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PCC Blog

Progressive Calisthenics - The Official Blog for the PCC Community

Aussie Pull Ups

If You Build Your Pull-up…It Will Come

February 23, 2016 By Beth Andrews 28 Comments

Pull-Up Build Lead Pic

Have you ever heard a voice inside you that says, “I’d like to do a pull up, but I don’t know where to start?”

In the movie Field of Dreams, Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) was a farmer who heard a voice whisper from his corn field, “If you build it, he will come.” The message was that there would be a reward if he listened and followed through by turning his farm land into a baseball field.

If you’ve seen the movie, you know that Ray took a chance and followed the voice. As a result, he got to fulfill his dream of playing baseball alongside some of the all-time greats as well as reuniting with his father.

If you have been hesitant and unsure of where to start building toward the pull up, then here’s your sign, and here is my whisper:

“If you build your pull-up, it will come.”

Just as Ray was hesitant and unsure, yet through different signs and signals, he took a risk and built his playing field, you can achieve a pull-up if you really want it badly enough.

But first, like Ray, you must do the work. You must plow your corn. Let’s start by working the top and bottom of the pull up.

First, get comfortable hanging on the bar. This can actually be a bit scary for first timers, especially if the bar is high. I have worked with clients that fear they are going to fall because they don’t trust their grip strength. If this is you, then have a friend assist you or make sure that you have a platform to step down on for security.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDftEVZtd04

Focus on actively hanging using both hands for as long as you can stay engaged. That may only be 10 seconds to start or it could be much longer. Either way, do this a couple of days per week, progressively working to longer times, and don’t forget to rest enough between sets so you can give a strong effort on the bar each time. Aim to progressively work your way towards one full minute. You can never hang too long on the bar!

When you have reached a minute on your standard bar hang, you are ready to try a flexed-arm hang. Get someone to assist you up or stand on a platform to get your chin over the bar. Use an underhand grip when starting out. Twice a week should be enough at first, as this type of hang can fry your nervous system when you are new to it and take longer to recover. At first you may only manage a few seconds. This is fine. Aim to gradually build toward a 30 second hold.

I also recommend the Aussie pull-up (aka bodyweight row) as an assisting exercise to help build pulling strength toward a full pull-up. Though the movement pattern is a little different than in an overhead pull-up, the Aussie pull-up can be helpful in bridging the top and bottom of the pull up together. Feel free to use either an overhand or underhand grip. Start with sets of 5 reps at a time, eventually progressing to 3 sets of 10reps. Aim to practice your Aussies 2-3 times a week, while continuing to work your flexed-arm hang concurrently.

Beth Andrews Aussie Pull Ups

Now that the corn is plowed, let’s build your pull-up!

When you can hang on the bar for a full minute, exceed thirty seconds on a flexed-arm hang and do three sets of ten reps of Aussie pull-ups, you have built a good foundation to attempt a chin-up (a pull-up with an underhand grip). Chin-ups are a little easier to begin with for most people. Grab your bar with your hands shoulder width apart and give it a shot! If you are still unable to pull your chin above the bar, here are a few more suggestions:

1- Get a spotter to help you through the full range of motion. The spotter should only assist through the hardest points of the movement. Don’t allow your spotter to do too much of the work for you!

Beth Andrews Pull-Up Spotting

2- Practice negative pull-ups. Simply get into a flex-arm hang, lock in for a few seconds, then slowly lower yourself down with control.

3 – Keep doing the three steps mentioned above, along with with these two additional steps. Once you’ve conquered the chin up, aim to build up to five consecutive reps. Now you’re ready to change over to the overhand grip. Once you can get an overhand pull up, aim to build up to five sets of one rep. Then progress up to five sets of five reps.

If you get stuck or struggle, go back and plow some more corn. Because… “If you build it, he will come.”

