FKP/ PE1, do I have to literally do 90 degrees to move on?

I just bought the H1 course and I am working on the rudimentary exercises to see where I stand.

When I came upon FKP/ PE1, it says to bend the knuckle 90 degree. I admit it looked very easy at first, but when I tried it yesterday, to my utter astonishment, my knuckle only bent no more than 30 degrees.

I have been working on it yesterday and today; in just 2 days I have gained more range of motion (I am able to do 45 degree now).

However, 90 degrees seems to be a little radical. In order to move on to the next one, do I absolutely have to be able to bend my knuckles 90 degrees?
Or it meant "approximately 90 degrees" or "as much as you can"?

What will happen if I move on without being able to do 90 degrees?

What exercises can I do to increase the range of motion? (I have been using my other hand to "force" my hand to bend as much as I can tolerate and hold it for 30-50 seconds)

Thanks!

you need to reach 90 degrees before you move on.

Oh...I must go back then!

IggyLite said:

...What will happen if I move on without being able to do 90 degrees? ...

So, you wanna know what will happen...

Back when H1 released, I thought I was a tough guy so I skipped PE1. Bad choice. Turns out even though I could do 5x5 SE4 for FKP, I could not perform even 1 rep of PE1 beyond 30 degrees. I lacked the mobility for this element and had sidestepped the issue for 3 months by bringing my fingers to 90 degrees by forcing my bodyweight to slam the fingers into position. I basically did the same for wrist pushups...and wrist rocks...and fingertip pushups.

Now I'm sitting pretty on a top-notch wrist injury.

Sometimes you have to be put in your place the really hard way. I've been on PE1 for a long, long time now and last week I finally got 90 degrees on PE1. And my wrists felt great afterwards, rejuvenated. I will continue to be on PE1 for a long, long, long time. I still can't go into a plank position without pain. It used to be I couldn't even hold a gallon of water without pain.

Everyone says it but sometimes it takes a really hard lesson in patience and humility to heed that important advice: Do not skip any elements - you must have completely mastery of both the strength and mobility portions!!!

Thanks! Although it hurts my ego a little bit (still on PE1... =\), it truly is a humbling experience to hear other, stronger people been doing PE1 for (way) longer time than I have been.

Biren P. said:

(...) Now I'm sitting pretty on a top-notch wrist injury. (...)

Sorry to hear Biren P., here is to your prompt recovery

IggyLite said:

Thanks! Although it hurts my ego a little bit (still on PE1... =\), it truly is a humbling experience to hear other, stronger people been doing PE1 for (way) longer time than I have been.

You can stroke your ego by letting yourself know how smart you are for sticking to the H1 instructions . It is a little annoying in the short term to have to stick to PE1. But, it's better to focus on the fact that PE1 is continuously making your body stronger and more mobile. I'm sure you'd much rather stick to PE1 for 12 weeks and have a 2 minute handstand 2 years from now, than to get injured and be stuck on PE1 for a year and forcing the end goal even further away.

Good luck with your FKP training, if you want some additional work, Coach sommer wrote up a nice finger extension program here: https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/11811-advice-requested-concerning-returning-wrist-pains/ I'd been doing it for sometime and noticed my overall hand mobility improving well.

FredInChina said:

Sorry to hear Biren P., here is to your prompt recovery

Thank, Fred! Nothing to be sorry for, though. In some ways, I see this injury as a good thing - GST is special in that it can teach you some very important and valuable life lessons!

I have a quick question, I have been trying to force it to bend 90 degrees (still not much progress. Day 2) and I noticed that whenever I force my knuckle to bend as much as possible, my finger would start to curl. 

Is that ok? It only says bend the knuckle 90 degrees, not "bend first knuckle to 90 degrees and keep the fingers flat on the surface," does that mean as long as I get to bend 90 degrees, is it ok if my fingers do not stay flat on the surface?

Also I just realized it says "first knuckle...," what is a first knuckle?

IggyLite said:

I have a quick question, I have been trying to force it to bend 90 degrees (still not much progress. Day 2) and I noticed that whenever I force my knuckle to bend as much as possible, my finger would start to curl. 

Is that ok? It only says bend the knuckle 90 degrees, not "bend first knuckle to 90 degrees and keep the fingers flat on the surface," does that mean as long as I get to bend 90 degrees, is it ok if my fingers do not stay flat on the surface?

 

Also I just realized it says "first knuckle...," what is a first knuckle?

Don't force the knuckles to bend as much as possible. You should be working with a moderate intensity. You don't have to strive to get your fingers to 90 degrees right from the start. Aim for 30 degrees the first week, 35 the next week...etc..You're only on the second day. Expect to see progress in terms of weeks and months, not days.

Watch the demonstration video again. His fingers stay flat against the wall. The notes only demonstrate the most important of points, but your goal should be to emulate the gymnast in the video.

First knuckle is the knuckle at the base of the finger. Then you go up to the mid-finger at the second knuckle and at the top of the finger is the third knuckle.

I've been working FKP/PE1 3x a week for 5 months. I've just tipped the 45-degree point.

I type for a living, so my tendons have likely come a long way with this movement.

I'm about to move on to PE3 for the other three exercises. Can I go as far as I can with WP, WR, FP while still at FKP/PE1? Or, will lack of FKP mobility be a factor in progressing with these other wrist exercises?