We've been very busy and thus have struggled to find the time to make the video about hip contact position. I guess I'll drop a little difference in perception, leading to a change in training methods.
99.9% of Coach Wu's pull-ups and strict presses have been done from behind the neck. Only a few have been done from the front of the neck.
Why he does this.
1. Structural balance of the shoulder
In order to be able to press behind and pull-up behind the neck, the shoulder has to be extremely stable and the mobility required is very high. Only a highly stable shoulder girdle can do this.
The bar's behind your head. You just can't shift the weight to the anterior deltoids to compensate. Nor can you lean back to press with the pecs and hurt your lower back.
This brings us to the question again.
A. Is the exercise bad, because you cannot do it? What about the benefits it provides?
B. Should you learn to be able to do it and reap the benefits of behind the neck work?
2. The movement pattern.
Every time we press and pull from behind the neck, it's because we believe that builds the movement pattern to enable a strong overhead lockout position.
With videos of the Russians doing work behind the neck, I think this is a good time to share this bit of information. In fact, I was talking to the owner of CF Asphodel in HK yesterday, and he said he went to do 150 pull-ups behind the neck after Coach taught him to. Healthy shoulders he now has.
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