****

Beth Andrews is a PCC Team Leader, Senior RKC, Primal Move Instructor, and CK-FMS. She is the owner of Maximum Body Training and has over 20 years of training experience. She also runs a successful online training business. For online training or to host a certification, email Beth at: sba1@bellsouth.net    

Filed Under: Progressive Calisthenics, Tutorial Tagged With: assisted pull-ups, Aussie Pull Ups, Beth Andrews, how to do a pull-up, pull-up, pull-ups

Conquering the Century Test

November 18, 2014 By Adrienne Harvey 51 Comments

Adrienne Testing Pushups At Sweden PCC
Adrienne closely observes push ups during the Century Test at a PCC Workshop

The Century Test is the climax of every Progressive Calisthenics Certification event. After three days of intense training, the Century is the only opportunity for prospective candidates to prove their mettle and earn the title of PCC Instructor.

While helping Al and Danny teach at several PCC workshops, I’ve noticed the same common issues continually come up during the Century Test. Before you think these don’t apply to you, remember I’ve actually seen many accomplished and highly athletic people make these very mistakes! Of course we make sure to point out the complete rules and standards at each workshop, but why not work to avoid these hidden perils from the beginning?

First, let’s talk about speed—you will have a total of EIGHT minutes to complete your Century Test. Somewhere along the line, a terrible rumor started about doing the test “as fast as you can.” Unfortunately, this is the opposite of how the test should be approached; the Century is not a race!

While we don’t want you to fall asleep mid-test or run out of time, we do require you to use a moderate pace that allows you to complete each rep with your best form, crisply and cleanly. We also need to be able to evaluate and count your reps in real time. If someone gets into speed demon mode, it’s very difficult to evaluate AND count each rep while making sure they are up to our standards. We shouldn’t be seeing “motion blur” around you!

Once you begin a set, you can’t stop until you have completed the required amount of reps (which will be counted by whoever is testing you—Al, Danny, or an assisting PCC instructor). For example, the first set is 40 bodyweight squats. Once that set begins, there’s no stopping until you complete all 40 reps. After a set is completed, you can take as much time (within that total of eight minutes) as you need to rest between sets—more on that later!

For many PCC attendees, an odd issue happens with the squats, but it is easily corrected. Sometimes people focus SO much on the “down” portion of the squat that they don’t always fully complete the “up” portion! Make sure you stand ALL the way UP at the end of each squat rep. Again, if this can happen to some of the most athletic and accomplished people then it can happen to anyone. If you have a training partner, ask them to keep a close eye on your full squat movement (or record a short video of yourself).

Testing Squats at the PCC

As for the lowering phase, the top of your thighs must come below parallel with the ground without any bouncing at the bottom. Some people have had issues here as well, so make sure you go all the down before you come all the way up!

Next up are push-ups, 30 reps. Men will do these from the feet, and the ladies will be doing them from the knees. (Feet must be together for men; knees together for women.) Again, be sure to come all the way up to a full lockout at the top – much like the squats, it’s easy to become preoccupied with the bottom portion of the exercise, the required depth, etc. while shortchanging the completion of the rep. Use a comfortable, moderate pace so we can see that all your reps are up to our standards.

Al Kavadlo Testing Pushups at a PCC Workshop

Many of the women who come to the PCC are super fit and have not done push-ups from the knees in a while—these same women often tend to have some very fashionable workout wear. This can be perilous when these high performance fabrics make our knees slide during the push-up. Suddenly our hands and knees are very far apart, and it’s against the rules to re-adjust them during the set. Make sure you have a non-slip mat below you, and/or hike up those shiny capris past your knees so they do not move on that mat!

Another issue that even very fit women will have with the knee push-up (especially if we’re used to doing push-ups from the feet) is the idea of keeping the body in a perfectly straight line from the knees to the shoulders, without bending at the hips. Have a training partner observe you, or shoot a video to watch and make sure for yourself. One cue I have used successfully with clients is to have them practice by starting in a “straight arm plank” position, then while keeping the trunk straight, drop down to the knees to find the proper alignment to begin a knee push-up.

