Showing posts with label pistol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pistol. Show all posts
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Main Muscle Movement in the Ottoman Pistol - Part 1: the Quads
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The (let's call it) Ottoman Pistol described yesterday - works a potent combination of muscles. We know what these muscles are because we usually feel them if we haven't pistoled in awhile: quads (front of leg), glutes (butt), sometimes the adds (adductors - inside leg), and some of that core goodness too. In this first post we'll take a quick look at what's happening with the quads - what those muscles are, and especially, why they're firing up in the Ottoman Pistol.
The Quads
Often the most felt muscles in this abbreviated leg squat are those at the front of the leg, aka the quads The quad group has four big muscles: the vastus set of medialis, lateralis, intermedius and the big front and top muscle (lies atop the intermedius), the rectus femoris. All four of these muscles meet at the knee cap - the patella and from there, hook into the lower leg.
The Vastus Group vs the Rectus Femoris. While the full quad group has a lot in common, there's a big distinction between the rec fem and the vastus group. The vastus set cross the knee and connect along the top of the big honking top-of-the-leg femur bone. The rectus femoris on the other hand actually hooks onto the pelvis itself rather than the femur. Isn't that wild? These four muscles share common connections at the knee, and then diverge where they start: hip vs leg. In other words, the rec.fem. crosses two joints - in this case both the knee and the hip - while the vast group of vastus muscles only cross one joint, the knee.
The Quad Job This difference in hook ups influences the main job of the muscles that make up the quads.
The vastus set acts on the knee to extend it or straighten it out; the rectus femoris, while it also crosses the knee mainly acts to flex the hip or to bring the knee up towards the chest. In the bottom of the squat, the hip is pretty durn flexed.
Integrating the muscle movement with the Pistol. Since we feel the pistol the next day in the front of the legs, we know the quads are involved. We also know now that the quads give us two actions in particular: (1) flexing the hip and (2) extending the knee.
Where's hip flexion in the pistol? IT's in two parts of the movement: the leg controlling the decent (that's going into flexion), and the leg that is extended out. That leg is being held in hip flexion.
In the descending/bending leg, the rectus femoris is stretched. We can see from where it attaches up on the pelvis that as one goes down, and that muscle is activated, it's going to pull the pelvis forward - the pelvis rotates around the hip as the angle between the leg and the pelvis closes down from 180 to 45 degress or less. The RF is not the only muscle involved here, but it's the biggie.
In the extended leg case, a couple core muscles - the psoas and illiacus - are doing more of the work to hold out the extended leg than the rec fem to keep that 90 degree flexion. That's because the RF is at its shortest when the knee is extended and the leg flexed, so it's not getting as big an advantage on the hip.
The more the knee bends, the more the rec fem comes into gear for flexing the leg/hip.
Where's the knee extension in the pistol? When we go to stand back up, the knee extends. That's perhaps the biggest work load of the pistol. And boy do we know that that knee extension, aka standing up, is a challenge. Getting down takes a certain control, absolutely, but gravity guarentees that's the direction we'll move. Getting up is where the money is, and that means knee extension.
Summary: Why we feel the pistol in the Thigh.
There are two big actions in the pistol: hip flexion and knee extension. In other words, going into the squat and coming up from it.
Hip flexion comes in two places: in getting a leg out in front of us and in the descent into the squat position. In the quad group, hip flexion involves the rectus femoris in both of these positions, but in particular in the descent into the squat.
Knee extension comes in majorly as we stand up. The quads pull this off via the vastus muscles pulling over the knee cap by their connection at the top of the femur, the big leg bone. The rectus femoris pulls over the same part of the knee but gets reefed up by that muscle reefing up from the hip. Two big levers therefore pull up the knee into a straightened position.
Next Time
The other big player in the pistol is the butt, aka the glutes. Next time we'll look at how that group of muscles' actions of hip extension, external rotation and abduction contribute to those two big moves in the pistol: the squat and the standing up.
