Master the Full Back Bend, and Arch Body Hold LIVE today

[Kit_L]

Hello all,

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/mfbb

Now available on the Stretch Therapy website as part of the Stretch Therapy Mastery Course.

As well, please find the PDF to take with you for easy reference:

Master the Full Back Bend (and Arch Body Hold) PDF

A note: for most people, and for health, this is the most important of the Mastery series. It covers HFs, quads, extension in the lower, middle, and upper back, and flexion in the shoulder joints. All together? Full back bend.

And then, as the last exercise in the Program, there is one of the best examples of how to teach I have ever seen: Olivia takes Craig ("MH") through ALL the necessary cues for performance of this fundamental strength exercise.

[Kit_L]

I should add that Miss O (star teacher, editor and proofreader) is en route to Vancouver as I write here. I mention this because if there are any typos in the PDF, they will be corrected later, and a later version uploaded to the original post here.

[Geotrismegistos]

A note: for most people, and for health, this is the most important of the Mastery series. It covers HFs, quads, extension in the lower, middle, and upper back, and flexion in the shoulder joints. All together? Full back bend.

Yes yes YES! So happy to see this program out. Thanks! Made my day

[Duff]

Just got it. This is a must one for me.

One question about the ABH. Is it normal to feel completely crushed after 4x60? I couldn't even do one single leg bridge curl after.

And if anyone else is getting "Permission denied", try again, it works the second time.

[Kit_L]

Duff wrote:

And if anyone else is getting "Permission denied", try again, it works the second time.

Do you mean from Vimeo? Thanks for letting me know. And 4 x 60 ABH, will crush you, until you are strong enough. Please check out Olivia's instruction on the ABH (last in the new MFBB program); I guarantee you there's something there for you.

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[Tris]

Sooo excited for this!

I recently started incorporating camel pose into my morning limber routine and often feel a very satisfying "click" deep in my sternum. Obviously things are mobilising that have not moved in a looong time. My thorax is starting to bend, and already the fascia over my abdominal wall feels so much looser. Looking forward to exploring the bend properly!

If you get "Permission Denied" or any error from Vimeo, just reload and try again. In my experience a refresh fixes 90% of Vimeo errors.

4 x 60s ABH is pretty insane if you are at full ROM (hands above feet, quads off the ground). For people working on it via GB Foundation 1, check out the form video with Orench and Kyra, the bend is much less than the course video and much easier to hold for time. Although it's probably more beneficial to focus on ROM rather than time.

[alpardal]

Awesome series, thank you very much Kit et al!

[Tris]

By far the best ABH instructional I have ever seen.

The way it draws the effort away from lumbar and into the butt and thorax is incredible - it feels like a totally new exercise.

[Joakim Anderson]

Great stuff! Sitting and watching it now.

[Sascha Faltinger]

Hi Kit, just wanna say thanks for sharing your knowledge. So useful information in your master programs. Thank you so much.

[Kit_L]

Tris and Sascha, thank you SO MUCH for these kind words. As you know, we take a different approach to many coaches and assume that people are really smart and give as much detailed info. as we can. Our approach to learning is 100% open and we try to make all our stuff available at a price that means everyone can use it, and we make enough to keep the projects ticking along. Cheers, KL

[rsassoon]

I think I will just repeat what has been said about all the series, but anyway, the material is outstanding! I just need to focus on somethings first, to not get distracted with so many exercises. I think that now with the back bend and ABH program I found my focus, to really work on my hip flexors and shoulder flexion, which are my main problems after I solved my hips internal rotation with the seated figure 4 from the squat series.

The video for ABH is just great! It's better than what I had hoped for

I was just wondering if the activation drills for ABH can be done every day. I'm performing 5 reps for 5 breaths, for both lower body and upper body, and I'm really sweating. I want to focus on that on the days where I don't train the full ABH, which does not have enough ROM yet and neither endurance. I hope that all combined will improve both ROM and endurance over time.

In another matter, will the new edition of Stretching & Flexibility be available to buy at the workshop in Piacenza? I'm so looking forward to this workshop! Anybody else here going?

[Geoff]

I think I will just repeat what has been said about all the series, but anyway, the material is outstanding! I just need to focus on somethings first, to not get distracted with so many exercises. I think that now with the back bend and ABH program I found my focus, to really work on my hip flexors and shoulder flexion, which are my main problems after I solved my hips internal rotation with the seated figure 4 from the squat series.

I have the same problem! So many exercises and so many problems to focus on! Right now I have a Monday/Wednesday/Friday stretch session with mostly stretches from Master the full squat and variations of quad and hip flexor stretches in the full back bend program and a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday session with stretches from the shoulder program. Since I am really starting to see and feel the results I am a bit reluctant in changing the programs, however I feel that I might benefit more by starting back bending right now. I will try most of the stretches in the program tomorrow, but I already felt some benefit through exercise E6a the overhead frog sit stretch. By moving my head (neck actually) in different orientations in this position, I managed to release a lot of tension in the area between the shoulder blades and the neck that has been plaguing me for months if not years. Now I release the area every morning and evening, and I have thus have found reasons to suspect that my posture during the daily commute by train has something (a lot?) to do with the reoccurence of this tension, so in the train I will be paying attention to how I sit, how long I sit, what kind of movements I am making, how I am reading, etc. Postural correction is almost going to be fun!

