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Bodyweight OAPU - causes for foot slipping?

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mightstone2k

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I am greasing the groove with OAPUs. I have a Rogue box in my office so I can train during the day (yep, I’m “that guy”). Two or three weeks ago, I went from a 30” elevation to 24”. Some days I revert back to 30” for 3 reps, but mainly do singles at 24” (maybe 4 days at 24” and 2 at 30”).

On several of my 24” sets, the foot on the same side as my working hand slips backwards as I descend (probably around the halfway point or lower). I can still push myself up once my foot stops sliding, but I don’t know why it slides to begin with. It doesn't happen on 30” sets.

I do train on carpet wearing boots, which is probably a contributing factor. Is it just a result of the angle I’m at relative to the floor and where my force is going for the static stomp? I try rooting the ball of that foot into the floor hard, but it doesn’t stop the slide when it decides to happen. Any ideas?
 
Sounds like a lack of overall tension in the body, or possibly the vector your arm is pointing. Assuming the arm is in the right position (elbow close to torso, hand roughly under shoulder), the idea is to create enough tension in the body so you're like a board, then push the board up. Have you read Naked Warrior? A large part of the book is devoted to how to create this tension and avoid rotation and slippage. Best to start with upper body at a height that you can get perfect form, then work down from that, but keeping the perfect form. Keep at it, and you'll be banging them out!
 
Sounds like a lack of overall tension in the body, or possibly the vector your arm is pointing. Assuming the arm is in the right position (elbow close to torso, hand roughly under shoulder), the idea is to create enough tension in the body so you're like a board, then push the board up. Have you read Naked Warrior? A large part of the book is devoted to how to create this tension and avoid rotation and slippage. Best to start with upper body at a height that you can get perfect form, then work down from that, but keeping the perfect form. Keep at it, and you'll be banging them out!
I have read Naked Warrior, yes, and I’m doing my best at implementing the tension tips. One thing I’m not clear on, which you bring up with the vector of the arm. When the book says “hand roughly under the shoulder,” does that mean perpendicular to the deck, regardless of the torso angle? So the angle of your arm relative to your body will change as you change elevation? Or does it mean perpendicular to your body regardless of the elevation?
 
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I attached an image that has helped me with my push-up form. Even with OAPU this works well. I think the tall feet portion is important here for your needs maybe (or maybe it is simply due to the boot / carpet combo you mentioned). I can envision why 30" does not cause you to slide vs 24" even though the heights are not too much different. Possibly, now that you are lower to the ground you are now pushing backwards more instead of up. I could suggest maybe putting your box at an angle equal to your body angle when you're in the down position of the push-up. I found it becomes a bit odd to try and continue doing elevated OAPU's without putting the box at some sort of angle. Just my 2 cents.
 

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I attached an image that has helped me with my push-up form. Even with OAPU this works well. I think the tall feet portion is important here for your needs maybe (or maybe it is simply due to the boot / carpet combo you mentioned). I can envision why 30" does not cause you to slide vs 24" even though the heights are not too much different. Possibly, now that you are lower to the ground you are now pushing backwards more instead of up. I could suggest maybe putting your box at an angle equal to your body angle when you're in the down position of the push-up. I found it becomes a bit odd to try and continue doing elevated OAPU's without putting the box at some sort of angle. Just my 2 cents.
Hm. Interesting. I’ve been trying to maximally contract my glutes; “pinching a coin,” as it were. Thanks for that picture! I don’t know how I’d get the box angled (supports under the far end?), but I can play with that and see. I do find myself pushing back some. I put the heel of my palm on the edge of the box after almost faceplanting when my palm slipped forward once.
 
@JohnDoeman Keep your arm roughly perpendicular to you body. At higher elevations, it's partially a 'push out.' Keep the same motion as it would be on the floor, but rotated up for the extra height. The big thing with your arm position is to get your lat engaged so you can use it as a 'platform' to push off of, and keep your shoulder packed. Naked Warrior has great info on this- since you have the book, focus on that for awhile. This requires a stronger tri, so it may take awhile to catch up. No problem working out the basic form from a kitchen counter or something higher, than go lower gradually.

The picture in that drawing reminds me of my dad stomping my butt down when I was learning how to do pushups as a kid! haha he liked semi-hollow position for them.

Oops: meant to send to OP! guess he's read by now...sorry about that...
 
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yeah it's just a problem with the elevated oapu,

ideally you should focus on keeping the opposite foot (opposite the working arm) planted as firmly / flatly as you can get.

  • you could use a wall to jam you foot into if you place the box a few feet away from the wall
  • try OAOL on the 30" elevation. or just increase your reps on the 30" elevation.
 
Hm. Interesting. I’ve been trying to maximally contract my glutes; “pinching a coin,” as it were. Thanks for that picture!

