Ground Rows (RC/PE2) - Mastery is impossible

Changing the subject of this thread to Ground Rows RC/PE2 Mastery Is Possible?:-)))

On 16/8/2017 at 2:37 PM, Bill Marr said:

With so many of us parked on PE2 in both HBP and RC for eons, might it be time to consider a re-arrangement of the curriculum? There ain't a lot of motivation doing more of same for months -- approaching a year -- at a time.

No chance in hell!! @Bill Marr   - Let's get it done. 

I have been working on RC PE2 for months now and - with a slow steady pace - making progress. At the moment I am doing 5 x 9. I will stay here for at least a month more till I am able of finishing RC PE2/6 strongly . As Coach Sommer said in the Tim Ferris Podcast: "Pay your dues".

My approach to mastering the Ground Rows is like this:

Monday: GST Upper body

Tuesday: weighted pull-ups and kettlebell work

Wednesday: no strength training

Thursday: GST Upper body

Friday: weighted pull-ups and kettlebell work

Saturday: no strength training

Sunday: Rest

And the money maker = Every workout (strength/conditioning) is finished with a set or two of low volume Ground Rows.

On 8/19/2017 at 0:36 PM, Thomas Nordman said:

How big a part does bad thoracic back mobility play in all this?

It just seems natural that if you have tight pecs and shoulders, with a hunched forward posture, you need to work extra hard to reach the top position in the row. Working against your body so to say. Doing standard pull-ups you get away with this to much higher degree. And it is obvious that many of us find rows suprisingly hard, in relation to pull-ups. Many of us also suffer from bad upper back mobility and bad posture. So if you are used to doing pull-ups and consider yourself fairly strong, could improved mobility be the key to better progress rather just focus on strength/endurance? 

The thoracic bridge series certainly made full ROM feel easier. I'd say mobility and strength/endurance are both equally important here.

1 hour ago, Everett Carroll said:

The thoracic bridge series certainly made full ROM feel easier. I'd say mobility and strength/endurance are both equally important here.

Just needed that verified.  Speaking for myself, starting the mentioned stretch series is probably what's gonna help me the most to progress from where I'm at right now.

Guys, today I decided to listen to coach Sommer who just recently mentioned to suck it up and not overthink it: 

Quote

"Sometimes you simply have to embrace the suck.  Get 'em done and move on. Case in point, I guarantee if I was there overseeing your training; you would complete a good many more reps than you are currently.  The key is to find ways to motivate yourself to work past the discomfort of the lactic acid."

So I thought I will try to have the imaginary coach next to me and see how many 12r I can do instead of 5x9r… Surprisingly, I finished the next step 4x12r with a surprisingly solid form. Only I took a slightly longer break in between the sets, a few extra arm shakes to get rid of that lactic acid. So now I will stay on this one until I don't need to shake my arms in between the sets. Maybe I just needed to hear not to overthink things (which is my favorite thing to do!), suck it up and do the work.    Try it, maybe it will work for you too. 

I decided to come back to the tips video standard as well and scale my actual ground rows to match what is asked in those, with anchorage above shoulders and rings touching the shoulders, and "suck it up" to stay honest with myself and see if it's really just because I'm a little bitch. Amped volume like crazy sticking rigorously to those standards mentionned above and using slow reps, even though I see no reasons why the outcome would be any different than before. I mean I've been rock climbing and mountain wandering for a long time and I do know what "pushing through" and "feeling the burn" means but yeah w/e, let's do it, even though there's no burn anymore so to speak (I do get forearm pump when I'm more tired but no lactic acid build up "burning" sensations like say, when I'm doing those gorilla looking crawls from movement and my thighs are on fire. At some point shoulders just won't reach the rings and that's it). What did help a bit is looking to the horizon instead of at the ceiling when pulling.

So I'm at 4*9 now, done on Tuesdays, and after the whole upper body programmed training doing sets of rows with strict form and rest as much as needed between sets, adding slow reps into those, as much as I can until form breaks down, then again I'll have the same done on Fridays, will see in a few weeks. Also that might be a minor detail but my hands rests only on my fingers (with thumb locked still) and not on my palms since yeah, let's work on grip while we're at it, looks like a long ride anyway so better get more out of it. And while I'm at it I scaled my PPPs down so that I can do them with completely straight ankles, not using adherance from the floor and "curling" the toes, using the same template as rows (so rows / PPPs , rest, etc). Good luck to everyone

Yes, yes, yes. What Suzanna said. 

Embrace the suck (as if your coach is watching) and don't overthink. It's as much a mental game as a physical trial. I've always thought I have to be a bit of a masochist to be so passionate about weightlifting. The same could be said for gymnastic mastery as well.

I don't believe I saw it mentioned anywhere....but nutrition could be playing a roll as well. When doing high rep training...having a "full tank" in the effected muscles makes a big difference. Need them carbs for high rep work. If you're consistently dropping out at the same rep range...try eating more carbs the night before your training. This will especially make a big difference to those of you training in a carb depleted state most of the time (if you're dropping weight,etc).  Just my 2 cents.

Have people tried re-arranging the order of the exercises? If you are doing your HBP before Ground Rows then chnage thhings up and move rows to the start.  

Great question, Greg.

For F1, I recommend performing the workouts in the order shown so that the follow along videos play one after the other and so your body can get "used" to the rotation. Later on, after F1, you can experiment with a different order. For now, I suggest focusing on other aspects of your progression.