2 Moves I need some pointers on

[papaya]

Hi Everyone. There are a couple of moves I just don't think I'm getting the full effect from so I'm hoping you all will weigh in with your tips for emphasizing the moves or maybe tell me I'm not alone

First one is the side slam its from Low Max. I try real hard to feel these by squeezing the muscles and trying to come forward on the step as Cathe says but I'm just not feeling them real good.

The other move is in a couple of her other workouts, the hammer punch lunges. I've grown to dread these. They seem to get my heart rate up there a little bit by the end but the move is just not one I'm real comfortable with. Any tips on getting the most out of this move?

Tips on substitutions would be helpful too.



:*

 

[Melclear]

For the slam-its, I try to think of them basically like soft plyos. So I recommend that you throw yourself into a squat, and squat down as low as you can possibly go. And then jump up out of them and move to the other side.
>
>First one is the side slam its from Low Max. I try real hard
>to feel these by squeezing the muscles and trying to come
>forward on the step as Cathe says but I'm just not feeling
>them real good.
>

Wow, the hammer punch lunges usually kill me. Again, I recommend squatting down as low as you can go, and then also putting as much mental effort into it as you can. So as you lunge forward, imagine yourself actually hammering through a huge block of wood with your arm, really try to hit something as hard as you can. And then when you pull back up with a knee lift (as in some of the workouts), don't just lift up the knee, add intensity to it by tightening your core and bringing your knee up as fast as you can, and then using your leg and core muscles to brake.

I hope this helps!

>The other move is in a couple of her other workouts, the
>hammer punch lunges. I've grown to dread these. They seem to
>get my heart rate up there a little bit by the end but the
>move is just not one I'm real comfortable with. Any tips on
>getting the most out of this move?
>
>Tips on substitutions would be helpful too.
>
>
>
>:*

 

[kathryn]

I don't like the hammer punch lunges as-is (too much twist possible in the back knee), so I do them facing forward. Think about landing into the heel of the forward foot and reaching down to the heel of that foot with the punching hand. You should feel in in the backside!

 

[Alhambra]

For the "side slam its" really focus on getting low with knees over your ankles. The lower you get the more you should feel it.

For the hammer punch lunges think about putting your foot gently down(this takes a lot of muscle control when you're moving fast), lunge as deeply as you can (no more than 90 degree angles with both knees) and then really use your upper body when you bring your knee up i.e. pull down with your arms as if you were trying to pull the ceiling onto your head (this should help engage the core). I feel my side stomach muscles everytime by putting emphasis into the move.

Hope this helps!

 

[papaya]

Thanks so much everyone! My last workout had the hammer punch lunges and I used all the tips and I don't know if it was that, OR coincidentally I had changed to a different band for firewalkers and MY OH MY major DOMS the next day in my glutes. Wowza! }(

 

[howrobin]

re. hammer punch lunges
the tendency I always struggle with on all kinds of punches is forgetting that every punch begins with hip rotation. imagine a long bull whip with the handle being your hips and the tip of the whip being your fist. so applying this to the hammer punch lunge, instead of thinking about your punch as you start, concentrate on the hip rotation forward as you plant your foot, so that when you are going down into the lunge, your hips are facing forward. If you watch Cathe doing it, she does this really well. with the hips facing forward, you eliminate/reduce twisting and torquing of the knees (ouch). also, you'll have a smoother crisper downward momentum which adds to the power of the punch. that downward movement of your weight adds a lot of power to the punch which is lost if the punch is only viewed as an arm motion. this info comes from DVDs mentioned by persons commenting above and an instructor in a kickboxing class I attend.
If you find you really like kickboxing, another thing you might consider is doing a class somewhere, tell the instructor you are new to it, and ask him/her to correct you. After you figure it out, then you can stick to the DVDs.
re. the whipping aspect. your shoulders are the middle part of the whip. so your hips start the punch, your shoulders follow, and then your arm follows the shoulders, and then ka-boom with your fist of fury (tongue in cheek there).
it occurs to me also that another reason these hammer lunges are hard is that the momentum of the downward movement adds extra stress to it. Your muscles have to work harder at the end of the down movement to stop yourself than they do when you just do a static lunge. Trust Cathe to figure out a new way to beat us up (but that's why we come back, right?). that's good when your muscles build up to it, but it is a beast when your trying to get used to it in the first place.
Good luck.