How to get your First Pull Up?

How to get your Chin over the Bar?

This is a post for all those seeking that first experience of lifting your
Chin over, looking into the horizon, smirking a cheeky grin and stomping down on the ground as you fall back with glory and accomplishment.

First thing is First!
Pull Up Strength or Lack thereof comes down to 1 of 2 Problems

Problem Number 1) Not being Strong enough in the vertical plane, which means not having enough arm and back strength to pull your self up all the way

Problem Number 2) Having an unbalanced strength to weight ratio (which is a strength issue and also a weight management issue)

Today we will be tackling solution to problem no.1

Solution to Problem Number 1)
Have a Set program to help you achieve your First pull Up.

This program doesn't need to be hard, but it needs to consistent and frequent with step by step progressions to get you there

How to practice Pull Ups when you can't do them?
Follow Progressions

Here are 4 Progressions
Progression no.1
Ring rows

*With the Ring row, we can start by taking baby steps and starting at almost no leaning
or we can make them incredibly challenging by a leaning back all the way down to being parallel to the ground


*to perform the Ring Row , Start with your Arms fully extended at the bottom position and finish by pulling your Chest and shoulder to the rings, Keep your Hips locked,
*To make the movement easier, bend at the knees .
*important tip, make sure not use momentum and do drop your butt during these

When to ideally progress to next stage?
When you can perform 10-12 ring rows parallel to the ground

Progression no.2
Banded Pull Ups

Banded pull ups are a great tool, once enough pulling strength has been developed in the horizontal plane *which means pulling yourself horizontally from the ground up with your feet on the ground.
Next comes vertical pulling which mimics the pull up alot more.

To perform the Banded Pull Up
Choose a band Ideally not thicker than a Large sized band or a band larger than your hand*the reason this is, if you need 2-3 4 bands to perform the pull up, the chances are you probably need to spend some more time developing horizontal pulling strength in the ring row.

Picture 1 shows a women placing her feet in a band, pushing the band down with one foot, then placing the other foot over the band. from there she goes to hanging from the bar as demonstrated in picture no.2

Once you have secured the band and are hanging from full extension with your arms locked out and shoulders active. proceed by pulling your body up, until your chin is over the bar.

Progressions, complete sets of 5-8 repetitions over 3-5 sets. and progress by changing bands from thickest to thinnest over time. if not progression in bands is made, then no progression in pull up strength will be made.

*tip do not swing on the band, or no strength will be developed

Progression no.3
Negative Chin Ups



Negative Chin ups are great for people who can complete Ring Rows as prescribed below and can perform 5-8 pull ups with a band.

Negative Chins basically consist of Fighting the fall during the pull ups once you have jumps yourself to the top

Steps,
Jump to the Top and Slowly go all the way down, this should ideally take 5-6 seconds

if you fall within 1-2 seconds, then this option is too advanced for you and you would be better off going to an easier progression.

How to implement these
perform 10 reps of 5-6 seconds, rest 3 minutes repeat.

do these on a frequent basis 2-3-4 times a week

Progression No.4
Chin Ups / Pull Ups



How to get better at them if you can already do them?

simple do them everyday not as apart of your work out but as a habit, perform 10 reps everytime you go past a bar, or perform however many reps you can perform. Make pull ups a habit or even a part of your warm up so that they start improving.

Hope This article Helped, in Next weeks article we will be covering

Thanks for Reading our Article

Written by. Raul Alonso Valenzuela
Head Coach/ Owner @ CrossFit Down Under

If you would like help with your first pull up, or would like to improve you any other aspect of your fitness and well being
you can contact us to write you a program
and inquire about our 1 on 1 Coaching Sessions
via
info@crossfitdownunder.com

What to do with the GHD

The infamous
Glute Hamstring Developer
Will Improve your DEADLIFTS! so start doing these exercises


Exercises to do on this Awful apparatus
Hip Extensions as demonstrated on the picture
3 sets x 12 Reps
Every Week x 3 times
HIP EXTENSIONS
TIPS
keep back straight
Hinge From HIp
Extend and Flex Glutes/ Hamstrings while Performing Movement

GHD Sti Ups
3 Sets x 12 Reps

Every Time you Come in to the Gym!

