RC-PE1, HBP-PE1,sPL-PE1, second take

Hello good people!

I've made a video request a few days back and got some good correction pointers from @Winter Phoenix. Re-did the exercise routine today and made a new video. Hopefully the execution of the exercises is good enough for me to move forward.

The HBP-PE1 is filmed 2 times, since I noticed the first time I had some pike in my hips which I made because it seemed I could protract my scapulas a bit more on the upper portion of the pushup.

I filmed only the last sets of each exercise combo.

Hi Jan,

For your pushups, even in your second set, you are still too piked. Work on maintaining a straighter line throughout your whole body. If possible, try to train these next to a mirror for one or two workouts. Also, work on protracting more at the top of each rep and keeping your knees completely straight. 

Your HBP iM looks good. 

Be sure your core, glutes, and legs are firmly engaged during your rows. Pull all the way to your chest on each rep. 

Sit upright in the RC iM, as if you are in a straight-backed chair. You will likely need to go one rung lower to straighten out more and still keep your shoulder and wrist in one line. 

Watch out for your elbows bending even slightly in the scapular shrugs. They must remain completely straight. You are slightly piked in these as well so work on fixing your bodyline here just like you would for your pushups. Pressing your hips slightly towards the ground and engaging your glutes more will really help you here. 

You want your back to be completely straight and for your glutes to be in contact with the ground at all times during the hip swivels. Also work to keep you feet in the same postion during these. Simply swivel back and forth rather than picking your feet up each time. Placing your hands flat behind you as shown in the course videos will help you keep firm contact with the ground. 

Keep up the hard work!

Thank you very much for the in-deepth response. Love the help you guys are putting out.

I will make another video today and see what happens. Will also wear different pants, as it seems to me, that the body line might be visible better that way. 

You'll hear from me soon enough

And.. I'm back!

Re-did the exercises today, I'm kinda restless

So - I tried flattening my body line on the pushups, which felt sort of strange. I had the filing I was overextending my hips, but when I checked the video I saw I did not. My proprioception seems to be off-point here, good thing to know. 

On the RC-PE1 I really focused on the glute and rectus abdominis activation this time and stepped a bit more forward and lowered the rings a bit to keep my body line as tight and linear as possible.

The protraction push-ups .. They are still kinda hard, but I figured out from watching the video tips that I was leaning too much when lowering into retraction. I tried keeping my shoulders throughout the whole movement ontop of my wrists, an endevour in which I only partly succeeded. Nevertheless I think I kept my torso-leg line better, as Everett suggested.

On the swivel hips I shooting a blank.. Tried hard but couldn't really keep the buttock of the internally rotated thigh on the ground for too long. At the end of the video I tried doing an exercise which is supposedly a mark of the capacity of the person's thigh inner rotation. I also recall studying, that the inner rotation of a thigh is greatly influenced by the persons hip structure as such. Any follow-up tips on this? 

Thank you again for your support. 

Hi Jan,

Awesome improvement! Here are my updated tips:

HBP>PE1: 

-Protract more at the top of each rep. Spread your shoulder blades apart just like in the top of your scapular shrugs. Think of pushing your chest further from the box. 

-Can you please send in a video of your HBP/PE1>iM from the front so we can be 100% sure your range of motion is adequate?

RC>PE1:

-Are your legs totally straight (knees locked)?

RC>PE1>iM:

-That position looks much better. Be sure to sit back strongly the entire time. 

sPL>PE1:

-Your elbows were still bending slightly. It helps me to keep my upper arm engaged during these to prevent bending. 

-Keep your glutes engaged the whole time. This will prevent your hips from piking as you go back up. 

sPLPE1>iM:

-You don't need to get your knees all the way down to the ground right now. Focus on going as low as you can while still keeping both glutes on the floor.

-Place your hands behind you for support or try these against a wall, keeping your back completely upright.

Keep it up! You have made some nice improvement already Jan. 

Thank you again Everett!

Ok - I will try the protraction on pushups and film the HBP mobility from the front. 

In my RC PE1 .. yes! My legs and glutes are as tight as they can be!  I'm pretty sure because today my legs and butt and abs hurt more during the rows than my upper back!

sPL - will engage my upper arms and glutes more. 

See you soon!  

Here I am again. Was a bit sick during the week, so today was the first workout after a few days. 

So, I tried to protract my scapulas more on the HBP-PE1 while keeping my PPT in check. I also added the moblility part from a frontal angle.

On the protraction pushups I followed the suggestion to keep my upper arm tense as to not bend my elbows. I also tried arching a bit more in my thoracic spine while keeping a tight PPT.

