-
Yoga plough/plow is impossible for me..help?
Hi everyone!
I am a long time lurker on the forums and have never really posted since all of you have had the same questions I had.
However, I could not find anything on this issue and was hoping you guys could help me out! A little about me: I joined in 2011 and started learning to pole by myself along with Veena’s videos but had to stop due to my living concerns (I had to move a LOT). Space and time didn’t really allow for poling.
Fast forward a few years and I am finally able to put my pole back up in my house! It’s cramped, but hey, it’s up! I can do some spins that don’t require extending my legs 🙁 I joined a studio as well. So this is where the problem is, I have been poling now seriously for about a year. I CANNOT get my v-invert or chopper.
I’ve tried everything. I joined hot yoga recently thinking maybe it’s a flexibility thing because I cannot sit in a straddle without my hands behind my back supporting me. When I tuck up and splay my legs, I cannot hold it for too long–not because I am weak but because my flexibility makes me weak (does that make sense?) My arms can hold my body weight in a tuck for minutes, no problem. But as soon as I open my legs for a V..forget about it. I also CANNOT do the rockstar spin because of my inflexibility.
Yoga plough. Yoga plow. I read that a lot of you guys suggest doing this. I CANNOT even get my legs over my head! I mean, i can but I really have to push hard to get my legs over my head. There is ZERO control. If I try to do it without pushing, I get no where. That goes for forward somersaults. That ain’t happening. I for some reason, cannot lift my butt/hips into the area to do a forward somersault/shoulder roll.
Anyone have tips? Help? Please? This is killing me and making me not want to pole anymore. I went to a beginners class 2 weeks ago to learn the foundations again and some newbie was able to get the v-invert in 1 shot. I was so depressed about this.
Also, I’ve tried aerial yoga in the christian hammock and we had to get into “bat”. Guess what? Everyone in the class was able to bring their legs over the heads into mosquito and go into bat. Me? I struggled and was the only one in a class of 10 that needed help. I couldn’t get my legs over my head.
Do I have really weak hips or something? Is it a back flexibility thing? Are my hamstrings just ridiculously tight? Cause they are, I can’t touch my toes either. I’m at a loss at what to do. I’ve tried Veena’s lessons and nothing seems to be doing it for me.
I’m hoping hot yoga will help my core and flexibility…but man the yoga plow, it just isn’t happening 🙁
-
6 Replies
-
Ab exercises….ab exercises…ab exercises….thats all I can say. If you can’t do a yoga plough yet, you need to strengthen your entire abs, upper and lower.
-
Thanks poleisnewtome!
I will look into different ab exercises. I must be doing something wrong since I work on abs every other day. Maybe I’ve plateaued? ;\
-
I totally agree with poleisnewtome! Not just abs, but your whole core is what really makes the difference for getting your legs and hips up and over. The chopper and V-invert are nothing to sneeze at- they take HUGE amounts of control and strength! Huge!
Can you do a totally controlled and slow basic invert or tuck invert? Have you tried (this one always kills me) a V-sit up on the pole (like, go into CAR or CKR, and then just leg go with your hands without allowing yourself to lay back- just stay up, stare at your legs or feet)? How are your hip flexors, too?Having tight hamstrings is pretty common, I’m noticing. Mine are also super tight! Try to stretch them often, but don’t push it too hard. They’ll loosen in their time! I never used to get even close to the ground (I couldn’t even put my hands on my knees unless I bent with my back, too), but now I’m almost all the way down! It’s possible 🙂
I actually found that doing the plough was really helpful, even if it wasn’t super controlled for a while. That, and Veena’s exercises from the 30 Day Ab challenge! That one is free, so check it out!!
-
I will totally agree i have notice strengthening my abs is helping get into a controlled invert. i am no where near the chopper but that does have to do with my hamstring tightness as well. speaking of veena’s 30 day ab challenge do you guys know where the think is to that?
-
When doing a plow pose or shoulder stand pike as I call it, you DO need to use your arms as you press up into the pose. It’s not just about ab strength, you also need to have flexibility in the spine, neck and hamstrings. I suggest check out the shoulder stand pike again, and follow the cues for upper body placement. https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/4df0dc95-e628-49aa-9ba8-0f0c0ac37250
As for V inverts, they are super challenging and again it’s not just about abdominal strength, as you mentioned flexibility comes into play. Strength in the upper body is needed to give that last pull up to bring the hips high over.
I think people expect to try a move or train for a particular flexibility pose thinking they should have it down in a few days or sessions. It simply isn’t the case! Practice needs to be consistent in order to see improvement.
I see you’ve said you tried the lessons here, but what does that mean? Did you start at the begining (either using the first lesson and moving on from there, or starting with the 30 day take off?) when you put your pole back up or did you only search around looking for moves to work on? If you only search for things that look interesting you’ll be loosing out on a lot of what the lessons are about, progression! So remember everything is place in order for a reason, and the routines are great for building strength and flexibility as well.
-
sounds like flexibility is a big part of the issue. do veena’s split routines and back mobility routine. work on those. that will help with your hamstring flexibility. even if you dont want to do splits, you can do all the stretches in the routines and skip the split part if you dont want to do that. I think she has a 30 day flexibility program, that would help you with over all flexibility. but yes, you want to be able to get more flexibility in your lower back and hamstrings, calves, etc. this will help. the rest is also strength. as far as abs go. veena has a 30 day ab challenge that has some incredible ab exercises that helped me so much with getting my chopper and shoulder mount. take a look at the exercises and try them out. you dont have to do the 30 day challenge, just learn the exercises in the challenge and do them as many times that suits your level. for plow, you can fold a blanket or put cushions under your butt. you really stack them kind of thick if needed. this will give you a little boost in lifting your butt since you dont have to lift all the way from the floor. you may still have to use your hands but you may not need to push so hard with them. once you get into your plow position focus on lowering from the move very SLOWLY. this will help build strength. eventually work on reducing the amount of cushion or blanket thickness you need under your butt to do the plow. eventually you will be able to do it from the floor. each time you remove a layer of cushion you may have to use your hands again until you get used to lifting from that level. pole crunches!!! do alot of those. do them SLOW. also you will eventually want to do pole crunches with V legs. this builds the hip flexors. you can also strengthen hip flexors by sitting on the floor in a straddle and with your hands either in front of you or behind you on the floor supporting you, lift your legs in a v off the floor. you may only be able to lift a fraction of an inch. that’s okay. do those a few times. they are hard!!! with limited flexibility it may not even be possible yet, if not, work on all the other things. in Veena’s 30 day ab challenge she has my favorite ab exercise. it is similar to a plow but your hands are over head in a cup grip on the pole. you use the pole to assist pulling your legs up into plow position. this exercise is sooooo good. it is tough at first and I could only do a couple at first. also, try lowering those very slowly. chopper was harder for me to get than any other trick so far.
Log in to reply.