What do I mean by hollow body position?

Hollow rocks and hollow holds: There’s a good chance you have been doing them wrong, and because of it, there’s an even better chance they’re not translating to make your other gymnastics skills—like ring rows, pull-ups, push-ups, handstands, and muscle-ups—more efficient.

What do I mean by hollow body position?

It’s characterized by a shortening of the anterior part of the torso (abs are contracted) and a posterior pelvic tilt (to achieve the posterior pelvic tilt, think about squeezing your butt cheeks together). Ultimately, doing this puts your body in a hollow, or banana-shaped, position—hence the name.

If you’re in a hollow hold position on the floor, it means just your bum and lower back only are touching the floor. Your shoulder blades and extended legs shouldn’t be touching the floor, your heels should hover just a couple inches off the ground, and your arms should be extended straight overhead squeezing your ears.

This position should look the same during most gymnastics movements we do at the gym, be it a pull-up, a ring row, or a handstand hold.

In the picture below, you can see the feet, hips, vertebrae, shoulders, and hands are all stacked on top of each other in a perfect hollow body position in a handstand.

A Word On the Common Mistakes of the Hollow Hold

Often, when I see people performing hollow rocks and hollow holds, none of the above standards are met. Sometimes feet are way too high in the air, leaving the person in an almost L-shaped position. Other times, lower backs peel off the ground, and other times still shoulder blades remain on the ground.

And the more tired you become, the more the position will break down…

On the pull-up bar and in a handstand hold, this inability to keep a strong hollow body position usually translates to a massive spinal extension, which we want to avoid.

In short, if you can’t hold a stable hollow body position on the floor for a good 45 seconds to a minute, all gymnastics movements will become a little more dangerous in terms of developing injures, as well as a little less efficient.

Below are five ways to start building the hollow body position to gain the necessary core strength and stability to move to more advanced gymnastics skills.

1. Deadbug Holds

The key here is to make sure your lower back stays on the ground. The larger the angle between your shins and quads, and between your quads and your torso, the harder it will be. Start with a 90 degree angle. If that’s not challenging, then push your legs away from your body to lengthen your angles.

• Test: Can you hold a perfect deadbug hold for 3 minutes?

2. Wall Deadbugs

The idea on these is to press your hands into the wall to build more tension in your body. Focus on pushing as hard as you can so your core is on fire. No matter how fit you are, if you’re working on building maximum tension in your body on these, they will be difficult.

• Log 2-3 minutes (break up as needed).

3. Banded Deadbugs

Similar to the wall deadbugs, the band will add extra tension and will force you to work a little harder to maintain the perfect position.

• Log 2-3 minutes (break up as needed).

4. Straight-Legged Deadbug Holds

If your hamstring flexibility permits, try these. Keep your lower back and glutes to the ground and your legs extended.

• Perform 3 sets of 30 seconds to 1 minute hold per leg.

5. Tuck-Ups

Tuck-ups will get you working the hollow body position in a more dynamic fashion. Focus on doing these with control (two seconds to tuck-up and two seconds to release into the hollow body hold position).

• Log 3 sets of 8-20 reps at a slow tempo.

Master these and a hollow body hold and hollow rocks will start to feel like a breeze!

The Hollow Mash-Up

If you think your hollow body position is already pretty solid, try this hollow body mash-up test. Can you do it unbroken?

• 10 V-Sits
• 15 Tuck-Ups
• 20 Hollow Rocks
• 30 Second Hollow Hold

The post The Hollow Body: The Most Important Skill to Master appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Lately, I’ve also been using them for my core—to bulletproof those abs!

Bands are particularly useful for the core because they really force you to stay as tight as possible and help to create a whole lot of tension in your body. If you don’t create enough tension during banded core movements, the band will manhandle you out of position. Having to fight hard to keep your position through bracing will help you get the most bang for you buck to build that core.

It will also translate into you becoming more effective at bracing when you’re squatting or deadlifting, too!

Bulletproof Abs Banded Exercise 1: Planks

I always hear people say, “Planks are easy.”

Considering the men’s world record plank hold time is 10 hours long, and a Canadian woman just broke the women’s word record time this May with a time of four hours and 20 minutes, there is an argument to be made that the one minute plank holds most of us do just aren’t that hard.

You will not be saying this with a banded plank!

