RC/PE11 (Bulgarian pull-up)

HI Petri the more you try to hold the forearm vertical when you move lower, the more mobility you need to have.that's the secret. how is your bridge? and your dislocate grip?

Hi @Alessandro Mainente 

Elevated bridge below. Overgrip dislocate is mastered at shoulder width + one hand.

What I mean is that the arms should stay vertical but move to the front of the face at the end of the pull like in the course video. Is that ok with you?

How far are the hands on the bridge? In order to work completely on the subscapularis the bridge must be improved for sure, also do not flex the neck, hold the ears in between your shoulders.

3 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

How far are the hands on the bridge? In order to work completely on the subscapularis the bridge must be improved for sure, also do not flex the neck, hold the ears in between your shoulders.

Hands are somewhere between shoulder width and shoulder width + one hand. The bridge is a work in progress; it's progressing but I expect it to take years before I have a full one (which is OK).

Now I'm not sure what to do with my Bulgarian pull-up training. Should I stop it until I have full bridge, or almost, and stay on the previous RC progression?

I assume mastery form involves vertical forearms at all times. At the end of the pull the forearms move from the ears to the front of the face but remain vertical. At least that is what I see on the course video and I think that form is achievable for me quite soon if I continue my training. It would be great if you could clarify/confirm this point.

Petri, your forearms MUST be vertical at all times (please attach a level to them next time for easier assessment). You must also pull the rings to the height of your belly button and demonstrate at least twice the reps necessary for mastery so we can make sure fatigue is not messing up your form. Then, provided you can show a dislocate with interlaced hands while holding a 45 lb plate, you may move on. Otherwise, prematurely moving on will inevitably result in your untimely and painful demise by numerous injuries to your unprepared body. You are welcome. 

Sorry, I couldn't resist...

Ha ha, that's funny, @Kai Ewert… As I was reading your first (and second) sentence, I was thinking to myself "wow, you are hard on him"… LOL… and then it hit me   funny!

58 minutes ago, Kai Ewert said:

Petri, your forearms MUST be vertical at all times (please attach a level to them next time for easier assessment). You must also pull the rings to the height of your belly button and demonstrate at least twice the reps necessary for mastery so we can make sure fatigue is not messing up your form. Then, provided you can show a dislocate with interlaced hands while holding a 45 lb plate, you may move on. Otherwise, prematurely moving on will inevitably result in your untimely and painful demise by numerous injuries to your unprepared body. You are welcome. 

Sorry, I couldn't resist...

Vertical arms, yep, for the rings to belly button I'll relocate to the International Space Station where that annoying gravity won't be a problem. Still have to figure out the dislocates part...

SOmetime exercises require to master many aspects in order to be perfectly executed, it is like to have handstand push up with a shoulder limitations and still pretend to master them. sorry about that , this will never happen in a short time. 

18 minutes ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

SOmetime exercises require to master many aspects in order to be perfectly executed, it is like to have handstand push up with a shoulder limitations and still pretend to master them. sorry about that , this will never happen in a short time. 

No problem with that, Alessandro. Does the course video demonstrate perfect execution? 

Yes, I've seen personally the guy in the video back in 2011 in a seminar and he performs the exercise with vertical forearms.

11 minutes ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

Yes, I've seen personally the guy in the video back in 2011 in a seminar and he performs the exercise with vertical forearms.

Vertical yes, but at the 2s, 7s and 12s mark (the bottom of the pulls) his hands are in front of his face, not aligned with the ears any more.

Do not tilt the head forward and keep the forearms vertical as much as possible . period. 

the more vertical they are the better it is for the long term health of the shoulder girdle, the PE11 it is probably (coupled with the last RC F4 IM) the only one exercise wich requires super strong middle and lower traps in order to avoid the very strong contraction of the subscapularis during the pulling exercise.

I also know someone who knows someone who has seen someone perform them perfectly...

Perfection is an ideal and the real question is whether you would be fine to continue in the progressions with a pullup that looks like the course video. Would you be? Probably. Would you get permission to do so in writing on the forum from a coach? Probably not...

7 minutes ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

Do not tilt the head forward and keep the forearms vertical as much as possible . period. 

the more vertical they are the better it is for the long term health of the shoulder girdle, the PE11 it is probably (coupled with the last RC F4 IM) the only one exercise wich requires super strong middle and lower traps in order to avoid the very strong contraction of the subscapularis during the pulling exercise.

Cheers. As long as the forearms stay fairly vertical, I won't then worry about them drifting to the front at the end, as that seems to be allowed.

Hi @Leo Trinidadand @Alessandro MainenteI played with the form doing 8x3 today and this is the last set. I'm fairly happy with the form (I'll try to remember to keep my head up at all times but sometimes I don't) so I'll move on to sets of 5.  

Hi @Petri Widsten. nice form but please don't fan or rotate your elbows forward like in 0:10 and 0:16 because initially its bulgarian pullup but your putting your elbows forward like a ring chinup/pullup.

4 hours ago, Leo Trinidad said:

Hi @Petri Widsten. nice form but please don't fan or rotate your elbows forward like in 0:10 and 0:16 because initially its bulgarian pullup but your putting your elbows forward like a ring chinup/pullup.

Thanks Leo. I think they'll always rotate forward to some degree (even in the course video) but with time and improving mobility over months/years this will be minimised. I've never seen a video with zero rotation where the rings are pulled to chin level. Is it possible?

it is possible , but you need a very mobile shoulders and especially a very active shoulder external rotation (very rare).

@Leo Trinidadand @Alessandro MainenteI thought I'd go for mastery with this form unless you want me to continue to refine it.

Execution it is fine, legs together and no break in the bodyline.