Richard's Health Musings

My Study on Healthy Living

Posts Tagged ‘pull-ups’

6-Degree CST Pull-up Program

July 29th, 2010

I wanted to share a 6-Degrees of Freedom (6DOF) pull-up routine that I put together. The concept of 6DOF comes from Scott Sonnon’s Circular Strength Training (CST) protocol. The idea is that training in natural movement patterns will ensure the body remains balanced. It also helps prevent overuse injuries or over compensations from repetitive movements.

What is 6-Degrees of Freedom?

CST 6 Degrees of Freedom The term comes from aviation, but it more completely describes how the body moves through space.

“We don’t move robotically through one plane at a time. Human movement is a complex weave through different planes and on different axes. If we take the three axes of conventional movement descriptions, we can think about moving both along and around those axes in order to take advantage of our true movement potential: “

6-degrees of freedom patterns:

Heaving: moving up and down
Swaying: moving right and left
Surging: moving forward and backward
Pitching: bending forward and backward
Yawing: twisting right and left
Rolling: turning right and left

That’s a brief primer on the theory. Let’s get to my adaptation to pull-ups. Here are the descriptions and a video montage to following…Disclaimer: I am not yet a CST coach so this is my interpretation of Coach Sonnon’s theory so if you have a better pull-up variation for one of the movement patterns than please put it in the comments.

Heaving Pull-up: do a standard pull-up with palms facing away or a chin-up with palms facing you.
Swaying Pull-up: Side-to-side pull-ups; start with your hands wider than shoulder width apart on the bar, pull up into the top position, shift sideways towards the right hand, then shift across to the left hand, then back to center and down is one rep.
Surging Pull-ups: Reach-ups; is a pull-up but on the top position reach with the right hand, back down, pull up, and reach with the left hand to complete one rep. This is a dynamic/explosive movement.
Pitching Pull-ups: Perform a standard or mixed grip pull-up but on the up movement arch back until your sternum is under the bar. Think of doing a back bend combined with a pull-up.
Yawing Pull-up: Grappler pull-up with a wide grip; start with hands in a mixed grip and wider than shoulder width apart. If your left hand is closest to your face you will twist to the right as you pull up. This will have your left hand in a palm facing you position and your right hand in a palm facing away. Reverse the twist while lowering back down. Switch hand position and perform to the other side.
Rolling Pull-up: Wide grip pull-up, pull up to the right hand, back down, pull up to the left hand, and back down to complete one rep.

Video Demo:

Programming:

You need to ask yourself what your goal is…what are you training for? This will determine whether you are doing a certain number of reps, going for max reps in a set time, or need to make the exercise harder/easier.

I have been focusing on metabolic conditioning. So I performed all 6 exercises in sequence in 6 minutes. I started with 30 seconds of max reps and 30 seconds of rest while I transitioned to the next exercise. Then I would rest for 1 minute after all 6 variations. I performed 3 rounds to complete the series. As you progress lengthen the work time and shorten the rest time so that you are doing 6 consecutive minutes of work. The only rest would then be the time to switch hand positions

Give it a try and let me know how it goes for you! Drop a comment if you changed the pull-up for any of the 6DOF movements.

-Richard

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Posted in Bodyweight Exercises, Exercise

Tags: 6 degrees of freedom body weight exercise bodyweight exercise circular strength training CST pull up variations pull-ups Scott Sonnon

How to train for 20 Consecutive Pull-ups

August 27th, 2009

As I continue to look for training regimens on my bodyweight challenge quest (the list is here). I found a pull-up program developed my Major Charles Lewis Armstrong that is perfect for training 20 consecutive pull-ups. This program also dovetails nicely with my new ambition to become a Bar-Baron (click here for more info). The full Armstrong program is located at the following link: http://www.chicagomarineofficer.com/Downloads/PT/thearmstrongworkout.pdf

Without further adieu, here is the training routine:

The Program

This training program was specifically designed to improve performance in the overhand pull-up (palms facing away). The overhand method is the preferred method, but for now do what you need to in order to complete the most repetitions for your PFT [military lingo for physical fitness test]. Mix up your training between underhand and overhand until you can do twenty both ways. The program depends upon quality exercises – number of repetitions are secondary. When you are doing these exercises, you should concentrate on perfect execution of each repetition. The only person you can fool with less than your best is yourself.

Day 1: Five maximum effort sets. Rest 90 seconds between each set. Do not concern yourself with numbers. You will find that you increase the numbers in the last two sets before you see much improvement in the first three. Make sure that each set is a maximum effort set.

Day 2: Pyramid day. Start the pyramid with one repetition, the next set has two, and the next set has three. Continue in this fashion until you miss a set (e.g. your last set was four then five, your next set should be six but you only do four repetitions. You missed the set) Do one more set at maximum effort. Rest 10 seconds for each repetition in the previous set.

Day 3: Do three training sets (training sets are defined later) with a normal grip (palms away or toward you, hands slightly wider than shoulder width). Rest 60 seconds between each set. Slide your hands together and palms toward you so your little fingers are 0-4 inches apart and complete three more training sets resting 60 seconds between each set. Finally do three training sets with a wide overhand grip (palms facing away) resting 60 seconds between each set.

Day 4: Do the maximum number of training sets that you can accomplish. Rest 60 seconds between each set. You do training sets until you fail to do a perfect training set. This day can wind up being the longest training day as you continue with the program because you will find it easy to do lots of training sets. If you can do more than nine training sets, increase by one repetition next week.

Day 5: Repeat the day that you found to be the hardest in the previous four days. This may change from week to week. You can also try to doing weighted pull-ups or a pull-up assist machine for this day.

Final Thoughts

If you currently can do 12-15 consecutive pull-ups than you should be at 20 in four weeks. Training consistently and resting are the keys to letting your mucsles recover and grow. If you are new to exercise check with your health practitioner prior to starting the routine.

Good luck and let me know how you do with the program!