Geoff, I suppose you could, but keeping your chin in and feet close to glutes are probably the best things to be mindful of. After practicing the deck squat I could go from doing none to 10 easily in a matter of days.
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Deck Squats In F1
Started by gohei_, February 2, 2013 · 96 Replies · 4,961 Views
I really have trouble with this one also.
The depressing thing is - my wife (age 40) and kids (age 12) can do this move with absolutely NO momentum!
They just sit up and stand up - simple for them!
kidplug said:I really have trouble with this one also.
The depressing thing is - my wife (age 40) and kids (age 12) can do this move with absolutely NO momentum!
They just sit up and stand up - simple for them!
I wish I could do it that efficiently. Maybe in a few weeks..
kidplug said:I really have trouble with this one also.
The depressing thing is - my wife (age 40) and kids (age 12) can do this move with absolutely NO momentum!
They just sit up and stand up - simple for them!
LOL... I find this rather encouraging 
I am expending A LOT of energy on these at the moment... 
The elevated mat approach is helping me much more than holding the weight in front of me ever did. I started out with my mat folded up to 3x thickness and for today's session (end of week 2) I bumped it down to 2x thickness and was able to successfully complete the sets. Baby steps.
- Chris
as additional aid to what your describing, filming helps a lot in the sense of what not to exagerate, what to focus on and what to stop altogether.
+1 for no shoes! Thanks for that tip (should have been obvious to me...!)
Also for me, trying to keep as tight a tuck as possible during the forward roll is key (but is also hard).
Managed to reduce the height of the mat I am using this week. Couldn't get it from that height a week ago. I think it's a combination of learning the technique, increased mobility from various iM exercises and getting stronger in the tuck-ups.
I have also been spending a few mins in my warm-up doing some ankle mobility work, and working on a knees together 'paleo seat'.
Nice to see some improvement, and should be on the floor in a couple more weeks.
Good progress George, well done
I have a feeling that this exercise is just tougher for those of us who don't have ideal gymnast bodily frames. I have long legs in proportion to my body, and I have a very difficult time standing up from the roll. I have no problem though with single leg squats - I can do 2 sets of 5 repetitions. I am also going to keep working these though, particularly focusing on rolling back to a squat before I try to stand up. I just think this exercise has to be easier for someone with shorter legs in relation to their frame.
I have fairly long legs (former rower) and I'm able to do deck squats relatively easily, so I doubt it has anything to do with leg length. Perhaps you should take a video and post it here so that we could see more precisely what the exact case is. My guess is, most people who can't stand up a deck squat either have insufficient tuck (ball) compression, and/or insufficient rounding (hollowing) of the back for the roll. If you have both of those, you should be able to do the movement fairly easily
I don't think so...I that people have problem with this movement because of their ankle mobility
I find this move really hard but I guess it's just simply practice. I don't really feel my legs working because I can't do the movement correctly, which is very frustrating. I can do it maybe 2/10 times properly :S. I'll film myself tomorrow and try to analyze it and see where I am going wrong.
Yes, filming is a great idea.
Maybe post the video here and/or inbox me? I was having trouble at first, but now it's simple.
pashamur said:I have fairly long legs (former rower) and I'm able to do deck squats relatively easily, so I doubt it has anything to do with leg length. Perhaps you should take a video and post it here so that we could see more precisely what the exact case is. My guess is, most people who can't stand up a deck squat either have insufficient tuck (ball) compression, and/or insufficient rounding (hollowing) of the back for the roll. If you have both of those, you should be able to do the movement fairly easily
Ok, I believe you . I am going to work on my tuck and rounding of my back. Since I work out four days/week I plan on working my weak areas on the weekends. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get better at a tuck compression. Thank you!!
Today I just figured out how to do it and I did all my sets while only failing a few reps. A massive improvement! I am really excited. For anyone who is still struggling, I have some tips that worked for me.
1. Practice doing the roll movement slowly and keep your legs TUCKED. Once you can do it slowly, do it faster and faster until you feel comfortable that you can do it at a reasonable speed. Do not flail your legs out at the last minute. This exercise is meant to help you with that. It just takes a bit of practice. For me, it took about 2 days to learn this correctly.