Danny Testing Hanging Knee Raises

Hanging knee raises are a real equalizer! Like squats, they’re tested the same for men and women. You must not swing or use momentum to make these reps, and you must hang onto the bar for the entire duration of the set. Make sure to grip the bar tightly while squeezing your shoulders down and back (basically, don’t hang like a limp noodle!) Imagine trying to bend the bar in half to intensify this feeling. Make sure to practice this at home!

Don’t underestimate a set of 20 knee raises. Bringing your knees above your waist takes a surprising amount of abdominal strength when you don’t use any momentum. When your feet come back down (also under control), I’ve found that aiming to put them just below (or even slightly in front of) your body is a great way to prevent momentum. People have found themselves in big momentum-trouble when they’ve extended their feet behind them on the “down” portion of the knee raises, because they start swinging back and picking up momentum. It almost becomes a mini-kip. Control is the name of the game with knee raises!

Finally we have the pull-ups, which are often the most challenging (and potentially heartbreaking) part of Century Test. Sometimes someone with plenty of time to spare just wants to get the test done and he or she does not give themselves adequate rest between the hanging knee raises and the pull-ups. I’ve seen very strong (but reasonably fatigued from 3 days of fun and intensive PCC work) people fail the test at the workshop because they couldn’t finish those last 1-3 pull-ups. An extra 30 seconds to 1 minute rest time between sets could have meant the difference between passing at the PCC or having to go home, regroup, train and submit a test video. It’s moments like these that we all wish for an “undo” or “rewind” button on life! Don’t underestimate the adrenaline rush of “test time”! Remember, it is not a race; you have 8 full minutes, so use it!

For the pull-ups, men will be doing 10 dead hang pull ups from a pull up bar with their choice of underhand or overhand grip. (If the bar is too high, and/or your hands are somehow shredded because you were inspired to overdo it a bit on the previous days, do not hesitate to ask us for a step stool!) Women will be performing 10 “Aussie” pull-ups (down under the bar—also known as bodyweight rows) from a waist-height bar. Again, I can’t encourage the ladies enough to experiment with these bodyweight rows. When practicing for the PCC, find a bar that’s the right height for you, and make sure that your body is positioned in such a way that you’re able to pull yourself up to the bar without having your feet slide—experiment with a mat, or a good shoe choice, etc. Pull yourself up close to the bar at the top of each rep, stay engaged (think plank) without having your body bow up or slump down.

Adrienne Demonstrates Aussie Pull-Up

Men, make sure that you are doing full pull-up reps, as half reps won’t count and can be costly in terms of fatigue! A SLIGHT kink in the elbows at the bottom of the rep is technically allowed, but make sure to have someone check you and video yourself to make sure that you aren’t slipping into doing half-reps. And, no kipping or momentum allowed!

I hope that these details have been helpful, and please feel free to ask questions here and always at the workshop. We really do want everyone to pass if they are truly ready and able to represent the PCC as a certified instructor, while helping their students/clients improve their fitness and quality of life.

Hope to see you at a future PCC Workshop!
Adrienne

Adrienne at the PCC Workshop with Adam

***

About Adrienne Harvey, Senior PCC Instructor, RKC-II, CK-FMS, Primal Move Nat’l Instructor: Originally RKC Certified in 2010, and RKC Level 2 certified in 2011, kettlebell and bodyweight training have been crucial in Adrienne’s personal quest for fitness. A core member of the PCC team, Adrienne loves sharing her knowledge with small groups and individuals. She also loves to develop recipes and workout programs to further support performance, body composition, and of course—FUN. Go to http://www.giryagirl.com for more information about Adrienne!

Filed Under: Motivation and Goals, Progressive Calisthenics Tagged With: Adrienne Harvey, attending PCC, Aussie Pull Ups, bodyweight row, Century Test, Century Test details, Hanging knee raises, how to pass the Century Test, Knee Push ups, Passing the PCC, PCC Testing, PCC Workshop, Progressive Calisthenics Certification Workshop, pull-ups, push-ups, squats

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