"Gymnast" Ab Move...?!

[acey]

Kelley Coffey-Meyer does this move in the ab section of the Lift DVD, and yesterday I saw the move again in Minna Lessig's Tank Top/Bikini Bottom etc. DVD as well. You are sitting on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you, and you use your hands (Kelley's people use their knuckles!) to lift your butt to hover above the floor.

I can't do this move! I think my arms are too short! I run out of arm length before my butt can get off the floor...unless I spread my palms out facing backward. And as for using my knuckles to support my body weight...OUCH!!!

Does anybody else have massive problems with this move?

[TinierTina]

Originally Posted by acey

Kelley Coffey-Meyer does this move in the ab section of the Lift DVD, and yesterday I saw the move again in Minna Lessig's Tank Top/Bikini Bottom etc. DVD as well. You are sitting on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you, and you use your hands (Kelley's people use their knuckles!) to lift your butt to hover above the floor.

I can't do this move! I think my arms are too short! I run out of arm length before my butt can get off the floor...unless I spread my palms out facing backward. And as for using my knuckles to support my body weight...OUCH!!!

Does anybody else have massive problems with this move?

Not familiar with the sequence on this program.

However:

This "gymnast" move sounds a lot like the mat pilates lift and swing - which is kind of the reverse of an Ashtanga yoga sit-through move ... I brought this up to my then-mat pilates teacher (who is also an accomplished yogi).

My arms are pretty short, and my legs are lengthy; sometimes you have to use a low-height yoga or pilates block under each hand to hover the lower body off the floor ...

There is an option of letting your feet rest on the floor if you can't use props.

[toaster]

I just traded for LIFT!

But I was also thinking that it sounds like a move done sometimes in yoga for core strength. I have pretty good core strength, but I can't do it; I think my arms are too short too.

[twinkletoes]

I'm glad you posted this! I was thinking I was the only one who couldn't do this. I think my arms are too short too!

[Kitten]

I don't have short arms, rather a long torso, and for the yoga move that sounds similar, I use yoga blocks.
FYI my husband has long legs and our son inherited both his legs and my torso. He's 6'5" and still growing.

[bzar]

the move appears in one of the Exhale core fusions - Fred does it, and Liz too, but i believe Liz modifies with yoga blocks.

with or without the blocks, it is a very tough move. i think you can build up to it, though, a little at a time, in parts and then string them all together.

you might want to check your side profile in a mirror when you do this - for example, make sure your spine and upper back are super straight. if your shoulders are pulled back, this can also give you longer arms in relation to the floor for this move. your shoulder blades almost want to be aiming behind and downward.

[Chomper]

It is an easier progression of a gymnastic move, the L-sit, which I was planning on working on, so I happen to have this YouTube tutorial bookmarked:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IUZJoSP66HI

[sciencelady]

GMB Fitness put out a good podcast on the L-sit http://goldmedalbodies.com/episode-56/ - check out the show footnotes for good instructionals.

[acey]

Originally Posted by Chomper

It is an easier progression of a gymnastic move, the L-sit, which I was planning on working on, so I happen to have this YouTube tutorial bookmarked:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IUZJoSP66HI

Thanks for the link! I'll try it again after watching that.

I still don't like how Kelley and Co. lift their bodies with the KNUCKLES taking all the pressure

[Sultana]

We did this move when I took Xtend Barre classes. I think the knuckles gives you a little more height. My butt was too big to actually have any clearance.