pHS2 tip toe press

does this form look ok? 

thanks!

Hi JIn, you can continue to walk until your upper rounded back it is just over the shoulders.

23 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

Hi JIn, you can continue to walk until your upper rounded back it is just over the shoulders.

Given my current ability with HS, if I keep walking further, my arms will probably start to lean and the shoulder angle will be closed. Even if i manage to push my upper back vertical, but i don't think it's desirable to do that with a closed shoulder angle and leaning arms. Is there any tip to avoid this, or does it just take practice?

You need to actively push the shoulder in line, this is the goal of the exercise. counter balance the tendency of lean.

Is any of these reps any better? Or am I on the right track? I tried to push my hands down hard at the end of each rep. Not sure if that helped with the shoulder/upper back alignment. Didn't make enough time to practice this PE since April, bc of moving, and also bc I suck at anything HS related. So am unconsciously avoiding it I guess. Not good >_<

Hey Jin,

You're headed in the right direction. Be careful not to let to shoulders rock back towards the feet as you press up. Work on keeping your shoulders on top of your hands throughout the set. Also work on curling your back more. Your back is relatively flat causing you to "planche" into your half press position. Try curling your spine similar to the movement on a Jefferson-curl. Like @Alessandro Mainente said, get the rounded part of your back directly over the shoulders. You are almost there, but you it still needs a bit more.

8 hours ago, Jeffrey Bittner said:

Hey Jin,

You're headed in the right direction. Be careful not to let to shoulders rock back towards the feet as you press up. Work on keeping your shoulders on top of your hands throughout the set. Also work on curling your back more. Your back is relatively flat causing you to "planche" into your half press position. Try curling your spine similar to the movement on a Jefferson-curl. Like @Alessandro Mainente said, get the rounded part of your back directly over the shoulders. You are almost there, but you it still needs a bit more.

Thanks Jeff. Did not pay attention to the rounded back part when Alessandro mentioned it. Thanks for pointing it out and the explanation!

Hi @Jin Liu,

I would also like to add to always maximize your shrug when you reach your pike. Make sure you elevate your traps as much as you can.

Question: the left picture below shows the max compression I can get in a tip toe press, the right pic shows the degree to which I can fold in a bench pike hang. So I have the flexibility to get my feet close real to hands, and stack a straight upper back on top the shoulders with vertical arms. But once I shift some body weight to my hands, the position on the right becomes unreacheable. From a purely mechanical point of view it doesn't make sense. What's the disconnect here? Is it active vs passive flexibility? Lack of trap strength? I know I almost have no traps..

@Alessandro Mainente

I know a guy, an ex-gymnast, who can still do a press to HS just fine but is not as flexible as me in the hanging pike. Isn't that also weird?

@Jin Liu, Alessandro will give you a perfect explanation for sure. I noticed personally, that when I improved my passive pike even more (I was like you a few months ago, now I can put my chest on the thighs and face on the shins) I immediately was able to walk much closer to the hands in the left picture…. I too am very curious to hear what Alessandro has to say. 

9 hours ago, Suzanna McGee said:

@Jin Liu, Alessandro will give you a perfect explanation for sure. I noticed personally, that when I improved my passive pike even more (I was like you a few months ago, now I can put my chest on the thighs and face on the shins) I immediately was able to walk much closer to the hands in the left picture…. I too am very curious to hear what Alessandro has to say. 

Nice point, walking with feet near the hands it is active flexibility. An important aspect of that it is that the range of motion on pike compression that you can show the active flexibility it is about 25-30% less of you total amount of pike passive mobility. this means that the more you increase the passive range of motion the more your active flexibility range of motion will improve.

Any better? Thank you!

I think this looks pretty good? I'm going to advance to the next PE now..

Nice work Jin,