Monday 09.13.10

Here is the new pull up structure, ready to be used!

We are going to be practicing bar hangs. According to some people, you should always keep your shoulders depressed in their sockets when hanging or doing pullups. Others say you should lift the shoulders and tuck them up near the ears in an "active shoulder position. During the pull up, or any position where you are raising your arms directly above the head, we are cautious of any impingement to the soft tissues of the the shoulder: watch video at this link for more info on shoulder injuries.

Since there is a hang position and a pulling position in a pull up, your shoulders do the following during the pull up position:
1. During the pull and at the top of the pull up the shoulder girdle should be depressed (or have motion into being depressed) for full range of motion and active strengthening of the whole shoulder girdle. Lucky for us, as long as our muscles aren't relaxed, our body does this naturally and there's no risk of impingement of the soft tissues into the acromion, or the outward end of the spine of the scapula or shoulder blade.

2. As you start going into the negative and at the bottom -- like the other pressing movements that have the arms go overhead -- the shoulder girdle should be allowed to protract and elevate. This allows space under the acromion for the soft tissues as your arms go overhead.


SWOD: Bar Hang x max time

Metcon: As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:
1 Round is equal to:
3 Cleans @ 55% of 1 RM
1 Round of 5 Handstand Push Ups, 10 1-Legged Squats, 15 Pull Ups or 1 round of "Mary"
For the SWOD, without performing a full pull up, work both positions # 1 and 2 and observe what your shoulders are doing. Then, everyone grab onto the new pull up structure and see who can hang on the longest. The use of chalk is allowed.

For the metcon, there are several substitutions for each exercise. Whatever was used last time for support, try to take away a little of the support for this time. If you used a bar to do one leg squats, try only holding the bar when you see your balance wane. For pull ups, try jumping pull ups from the ground instead of a box, etc. The only way to improve is to push yourself further than last time.

Post times and rounds to comments.