Happy New Year
Pistol Resources:
- beast skills site
- Pavel Tsatsouline's The Naked Warrior
- Steve Cotter's Mastering the Pistol
Related posts:
 |
| from the Beast Skills how to pistol tutorial: a light butt touch for the ottoman pistol |
Often the most felt muscles in this abbreviated leg squat are those at the front of the leg, aka the quads The quad group has four big muscles: the vastus set of medialis, lateralis, intermedius and the big front and top muscle (lies atop the intermedius), the rectus femoris. All four of these muscles meet at the knee cap - the patella and from there, hook into the lower leg.
 |
| From Grant's Dissector (ch6) the rec fem is reflected so we can see the vastus intermedius underneath and the lateralis and medialis to either side. |
The vastus set acts on the knee to extend it or straighten it out; the rectus femoris, while it also crosses the knee mainly acts to flex the hip or to bring the knee up towards the chest. In the bottom of the squat, the hip is pretty durn flexed.
In the descending/bending leg, the rectus femoris is stretched. We can see from where it attaches up on the pelvis that as one goes down, and that muscle is activated, it's going to pull the pelvis forward - the pelvis rotates around the hip as the angle between the leg and the pelvis closes down from 180 to 45 degress or less. The RF is not the only muscle involved here, but it's the biggie.
In the extended leg case, a couple core muscles - the psoas and illiacus - are doing more of the work to hold out the extended leg than the rec fem to keep that 90 degree flexion. That's because the RF is at its shortest when the knee is extended and the leg flexed, so it's not getting as big an advantage on the hip.
The more the knee bends, the more the rec fem comes into gear for flexing the leg/hip.
Where's the knee extension in the pistol? When we go to stand back up, the knee extends. That's perhaps the biggest work load of the pistol. And boy do we know that that knee extension, aka standing up, is a challenge. Getting down takes a certain control, absolutely, but gravity guarentees that's the direction we'll move. Getting up is where the money is, and that means knee extension.
Summary: Why we feel the pistol in the Thigh.
There are two big actions in the pistol: hip flexion and knee extension. In other words, going into the squat and coming up from it.
Hip flexion comes in two places: in getting a leg out in front of us and in the descent into the squat position. In the quad group, hip flexion involves the rectus femoris in both of these positions, but in particular in the descent into the squat.
Knee extension comes in majorly as we stand up. The quads pull this off via the vastus muscles pulling over the knee cap by their connection at the top of the femur, the big leg bone. The rectus femoris pulls over the same part of the knee but gets reefed up by that muscle reefing up from the hip. Two big levers therefore pull up the knee into a straightened position.
Next Time
The other big player in the pistol is the butt, aka the glutes. Next time we'll look at how that group of muscles' actions of hip extension, external rotation and abduction contribute to those two big moves in the pistol: the squat and the standing up.
Happy New Year
Pistol Resources:
- beast skills site
- Pavel Tsatsouline's The Naked Warrior
- Steve Cotter's Mastering the Pistol
Related posts:
- The magic shoulder part one: scapula rigging
- The magic shoulder part two: g/h joint
- overview of fat
- magnificent protein - not just about muscles
PDF
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Return of the kettlebell Update 4: C&J heels fix and Balancing the Press, Swing Sets and a Pain in the Quad
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This entry (4th RTK update) is about high heels in the C&J, the peculiarity that is uneven pressing, and swinging between sets in practicing Return of the Kettlebell (RTK). Also a question about pistols, pain and mass gain.
C&J - always learning. Dang
In my last episode i'd just lost my C&J form, and got it back noticing i was doing more of a C&J GS jump in the second hop than is appropriate for the Hard Style Way. The next session solved that hop: heavier bells. Ha! Seriously. It's harder to hop on the heavy days. Lor'! Learning to keep speed going for that second hop makes a difference in a good rep and a not so good rep. It seems that because each time one does the RTK block a variable changes - no. of sets, no. of ladders, load, that there's always going to be something new to learn. This is a good thing, to be sure. But likewise, gosh. Anyone who says they need a new program - that a few moves is going to be boring - just hasn't met ETK or RTK.
