Scaling Elevated Thoracic Bridge -- is my workaround worth doing?

Like a lot of people on the forums I've always had trouble scaling the Elevated Thoracic Bridge. For a long time, the best I could come up with was to hang on my pull-up bar with bent knees, and then swing forward and use the momentum to straighten my legs, whilst still holding the bar behind me. It seemed to give me some stretch, and since I didn't have any other options I kept it in.

However, I finally have stallbars (hurray!) and today is the first time I tried doing TB with them. I was particularly keen to experiment with ways to get into the ETB.

I tried doing it like the guys in the video but no matter where I put my feet to start with, it's simply not possible for me. So I thought I'd try a handstand except with hands a bit further away from the stallbar than a 'proper' handstand would be. (Not that I can do a 'proper' HS, but I'm just trying to indicate my thinking.)

It felt like there was reasonable pressure on my upper back--a stretch, perhaps--so I think I might be heading in the right direction. But I thought I'd get some input from a coach on this just in case I'm wasting my time.

I've recorded a video of how I'm doing it, although this is after I finished the whole session so my hands are slightly closer to the stallbars than they had been before (skip to 26s):

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hiqdgDE2LupQZxvR8

You might say this is just a very bad handstand but I am actually pushing away from the stallbars with my shoulders and trying to straighten my arms!

So the question is, is this a reasonable way of scaling? If it is, then my plan would be to try to get my arms straighter and once that is done, to gradually move away from the stallbars...and who knows, I might one day be able to get my feet on the next rung down. 

Thanks for any help, and all the best,

Mark

HI mark probably in your case i would perform the bridge as high as necessary and thinking about incorporating some daily work on cat variations.

Thanks for quick response Alessandro, much appreciated.

I think I know what you mean by cat variations--and I will definitely start doing them daily--but what do you mean by performing the bridge as high as necessary? Do you mean something other than what I've attempted in my video?

All the best,

Mark
 

Hey Mark,

You can incorporate elevated cat and inverted cat into your daily routine for some extra thoracic work. During your elevated bridge work you can elevate your feet as much as you need in order to get your shoulders over your hands.

Thanks Jeffrey and Alessandro. I'll do that.