We all do pulls. We all know what they’re supposed to look like. (Most of us do). However most of the times our pulls move and look very different from what we want to accomplish in the lifts. Sometimes the pulls look just like we what them to and our lifts don’t match them. Other times our pulls are slower, out of position, and generally not at all helpful to our lifts. The latter typically happens if we are pulling too heavy.
The point of performing pulls is three-fold. First, to get stronger. Strengthen positions. Strengthen your back and all of your posterior chain. Second, to create speed. Heavy pulls and pull complexes should be done with speed in mind to imitate the speed we want to create in the full lift. Thirdly, to create the types of good habits that will carry over to the full lifts.
We have to be intentional about completing the pulls with perfection BUT what we often don’t think about is making the lift look like the pull. Executing the pull perfectly but completing the lift differently misses the point of the pull. Take a look at the videos below for an example of what I am talking about. A perfectly executed pull should ultimately create a perfectly executed lift.
pull comparison bad example from Power And Grace Performance on Vimeo.
pull comparison to lift good example from Power And Grace Performance on Vimeo.