RC/PE6 Advancement?

I just moved on to week #9 (4x48s).  Today was the first day.  I was able to get sets 1-3, but only 30 seconds on set #4.  I will be training this twice more this week.

I am assuming that I will not be ready to move to week #10 (4x60s) by the end of this week.  How do I handle this through the website?  If I somehow program that I repeat this week, it will throw off my "de-load" weeks and they will not be synced. Can anyone tell me what the proper protocol is for this situation?

Do I skip back to week #6, thus keeping my de-loads in sync?  I'm really at a loss.  Thank you.

are you talking about next week's workout itself or the scheduler?

I add microcycles and just make sure to keep the deload in sync.  for instance, if i can't to 4 x 48, but I can do 3 x 48, i'd go 4 x 42, 5 x 42, 4 x 48.  Then if i can't make the jump to 4 x 60, I'd go 5 x 48, 4 x 54, 5 x 54, 4 x 60, 5 x 60.  It really doesn't matter as long as you keep the deloads in sync.  Some elements you may even make smaller adjustments if you're really struggling.  

Hmms said:

are you talking about next week's workout itself or the scheduler?

Both!

Just stay at 4x48 until you nail it. If you run into a deload week in the meantime, make the deload volume 4x24. When you are ready to move on to 4x60, just update the workout scheduler.

MT Nordic's suggestion is also good.

I tried the thing where you increase less than is required for the mini cycle (eg. Can't do 4x48 so try 4x 42. 5x42. 4x48) didn't work so well and I realised in the third week you do less volume than the second week so now I am trying a different method where if I can't do 4 x48 then I just aim for 4x48 regardless but won't nessacarily reach 48 on each set ( eg. I might get 48 48 36 36) then next week push harder and try increase a bit more and then do the same the week after while the forth week is still de loaded at half of what ever I achieve.

Anyway hoping this wil be a better solution for me.

The only downside of doing that ^ is that you end up going to failure every time you do this.  That can slow recovery and make for slow progress. This may work for some, but for myself i make faster gains if i'm not going to complete failure every workout.  Obviously sometimes you need to push it, especially right before a deload week when you have time to recover.  Each persons recovery ability will be different.

I went to failure every single time. It wasn't fun, but it worked. Took 4-5 months though.

Yea honestly I think I need to go to failure or close to it to bust through these plateaus ( this mood doesn't necessarily mean you go to failure every time because you can stop short of failure and then just add reps each week). People often don't go anywhere near failure and they stick to what is comfortable and when they do go to failure they probably still haven't gone there... I've been there where my mind told me I'm nearly at failure but rather than drop because I thought I was nearly there I decided to keep going until I literally couldn't hold my body up any more and I doubled my time. I wouldn't do that every workout though because it takes a hell of a lot out of me and I like to climb but I pushed my limit and now I know where true failure for me lies so I can get a better idea of when I'm getting close to it rather than thinking I'm close to it I know now.

Another thing that no one seems to mention is that it is less taxing to go to failure on an isometric exercise. That's been my experience anyway: I don't get doms from that like I would with a concentric/eccentric exercise .

Yes-- it can be mentally daunting to accept that you're going to be shaking etc, but the fact is that if you just hold on, it won't be long before you can just move past it... stick it out as best you can and it *will* get easier (as you eventually stop panicking once you get uncomfortable)

I was wondering if I should stop as soon as my body drops in the slightest or should I stop once my chin hits level with the bar... Right now I hold it around shoulder height but the minimum is chin over the bar. Often my body will drop to around middle of the neck but I can hold out there for a while longer so I am still above the chin. So what to do?

In general, I've found that there are two approaches that work pretty well for me when I reach the point where I can no longer perform a static hold correctly. One option is to simply continue to fight; if your chin drops below the bar, then keep holding and try to keep your nose above the bar. The other option is to stop, take five breaths, then hop back up and try to finish the hold with good form. Both techniques have advantages and disadvantages. Continuing to hold the pose with improper position will help build your mental toughness and ability to sustain physical effort, but you'll be spending time training the wrong position. On the other hand, taking a short rest will allow you to work the right position. 

Note that either way you should count the set as a failure, and should not increase your target volume until you've managed to complete the hold without breaking form or taking rest.

