Coming back from the CF Gymnastics Cert last weekend, I realized how the hollow position really helps with many of the movements we do in CrossFit.  One of the most important things the hollow body position helps strengthen is your midline stabilization.  And what do we use midline stabilization for in CrossFit?…Yea, EVERYTHING!  If you didn’t know that one by now, go ahead and smack yourself upside the head.  So what is your hollow body position and when do we use it?  You’ve seen it in our warm ups but are you really making the most out of a really great strengthening tool?

Here’s a really good video of Carl Paoli of GymnasticsWOD.com explaining your set-up for that perfect hollow body position.

So you’ll notice in the video that the athletes bodies hold tension.  Their ribs cages are close to their hips, shoulder blades are off the floor, feet are pointed and together, they’re squeezing their butt cheeks and most importantly their lowers backs are flush to the floor eliminating any space.  If you are trying this along at home, you’ll notice this is a hard position to hold when done properly.  Taking it a step further with the hollow body rocks, the idea is to maintain that tension in your abdominals without compromising your position when rocking back and forth.

As mentioned earlier, the hollow body position helps strengthen our midline stabilization.  More specifically, we use that hollow body position in pullups, ring rows, ring supports/dips, press, handstands, pushups, toes to bar, deadlift, squats and so much more.  So the next time you do hollows, make sure you are really creating that tension and do your best to press your lower lumbar into the floor as it transfers to so many movements we do in the gym.

REST DAY 11.11.2012