Uneven Presses
The intriguing thing about uneven pressing
I've been experimenting for the past few weeks on keeping my heart rate up between sets, and this for two reasons: one, it's supposed to help eliminate doms (end of this article) and two, it's supposed to help with strength gains, and i'm all for more strength gains.
Today i wore a heart rate monitor and noticed that my typical light jogging in spot or running around the place didn't get my heart up very high, so i thought, what the heck, swings.
So i did some Rannoch's 100's between sets for my 2 mins of recovery, alternating one handed and double, focusing on good clean hip snaps, as well as light overspeeds. Let me say that if you don't have a heart rate monitor, don't worry about it: doing 1oo's of any of these will keep your heart up for two minutes without wasting you.
Pistol Practice
And, just because i'd like to keep up some pistol work, and as this was light day, i got an EDT (escalating density training) set of assisted pistols in. This was done by attaching a green band to a door, and doing the squat down unaided and using the band as an assist on the way up: this was both work and let me focus on form - again with bone rhythm - especially thinking about the form of standing up straight and fast with good good form. That's cool - usually i've been so occupied with just getting up repeatedly that the difference in being able to focus on the groove of the form is pretty cool. Will be interested to see how that translates into unassisted (and gulp, loaded) practice.
What i did notice that was new is that oh, about 3/4's of the way into my EDT block my legs suddenly felt as if DOMS had just turned on about 24 hours early. So it's not DOMS. it's something else. And it's a bit of a surprise, and a rather painful one. Ow? The suddenness of going from fine to Ow was rather abrupt. Anyone?
Mass Gains - to date
It goes without saying, does it not, that strength improves on RTK with each workout? Super duper. But mass? Getting past scrawny arms? Hmm.
Gals who have worked to get lean don't often, in my experience, just surrender to adding more calories in plans of adding some mass, but i've been up for it. In the past 6 weeks, the gains have been on the scale more than on what the tape measures in my arm. Is there anything i could do better, or there just hasn't been enough time to say?
I'm religiously doing a pre and post drink as per the Nutrient Timing work i wrote about awhile ago, and am as said going clearly into caloric surplus. But Tracy Reifkinds arms remain unrivaled. That said 6 weeks may well be far too soon to anticipate real change. I shall just keep it tight, (the HS way of saying "hold my breath?") in the meantime.
Till next time...
Related Posts
This entry (4th RTK update) is about high heels in the C&J, the peculiarity that is uneven pressing, and swinging between sets in practicing Return of the Kettlebell (RTK). Also a question about pistols, pain and mass gain.C&J - always learning. Dang
In my last episode i'd just lost my C&J form, and got it back noticing i was doing more of a C&J GS jump in the second hop than is appropriate for the Hard Style Way. The next session solved that hop: heavier bells. Ha! Seriously. It's harder to hop on the heavy days. Lor'! Learning to keep speed going for that second hop makes a difference in a good rep and a not so good rep. It seems that because each time one does the RTK block a variable changes - no. of sets, no. of ladders, load, that there's always going to be something new to learn. This is a good thing, to be sure. But likewise, gosh. Anyone who says they need a new program - that a few moves is going to be boring - just hasn't met ETK or RTK.
Uneven Presses
The intriguing thing about uneven pressing
- - snatching different weights and matching speed between them.
- - matching speed between pressing sides - keeping up bone rhythm
- - matching form per side - by the fourth set, the heavy bell starts to feel, well, heavy, and the later presses can let the pelvis slide over to give it a boost that the other side doesn't need. Temptation to do so is very strong.
I've been experimenting for the past few weeks on keeping my heart rate up between sets, and this for two reasons: one, it's supposed to help eliminate doms (end of this article) and two, it's supposed to help with strength gains, and i'm all for more strength gains.