As for the Swivel Hips - I tried the variation with my back on the wall. Not much range of motion. 

Hi Jan,

My apologies for the delay.

Nice pushups!

For the german arm swings, let your arms move more freely. Control the motion a bit less and allow them to swing more loosely from side to side. 

Your scapular shrugs are getting much better. Can you send in a video of these from the same angle as the exercise video? A view from above will help us ensure your shoulder blades are pinching all the way together each time. 

Nice work on your hip swivels. Your knees will get closer and closer to the floor over the training weeks. 

Thank for the reply!

So I guess I can move on the next progression for the HBP? 

I'll make another video of the scapular push ups with the right angle. 

edit:

Here's the video update. I hang my head low on the first clip so my scapulas are better seen. I also noticed a slight bent of the right elbow on 2 reps. 

Hey Jan,

Practice your german arm swings some more before advancing. Keep the swing loose and relaxed. Once you perfect that change, go ahead and advance. 

This angle is much better for scapular shrugs. At the very bottom, your elbows are still bending slightly. The cause seems to be that you are trying to get more retraction after your shoulder blades have touched. As soon as you feel your shoulder blades touch, start spreading them back apart. Attempting to sink lower will only cause your elbows to bend as compensation.

Thanks Everett!

I'll work on my swings then. Will make a video also, so you can tell me if I'm going in the right direction.

Will also make another attempt at the scapular pushups.

I'm back!

Posting the mobility on HBP-PE1, tried to let my arm loose.

And posting one of the SL progressions.

Feedback appreciated!

Hey Jan,

Nice improvement with your Germans!

For SL/PE3, avoid allowing your top shoulder and your chest to cave in. Keep your chest open. Also, keep your glutes strongly engaged. This will keep your body in a straight line. Keep working on emphasizing a strong arch a the top. Press high!

For the iM, I prefer to interlock my fingers behind my head for a better stretch. Give that a shot. 

Keep up the hard work!

Ok! Thanks Everett, will take the points into action. 

See you soon

Today I had Lower and Upper Body. I took some clips just so you can tell me how my forms looks. 

Thank you!

Hey Jan, here follows the points where you need to refine:

-push up and elbow plank keep the feet together

-during the planche IM you need to reach the knee extension in the same moment in wich you hip reaches the extension. you actual mistake it is to reach the full knee extension and move the leg outside.

Thank you Alessandro!

You mean that in the planche IM I need to abduct the leg and perform both extensions at the same time?

Exactly, you got the idea perfectly!

Form checks!

Thank you!

Hi Jan,

I can tell you've been working hard! Your SL work looks excellent. 

For your V-ups, be sure to keep your feet together, knees locked, and toes pointed as you reach up all the way to your toes. 

Keep your feet together in the pike lean as well.

Otherwise, keep it up. You're doing great!

Thank you Everett!

Will apply the corrections and keep grinding!  

Hello, just posting an update.

I haven't stopped doing the GB programs. I got stuck on some progressions and since then I'm grinding hard to overcome the difficulties that arose.

The problems are the last steps of HPB/PE2, RC/PE2 and FL/PE2.

I could manage the pre-last steps, but the last are killing me.

For example, I can perform the first set of 15 pushups perfectly, do the included mobility but when I came (cca 1month ago) to the 2nd set of 15, i could barelly squeeze out 10.

The "no-break-in-between-sets" is kinda hard for me, since upper body strenght is my weak spot.

Roughly 1 month ago I decided that only the GB program wouldn't help me advance so I started adding additional exercises (bench press, weighted rows, etc.)

In this month the performance on the mentioned exercises improved. The reasoning behind it is quite simple - my maximal strenght was just to low and so the number of pushups and little rest was just too much. My plan is on raising my maximal strenght in the correspondent movement-pathways and thus enabling myself on completing everything as set with no rest.

I'll make the next form check video when I will be ready. 

Form check please!

Hi Jan,

You're improving quite a bit so nice work. Here are my tips:

Keep working to protract more strongly at the top of your push-ups. Also, keep more PPT by engaging your glutes and core more strongly. You want to close the gap between your hips and the floor at the bottom of the push-up. 

For the ground rows, move your shoulders directly under the ring straps so there is a vertical line from the straps all the way to your shoulders. 

Thanks for the reply Everett!

Ye, that protraction is still an enigma for me. If I want to protract more  I have to go into thoracic flexion and somewhat if I do that I lose my PPT. Will try.

For the rows.. hmm.. I was watching the play-along training video and Orench and the other guy were a bit backwards as I am. But ok, I will re-film with my shoulders directly beneath the rings.