Appreciation Post! - Pull Ups

For the last few months I've been writing about the systems of the body, how shit works essentially. Today I want to write about the coming together of those systems. Tangible progress.

I've noticed a ton of members recently who have started knocking out pull ups. For many this might not seem like a big deal, but the reality is most of us haven't done a pull up since we were kids and don't realize how far away from it we are till we actually try. For those who do find out how far, it's the start of a sometimes multi-year journey. The excitement I have, and they have, when they finally get there. Incredible.

So why is it so important?

The biomechanics of it

The basics. Our shoulders and arms are for incredibly fine detailed movements like using a paint brush, sculpting clay or using a pool cue. They are made for strength, pulling and pushing heavy loads. They are made for combing fine motor skills and strength, like swinging a hammer. But the movement we all forget is locomotion (getting from  A to B) crawling, swinging from tree to tree, climbing. Our shoulders get use through space but how do we use em? We rest our forearms on a desk telling our shoulders to switch off and slump while our fingers tap away at computer. 

Earning a pull up shows us that we still have healthy functioning shoulders, if you build up to it right. You're pulling your scapula down and back before your elbows even bend, which trains the lower traps and serratus anterior, the muscles most desk-bound humans have basically switched off. Add in the lats doing the heavy lifting, the biceps and forearms grinding through grip, and the core bracing to keep you from turning into a pendulum, and you've got one movement training your entire posterior side of your body. That's why it translates to everything else, better posture, a more stable overhead position, and grip strength that won’t give out carrying groceries for two blocks.

That relative strength, pulling your own bodyweight through space is a huge marker of general function, ability and bodily autonomy. 

It's honest

A pull up doesn't care about your ego. You can't half-rep it, you can't bounce out of the bottom, you can't get a training partner to "just help a little" without it being obvious you got help. Your chin is either over the bar or it isn't. In a world of gym movements that can be fudged, this one just... can't. That honesty is rare, and it's exactly why it means something when you get there. Frustrating but you have to earn no ifs, ands or butts about it.

This isn't a six-week goal. For most adults it's building lat strength, grip endurance, scapular control, and the coordination to pull all of it together at once often from a starting point of basically zero. That's why it becomes this slow-burn thing members carry with them for a year, sometimes two or three. You show up, you learn your progressions and regressions. You build your hang from 10 seconds to a minute for grip strength. You do your lat pull downs to learn how your scaps work in a vertical plane. You do your negatives, you do your band-assisted sets, you do your rows you follow a plan without expectation. 

The moment itself

I've watched grown adults nearly cry over a pull up. You do all that work, and honestly it can sometimes feel pointless. Even though it is you don’t see your lats get stronger, your grip improve, you're not noticing how you are lifting 20, 50 or 100% more on your rows or pull downs.  And then bang, one day it actually comes and all that shit becomes so much more obvious. It’s tangible and real! Months, sometimes years, of consistency finally showing up as one clean rep. It's proof the work works. And once you've felt that, you start trusting the process on everything else too.

Even if you never get there

Here's the part that matters just as much, the goal is doing its job even if you never technically hit it. Chasing a pull up builds a stronger back, a healthier shoulder, a better grip, and a body that moves better in basically everything else you do. The bar (pun intended) doesn't need to be crossed for the training underneath it to be worth it.

So if you're mid-journey right now deep in the regressions, "why is this taking so long", “what is the point of this anyway” phase keep going. You're building exactly what you think you're not and whether you get the pull up is irrelevant as long as the work is getting done. It’s the cherry on top but the cake is the cake! 

And if you're one of the ones who got there recently me and all the coaches are so excited. We even fight over who’s class the first one was achieved in. We all want to bask in your glory :)