three questions actually

1) this is a gymnastics terminology question. The term 'straight' back gets used a lot in the book and I don't think it is really clarified. Does it refer to a 'neutral' spine where the lumbar spine is slightly arched or does it refer to a 'hollow' position where the lumbar spine is literally straightened (lower back is pressed into the floor). And so which one of these should be used for the L sit, front lever, back lever and planche which are all called 'straight body' exercises?

2) What is the best way to execute deck squats? In the book it says that you can hold the weight in front of you with either straight arms or bent arms or use a weight vest. The thing is I can't really get this movement to work very comfortably unless I use the weight in front as a counter weight. I think this is partially because I am not 'built' for squatting, in the sense that I have long legs in proportion to my torso so I need to use more forward lean and ankle flexibility. When I hold the weight in front with straight arms for the whole squat I can get a really smooth rolling motion, but I can't really get it to work with just bodyweight.

3) I have read a few posts that have suggested using some statics as part of the warm up. How do you tell which statics you should put in the warm up and which you should put at the end? So for example out of

hollow, arch, L sit, straddle sit, back bridge, frog stand, german hang, ring support, bent arm support, wall handstand, wall sit, air squat

which ones should I use as part of warm up (say 30s holds) and which should I put at the end with stretches? And how are you supposed to combine statics with a dynamic warm up?

Hey Toasty,

One option is to look at your main workout, then include higher rep/less intense static holds from that family.

So squat holds would work well before SLS and weighted deck squats; L-sits would work well before HLL and HeS RLL; ring supports, inverted hangs and German hangs would work before Ring Circuits, etc.

Another more time- and energy-intensive option would be to write yourself a warm-up every 3 weeks that targets areas in which you want to improve, and that includes 1-2 statics you want to improve.

Then 3 weeks cycle to another warm-up that includes a different 1-2 statics. For example, this would be a way to target your squat flexibility with some consistent practice.

My experience with the gymnastic family of movements is that there's so much you can work on. You can really spin your wheels trying to improve all of them at once.

best,

jason

thanks for the help