying to straight leg raise them above you (first/top video).
-Do your best to treat the wall as a "spotter" and avoid using it for assistance the entire time. If bracing your back or hips against the wall helps you to better stack your legs, go ahead and use that method for now. Just be sure to keep in mind that you want this to be a temporary practice; as soon as you can, stop using the wall for direct aid.
It's sloooowly getting better, but full ptt is still elusive...
https://www.dropbox.com/s/eqxvip91f5s7wuj/2017-08-09 10.43.52.mov?dl=0
any feedback always appreciated!
Nice improvement, Giulio! The PPT is the main thing you need to work at and it's coming great. Keep doing what you're doing.
Hi Giulio,
Nice improvement. It has come a long way since your last submission. It looks like you are balancing too much towards your forehead. Try balancing slightly more towards the top of the head. It should not be a big adjustment. Adjusting the angle of your neck will put you in a position that makes keeping a tight body line easier. As you hold, remember to engage you core and your gluts to help pull the ribs in and hit PPT.
Slowly getting more comfortable... still long way to go but the iM is even worse, so no hurry at all 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ct4wn5dxxe9ytux/2017-12-17 21.29.22.mov?dl=0