SLS/PE6

I finished the level 1 leg workouts fairly quickly and proficiently. I have naturally strong legs.

For this exercise, I'm really struggling. I don't have enough strength, which is part of it. My question, though, is this: I don't have the straddle and leg flexibility to (1) spread my legs as wide as the sample video and (2) stay on the heel of my foot when I’m down. I have to get on my tiptoes due to my inflexibility.

Given those two things: no problem? Do what I can and keep progressing until proficient in strength and balance (but not turn out and heel down)?
 

If it is a problem, can you please provide what I should do? I'm taking these foundation exercises step by step. If I have to match form, then I need guidance on what I need to do to get as much straddle as the guy in the example. That ould certainly take months (and my trainer would not be pleased if I plateaued with my leg workout). 
 

(I'm secretly hoping the answer is that, yes, I should work on straddle and leg flexibility, which I REALLY want and I'm working on, but that I can get proficient in this exercise doing it my way, the best I can do given my flexibility.)

Like you said, your biggest battle with this one is flexibility. I recommend holding off on trying to do these freestanding for a while. Instead, try to do them next to some stall bars, smith machine, or squat rack to help with the balance. By doing so you can work the stretch at the bottom of each rep without worrying about falling over. Then, only use as much assistance as needed to stand back up.

That being said, it looks like you might have blown through your other progressions (especially mobility exercises) way too quickly. I highly recommend submitting form checks for each of those as well.

Got it. I will work on this with assistance.

I will happily record some of the other exercises. My instinct is that I did it proficiently, but I may be wrong. I'll record some videos and submit those.

Hi Jeffrey,

Just letting you know I posted all of the mobility in the form check section of Foundation One for feedback. Upon my own viewing, I believe I've done them appropriately, but I'll be curious to get feedback.

It is my perception/experience that the cossack squat, at least for me/my flexibility challenges, is just a big jump in difficulty from the deck squat. I'm going from doing 2-leg squats with a roll to 1-leg squats trying to balance on the ball of my foot! LOL.

Also, I haven't brought this up: I find the mobility SLS/PE6>iM to be quite exhausting. 10 total reps of this (5 on each side) is tiring! It doesn't help that I have to do this between the sets of cossack squats. The difficulty went from 3 (SLS/PE5) to 10 (SLS/PE6) with one progression.

Looks like I haven’t gotten any additional feedback on my five or so form checks. I guess that means they were done correctly?

One takeaway I have is that the Cossack squat is a big jump from a two-legged squat. My tactic, I think, will be to mimic the full squat tracj by starting with an assisted Cossack squat using a bar, similar to how SLS/PE1 looks like. Then, I'll mimic PE2 and PE3, etc. 

Hey Leigh, I apologize for the delayed response. I have gone in and responded to the videos you posted.

Based on what you showed it looks like you need to spend some more time on your earlier progressions. While your strength is not a big issue, mobility is. As you go through your courses it is important to think of each PE and its accompanying iM as a single progression. Until you've mastered the PE and iM, you're not ready to move forward. Training this way will help you to maintain balance between your strength and mobility which, in turn, will help you to avoid injury as well as road blocks similar to the one you are currently experiencing on your cossack squats. I highly recommend going back to PE1 and submitting consistent Form checks of your PE and iM throughout. Remember that you need to be able to show proper form at the end of your 5th set at Mastery volume before you are ready to move on.

While going back to the beginning may seem discouraging, it will no doubt benefit you in the long run. In fact, it will even speed up your long-term progress. After going through the previous progressions in the way that Coach Sommer intended, you will find that the next time you come to cossack squats you will be much better prepared for them in terms of both strength and mobility.

Thanks for your feedback, Jeffrey. It's been great to get this feedback.

Strength is indeed not much of an issue for my legs as I have genetically strong legs. I have been able to fly through those. That said, I am inflexible with my middle and front split routine which mostly is shown through my mobility. You've mentioned that my iM needs to be mastered. What is considered mastery? This is currently a gray area in this program. There is no "guidepost" besides form. I would argue, for example, that my SLS/PE4>iM could show mastery in form (after your feedback), but that I am nowhere close to the ROM that the person demonstrating it showed. Does that mean I have not mastered it? How am I supposed to know that?

As feedback: when recording the strength portion of an exercise into the log, it ask me to delineate how many (implied proper) reps I do each round, but for mobility, it literally asks if "I Completed All Mobility", but there are no guideposts that show what "complete" looks like. For SLS/PE4>iM, does my foot need to move forward to shoulder height? If so, that should be stated. The only note is: "1) Do not allow the knee to unlock while performing this mobility" I have not had my knee unlocked. I have gone as far as I can. To me, that has been a check. This is news to me that I am not considered "accomplished" since my ROM is not the same as theirs.

To be clear, I would LOVE to have the ROM that others do. I am eager to train and get my middle and front front split. Thanks for the feedback.

3 hours ago, Leigh Cambre said:

Thanks for your feedback, Jeffrey. It's been great to get this feedback.

Strength is indeed not much of an issue for my legs as I have genetically strong legs. I have been able to fly through those. That said, I am inflexible with my middle and front split routine which mostly is shown through my mobility. You've mentioned that my iM needs to be mastered. What is considered mastery? This is currently a gray area in this program. There is no "guidepost" besides form. I would argue, for example, that my SLS/PE4>iM could show mastery in form (after your feedback), but that I am nowhere close to the ROM that the person demonstrating it showed. Does that mean I have not mastered it? How am I supposed to know that?

As feedback: when recording the strength portion of an exercise into the log, it ask me to delineate how many (implied proper) reps I do each round, but for mobility, it literally asks if "I Completed All Mobility", but there are no guideposts that show what "complete" looks like. For SLS/PE4>iM, does my foot need to move forward to shoulder height? If so, that should be stated. The only note is: "1) Do not allow the knee to unlock while performing this mobility" I have not had my knee unlocked. I have gone as far as I can. To me, that has been a check. This is news to me that I am not considered "accomplished" since my ROM is not the same as theirs.

To be clear, I would LOVE to have the ROM that others do. I am eager to train and get my middle and front front split. Thanks for the feedback.

Hi Leigh, the forum exists especially for having feedback about tempo, trajectory, range of motion, mastery etc.