These will improve your Core Strength


Tips
hinge from hip While keeping your back Straight
Do not sacrifice a straight back for a lower sit up
you will only be causing damage to your spine

Part 2 coming Tomorrow

When to learn butterfly pull ups?

Not Until you have Developed
SEVERAL STRICT PULL UPS

or you will

SCREW up YOUR SHOULDERS

Learn the Gymnastics Kip First
Master It

Get to about 20 pull ups
and only then

start playing around with butterfly pull ups

Even then know butterfly pull ups

will not develop your actual pull ups

and still doing strict and weighed pull ups is very important

Keep your Shoulders Safe PEEPS!

Raul
Vital Fitness Project

Easy Solutions to Shoulder Problems in CrossFit

1) Pain in Pull Ups

Do Strict Underhand Pull Ups 

and Build do a double Digit amount before Attempting Kipping Pull Ups

As a Rule of Thumb Do 1 Strict Pull Up for every 2 Kipping Pull ups 

to substitute Amount

2) Pain in Dips 

Stretch your Pectoral Muscles more often

Pass through's with a broom stick of pvc pipe work great or 

a good old pec strength never hurts! 

3) Pain while Jerking?

Now i know what you are thinking? 

....... maybe not, let's not go there! 

but seriously 

Jerking can cause pain if you haven't developed the right amount of Muscle around your shoulder girdle

so

Substitute for 

Push Pressing until able to push jerk! or Split Jerk 

4) Pain in General

Spend Time mobilizing your shoulders

This means doing lots of Pass through's 

Lots of Stretching and

Strengthening the Shoulder Girdle from all angles! 

Warming up your shoulders before shoulder intense work outs

and minimizing the amount of pull ups/ OH Squats and Push Jerks you do In a week! 

5) If you are feeling Pain in general Do not avoid it and do Something about it 

Go see a Chiropractor

A Physiotherapist

or Consults with your CrossFit Coach

on accessory exercises that will speed up your Shoulder Health! 

Peace 

Raul

Vital Fitness Project! 

Chasing Performance and how this affects your body

This could be a long winded Response but I'll make it a short one!

Guys Usually ask me
How do I get bigger Arms?
My Response is usually learnt how to do 100 pull ups in a row!

Most guys look Dumbfounded and stare at me as I've told them to drink Bleach

but lets analyse what I am really saying

If you were able to do 100 pull ups, chances are you have seriously strong intense upper body strength!
Chances are you also probably don't have spaghetti string arms!

The beauty of the 100 pull up Pursuit is the physical benefits you will achieve from chasing such said Dragon
Pursuit Fitness and the Physical aesthetic results will come as a by pass!

Girls usually ask me
how do I lose more weight?
to which i say
Aim for a  Sub 1:30min 500 meter Sprint
or Aim for a Sub 20 Min 5 K

WHY? Because the pursuit of such feats come at the expense of intense Training surrounding the Cardiovascular system

Aim for a Goal Fitness Goal, and let the Journey bring the physical results as a by product

Anyway as always food for thought Peep's!


Raul
Vital Fitness Project!

How to Squat : Part 4 Where to Start

So you want to improve your Squat?
Where to Start?

Two Places

Phase 1)
Air Squats!

Beginners : 5 sets of 10 Reps Rest 90 seconds

Intermediate: 7 Sets of 10 Reps Rest 70 seconds

Advanced: 10 Sets of 12 Reps Rest 60 Seconds


Phase 2)
Back Squats!

Beginners

12 Reps x 3 Sets

with an Empty Barbell or Moderately light Weight
Roughly 40/30 % of BW if not Lower

Intermediate

5 reps x 5 sets

@ 40/70% of BW

Advanced

5 x 5
@75% to 85% of 1 Rep Max

How to Squat Part 3: Variations

Front Squat

*note how forward the knees are
and how upright the back is.


