Pancake Work

[Phil5011993]

 

Hi

I have been playing around with the standing pancake variation, jefferson curl with wide legs and stall bar pancake hang. Any tips would be appreciated.

 

 

[Kit_L]

Try not to mix these up: what you demo in the first 15" is a combination of the Jefferson curl and weighted standing pancake ("Wide leg Elephant Walk, or WLEW). By this I mean that your back is rounded (so there's a strengthening effect there, all good; that's what the J. curl is used for) but that completely contradicts the requirements of the WLEW. 

Checking your form in the start position of the standing pancake (24"), your back is not yet straight. Not a criticism, this is extremely common with strong people. The key directive in the latter exercise is 1) stick the butt out (so the lumbar spine must be extended, not flexed, as yours is, and hyperextended is better) and to bend the knees as much as is needed to keep that shape (yours are near straight) and 2) only go down as deep as that shape can be maintained. At present, your glute and hamstring strength, with its attendant restrictions on the movement of the pelvis, is stopping you from getting in the starting position of the exercise.

The key directive here is to learn to feel how to stick the butt out (or how to anteriorly tilt the pelvis on the legs). This is best done with no load on the glutes and hamstrings, in the standing position—just carefully arch the lower back backwards, and feel how to do this. Do the same thing with the WLEW, but with the knees bent 90°, like they are in the stall bar pancake hang. 

Only when the pelvis is in the right position do you try to straighten the legs, one at a time—but as you try to do that, the pelvis position must not be sacrificed. When you can do that, you will feel muscles under the glute that, most likely, have never been stretched before. Please try and report back.

[Phil5011993]

I tried out what you said. I still feel a stretch and it is definitely different. I am trying to flex my back, I can only just about get it straight. I will stick with these and see how I get on. Thanks @Kit_L

[Nathan]

On 7/25/2018 at 10:27 AM, Kit_L said:

2) only go down as deep as that shape can be maintained.

This is the part that you're missing, Phil. You want to get the torso low, and that's what's causing the bend in the back. Create the lumbar extension, and then only bend as far forward as you can while maintaining it. Forget about how close to horizontal the torso is for now and focus on keeping that extension.

[Phil5011993]

Got it now. I will try take 3 at some point.

[Kit_L]

10 hours ago, Phil5011993 said:

I am trying to flex my back, I can only just about get it straight.

This is key. I have an idea—have a look at this:

Watch this, but instead of trying to do it as shown, use it to feel exactly what muscles you need to use to activate erector spinae to extend the lumbar spine; you will need to activate the same muscles in the exercise we are talking about. These muscles extend the pelvis and the lumbar spine WRT the thoracic spine—and that's what you need for the exercises above.

For most people wanting to master the ABH, what I am suggesting for you is 100% the wrong way to do it—but as with all exercises, it can be used any way you want, for particular purposes. Try this and report back.

[Phil5011993]

I tried to flex my lumbar spine without trying to engage my glutes and I could feel the muscles in my spine. My glutes were still engaged, I struggle to turn them complete off, but I still had a sensation in my lower back either side of the spine. I tried to replicate this in the wide leg elephant walk, I can feel the spine muscles when I am trying to flex. I did start to lose that sensation as I lowered and my back started to flatten. This feels like something that I definitely need to work on. Reconnect my spine and hips with my brain.

[Nathan]

Excellent. You can see in the WLEW stance that you have movement at the pelvis, and then it stops and all further movement is happening in the back. That point at which it stops is the edge of the range you need to work within for now. (Of course I say that within the context of this conversation. It's not wrong to get movement from the back, but it's not what you're trying to accomplish here.) By not moving past that point, your body can actually start to learn how to get the movement from the pelvis.

[Nathan]

6 hours ago, Joe_S said:

HOW DO I DELETE THIS?

I don't think members can delete posts, but no worries! You're not the only person who might ask that, even if the answer is in Kit's comment, so your post might still help someone eventually. The answer is:

On 7/25/2018 at 10:27 AM, Kit_L said:

("Wide leg Elephant Walk, or WLEW)

 

[Kit_L]

Joe, all done, and thanks @Nathan. Day 1 of Part A of teacher training today, in London. Isn't the web amazing?