About 6 months ago, I was trying to figure out why I was having problem with muscle-up development and found that I was having problems getting full ROM on my pull-ups. What I mean by this was that even though I was strong enough to do 10 pullups getting the chin the bar, I couldn't do 1 bring the bar down to my sternum.
Not only could not do a pull to the sternum, I found I couldn't even jump up to the bar and hold the bar at sternum level for 1 full second. Then I lowered the bar and used my feet assistance to do it. And I realized that I essentially have zero strength in the ROM between my neck to my sternum.
So I went back to basics with the prerequisites and focused on doing them with special attention to scapula positioning, especially in regards to retraction, depression, and rotation. And I dropped back in all my FBE progressions to exercises I could do without relying on any momentum at the beginning and the end of the full ROM, especially where the scapula was concerned.
Let's just say it's been really humbling, but it also makes the SSC make much more sense. You really do need a full 8-12 weeks before moving up a progression even if you can easily do the 90% of the ROM actually feels easy. Those movements at the very beginning and very end of the move are where you're relying on tendon strength and joint strength absolutely need to be developed. I've dropped back my progression on XR Rows to the point where it's actually laughable, but I also am now working out muscles that were being totally ignored....especially right at the beginning of the rep and at the end.
It was eye-opening to note the strength differential in depressing my scaps when my shoulders were protracted (rolled forward) vs. retracted or neutral. And if you read enough posts you'll see people struggling with their FL and BL work because those lever moves put a major amount of stress on those very weakest of areas.
For you beginners out there...
