Hello, I have been having constant problems with my retraction because I am a rather protracted person. I was held up on this movement for six months and then I moved on till I couldn't progress anymore again, then I realized that I was protracted when doing this movement such as I was not using anything but forearms and hardly any back muscles other than a little terse minor. So should you be full retracted in the chin with scaps all the way back? Also has anyone else been held up on this movement for this long period of time?
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RC/PE6 Chin up holds
Started by Michael17, August 7, 2014 · 4 Replies · 248 Views
The whole series is all about retraction. I seriously would rethink moving ahead, in fact you should probably work on an easier exercise where you can actually retract fully.
If you can't feel your back working, it's going to be almost impossible to strengthen it.
Like the OP, I started out as a protracted person and only felt RC6 in the forearms. I definitely don't 'feel' my back well. But if you can do the exercise as demonstrated, move on. Otherwise, as Colin says, look harder at the details.
Mm, think I felt it most in my elbows/ biceps. But after finishing it, my pullup and muscleup work became much more back-focused than arm, without my consciously changing anything. Plus muscleups were far more comfortable on my elbows. Everyone's weak links are slightly different; luckily the medicine is simple (but not easy) 
LateStarter@46 said:Like the OP, I started out as a protracted person and only felt RC6 in the forearms. I definitely don't 'feel' my back well. But if you can do the exercise as demonstrated, move on. Otherwise, as Colin says, look harder at the details.
I think in the context of only this element in isolation you're probably correct. But if you're on PE 6, the assumption is that you can already retract fully if you've mastered the previous elements with full rings-to-chest ROM.
Jon Douglas said:Mm, think I felt it most in my elbows/ biceps.
What I meant by 'feeling it' is having the proprioception to find and activate the right muscles in your back. That doesn't mean that they're necessarily the hardest working muscles for a given exercise.