By Craig Hysell
The pull-up is sexy. Like, way sexy.
It is indicative of requisite survival strength (if you’re hanging from a limb off a cliff- as we all do from time to time these days- you could probably pull yourself up and live… which is awesome! Or, you could pull yourself up and over a fence if dogs, thugs, bears or zombies were chasing you).
It is also a fantastic back, arm, chest, shoulder and trunk developer.
Pull-ups are great for posture in a properly balanced training program. Pull-ups build confidence, empower humans and inspire feats of awesomeness.
But pull-ups remain elusive for some. It doesn’t have to be this way.
The secret is in developing the initiation of the pull. Something that band-assisted pull-ups can allow athletes, and even coaches, to overlook.
The jumping pull-up can aid in muscular and neuromuscular (figuring out how to fire your muscles appropriately for the movement)development when performed correctly. But this movement can also be mishandled by athletes, and coaches, if “the purpose of the exercise” is misunderstood.
As we said, the primary goal of the jumping pull-up is to develop strength and neuromuscular development. To that end, it is about seeing how many the individual can perform correctly (holding on to the movement’s technical points and purpose) more than simply seeing how many the individual can do.
Three jumping pull-ups performed perfectly have more benefit at building strength, neuromuscular development and athlete comprehension (i.e. getting you your sexy pull-up) than 6 jumping pull-ups performed inefficiently (subverting maximum optimal gain from the movement in order to do “more”).
In this case, less can often be more.
It is about doing the movement correctly, not simply doing the movement, which will get you your sexy pull-up the fastest.
To practice with purpose is to work smart, and hard.
Think about this and your “why” in your workouts.
The group exists for your benefit and you exist for the benefit of the group.
What’s this mean? It means use these workouts to your own unique advantage when you’re training (not every day has to be a competition day) and in doing so you will inspire others to pursue the change they have witnessed in you for themselves.
So how do we perform the jumping pull-up and how can we put it in a group training environment like CrossFit class?
Well, don’t worry, we’ve got your… back? HA HA! WOOOOOOOO! See you on the mat. Live with Conviction. 😉
#beaninja