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August 8, 2007
The goal is more...anyway, anyhow!
Amy's L Pull Ups
CrossFit Journal April 2003
Interesting, intelligent, useful information about the pull-up is not easy to come by. Here’s an interesting article we found from Clarence Bass’ site on Pavel’s theory of “greasing the groove” (http://www.cbass.com/Synaptic.htm). Find us another. Please! There are internet sites and message boards dedicated to bench press technique, mechanics, routines, and performance, where nothing similar exists for the pull-up.
How can a movement of such enormous import stir such little interest? It doesn’t make sense that the pull-up doesn’t inspire the same discussion, analysis, and overall attention that so many other movements do like the bench press and squat.
But, first let’s back up a little bit and give a definition of the pull-up. We’ll use Merriam Webster’s definition of “chinning” - “to raise oneself while hanging by the hands until the chin is level with the support” to describe what we call a “pull-up.”
Notice that we make no mention of grip, underhand or overhand (supinated or pronated). We don’t care, and we don’t want you to either. When you can do 40 pull-ups you won’t care much if the grip is underhand, overhand, wide, narrow, or mixed – it all starts to feel the same. The lesson is - mix it up.
How significant is the pull-up? In our view the pull-up is:
• At least as important as any other upper body exercise
• An essential part of athletic training
• Perfectly functional
• A gateway exercise to highly developmental gymnastics movements
• Singularly unique and valuable, and so has no replacement (“lat pull-down” is a weak substitute)
The requirements for the CrossFit pull-up are simple yet tough to execute. The pull-up begins from a hang at full arm and shoulder extension and ends, regardless of grip, with the chest pressed tightly to the bar.
Pulling the chest to the bar is very hard but encourages fully “opening the chest” and pulling the shoulders back or “closing the back.” In the early stages of developing a pull-up it is acceptable to bring the Adam’s apple to the bar instead of the chest, but leading with the shoulders forward rather than back is a fault that needs to be fixed long before you are going to get to 30 pull-ups.
read on:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=crossfit+pull+ups&btnG=Search
Posted by Nicole Okumu at August 8, 2007 9:16 PM
Comments
Amy is awesome!
you go girl!
Posted by: Allen at August 9, 2007 12:25 PM
Righteous.
Posted by: Maximus at August 9, 2007 1:30 PM
Apparently, doing pull-ups at home in the laundry room pays off! Go Amy!
Posted by: Melissa at August 9, 2007 2:53 PM
Great job, Amy!
Posted by: Ann Kelly at August 9, 2007 4:15 PM
yes, "greasing the groove," while sounding really disgusting, works wonders. For 3 weeks I was practicing pistols and one armed pushups every hour or so a day, then I tried bench press for the first time in like 6 months and did way better then imagined, and my back squat skyrocketed (this was all before i started crossfit).
still on IR.
Posted by: Jonathan at August 9, 2007 5:50 PM