Shoulder taps: how Upfit checks your form

Shoulder taps are done from a high plank. Upfit counts each tap and watches whether your hips stay steady while a hand is off the floor.

How do I do shoulder taps?

Start in a high plank with your hands under your shoulders and your feet wider than your hips. Lift one hand and tap the opposite shoulder. Put it back down and tap with the other hand. Keep your hips still. Rest on your knees if your wrists or shoulders need a break.

How do I set up my phone for shoulder taps?

Unlike planks, this move is tracked facing the camera. Put the phone on the floor in front of you and get into your plank facing it, with your body stretching away from the lens. Both shoulders and both hands need to be visible.

What does Upfit check on shoulder taps?

Upfit watches the higher of your two wrists. When it rises close to shoulder level and comes back down, that is one tap. During each tap it checks your hips against your shoulder width:

• Hips low. They dropped too far below your shoulders.
• Hips high. They rose into a pike.
• Hip shift. They rocked sideways or moved a lot from where they started, as people do to take weight off the lifting hand.

Pace is checked loosely. Only a very quick slap, or a hand parked at the shoulder for about four seconds, gets a tempo flag. Both still count.

When does a shoulder tap count?

A tap counts when your wrist comes up toward your shoulder, returns to the floor, and your hips stayed steady the whole time. If your hips sagged, piked or rocked, the tap is not counted.

What does the coach say?

These are real lines from the app's voice set:

• "Lift the hips through the shoulder taps — don't let them dip when a hand lifts!"
• "Drop the hips on the shoulder tap — you're piking like a downward dog!"
• "Lock the hips on the shoulder tap — don't rock side to side as the hand lifts!"

What can't Upfit check on shoulder taps?

The detector follows whichever wrist is higher, so it does not know which hand you used. It cannot tell whether you alternate hands or tap the opposite shoulder. It also does not check your foot width, your head or where your hands sit on the floor.

Where can I read more?

• What Upfit can't check, including how the form score works
• How Upfit works
• All exercise pages

Upfit is an iPhone app, out now on the App Store. It is a fitness app, not medical advice. Stop if you feel pain or dizziness.