I like to use a squat rack to anchor the band, but you can also use heavy dumbbells. Slide your body underneath the band, place the band in the center of your back and plank away. You’ll be surprised how much tension you need to build in your body to stop that band from pushing you down to the floor.

• 3 sets of 30 seconds each hold

Bulletproof Abs Banded Exercise 2: Bent Knee Hold

Use a heavy dumbbell to anchor one end of the band to the ground. Hang from a bar and have a partner place to other end of the band over your knees. Then hold with your knee at hip height (90 degree angle). You should feel your abs working overtime to stop your knees from being pulled down to the ground by the band.

• 3 sets of 30 seconds

Bulletproof Abs Banded Exercise 3: Banded Hollow Lat Pulldowns

Place the band over the pull-up bar and put a dowel through the band. Lay flat directly underneath the bar. Grab the dowel with your hands shoulder width apart and pull yourself into a perfect follow body position with your head and back off the ground, as well as your legs (leaving just your bum on the ground).

Hold for 2 to 3 seconds. Relax, lay flat again, and then pull yourself back into the hollow body position. You’ll feel like you’re working extra hard just to pull yourself into a hollow position.

• 3 sets of 20 reps

Bulletproof Abs Banded Exercise 4: Pallof Hold

A simple one, but a great one for the often underworked obliques.

Attach at band to a post. Face the wall. Grab the band and move away from the post (the further you are away from the post, the more challenging it will be). Interlace your fingers as you’re holding the band, pull it to your sternum, and then press the band straight out until your elbows are straight.

It helps to bend your knees a bit to keep your hips square and your spine neutral. You should feel the band trying to twist your body and pull you back to the post. Use your obliques to combat this twisting and do all you can to maintain your ground.

• 3 sets of 30 seconds per side

You can also try this as a Pallof press, meaning once you’re in the holding position, simply bring the band back into your chest and then press it out again.

• 3 sets of 20 reps per side

Bulletproof Abs Banded Exercise 5: Alphabets

From the Pallof hold position, start writing the alphabet in the air. Make sure you’re keeping your hips square and maintaining your ground. This will force you to stay as tight in your core as possible.

• 3 x 26 letters in the alphabet

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Do your ribs protrude out 1-2 inches in front of the rest of your body? Do you experience any type of musculoskeletal pain on a regular basis? If you’re wondering, “what the heck is a rib flare anyway?” then this article is for you. Rib flare is one of the most common dysfunctions I see, yet so few people talk about it.

Many coaches and physical therapists discuss, at length, the importance of “proper posture.” They cite phrases like “hyperextension,” “lordosis,” “kyphosis,” “forward head posture,” “slouching,” and dozens of other buzzwords that incite concern within the client. Many of these phrases effectively mean the same thing, or they go hand-in-hand. While it is valuable to note the position of the lower back and of the neck, I’ve had much success with addressing the rib position first.

Do Your Ribs Flare?

Joint centration and alignment are important for optimal gait mechanics and efficiency of the human body as a whole. Now, an engineer or physicist could tell you (in much more depth) that the farther a load moves from its center of mass, the greater the pressure put on its structural system. Consider a building like the Leaning Tower of Pisa and how much work had to be done on the foundation of the building to keep it safe for tourists to visit.

For each inch that the head juts forward of its resting posture, the neck muscles have to support an additional 10 pounds of load. Now, if both the head and the ribs deviate from one’s center of gravity, just imagine how much work the muscles in your hips have to do to combat the imbalance. As a result of this structural change, we see tons of inefficiencies and imbalances throughout the kinetic chain.

Ideally, everything from the earlobes to the ankles should form a nice straight line. This means that your earlobes should be in line with your acromion (the pointy bone on the sides of your shoulders), the bottom of your ribcage should line up perfectly with your pelvis, and your ilium (the top of your pelvis) should be in line with your fibular head and your outer ankle bone (lateral malleolus). Any deviations from this resting posture equate to compensations galore.

What Causes Rib Flaring?

Now, I most often see this compensation in women, as they tend to have more ligament and tendon laxity, but it certainly plagues men as well. Flared ribs go hand-in-hand with a hyperextended lower back.

Underneath the ribcage, we have the diaphragm. This muscle is primarily responsible for respiration, but it also helps us to increase intra-abdominal pressure (when bracing for exercise or taking care of other bodily functions). As we inhale, the diaphragm contracts, and of course relaxes as we exhale. For clients with this forward rib posture, they are stuck in contraction of the diaphragm, meaning it is facilitated or overactive. These individuals tend to be more chest and neck-dominant breathers, taking shallow, incomplete breaths.

