RC: PE1 Stuck on Incline Rows

Hello awesome Coaches,

I hit a wall with ground rows, backed it up and got stuck on incline rows. I can't seem to get past 9 reps at tempo. So I guess I'm overdue for a form check...

It's a bit hard to tell in detail from this angle and due to your hoodie, but I think you're picking up a tiny bit of an arch in your back. 
It could be you're pulling more with your arms than with your scapulae.  I try to focus on pulling my elbows behind me, squeezing the scapulae together while depressing at the top - and keeping them depressed while protracting at the bottom of the movement.

Hi Jeniffer! Good news for you! You are not working on incline rows, but half way between incline and ground! I d say even closer to ground rows. For incline rows rings should be at shoulder high. And for ground rows shoulder blades just above the floor. So you are working a variation pretty much harder than incline. :-)

Hi Jennifer, you can notice how you never turn your grip on palm facing you. this detail reduces the assistance of the bicep brachii to the brachialis and brachioradialis making the effort much bigger in these muscles. try again with the correct grip rotation and then let me know how it goes.

Oh wow, I hadn't noticed the palms turning in that much when I watched the videos. Thanks Alessandro!! By the way, it looks like the athlete doesn't turn his palms toward his face on the Ground Rows. Is that expected? Or should I plan to continue that full range of motion into PE2?

Good advice, Bas. I do feel like I pull a lot with my arms. I'll focus on what my scaps are doing next time. 

Nice catch Antonio! That's actually intentional. The higher "normal" rows were easy, but ground rows were too hard. I'd started doing this set up in between as a way to bridge the gap between PE1 and PE2.

Thanks everyone!

Sorry to bump into ... but I also struggle with these, I also returned to refine it after plateau at 5*3r of PE2 and I also use rings slightly lower than in the instruction for pe1 (although not as low as you @Jennifer Marie) ...

So, my question is ... are we supposed to rotate our palms 180 degress? Coz in the instructional video, the girl is only rotating them 90degress ... so is the boy in the picture for this exercise .... but in the follow along video, they both rotate palms 180 degrees ....

Thanks ;-)

1 hour ago, Petra Kmecová said:

Sorry to bump into ... but I also struggle with these, I also returned to refine it after plateau at 5*3r of PE2 and I also use rings slightly lower than in the instruction for pe1 (although not as low as you @Jennifer Marie) ...

So, my question is ... are we supposed to rotate our palms 180 degress? Coz in the instructional video, the girl is only rotating them 90degress ... so is the boy in the picture for this exercise .... but in the follow along video, they both rotate palms 180 degrees ....

Thanks ;-)

I asked something similar. Their answer here: 

After a long lay off due to shoulder surgery I started with incline rows from scratch again. To help me focus on using the scapulae and rebuild grip strength I throw in a few rounds of straight arm ground row scap shrugs.   

Thanks @Antonio Alías Montoya! That answers my question and some orhers that might come up later :-)

Hi @Alessandro Mainente, 

 I noticed another interesting item in the video this morning... At the top of the row, I've been striving to touching my hand to my shoulder, but the athlete in the video doesn't quite get that high. There appears to be a gap on the incline row. On the ground row there's definitely that touch, and the elevated row, it appears so, but very close either way.

I'm curious, what is the cue/goal to call the rep complete at the top of the incline row? Does that change for the next two PEs?

Simply strengthen the elbow flexors. Touching the chest it is a reference point. the more you have a reference point the more you have idea about the proficiency in a specific exercise.