Pancake encouragement

Hello community,

Today marks the end of my first week following the Foundation One programming. I have been a calisthenics enthusiast for many years. The past week was humbling, especially in the flexibility and mobility areas. I completed the middle and front split videos, and struggled through every minute. Improving my hip flexibility is a major fitness goal. I know, as a beginner, I cannot compare my abilities to the models in the videos. It will take time and hard work to improve.

My pancakes sucks. My legs are narrow, and I can barely fold my chest forward. 

I know we all progress differently. I will commit the time and work toward improving. And after a single week I am keeping my expectations realistic. 

Damn, the pancake is tough! Who else struggled with their pancake in the beginning?

HI James, personally i think that everyone struggles with something at the beginning. there are many restrictions on the hips that really can take a lot of a lot of time! patience is the key to success.

Alessandro,

Thanks for making time to reply.

You mentioned restrictions in the hips. Your comment got me thinking, in the weighted mobility video, the coach mentions elevating your hips with a yoga block while in the straddle position. I noticed my range of motion is improved when I elevate my hips. In your opinion, is it advisable to work within that elevated range to improve my straddle and pancake hip mobility, or struggle as I do sitting on the floor? My gut instinct is to use the yoga block and work my way to the ground. I'm curious about what a more experienced trainer thinks. 

9 hours ago, James Stewart 363369 said:

Alessandro,

Thanks for making time to reply.

You mentioned restrictions in the hips. Your comment got me thinking, in the weighted mobility video, the coach mentions elevating your hips with a yoga block while in the straddle position. I noticed my range of motion is improved when I elevate my hips. In your opinion, is it advisable to work within that elevated range to improve my straddle and pancake hip mobility, or struggle as I do sitting on the floor? My gut instinct is to use the yoga block and work my way to the ground. I'm curious about what a more experienced trainer thinks. 

Absolutely follows Coach's suggestion! this is the way to work!

Our GST coach used to have us use the block until we were certain we could maintain a flat back (lower back can curve when trying to get pancake mobility)...once we were good at keeping our back flat, we could come down to the floor and work on more range. It did seem to help make progress. We also used this technique with the block for butterfly stretch and other sitting exercise to get better at keeping a flat back, then more mobility

11 hours ago, Melissa Niemi said:

Our GST coach used to have us use the block until we were certain we could maintain a flat back (lower back can curve when trying to get pancake mobility)...once we were good at keeping our back flat, we could come down to the floor and work on more range. It did seem to help make progress. We also used this technique with the block for butterfly stretch and other sitting exercise to get better at keeping a flat back, then more mobility

this makes sense...