Also note that this is a technique for busting through plateaus. It's not something you should have to do frequently. 

The thing I'm confused about though is because both having the bar at shoulder height Nd neck height are still counted as mastery should I continue holding at neck height even when I've dropped from shoulder height or should I take a rest as you say? Technically both heights count as mastery but I'm striving for shoulder height.

Also I have noticed when I plateau it is always on more than one exercise for example hbp and RC seemed to have hit a small sticking point and I have been trying to bust through both at the same time but now I'm focusing more on hbp and keeping RC where it is and as soon as I did that I made some progress on hbp... No need to bust through every plateau at the same time so I am doing me one at a time and finally making progress.

ausswe said:

The thing I'm confused about though is because both having the bar at shoulder height Nd neck height are still counted as mastery should I continue holding at neck height even when I've dropped from shoulder height or should I take a rest as you say? Technically both heights count as mastery but I'm striving for shoulder height.

 

You can of course raise the standard for mastery, but this one is particularly evil as it is, and going for mastery at shoulder height will probably cost you several extra months of work. If you're fine with that, no problem, go ahead. 

Personally, mastering it with chin above the bar was a big effort for me, and one I do not wish to repeat

I am at 36, 36, 36, 24 and 24. Each four weeks I only add around 6-10 seconds but I feel so much stronger. Today I was shaking like a madman with sweat dripping off my elbows. It is a love hate relationship just like PPP's.

Don't worry guys. It'll come just stand your ground.

You wouldnt let Coach beat you, would you...?

Man, I'm glad I don't have to train RC6 anymore    (I still do a 60s set for warmup, still sucks).

Ravn said:

Man, I'm glad I don't have to train RC6 anymore    (I still do a 60s set for warmup, still sucks).

When I get it I will do it as a warm up as well. I don't want to lose it.

Anybody else constantly getting golfer's elbow from this one? Been doing it for almost a year now and still battling not to provoke the inflammation. My latest try is to try repeat the mini cycle (block 2) over and over again until it feels easy, to give time for the tissue build up. Haven't heard of anybody taking this long though.

I was stuck at trying to achieve 5x36 for a couple weeks.  I tried just continuing to just muscle through it with the first 1-2 sets being 36 and the rest dropping.  However, it wasn't till I backed off and did a half step at 3-5x32 that I started to climb up again.  With much less overall struggle.

So in my limited experience so far... .backing off the intensity of the set and building up again has helped me move forward.  I just hit 3x48 this week + 1x36s.  I could have probably pushed to 4x48 but it would have taken everything that I had.  Going to this extreme doesn't seem to be necessary.  Having patience and backing up a little seems to be a more effective strategy in the long run IMHO.  

Nino, thank you for your post.  I haven't been at this particular exercise for a year, but I won't be surprised if I am.  I've been at it for something like 7 months, possibly longer.  Probably 5 months trying to get 5x48s.  I improved pretty quickly up to about 36s sets.  It got SLOW after that.  Again, thanks for posting.  

I have not had any injury issues however.

Cadams:

Thanks for this.  I will definitely consider it.  However, even my de-load weeks are a struggle.  :-)

If you're deload is a challenge, is it possible that you're overtrained/ under recovered?  How are your other elements progressing?  

I don't think I'm overtrained or under recovered.  Other elements have progressed quite nicely.  I can't say that I blow right through the others or that I don't need to repeat micro-cycles.  I've had some problems with the FL progressions, but nothing like the RC/PE6.  I've also had some problems with sPL/PE5, but again, nothing like RC/PE6.  Other than those, I've pretty much moved right along.

I honestly think that RC/PE6 is extraordinarily difficult for adults...especially big ones like myself.  The RC progressions after 6, I'm capable of now, and was quite a while ago.  I don't see the logic of this RC/PE6.  Doing a 60 second hang, then doing the mobility, then jumping back up on that bar with no rest seems a bit crazy.  It's not as if the mobility is rest, so it's pretty much continuous work.  

However, I'm following the program like a good soldier.  I paid for this sucker and I'll follow it.  If I continue to struggle with this at 1 year, I will definitely evaluate this.  I know this might get me in trouble, but I see Ido's students, including women, progressing with some amazing stuff much faster than I am at this point.  It's a bit frustrating, given I don't understand the logic of this or how to really get past this hump.