position of hands in Manna press

Hello,

 

I am working with the middle split holds ( MN / SE 14 ), and place my hands with fingers sideways. In the following progresion, Manna press, the athlete places his fingers backwards. What is the reason to place the hands just like that? Should it be done this way? Should I practice the Middle Split Hold with fingers backwards to get used?

 

Thanks in advance.

Fingers backwards will be easier to press to Manna.

manna substantially works against chest and lats resistance during extension of the upper arms behind the back.

both of them internally rotate the upper arms. since you externally rotate the hands you reach an optimal position for both retract and engage the upper back muscles/shoulders muscle to push the body up.

this does not mean that you cannot perform the exercise with fingers forward but that you need more passive and active flexibility.

since pecs and lats are the limiting factor there is no reason to add more difficult if you do not have manna with the normal hands positioning.

Thank you very much, now is perfectly clear.