“Strong back, strong man.”

  Most attribute the quote to Bill Kazmaier—the legendary strong man. We really have no idea who said it, . Either way, it’s true.  For the womens as well…  

What is an upper-body pull?

  An upper-body pull is any rowing, pull-up, chin-up or pull-down movement. Pretty simple. Your arms start in the fully extended position, your elbows bend and pull your body closer to a bar or an implement (bar, dumbbell, etc.) closer to your body.  

The Basic Upper-body Pull: What to Look For

  Since pulling comes in horizontal and vertical variations, we’ll break down each on their own.   Let’s think success first and bullet point good horizontal and vertical pulls:  

Horizontal

 

• Arms start and finish fully extended
• Spine stays neutral throughout movement
• Arm finishes with elbow bent to 90 degrees, or slightly less
• Upper-arm finishes parallel with torso, or slightly behind

 

Vertical

 

• Arms start and finish fully extended
• Spine stays neutral throughout movement, maybe slightllllly flexed, in a “hollow” position
• Body is pulled up, or bar is pulled down, until the chin is above the bar

  Here are bad horizontal and vertical pulls:  

Horizontal

 

• Arms never fully extend
• Spine flexes or extends during movement
• Arm never fully flexes
• Upper-arm finishes in front of, or too far behind torso
• Humerus drives forward at the top of the row

   

Vertical

 

• Arms never fully extend
• Spine flexes or extends during movement
• Chin finishes below bar
• Humerus drives forward at the top of the pull

 

What’s Up Now?

See if you can improve the position of both yourself, as well as your clients during your upper body pulling.