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TBSSE17 form feedback

Started by George Traganidas 235308, March 28, 2017 · 24 Replies · 389 Views

Everett Carroll

Hi George,

I suggest spreading your feet further apart for now.

Do you feel this in your upper back?

George Traganidas 235308

I feel it more of a compression 'pain' at my middle to lower back. But when I get out of the bridge everything is fine. So it is not structural/damage pain, but muscle pain because of the position of the move.

Everett Carroll

If you don't feel the bridge exercises in your upper back then the position needs to be adjusted. Let's try going slightly higher with your feet and wider apart as well. When you are in the position, push down strongly into the floor. Raise your feet as much as necessary to feel the stretch in your upper back during the hold. 

Alessandro Mainente
4 hours ago, Everett Carroll said:

If you don't feel the bridge exercises in your upper back then the position needs to be adjusted. Let's try going slightly higher with your feet and wider apart as well. When you are in the position, push down strongly into the floor. Raise your feet as much as necessary to feel the stretch in your upper back during the hold. 

 

nothing more to add, how is your inverted cat range of motion?

Do not lead the neck to flex, you should always feel the ears in contact with the shoulders.

George Traganidas 235308

@Everett Carroll, I will try with legs higher and wider next week and I will post a new video. I find that if I try to start with legs higher it is harder to get into position. Therefore, I start with legs low and then move them one step up. I will try to move them 2 steps up.

@Alessandro Mainente, I would say my inverted cat is ok, but I know that my shoulders in general are tight. A trainer in the gym (he has a background in circus arts) told me that my chest muscles are pretty tight and that might be limiting my ability to do TBSSE17. I will try to get my head to hang more naturally.

Alessandro Mainente

The biggest limiting factor in the bridge it is the lats rather than the chest, in fact you can find someone doing an impressive bridge but not a very narrow grip dislocate (where the limiting factor it is the chest). this means that the chest it is not the real problem. 

 

Everett Carroll

Hi George,

If your setup allows, go just a little bit higher with your feet and move your wrists to the edge of your mat. Let us know how this feels and please send in another video. This should be felt in your upper back. 

George Traganidas 235308

Thanks Everett. I have changed my architectural design to allow for more height :) I will record a new video and post online soon.

Pauline Taube

Hi George,

Nice work. As Alessandro mentioned previously you want to relax your neck and push away from the ground more so that your shoulders are touching your ears. You also want to lock your elbows when doing the bridge. 

Where are you feeling the Stretch the most? If you are still feeling it mostly in mid/lower back I'd recommend to scale this exercise to perfect your form. You can try to do the exercise against the wall instead. Walk slightly away from the wall and kick up into a handstand with your back facing the wall. Support your feet on the wall. Shrug your shoulders up to your ears and keep your elbows locked. Then press your chest out.  As your mobility improves you can walk further away from the wall and eventually you can start doing the elevated bridge from boxes. 

Give it a try and let us know how you go :) 

George Traganidas 235308

Pauline, thank for all the feedback. I can not feel the exercise more to my middle back now. At the moment, I was so focused on the legs and back, that I forgot my arms and neck :) I will try again and let you know of progress.

Thanks,

George

George Traganidas 235308

I have lifted my legs even higher and now I can SURELY feel it at my middle back. Doing the move like this (legs quite high) is such a different feeling than previously. I can now feel my middle back getting stretched. It is one of these things that you know when you get it right because you will feel it on all the right places. Thanks for all the help guys. Now over the next few months (or years) I will aim to start getting my legs lower as my back gets more flexible.

Now that my lower body and back are in 'correct' place, it is time to focus on my shoulders, arms and head to get in the correct place as well. I will post another video soon.

The help that you provide in the forums is awesome!!!!!!

PS. My gym has not stall bars so I have to create elaborate architectural towers that I can climb with my feet as my hand are on the floor. Today as I was building my even taller tower it collapsed with a big bung and the whole gym turned to look at me and they were laughing :) Not my brightest moment. At least I test the stability of my towers before I climb them. Who would have thought that I degree in engineering would help with GST ;)

George

Pauline Taube

Hi George!

That's awesome! Glad to hear that you start to feel the Stretch the right places. This will also allow you to progress faster.

I'm glad you didn't injure yourself as your tower collapsed. Depending on how high your are elevating your feet atm, you can try to use the wall as I suggested previously. Another option is to use a smith machine or a squat rack. This way you can adjust the height exactly where you need it. 

Looking forward to the video :) 

Alessandro Mainente

Hey George if you feel good the position it is the time to more closer to the box.

Pauline Taube

Nice work, George. I agree with Alex, moving closer to the box will allow you to push your chest out and lean further into the Stretch :) 

George Traganidas 235308

I tried to get my hands closer to the boxes and press my chest even more out. How does this look? Anything more? I can hold it for about 60s now and I can do 1 pressup. I am soooo impressed :)

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9SwWGTeydS9Tl9hNHFJYlhKQzg

Thanks,

George

Alessandro Mainente

Hi George, hold this position until you can:

-lock the elbows all the time

-hold the position with your hands turned out a bit.

Suzanna McGee
13 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

-hold the position with your hands turned out a bit.

@Alessandro Mainente is this something we all should strive for or more for George because his elbows are sticking outwards a little bit? I always try to aim my fingers straight forward, didn't think about turning my hands out. 

George Traganidas 235308

Thanks Alessandro.

I think that Suzanna's question is valid. I was also thinking that hands should point straight. Is pointing them a bit out an easier variation and over the long term they should be pointing straight?

Alessandro Mainente

Not too much out, but you can easily see that George fingers (especially the middle finger of the left it not pointing directly to the wood cubes. the hands should be oriented like in the handstand position.

Suzanna McGee

I see what you mean. Thanks for the clarification @Alessandro Mainente!

George Traganidas 235308

I can see it much clearer now. My hands are pointing a bit inwards, so by rotating them a bit outwards, they will get to straight ahead. Got it :)