For people who live in a constant state of stress (whether that is emotional or physical), it is common to see that they rely mostly on the accessory muscles of the neck and chest (like the sternocleidomastoids, scalenes, pecs, and upper traps). These individuals also gravitate towards breathing through their mouths rather than through their noses.

Fix Your Rib Flare

Now that you know you (or your client) has a rib-flaring problem, the next step is to figure out an action plan. With my clients, I take a three-pronged approach:

• Address breathing
• Focus on alignment
• Strengthen the core musculature

Improving breathing mechanics, in my opinion, takes precedence over any other type of corrective or postural exercise with a client (regardless of their individual issue). The system cannot function properly if the breath, and thus, the central nervous system, is out of whack. I want to get my clients to return to the parasympathetic nervous system after a bout of intense exercise, and using diaphragmatic breathing is the best way to do that.

To maximize diaphragm engagement and oxygen uptake, it’s ideal to inhale through the nose rather than through the mouth and maintain the tongue on the roof of the mouth.

My absolute favorite drill to help my client’s heart rate come back down after a tough workout and reinforce proper breathing mechanics is called crocodile breathing. As you’ll see in the video, the client inhales through the nose, focusing on pushing the belly into the floor.

As I mentioned before, in order for the body to function optimally, we want to think about head-to-toe alignment. We want the ribs to be stacked directly over the pelvis. Initially, it is typically quite difficult for a client to understand how to properly do this. Over time, their thoracic awareness will improve with proper strengthening and breathing.

One test I usually do with my athletes is the “wall slide.” In this exercise, I’m looking to see what happens in the abdomen as they try to press their forearms against the wall. They may be able to maintain a neutral rib position while standing still, but once they’re in a more dynamic position, the wheels come off the tracks. If you notice that your client cannot maintain their braced rib position during this drill, then you know that they lack proper recruitment strategies.

The last step, once you’ve assessed your or your client’s weaknesses, is to address them with appropriate exercises. I prefer to use isometric core exercises as opposed to flexion-type movements (like sit-ups), as we are teaching the person to maintain the proper position for an extended period of time. Some of my favorite exercises for this include the dumbbell pull-over, the barbell roll-out, and the hollow hold.

For the dumbbell pull-over, you might notice that your natural inclination is to lift your ribs up as you reach back overhead, but the goal is to stay rigid in the torso. Really ensure that you get the full stretch in the lats as you lower the weight down.

Next, the hollow hold is a foundational gymnastics movement that encourages total body tension. The goal is to feel stiffness from your fingertips down to your toes. The shoulders should be off of the ground, and the inner thighs are squeezed together tightly.

The barbell roll-out is a progression of this position, in which the client has to remain in a hollow position even as he or she rolls the bar forward. It is important that they only come out as far as they can maintain the proper position. If at any point they lose that, then they should decrease the range of motion of the exercise.

These three movements allow you to “feel” the sensation of pulling the ribs down towards the hips. It is important that you do not hold your breath while doing these exercises, as that will defeat the purpose—make sure the breath remains relaxed the entire time.

Put It All Together

No lasting changes in the body will happen unless the body feels safe. This is why the breathing drills are so important—you want to get the central nervous system into a relaxed state first. In the early stages of addressing flaring ribs, you will want to do this protocol as often as possible (3-4 times per week, perhaps even twice per day). As you build strength and motor awareness, you can decrease the frequency. Remember, consistency is key to create lasting changes.

After addressing these dysfunctions, you will find that you and your clients are much more stable in other exercises (whether that’s a squat, a sprint, or an overhead press), as you will be able to better generate force from the core to the extremities. Sometimes, going back to basics and addressing static posture is the best way to overcome a nagging injury or even a strength plateau.

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The handstand covers a lot of aspects of athleticism: strength, mobility, balance, stability, spatial awareness, flexibility, and more. Being able to successfully do a handstand transfers over to other skills (press handstands, planche, handstand walking, pirouettes). It also is a neat trick lots of people would love to have in their inventory. But, more importantly, being able to do a handstand is just a lot of fun to play around with.

