Straddle L press HS/ L-sit press HS

Hey guys,

I have been implementing negatives down to straddle L on the floor after every straddle press HS as suggested by coach to achieve a straddle L press HS but strength does not seem to be improving. The same goes for L-sit press to HS (both are straight arms of course). Does anyone know why this could be or additional factors that could be limiting progress?

Justin

Maybe trying to go down as slow as possible, controling every single part of the movement will help.

try super slow negatives(like 30 seconds) or partial reps working the areas you are weakest

you can also do the negative portion with ankle weights

but most importantly check your technique. do you keep proper hip compression throughout the press? do you lean the shoulders forward too far?

Thanks for the replies guys. Yuri, my negatives are controlled but they are not even close to 30 second negatives. I'll be sure to keep that figure in mind while doing them from now on. My shoulders do not come forward much at all. My flexibility is pretty good. Pancakes are very easy now I just think the weak link here is active flexibility and the ability to stay in a tight compression while going throughout the movement. Another question comes to mind while I'm writing this. During a training session, how many of these presses and negatives should be done? I usually do five straddle press HS along with the negatives with around a minutes in between each since the negatives are very taxing. This is done twice a week. Does this sound like a good approach or does there need to be more volume? Thanks again for the help!

Justin

More volume. Something along the lines of at least 7 or 8 to maybe 10-15.

Seriously if you can do a 30s negative, you can probably do the concentric.

Hey guys,

I came up with a routine and wanted to get some feedback on it.

For straddle L press to handstand:

-stalder rolls to stand x 5

rest 60 sec

-straddle press to HS x 5

rest 60 sec

-stalder roll to straddle L x 5

rest for 3-5 minutes and repeat 3 times.

For L-sit press HS:

-L-sit press to stand on elevated surface (5 sets of 3)

-Any comments or criticisms are welcomed. I didn't include the negatives cause they just were not working for a long time so I thought I would try a different route. Also, I didn't really know many exercises for the L-sit press HS. If anyone has had a method work for them feel free to comment. God bless

Justin

Hi Justin

I'm trying to get the straddle L to HS as well and I seem to be similar to you - have no problem with the straddle press from stand or the negative back to straddle L. I also think it's the strength or training needed to hold the compression when lifting from the L-sit that I lack.

I've been doing as slow, controlled a negative as possible (I doubt it's 30s but have never timed it) but I am stopping the negative when I get to the lowest point from which I am capable of 'reversing the negative' and lifting back up to handstand (without use of the floor, obviously). For me at the moment, this is just before my feet pass my arms. My hips are still high but the angle of my lower back has changed. At that point I am stopping lowering towards the floor and lifting back up to HS. I am using good technique - no point doing this if not - and am fully compressed at this point. I find the action of holding the compression and reversing the movement when my muscles are already engaged and working against gravity is really taxing on my core (I can feel it on the first one). I'm sure that learning how to lift back mid move like this must be helping the areas required for the full press. My theory is that if I keep doing this I'll be able to go further and further towards the straddle L before stopping to lift back up again and I'll eventually achieve the move. It's certainly doing my technique, balance and strength no harm in any case. I'm also doing the stalder rolls you mentioned.

The principle involved is often used but you didn't mention this specific exercise in your post so I wondered if you'd thought of trying this.

What I will point out is that I am female, with excellent hamstring flexibility, decent pancake stretch and hips that do not turn out well. So how this is applied might differ for others.

Jewels