Hand width ashtanga seated jump backs

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hi all.

I’m working on my seated jump backs in the ashtanga primary series and wanted to ask about hand positioning and width. Over time more core strength is building and I’m getting closer to some form of clearance but unless I position my hands slightly wider ( index and middle finger on the mat, ring finger and little finger off ) I really struggle to make the room to dram my feet and knees back. Should I be using a wider stance with my arms and maybe generally throughout my practice? I’m thinking either I’ve been placing my hands closer than they need to be or I need to keep working on more lift in my current narrower position?

#2

Hand position can not be modified much because you need to take care of alignment, center of gravity/mass for your shoulders/wrists joints, but your crossed leg position compression and lifting them up more will give some extra space to turn around.

#3

From how I’m envisioning this, the width of your arms/hands is of great concern to me. Frankly, after some time of this uneven positioning you could develop a pesky injury- if not in your hands directly, possibly in the arms, shoulders or neck. In weight bearing postures for the arms, the entire hand- palm, heel and fingers alike- must press firmly and evenly down on the mat. Therefore, if you are lifting up off an uneven surface, the weight is not equally distributed thus, leading injury. It’s funny how these small habits we develop can be more detrimental.

Now, in response to the width of your hands/arms. The proximity of your hands/arms from the trunk of your body, is crucial in creating stability, strength and control. The further away, the less control. With your hands/arms being so wide from your trunk, you are making jumping back more challenging. Pulling the torso through the gate of the arms takes a tremendous amount of strength, both in the abdomen and the arms. Bandha engagement pays a huge role too. Also, counter balancing is an element.

I’d suggest trying a few things. First, bring your hands close enough so that the entire hand is on the mat. Next, work on hugging the knees closer together and into the body. Kathryn Budig calls it making yourself a “tight little package.” Lastly, play with counter balancing some. Just like learning bhujapidasana or bakasana, work on rocking the weight forward while pressing firmly into your hands in preparation of “shooting” back and through the arms. This will give you some (controlled) momentum and help getting you through the arms in closer proximity.

One more thing- pay attention to how you are distributing weight in your hands. Often times we favor the the outer edge (the pinky edge) which will encourage the palm to pocket up off the mat. Again, this is taking the weight away from the trunk of the body when in fact we want to draw strength from it. So, if notice you do this work on pressing the L of the pointer finger and thumb down to the mat, engaging the inseam of the arms. This will help tremendously in controlling movement.

Happy practice!

#4

Thank you for the responses and in particular jhp123.

I’ll look to work on keeping my whole hand on the mat from now and focus on bringing my knees in as close as i can to my body during the lift. I feel fairly strong my my arm and hand but i know i have a lot of work to do on my abdominal lift and how close i can get my knees to my chest. Hopefully this will be able to help me pull my feet in tighter to give me that extra room.
I do focus alot on my index finger pressure and total hand pressure during my practice currently as it’s something i’m very concious of but thanks for the info.

#5

Uh you’re doing jump backs with a tear in your medial collateral ligament?

#6

I had been up until my appointment with the specialist : ( , but I’m now modifying my practice since the results of my MRI to avoid any stress to the outside of my knee ( LCL tear ) or impact.

#7

I see. Thank you.

#8

Thanks for the info on the injury InnerAthlete… Physio starts next week and I’ve now got a better idea on how to treat it.

#9

Very good catch Gordon, I did not pay attention to the person who is posting.

Sunny, need to stop jumps of any kind until you are sure that you have recovered. Its good that you stopped it but based on your earlier post, it seems you injured because of demanding competition.

If you are doing something for health then moderate activities will always give best result unless you are in sports and want to take part in competition but still current situation should be evaluated.

#10

The issue of where to place your hands for a jump back is largely one of geometry. The further they are from the side of the body, the more they will extend, becoming the hypotenuse of a triangle, with your side being one leg and the floor being the other. This will make it virtually impossible to get off the ground. To lift the body, the arms must start out somewhat bent and then extend; this extension is what provides the lift. For this, the hands should be just about touching the sides of the hips, the arms should be bent with the elbows pointing roughly backward. This, at least, is how I do it, and it seems to work.

Hope it helps.

#11

Thanks guy’s. I’ve stopped all competition and sport until i’m mended and recovered as well as any impact stresses and lateral movements to the knee.

As for the info on the jump backs, thanks yogandy. I’ll do some work on my lifts with my hands closer to my hips as suggested and persevere on my core strength.
The issue i had was that i couldn’t actually seem to get my feet clear of my arms. I’m assuming i need to gain more height from my arms closer by and to ‘tuck’ more with my knees closer to my body?