Today i wore a heart rate monitor and noticed that my typical light jogging in spot or running around the place didn't get my heart up very high, so i thought, what the heck, swings.
So i did some Rannoch's 100's between sets for my 2 mins of recovery, alternating one handed and double, focusing on good clean hip snaps, as well as light overspeeds. Let me say that if you don't have a heart rate monitor, don't worry about it: doing 1oo's of any of these will keep your heart up for two minutes without wasting you.
Pistol Practice
And, just because i'd like to keep up some pistol work, and as this was light day, i got an EDT (escalating density training) set of assisted pistols in. This was done by attaching a green band to a door, and doing the squat down unaided and using the band as an assist on the way up: this was both work and let me focus on form - again with bone rhythm - especially thinking about the form of standing up straight and fast with good good form. That's cool - usually i've been so occupied with just getting up repeatedly that the difference in being able to focus on the groove of the form is pretty cool. Will be interested to see how that translates into unassisted (and gulp, loaded) practice.
What i did notice that was new is that oh, about 3/4's of the way into my EDT block my legs suddenly felt as if DOMS had just turned on about 24 hours early. So it's not DOMS. it's something else. And it's a bit of a surprise, and a rather painful one. Ow? The suddenness of going from fine to Ow was rather abrupt. Anyone?
Mass Gains - to date
It goes without saying, does it not, that strength improves on RTK with each workout? Super duper. But mass? Getting past scrawny arms? Hmm.
Gals who have worked to get lean don't often, in my experience, just surrender to adding more calories in plans of adding some mass, but i've been up for it. In the past 6 weeks, the gains have been on the scale more than on what the tape measures in my arm. Is there anything i could do better, or there just hasn't been enough time to say?
I'm religiously doing a pre and post drink as per the Nutrient Timing work i wrote about awhile ago, and am as said going clearly into caloric surplus. But Tracy Reifkinds arms remain unrivaled. That said 6 weeks may well be far too soon to anticipate real change. I shall just keep it tight, (the HS way of saying "hold my breath?") in the meantime.
Till next time...
Related Posts
- Kettlebell Article Index - including previous three RTK updates
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Weighted Pistol Puzzle
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I own i have been frustrated by the weighted pistol. My body weight pistol is not a car wreck. On a good day, can even do that lovely hold your toe with leg outstetched while going up and down. But the weighted version - any kind of weight - is a challenge i canna crack. I wonder if part of this is the way a woman's center of mass is different from a guy's?
Anyway, i've finally been places where i can set up a rig to give adam glass's advice a go:
If you're just looking to get your body weight pistol happening, there are two sources: the best freebie is at Beast Skills. (i think the person's first name is Jim, but it's actually really challenging to find his name on his site!)
The best book/video on building appropriate strength/tension techniques, also featuring how to get a one arm push up, is Pavel Tsatsouline's Naked Warrior.
If you've had trouble with weighted pistols, and have found techniques to break the cycle and get success, please share.
I'll let you know how the sling shot technique progresses.
Feb 25: update here and prelim review of Steve Cotter's mastering the pistol Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Anyway, i've finally been places where i can set up a rig to give adam glass's advice a go:
- hang a band from something (adam suggests within a power rack/cage) to be able, effectively, to put one's butt in a sling to help with that get up from the ground sticking point.
If you're just looking to get your body weight pistol happening, there are two sources: the best freebie is at Beast Skills. (i think the person's first name is Jim, but it's actually really challenging to find his name on his site!)The best book/video on building appropriate strength/tension techniques, also featuring how to get a one arm push up, is Pavel Tsatsouline's Naked Warrior.
If you've had trouble with weighted pistols, and have found techniques to break the cycle and get success, please share.
I'll let you know how the sling shot technique progresses.
Feb 25: update here and prelim review of Steve Cotter's mastering the pistol Tweet Follow @begin2dig
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