Why Pulling Movements Are Important

 I'm not talking just pull-ups as if they're the Zeus of Pulling Mount Olympus, it goes beyond that. It's pulling from an overall perspective that is the key thing here. It's not merely a method of training to help with muscle imbalances, it's more on the likes of building grip strength, working with various objects and having the strength to help yourself up or others. Machines, Deadlifts, Pull-ups, Chin-Ups all work to a degree within each other. No one move is superior to the other and no one movement is going to solve all your needs in that area.

When you learn to get better at pulling, you're getting strength that is essential in ways you may not even realize. From my own experiences, I may not be the best at pull-ups but I've done a lot of pulling in my time, more than I lead on. It truly started when I was laid up after my accident and being in a hospital bed was very discouraging. If you've had major injuries or have/are wheelchair bound, you have an idea of what I mean. It wasn't easy for people to lift me in order for me to do what I needed to do so I made it a priority to use what strength I had in my upper body to get myself around which turned to more pulling and dipping. In the hospital, they have those hangers where you pull yourself up to get into a wheelchair or to pull yourself up in order to sit up. I did a lot of those and when I had to get into a car without using my legs, I had to pull and grip on the Car Handle basically with one arm in order to get myself in. One time, I had to get in the passenger seat this way and I said to myself out loud "Come on motherfucker" in order to muster the strength to get in. 

Pulling isn't as big of a priority as pushing is but it is important to understand that Pushing and Pulling is the Yin and Yang to the Upper body and be able to work with both in a synergetic fashion. I like to do Pull-downs, Rows, Pull-ups & Chin-Ups when I train especially when I use my Fat Gripz to really utilize the muscle groups as best as possible to their maximum potential. I love to use the WorldFit Iso Trainer and make it work as a Suspension Trainer, you can do so much with it, the list is only limited to your imagination. From Isometrics to Partials to Full Range as good as can be, this thing can do wonders for your pulling strength. One of the best authors on Suspension Training is Matt Schifferle with his Grind Style Calisthenics Training System. It teaches the true fundamentals of Pulling along with the other chain of muscles so you can build muscle and strength. 

An idea of doing various pulls is a video demo I did where there are exercises such as the Hybrid Iso Pull-Up by strapping a loop on each side of a rack or in this case Monkey Bars and pull yourself up until the strap has you at a stopping point and hold it. This is essentially a 2 For 1 Exercise as pull with with as much strength from an Overcoming POV and you're fighting against Gravity at the same time. Another exercise is a beginner's version of Pull-Up where you squat down and hold onto the handles and then pull yourself up using your legs as assistance but also do your best to focus and use tension on the muscles of the back, arms and core. This version is a great strength builder and puts on muscle in the upper back. The last one is the Hybrid Iso Row where you create a stopping point and then row until you hit that mark and hold it. Hell of a grip and core exercise. 

Work with what's possible and make little bits of progress at a time. Even the tiniest form of progress builds into a monumental goal. I do believe in building strength in pull-ups but it's great to work with the other things together to create really insane pull strength. Pull-ups are a key move but they're not the only ones, do some work with the other exercises and you'll see some awesome results. 

Be amazingly awesome and build strength so when it's needed the most, you can not only lift yourself up but lift up others in need. 

Orion’s Arrow

    

       Not expecting a title like that huh? When most think of Orion it's usually about a mythical god known for a series of stars (Orion's Belt) but today it's about the strength of his Bow & Arrow. Back in ancient times, one of the most premier weapons of the age that was efficient to either the soldier or the hunter was the Bow & Arrow. Pulling a mighty bow in battle or to hunt food for your family was a key to man's survival of the time. Two great legends of myth that took the arrow into the very hearts of the people were the stories of Robin Hood and Odysseus. Each men had unique skill but had very similar outcomes to their stories. They both won the heart of a woman, they saved a kingdom from tyranny and they were both sharp men as much as their arrows. The Bow & Arrow was and still is to this day in some circles a test of man's skill, strength, accuracy and eye coordination.

 
    If you wanted to pull the strongest of bows, it didn't come overnight. It took most strongmen decades to pull some of the strongest bows the world had ever known. The Bow of Hercules is legendary for its near superhuman level in order to pull it back let alone shoot an arrow. Remember the story of Odysseus, in order to even win the heart of his wife and kingdom he had to strung the toughest bow in the kingdom itself and according to legend no man but him could not only string it but pull with every ounce of power to drive the arrow through the series of axes that were so narrow the arrow had to dead on accurate. The key type of training you learned to pull super strong bows was Isometrics. Think about it, at first you can barely pull the bow so in order to get to its maximum pull, you had to pull inch by inch isometrically. Because of this it took a warrior many years to pull back the strongest bow.

 
    In modern day, we don't always use Bow & Arrows unless it was for recreation or sport and although we still use it to hunt, it doesn't have the same affect that it had before in the ancient world. So one of the things we use to simulate the pulling of a bow is using Lifeline USA's Chest Expander. With this tool of rubber cables attaching to handles, we can hit our shoulders and upper back from angles that neither bodyweight or weightlifting exercise can touch. This can be used to an athlete's advantage because when you hit certain angles, you're creating strength and muscle you normally wouldn't use and I needed. It helps create flexibility and power that just has that raw strength very few methods can match.

 
    Now think what it would be like to test your strength and will against the toughest pulling cables and not only learn it from a specific program dedicated to it, but also use your imagination and picture being the very legends who handled the Bow with ease. A few minutes a day pulling from as many directions you can come up with and a program that can guide you to develop superhuman muscle in those particular areas of the upper body. With having that much flexibility and strength, think what an advantage you can have when you do other exercises like push-ups and other movements that you couldn't hit before and could do with ease. The Orion Program will test you in ways you haven't been tested before. Developing strength not just physically but mentally, spiritually and emotionally as well. It's not about just pulling a bow anymore, it's a test of your imagination and harnessing your body's brain power to create strength from your mind to the muscles and more.

 
Happy Monday my friends, be awesome and have a great start to a new week.