Prone jackknifes...ugh

[greenmom4]

I am on my last week of Stage 1/NROL4W. I'm pretty happy with how I'm doing except for the dreaded prone jackknifes. I feel uncoordinated and weak and...they just doesn't seem to be getting much better. Does anyone have any tricks on how to do them? Today I was supposed to do 3 sets of 15 and I was barely able to do 3 sets of 10. And I'm sure I look nothing like the picture. Gah.

[425lisamarie]

If they are a tough thing for you, I would start doing them FIRST before anything. Any time you have a week spot you can prioritize by doing it early in your workout. Is your ball firm enough?

As far as execution... roll your head downward as your knees come in and squeeze your glutes hard. 3 sets of 10 is NOT bad at all. What matters is you are pushing YOU, not what a workout says you should do. Is rolling in or out more difficult? Because if you feel like you can't do it "correctly" that's different then just having a hard time getting 15 reps. As long as you did as many as you possibly could that's what counts

[greenmom4]

Originally Posted by 425lisamarie

Is rolling in or out more difficult?

Rolling in. I don't think that I'm getting my hips in line over my shoulders, does that make sense. I feel like I'm still too parallel to the floor. Gah. These suckers are HARD!

Thanks for your help. I'll keep plugging away at them...

[Linda on the move]

I wouldn't worry about how many you are doing, but focus on forum. They are hard! Hold your abs and focus on how your core muscles support your entire body.

The problem with getting hung up on numbers is that if you force yourself to do more than you really can, you use other muscles and risk injury.

[425lisamarie]

Originally Posted by greenmom4

Rolling in. I don't think that I'm getting my hips in line over my shoulders, does that make sense. I feel like I'm still too parallel to the floor. Gah. These suckers are HARD!

Thanks for your help. I'll keep plugging away at them...

With core movements like this it really helps to get SUPER focused and envision yourself floating, rocking back and forth, back and forth. Start by doing smaller movements, rocking in and out and try to be fluid with the movement. Think of like dancing, and gliding. If you need to have your arms out a little more like instead of a shoulder whide stance, move them out a little bit more and spread out your hands to get a good "grip."

Also you can start at the point you have trouble to get the correct form. Do you have a mirror? Try doing the negative portion of the movement for a few reps to really get the feel for where you are suppose to be at the end of the pulling your knees IN. Does that make sense? Like instead of rolling in, you can START at that part, hold it a few seconds and get a feel for where you are, then roll straight. Kind of like at first when pullups are hard, you can jump up and hold, then do the lower or "negative" portion of the move to get stronger.

I felt really sloppy when I first started doing these! I'm not kidding I couldn't do 3 sets of 15 for a while I'm sure of it! Now I do supersets of pushups and jacknifes and it's hard but definately a good workout

[greenmom4]

Originally Posted by 425lisamarie

Also you can start at the point you have trouble to get the correct form. Do you have a mirror? Try doing the negative portion of the movement for a few reps to really get the feel for where you are suppose to be at the end of the pulling your knees IN. Does that make sense? Like instead of rolling in, you can START at that part, hold it a few seconds and get a feel for where you are, then roll straight.

That's a good idea. What I really need to do is get a ball and practice at home so I don't look like such a gaper when I'm at the gym! I think my fear of doing a forward somersault into the squat rack is holding me back a little bit, too!