Alternating Slider Pushups

Last time I wrote about some of the characteristics good athletes displayed.

Truly elite athletes are, in short,

Masters of Movement

I like to think about it as ,

“Good movers are analog, not digital.”

Good athletes intrinsically figure things out and make movement happen.

It always looks smooth, controlled and purposeful.

Skip to 6 minutes in an enjoy…THAT is movement mastery.

Rarely looking like the rest of us they’re on the struggle bus, trying to link motions together.

“These results suggest that experts were able to focus on motor planning integrating visual information with motor commands, whereas novices tended to plan the movement in the context of emotional and possibly task-irrelevant considerations. Kim et al. (2008) also examined the differences in the neural networks of eight world-class archers and eight non-athletes during an archery pre-performance routine. The resulting fMRI data showed that the occipital and temporal gyri were activated when the athletes were aiming, whereas the frontal area was primarily activated when the non-athletes were aiming. In addition, the ACC and posterior cingulate gyrus were activated in the athletes and non-athletes, respectively. These two studies on motor planning suggest that extensive practice over a long period leads to an efficient organization of neural networks that filters out irrelevant information, and that non-athletes without extensive practice experience difficulty in eliminating such irrelevant information.” –Characteristics of the athletes’ brain: Evidence from neurophysiology and neuroimaging

Basically, better athletes don’t need to think about and almost pre-plan a sporting movement, like Nike, they just do it.

And like last time, we learned that INTEGRATION of body segments is key to producing this smooth, efficient, yet powerful and precise movement.

This integration is what I call “moving in analog”, not “digital”, where the movement is segmented, choppy, reluctant and imprecise.

While I DO NOT think you can take an average athlete and make them a truly elite athlete.

Not even Uncle Rico:

Truly elite, national or world class performers, are probably 95-98% genetics and only a small factor (2-5%) is training/ practice. <—-but that can be the difference between being a multiple time World Champion and out of the league. 

I DO think you can take an average athlete/ person and make them exponentially better at movement by training things like whole body integration.

Which brings me to…

Alternating Slider Pushups

Alternating Slider Pushups are the bee’s knees of whole body integration, with an upper body emphasis

Checklist:

• Pushup Plank to start
  • Shoulders “down” in the joint (activates the muscles around the scaps, including lats to help provide stiffness to the torso)
  • Bottom rib on the abs (CORE ON!)
  • Belt buckle slightly rolled to the chin (posterior pelvic tilt)
  • Glutes and quads tight AF.
• GRIP the sliders.
• Stay tight and “flat” as you reach.
• PRESS and PULL back to the start

Bro Tips:

• Sliders that have a lip or a raised pad, tend to work better because you can grip the lip or raised pad and create more tension.
• Think about PULLING yourself into the bottom, not falling or lowering.
• Keep your breath deep, “in the pelvis” through the transition at the bottom.
• Out of the bottom think :
  • PULL back (gets the lats to help)
  • Ribcage down (core on)
  • Glutes tight (stable pelvis)

Ultimate Bro Tip:

• DO NOT LOSE TENSION OFF THE BOTTOM.

If you perform slider pushups in an analog fashion..

1: Lower
2: Press up

instead of

Lower<—->Press<—–>Lower<——>Press

You WILL break the line and either fail at the bottom or break the torso- hip connection through the top.