Caitlin makes these look easy! Image courtesy of Wendy Callendar
**drumroll please**
The June skill-of-the-month is….. The L-Sit!
Don’t happen to like this particular move? Well, get used to it, because it’ll be around until the end of the month, at the very least. 😉
L-sit lifts are an excellent example of a gymnastics core conditioning element that is quite effective and comprehensive in nature. They involve an active flexibility element, contain a static strength element and promote reasonable support strength throughout the shoulder girdle and arms while simultaneously placing a significant workload on the abs and hip flexors. That is a lot of bang for the buck!
An L-sit lift, although tough, is technically one of the simplest gymnastics core strength elements to perform. Using parallettes, from a seated pike on the floor press yourself up into an L-sit. Pause in the L-sit and then attempt to hold your legs steady as high as possible. Do not allow the arms to bend, but focus on keeping the elbows completely extended. Also note, that leaning back too far back will preclude you from attaining any reasonable amount of lift in your legs. Rather, focus on remaining upright and pressing down through the parallettes strongly.
Initially many people will find that the L-sit is too demanding. This may be due to a lack of active flexibility, support strength or deficient core strength. The following modifications will help to gradually build the strength and flexibility needed to perform this all-in-one core strength element.
1. Variations
- With bent knees. You can start with this version if you feel you are lacking the strength or hamstring flexibility to do the movement with straight legs.
- With straight legs. Once you are comfortable doing the L-sit with your knees bent, try the straight leg version. The farther your legs are from your body, the tougher it is.
Remember, practice makes perfect, folks. So keep at it for the entirety of June, and you never know how much you’ll improve!
Today’s Workout
Buy in – Max time for L-sit or knee tuck on the parallel bars.
* Your coach will use the same standards as in the Zone Games 6. Once you are up and there is a PVC under your ankles, the clock will begin
* Your time will be until your heels touch the PVC pipe
* If you cannot hold an L-sit, the scaling is a knee tuck hold. The PVC will go under the legs once they are lifted
WOD – “DAMN-RAP!”
AMRAP 30 min:
Run 200M
3 Snatch (95/135)
3 Muscle ups
Zone 4 – scale snatch to 85/125 use rubber band assistance for muscle up, or progressions
Zone 3 – scale snatch to 75/115, scale muscle up to pullups and ring dips (3:1 of each)
Zone 2 – scale snatch weight as needed. Use a rubber band assistance for pullups and dips
Zone 1 – scale to jumping pullups and jumping dips and time as needed
Cash Out – Roll it out!
