Foundation One

Hello to everybody here, 

I've worked BtGB 2 years ago and stopped to focus on the foundation series as my main fitness & conditioning. 

I cannot seem to progress past 36sec on the Bent Arm Chin Hang(Foundation One). I've tried going back to 24sec and increasing volume(7-8 sets).

- I heard somewhere the lats are supposed to take the brunt of this...

- This positioning of the elbows/arms of the athlete performing this are of note: his elbows are not near his side and wrists are rotated.

I can do one set. Then the 2nd set is a slight struggle, but I always get it. The 3rd I can get with a struggle. 

Also of note: I did skip to this exercises due to the fact that I don't have rings to do the rows on. Could this have affected my work capacity from not properly preparing beforehand? 

I was always concerned with muscle fiber conversion with this move, however I don't think that's a factor.

Any advice from someone who has mastered this or advanced to a longer hold would help.

You're in luck, and not the only one, the requirement has been changed and is now 30s, so if you've been hitting 36s you are good to go.

Even if you have achieved mastery on this, you should still do the rowing exercises because they work different muscles. 

I got my rings for under $25 off Amazon, so it's a cheap investment.

Some of the basic rows are powerful tools to building pulling strength. They enabled me to be able to do a legless ropeclimb despite only being on F1 on RC. 

Dude, lol of course skipping previous exercises will affect your work capacity on this one! The program is designed as a series of progressions, so you have to, have to, have to start at the level you're at before moving on.

It might help to think of the Foundation series as a pyramid with the 7 fundamental exercises we're building up to as the top of that pyramid. The very first PE1's make up the solid base that you will build upon each step of the way, with each successive step laying the next level of foundation on which you will build the next level, and the next level, and so on all the way up to the top. If you neglect these lower levels, not only will it make it that much harder to even make it to the top at all, but if you actually do get there it will be very easy to knock the whole thing over and undo all the progress you've made.

If you don't have rings, you can find some online for around $50 or less. Get a cheap door-frame pull-up bar and hang them from that. If money is a factor and you can't afford them at the moment, then find a clever workaround. Use towels, rope, etc. Also, check the 'Equipment' forum here for more ideas, but anything is better than just skipping the previous exercises!

If you need some quick and dirty "rings", I tied two rolls of packing tape to a door-frame chin-up bar with rope. Took some finagling to get them adjusted right, but it works for the early progressions at least.