Zercher Squat


Low bar Back Squat

Over Head Squat


Close Grip over Head Squat

Zombie Front Squat


single leg squat *pistol



Overhead squat pistol

Reverse Squat


Lateral Squat


Air Squat


High Bar Back Squat


Sissy Squat
No this is not a joke its an actual thing called a the Sissy Squat
Very hard to do


Sumo Squat

Part D)
Who Should do what and Why?

How to Squat Part 2

What is the Best Squat? 

None! 

and Totally Dependent on your GOALS!

So lets look at the different squats 

Low Bar back SQUAT? *Power Lifting Squat

WHEN AND WHERE AND WHY?

IT Moves More Weight ? 

But what if I can move more weight without a low back back squat, Then you Haven't practiced it enough,

Because every 1000pound 400 kilo plus Squatter in the world cannot be wrong

Why does it move more weight?

Because you are travelling less distance? 

What Am I looking for when I do it? 

Push your Butt Back as Far as you can

Do not let your Knees Travel Too Far Forward

Let your Hips Hinge and Allow your Chest to Drop *with a tight Straight Back

Muscle Groups that Dominate this Movements ?

Hamstring

Glutes

Low Back

Quadriceps

High Bar Back Squat *olympic lifting Squat

IT Moves Less Weight ? 

Yes because you are travelling a longer distance

Why Do it? 

More Transferability towards the Olympic movements

What Am I looking for when I do it? 

Keep your back Straight 

Push your Butt Back

Let your Hip Drop *without flexing your low back

Push your Knees Forward

Do not let your Hips hinge,

Muscle Group that dominates this movements

Abs

Back

Quadriceps

Calves

Hammies

Glutes

Which Squat Should I do? 

BOTH! 

Low BAR BACK SQUAT will make your Low BACK Really Strong

HIGH BAR BACK SQUATS will make your Abs Really Strong

Both will make your Legs strong 

What other Squats are there? 

PART C) Squat Variations 

How to Squat Part 1

Why Squat? 

It's Basic 

You stand

But to Stand you Must Sit 

and to sit you Must Stand

Part 1 *The truth behind Squatting

For 80% of the world it's not that squatting is not good for them or that squats are hurting them, its that they are doing them wrong. 

But what is the right way? 

Well here is where it gets tricky, there is no right way but there are a lot of wrong ways

and it's one of those things where there are different squats for different folks. 

What are the basics? 

The Basics start with your Feet 

where are your feet placed?

Are your Toes Pointed out?

Are they pointed in?

are they facing forward? 

and if so do you know why? 

Feet Placement

For the most part the direction of your Feet and Toes will guide your Knees which in turn affect your Hips which will guide your Back which will guide how your Squat looks. 

*yes it can be alot more complicated than this... but lets keep it basic

so What is the most ideal position 

Ideally Having your Feet and Toes Forward

will produce the most amount of Torque in relation to your hips 

which means you will be able to produce the most amount of force with your legs because it allows your knees to push out to the sides the most 

However Sometimes the Feet cannot stay on the Front line

soo...

We Overcompensate and point our Toes out

which move our knees forward 

and this disengages our glutes to a certain extent 

which makes us a tad bit Quadricep Dominant 

which can create problem in our knees

#ohno its all getting complicated 

#WHATTODO?

You settle for a position 

You settle for the best effort you can make to aim your toes to 90degrees forward

however if you fall outside to the sides

thats okay

but everytime you squat 

you aim to keep those toes close to the 90 degrees

Knee placement 

OUT!!

Ideally you want to push your knees out but you might not be able to...

So Practice!

Hip Placement 

Stick that BOOTY BACK!

You should be pushing your Butt Back as much as your can, and depending on the Type of Squat Dropping it down 

Back Placement 

 

Slightly Arched 

and Tight Belly *core*Abs 

Head Placement 

Forward 

*but Whatever works for you 

At the end of the Day 

Squatting is Squatting some Very Heavy Squatters look Up

Some Really Heavy Squatter Look  Forward

Some Look Down 

Almost none look to the sides 

Just know that Any exaggeration in the tilt of your Head will lead to a change in direction in your spine 

..

WHICH IS THE BEST SQUAT? 

 

Will be continued in PART 2)