In another matter, will the new edition of Stretching & Flexibility be available to buy at the workshop in Piacenza? I'm so looking forward to this workshop! Anybody else here going?

There is a thread on another forum in which several people have already said that they are headed to the Piacenza workshop. I will be going there as well!

[rsassoon]

Ah, thanks for the link! I missed that one.

Yeah, I think the back bend program will be most beneficial for me for shoulders and hips. I will also do some limbering and tailor pose now and then for the pancake, but that is not my main goal now. Ah, another thing that already helped a lot my shoulders was hanging from a bar for about 4-5 min 3 times a week.

[SwissDanny]

I was just re-reading Dan John's "Intervention" book... to summarize a great read; where are you at? (point A), where do you want to go? (point , and why? (because your life depends on it, you earn your money with it, you want to stay healthy, have a specific goal etc), and keep it fun by mixing up stuff you are good (make you feel good) at with weaknesses (not much fun, but virtuous).

Currently I have chosen to improve my overhead loaded squats and pistols as point B... the both are useful expression (in the context of the exercise I do) of the ankle, hip and shoulder flexibility I would like to improve. I have found stretches for all three areas that I enjoy doing and try to do 3-4 or so of these current "go to" stretches, I also add in one, maybe two, challenging stretches to work on in a given session, currently this is the single leg dog and hip flexor stretches (because I know looser hip and hamstring would be a good thing) and maybe one new stretch, lately this was t-spine extension and I might integrate this into the regulars and drop another one...

[Keilani Gutierrez]

Lats, pec and trapz stretches for upper body mixed in with strengthening rotator cuff on upper body days.

hip flexors, calves and piriformis stretches with strengthening compression on lower body days.

thats the plan i've been following, so far, after my workouts are done. the active stall bar lat stretch has been my favorite to limber for handstands and dislocates im pretty tight back there so i can tell an immediate difference with warming up with it.

make your program cater to your strength program, by following planes. hip flexor stretches are super important for me to not feel tight after lower body days, especially after working compression.

edit: i mean, quad AND hip flexor stretches. haha

[Salivanth]

I've just bought Master The Backbend for the ABH video alone, but I also want it to help with Coach Sommer's Front Lever mobility. Given that I'm sure several people on this forum are familiar with it's content, which stretches from this course would be best for me to achieve good ROM in FL/PE3's iM? I can only get to a flat spine in the table / reverse plank. I can hold that point, but I can't get any further. I'd love to try and get full ROM in this movement in the next couple of months so I can move on when my straddled hollow hold reaches a mastery level.

[oliviaa]

Hi Salivanth

What is FL/PE3's iM specifically? We can't access the foundation series ...

Cheers

Olivia

[Rik]

It's a table rock. A table is reverse plank with the knees at 90 degrees. You then rock further into the stretch.

[Salivanth]

Pretty much what Phi said, except you don't get into the plank and then try and go further; it's a dynamic movement that goes beyond the plank's level of spinal elevation.

[Keilani Gutierrez]

it's a bent leg reverse plank.

Sali, essentially, doing the table with "tucking the tail" will help you here.

also, the floor quad stretch and the quad/hip flexor variations that are excellent. I do table rocks in my warm up for my Foundation and Handstand workouts helps warm up my hips and get my glutes nice and awake

[oliviaa]

Agree with Keilani. Focus on activating the glutes to get the hips up, rather than extending the lumbar spine. Tuck the tail at the bottom of the movement, press hips up part way, then re-tuck before moving the hips as high as you can. Also, drive the heels into the floor to cue the glutes, rather than thinking about lifting the hips.

[Ulman]

Agree with Keilani. Focus on activating the glutes to get the hips up, rather than extending the lumbar spine. Tuck the tail at the bottom of the movement, press hips up part way, then re-tuck before moving the hips as high as you can. Also, drive the heels into the floor to cue the glutes, rather than thinking about lifting the hips.

What about the FL/PE2 (arch body rock)? Should we also use the glutes and not focus on the lower back?

I struggle alot with the ABR and I'm yet to find a cue that helps me get past 20 good reps.

[Kit_L]

@ Ulman:

Should we also use the glutes and not focus on the lower back?

Yes, for sure. And you really need to make sure that you are strong enough to hold the shape without any flexion/extension happening—in my experience, this is the major problem with the AB rock: if you are not strong enough to hold the shape with zero movement, then the shape flattens, then extends, repeatedly and this is what causes the cramping in the lower back. Get someone to watch you, like a hawk!

[bwsc]

The link is broken