That's a difference between the SFB/NW way and that photo. SFB/NW way is to contract the glutes and also tuck the pelvis under for a strong hollow position.
 
It happens to me when I am grinding out a difficult rep/am tired. In my case it’s a tension leak.
 
@Anna C - You're right the muscle tension is different from my photo to the NW way. I guess I was more emphasizing the feet position which may help. I envision myself getting tall over my hands and good and tight.

@Matts - I can perform OAPU normally now but when I did do them on elevation I always angled the box. It seemed far more natural that way. Also, I do indeed engage my lats and I agree.

It is difficult to explain why I use that photo but it seems to empasize a good lever position with your feet and hands. Mostly for a visual, the "glute" or "quad" contractions will be different.
 
Thanks for the tips, all. So what I’m getting from your collective advice is:

1. Read the book again.
2. Revert to the 30” elevation if necessary to iron out the form.
3. Focus on the opposite foot.
4. Arm perpendicular to the body.
5. Shoulders packed.
6. Hollow position.

@Jak Nieuwenhuis jamming my feet against the wall almost feels like cheating. That’s okay to do? It won’t build bad habits?

I’ll be honest, #2 frustrates the heck out of me. No matter what I do, whether it’s kettlebells or bodyweight, it always seems to be that I hit a certain level and stall out no matter how much work I’ve put in at the previous level. I’m horrified at thinking that 30” will be my stalling point. I started at that level in early July.

I’m going to keep working. But that voice is still there, telling me that I'll never actually make it to 24” and I just suck that much more than the people who make it to a full OAPU in less than a year.
 
@Jak Nieuwenhuis jamming my feet against the wall almost feels like cheating. That’s okay to do? It won’t build bad habits?

[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure man it's just one way that I've been able to do it.
 
I have found visualizing bringing hips to the box rather than chest helps when working at an elevation. Also visualizing putting the right shoulder into left back pocket if working right arm. There are a lot ways you can get leakage which is likely why the foot slips (provided floor isn't an issue). Keep working at an elevation where you are successful and progress slow!
 
@mightstone2k About your frustration with not reaching goals, this is very common. We all want results yesterday! People compliment me on my patience, and I explain I've found it to be the quickest way to get what I want. Best advice for many is to focus on the process, not the goals. Everyday do checklists and pay attention to all the details of your practice and your form. Have daily goals- feel success meeting them! If you just get lost in the daily grind and try not to focus on the big goals, you'll wake up pleasantly surprised one day. Also, progress is not linear- you can spend weeks on something without visible results, then all of a sudden make huge gains. The seeds and base for those "quick" gains were planted during the long, steady lull, though.
 
@mightstone2k, some of the differences between doing these elevated and on the ground are unavoidable. I strongly recommend you work with someone in person or at least by Skype, or post a video here. Figuring out hand placement and arm angle is tough. Make sure the bottom position ends up where it should, and the top will sort itself out. The arm angle must change - it can’t be avoided.

Please also post a link to the Rogue box you mentioned.

-S-
 
@Steve Freides this is the box I’m using. I’ll post a video on Monday when I’m back at work. I can do 28” OAPUs at home (for singles, as opposed to triples at 30”), but they are in the stairwell and you wouldn’t be able to see anything with the camera angle.

There are no SFBs remotely accessible to me or I’d go to one in a heartbeat. I have some travel coming up and will see if there are any in the vicinity then.
 
Posting a video here would be good. Working with an SFB long distance would be good. Thx for the link.

-S-
 
While I'm waiting to get the form video, what kind of weekly volume is reasonable for GTG? As of today (fifth training day this week), I have done 44/side at varying elevations this week, and will do some more tomorrow at 33" (super light, and about as high as I can reasonably go). In Naked Warrior, when Pavel discussing "fluctuating" (p. 89), he says it's better to do 10 total reps one day, 30 another, and 20 the next rather than 20 total each day. Just extrapolating the same numbers for 6 sessions/week, that's 120 total reps per week.

I ask not so I can chase numbers, but so I can see if my numbers are reasonable. If I'm capable of doing way less than what I should be over the course of the week, that's useful to know. Likewise if I'm doing way over the norm.
 
Here is a form check on a 24” box. You can see my foot slip a bit when I do my rep on the left. Comments, critiques, and such much appreciated! Thank you in advance.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Hello,

@mightstone2k
First off, congrats for taclking such difficult progression ! You already seem to have a good core tension because you do not twist.

Regarding the foot slip: are your hamstrings fully contracted ? What about the knee lock (perfectly straight leg then) ?

Something helped me: visualizing some kind of "bow" between my toe and my arms. This forces the body to fully contract the leg and the core to "make the toe and the hand closer" (even if, from the outside, there is no demonstration of it)

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
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