Is it necessary to touch shoulders to Rings no RC PE3?

Hey there, folks.

I tried PE3 for a few days and i just can't get to touch rings to shoulders. At first, I thought it was a matter of strength, but I tried today to touch a circular weight (nearly the same size as X-rings) to shoulder while standing and it's just not possible.

Elbow joint won't bend anymore and, if I bring it closer to chest by pulling shoulders even further back, well, rings go the same distance as shoulders, so no touch.

Therefore, is it necessary? Did someone experienced something similar?

Cheers!

The course video demonstrates the full range of motion Coach Sommer expects before we move onto the next hardest progression.

Indeed, Rayne. Not trying to shortcut. My doubt is if this is strictly necesary and therefore I need to look for ways to remedy my lack of ROM.

For instance, Allan still lift his feet on some SLS stuff, but has moved on with Coach's endorsement. Also, in natural leg extension, it's said that each person will have a proper ROM, according to his body proportions. So I'd like to know if some people just can't touch rings to shoulders or how to try to deal with it.

Are your shoulder blades retracted?

I used to think that I was anatomically limited in this regard, but after a while practicing the movement and with shifting my focus from volume to form I found that I'm actually quite capable of achieving this ROM.  I suppose it's possible that you're limited by your anatomy, but the overwhelming likelihood is that the limitation lies in your strength or priority hierarchy (hitting prescribes reps vs. completing full ROM).

Regarding discrepancies in videos, Allan, etc:  I'm pretty sure that comparisons between these athletes and most of us here on the forums aren't valid.  It's possible that he was just tight that day, or that the exercise is so easy for him he wasn't really paying close attention to what he is doing.  It could be a failure of editing or quality control of the video.  I don't know whether any of this is in fact the case, but that's kind of the point.  Coach probably has a catalogue of hundreds of thousands of variables that may affect the standard formula for progression, but because he's not around to apply these logarithms to each of our particular cases it's usually best to keep pursuing the standard with the assumption that, with dedicated training, you will reach it.  

This is coming from there perspective of someone who on several occasions has been convinced that this or that anatomical idiosyncrasy is the reason that he can't do _______ properly.  Maintaining PTT, ABH ROM, hollow body, whatever...Now my working assumption is that I am capable of doing these things (or at least potentially capable), and that it's just a matter of refinement in the areas of strength, mobility, and/or skill.  This heuristic has served me very well, and I suspect that it will do you same for you.  

I believe it is impossible for some people. I remember Joshau Naterman saying the same thing a while back. If you can't touch your hand to your shoulder without load, how are you going to be able to do it under load?

Personally, I can push my hand to my shoulder with the opposite hand, but as soon as I tense my biceps, it gets pushed away. Surely this just shows that there is a certain amount of variance between people's natural limit of ROM. In this case I believe it's a result of having shorter biceps tendons than average, meaning the muscle belly will always be closer to the inside of the elbow. I agree with your general point Sven, but I would put this in the same category as whether your knees should touch when you have your legs fully extended and ankles touching; for some people it's just not possible.

For PE2 - 4 I have always striven for full ROM, pulling hands to upper chest on each rep. Indeed, this is exactly what Dillon does in the videos for PE3 and 4.

Thanks for the input, guys. As I said, I can't do it under 3kg load. I just tried and I just can't touch shoulders without any load (actually, I was a bit dumb and tried to force a bit, as Kibbo said he managed to touch shoulders and now it's aching a lot; and still not a cm closer to shoulders, despite forcing).

Tex: They are. But, as arms are locked into them, moving them creates the same movement on hands, so protract/retracting them still leaves the same space between hands and shoulders.

Sven: I'm on the same boat. As I just couldn't touch for 3 weeks of experimenting, I came to the forums in search of advice on stretching (as I can't do it without loads, it's not a matter of active flexibility or strenght) or to know that maybe I'm in the lower tail of the ROM distribution for this particular movement. I've been on the ABH fight for near a year now, somewwhat closely followed by Mn PE2. But I've seen recomendations for things to try in order to fix it and am working through them. So I do focus on Form (still on first cycle on Mn PE2 and Always did 2 reps for RC PE3).

Kibbo: thanks for the input again!

You don't need to touch shoulders. Think thumbs to chest.

I would not suggest to focus on retraction while rowing. I largely prefer to focus on depression (shoulder blades down). Retraction will be natural when you will row while this is not the same with depression.

Duff said:

You don't need to touch shoulders. Think thumbs to chest.

you mean, this guy? #thumbstochest

Keilani Gutierrez said:

you mean, this guy? #thumbstochest

I had to google that...#doublepistols

Keep practicing sPL progressions and take care of your elbow/shoulder and biceps flexibility. I never had (at least I thought that) hypertextended elbow and thanks to Straight Arm Strenght now my elbow ROM has been reset to its natural state, that is a little hyperextension.

Before you blame yourself for your body structure or whatever, work your ass off every inch!

Completely agreed here to Sven.