EDIT: Make sure that when you're finished the roll, your legs are still close to your butt. If you do it and your legs are too far away (they hit the ground too soon), go back and do it slower.
2. Your arms are very important. Do not just lean them forward. Just before your legs hit the floor, throw your arms forward. They should be like rockets.This should give you the extra momentum to get into the squatting position and from there it is simple. Once you get better at the technique, you'll rely less on your arms and more on the smooth roll for the momentum. For now, just do that since it's better than not being able to do the exercise.
Good luck everyone and don't give up. You will get it.
Well done Julian, and thanks for the cues.
I am still struggling a little bit with this one
My pleasure. This topic helped me a lot with learning the move. And yes, there is no shame not being able to do the move . It took me about 8 hours total time to learn how to get up consistently. It was not easy!
Julian Wilson said:My pleasure. This topic helped me a lot with learning the move. And yes, there is no shame not being able to do the move
Not 8 hours in a row I hope?! If so, you're a monster... far beyond human...
FredInChina said:Well done Julian, and thanks for the cues.
I am still struggling a little bit with this one
Fred, here is what works for me. After reading that somebody used some panel mats to get higher from the floor, I put some old book shelfs (40 cm X 90 cm X 1.75 cm) on the floor with a yoga mat on top. I started with a height of 5.25 cm (3 shelfs on top of each other; 6 in total). Rolling back from standing with my heel just in front of the platform and then back, I had enough extra room to keep moving forward to over my feet. I first practiced just rolling back and forth to get the feel of getting on my feet. Being comfortable with doing that, I had no problem with deck squats using the 5.25 cm extra height. Next, I removed first 2 shelfs and then after some more practice the next 2 shelfs to get down to 1.75 cm of extra space to roll on my feet. I am pretty confident that within a couple of weeks I will not need that 1.75 cm of extra height anymore.
I know this has been said before but: remember to squat before you stand up. Roll > squat > stand up. It will really help if you feel the transition through the squatting position. If you only think in terms of rolling > standing up you will most likely straighten your body too soon and step/fall backwards. Better to practice rolling into a squat and back until you land the squat and feel the balance every time. After that it's just a matter of standing up from the squatting position and decreasing the time spent in the squat until it's one continuous movement.
This requires a decent squat ('paleo chair') of course and if you can't sit in the paleo chair you should make it one of your priorities.
Here's how I usually complete them. I know my paleo squat isn't very good clearly but I still manage to get up. Any tips/critique?
Sorry about the orientation.
Neck stretch!
My deck squat isn't great - limited by bad anthropometrics and meaty hamstrings making it difficult to bring my foot to my glutes, it's a challenging movement, but flicking my heels back sharply overcomes this making it easier. It smooths my roll and brings my feet nice and close to my glutes. Though I still only get it 4/5 times.
I would recommend that when you squat down you think about sitting down in between your legs more - that way you'll go downwards rather than backwards which might make rolling back easier. I would also recommend pulling your feet in quicker - kicking your butt. It makes it easier to roll in to the squat. A nice deep squat. Your feet are more than a foot away from your body, making the transition not very smooth at all.
As your squat doesn't look great (a lot of Posterior pelvic tilt and lumbar flexion at the bottom)
I'm a 9 - 12 week minicycle (i.e. starting from week 9 going for 4 weeks) on all the SLS PE for the knee prehab. You should definitely run a mini cycle (or more) if you can't do it. I don't find skiiers that difficult but right now I'm staling because I'm waiting until I'm more solid on twisting squats. Then I can probably get twisting squats down by the end of the 4 weeks on PE2
Yes, that's the video. I love the squat sequence.
Accompanying notes: http://idoportal.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/floreio-workout-number-1.html
Julian Wilson said:Here's how I usually complete them. I know my paleo squat isn't very good clearly but I still manage to get up. Any tips/critique?
Sorry about the orientation.
I thought you were supposed to stay tucked or at least very tightly compressed while rolling. The deck squat still is a hit and miss exercise for me, but sometimes (I think this is when I manage to keep myself tucked or compressed very tightly) I can feel the roll going more smoothly, my feet end up on the ground a bit closer to my 'self' than I would expect and my weight transfers smoothly on top of my feet.