The process of getting a handstand is a rough and long road, and dedication is key. Those that want instant gratification at the cost of never truly mastering a skill or trait need read no further. Those that understand the importance of small details, long-term dedication, commitment, and striving for high-quality movement, however, are the individuals who can achieve a handstand by recognizing that it must be worked for. When I see a “good” handstand, I know that a person has spent hours, days, years committing time to honing in this skill. It is respectable, impressive, and transfers over to learning new skills inside and outside of fitness. So, what does it take to achieve one?

The Role of Your Wrists and Shoulders

In the handstand, your wrists are going to support your body, so you must dedicate time to mobilize and strengthen them. This will not only prevent injury but will also allow you to perform the skill for any length of time. Check out my article on wrist strength and mobility for exercises and stretches to keep your wrist health in check.

Your shoulders must have a sufficient range of motion and strength to achieve the proper lines for a handstand. For the flexibility/mobility aspect, I would suggest developing the bridge. The bridge, when done correctly, will start to open up your shoulders and thoracic spine to allow you to place your arms overhead while simultaneously stacking your body with straight arms. Many times, low back arching in a handstand is due to poor shoulder flexibility.

A good starting point for shoulder strength would be scapular push ups, for beginners, and handstand shrugs, for intermediate athletes.

For scapular push ups:

• Start in a plank position with straight arms and hips tucked under (posterior pelvic tilt).
• Let your chest drop while squeezing your shoulder blades together.
• Pull your chest in and pushing your shoulder blades apart.

For handstand shrugs:

• Walk your feet up the wall so that your chest is facing the wall.
• From this position, let your shoulders sink into your body creating more space between your shoulders and head.
• Push through your hands and driving your shoulders away from your body, closing the space between your shoulders and ears.

The Role of Your Core

Your core must be rock solid in a handstand. Think of it as trying to balance a straight, firm dowel on your hand or balancing a pool noodle on your hand. You will have a much easier time finding balance with the rigid object. The same goes for your handstand. The hollow body position is what we are working to achieve in the handstand.

I suggest developing your straight body hollow position holds on the floor so that you can easily hold a hollow body position for one minute. When performing the hollow position, be sure that your low back stays flat and your hips stay tucked (posterior pelvic tilt). You can find hollow body strength progressions here.

The Keys to Proper Positioning

Handstand balance means maintaining your center of gravity directly above and in line with the base formed by your hands. This takes a lot of time and practice to develop. I suggest starting out low to the ground to develop this understanding.

Frog stands are a great starting point. It not only develops a lot of strength but your center of gravity is lower to the ground making balance much easier.

• Starting in a gymnastics squat (squat all the way down so that your hamstrings sit on your calves with your weight in the balls of your feet and your heels are off of the ground), place your hands on the floor in front of you and your knees up against your triceps (just above the elbows).
• From this position, start to bend your arms letting your shoulders move forward until your weight (center of gravity) shifts over your hands enough so that your feet begin to leave the ground. You will now be in a bent-arm tucked handstand position.
• Practice holding this until you can easily perform a 30 to 60 second hold.

Hand Position: Your hands should be about shoulder width apart and your fingers splayed. You want to create as much surface area as possible with your hands. So, open up those fingers!

Head Position: Your head position should be as neutral as possible while still looking towards the floor. This can be challenging for many to figure out. A common cue I use is to have the athlete look towards their thumbs with their eyes. This will bring the athletes focus towards the floor without a large effect on their body lines. Head position is the last thing I correct when teaching a handstand to a beginner. When they become more comfortable being upside down, making small adjustments becomes easier.

No matter your approach to working on handstand balance, keep these things in mind:

• Proper strength and mobility prep are necessary for mastery. Don’t take the fast track to a mediocre outcome.
• Skill work takes repetition. By this, I don’t mean you have to do 100 reps or 2 hours of training in a session. This means the more often you train it, the faster you will get better at the skill. It is also preferred to do 10 minutes of skill training every day rather than 2 hours of skill training 1-2 days a week.
• The slowest and least consistent approach to a handstand (or any skill) is to just start throwing it. Understand the layers upon layers of work that the experts use to get to where they are, and take the same approach. Their mastery is based on time, repetition, and persistence with proper progressions and technique. If you take the same approach, you will have similar results.

To check out my step-by-step progressions to achieve a proper handstand click here for my Handstand Strength workout plan.

The post Develop Your Handstand: The Importance of Progression appeared first on Breaking Muscle.