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The Pull-Up |
The Pull-Up
Upper body wise, the pull up is one of the best exercises for
practitioners of Parkour/Freerun. Not only is it exercising the muscles of
the upper back and shoulders, which are used in a number of different
techniques such as vaulting, cat leaps, laches, muscle-ups and
handstands. It also is done with the practitioners own bodyweight, which
makes it far more functional and effective.
Many
people who train in a gym, avoid pull-ups because they are deemed difficult
to do.
There are machines like the “Lat Pull Down” that exercise the same
muscles but at the end of the day, nothing is as good as a genuine pull-up
using body weight as your resistance. That said, the Lat Pull Down
is still a good machine to improve your strength but not everyone will
have access to a gym and with the regular pull-up, finding suitable places
to do them is fairly easy.
The
difference between a pull-up and a chin-up involves hand placement. A
pull-up means the palms of the hands are facing away from the body in an
over-grasp grip. A chin-up is the opposite, with palms facing you in an
under-grasp grip. The pull-up is the more difficult of the two to execute
and with the palms away type positioning, is the most applicable to
Parkour/Freerun (wall hops, climb ups, muscle ups, cat leaps etc)
Regular Pull-Up
The
exercise should begin with a dead hang from a bar or beam with palms
facing away from you, arms just over shoulder width apart. (pic one
below). Notice the legs and feet are together with the legs being kept
straight. The body is then pulled up so that the
chin passes the bar/beam and the chest is brought as close to the beam as
possible. Although shown on a higher beam (pic two) you still get an idea
of the final position. The legs and feet remain straight and together. The body is then lowered to the
dead hang start position and the exercise is repeated. Try to execute the
whole exercise using controlled form. Avoid jerky movements, bringing your
knees up for extra propulsion and coming down only half way. By doing so,
you'll only be cheating yourself.
Reps: Try to remember 'quality over quantity' as the key phrase here, as 5
repetitions done with correct and deliberate form, are worth more than
doing 20 or more using incorrect form. If you can only do a few reps, no
problem. Set yourself simple goals and you'll find your strength improving
naturally as you go. Eventually aim to do sets of 10, 20 or even 30 for a
real challenge.
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The Pull-Up (Pic One) |
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The Pull-Up (Pic Two) |
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Dynamic Pull-Up
Most Parkour/Freerun techniques (specifically for the legs), are explosive
in some way. The upper body is no different, for example; a muscle-up or a
climb-up requires an explosive movement from the upper back muscles to
propel yourself up and over a wall or bar. This is where drilling Dynamic
Pull-Ups can really help.
To
train this movement, two bars/beams are required. If lucky, the pull-up
bars in your gym will have the type of frame pictured below.
As
with the regular pull-up the start position is dead hang under the
bar/beam, legs straight and feet together. A pull-up is then performed as
quickly and powerfully as possible to allow you to release from the first
bar/beam and reach up and grab the second bar/beam. Once you have grasped
the second beam, perform a pull up on it to take the chin over the
bar/beam and chest as close to the bar/beam as possible. The arms then
lower the body from the upper beam, release and catch the lower beam,
return to the dead hang start position and repeat.
As
far as possible the legs should remain together and straight, this will
help training core stability strength, as well as to ensure that your
back muscles are being worked properly.
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Dynamic
Pull-Up |
Reps:
Ensure you can do normal pull-ups comfortably before moving onto this
exercise. It is an advanced exercise to do, so start slow with 2 or 3 reps
and build up. Doing 10 of these correctly and with proper form each time is impressive.
Safety:
Keep an eye on the bars before and while performing this exercise. Doing
so will prevent you from hitting the bars/beams on the way up or on the
way down.
Disclaimer
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website are provided for informational and
educational purposes. This includes any videos, fitness
programs, fitness workouts and general articles.
In no event shall Urban Freeflow or any individual or company
involved with the development of these articles be liable for
special, indirect, incidental or consequential damages of any
nature, including but not limited to personal injury, loss of
anticipated profits or claims from third parties.
If you are unsure about your fitness levels, please consult
with a doctor before you carry out any exercises demonstrated here.
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