April 2003

THE

IN THIS ISSUE:

"mess you up"

CrossFit Journal
The Pull-up - page 7
A Better Warm-up - page 1
How Fit Are You? - page 1
How Fit Are You?

A Better Warm-up
Introduction

Weve long desired to offer a fitness competition

consistent with our fitness model (See CrossFit
Journal October, 2002, What is Fitness?) and
have found the task fraught with difficulties.

In commercial gyms everywhere warming up

constitutes little more than spending fifteen or
twenty minutes on a bike, treadmill, or stair
climber. While better than
nothing, this approach to
warming up is largely a waste
of time in that it will not
improve flexibility, does not
involve the whole body or
major functional movements,
misses an ideal opportunity
for reinforcing and practicing
some critical exercises, and
poorly prepares an athlete for
rigorous athletic training.

Early we realized that the logistics

of running an on-site fitness
competition like STREND are both
complicated and ultimately limit
the number of participants. The
fitness test, or competition, that we
offer this month is conducted at a
facility and time of the athletes
choosing.

Our initial hope was to design

a competition that would not
We need a warm-up that will
only reflect CrossFits broad
increase body temperature
fitness concept, but would also
and heart rate, provide some
accommodate men and women,
stretching, stimulate the entire
large and small athletes, the young
body and major biomechanical
and seniors, and individuals of
functions, provide practice for
all fitness levels. Additionally,
basic movements, and finally,
we wanted a competition that
Samson Stretch*
prepare for rigorous athletic
would motivate and reward fitness
training.
improvements among our fittest.
Specifically, we set out to motivate
We offer here a favorite CrossFit warm-up
an improvement in the absolute strength, relative
and compare the advantages that it has over
strength, and gymnastics foundations of all
riding a stationary bike for fifteen minutes. The
CrossFit participants. Unfortunately this last
CrossFit warm-up satisfies our needs whereas
consideration rendered the design troublesome
the traditional warm-up only leaves us with an
for many that are other than already very fit
elevated body temperature and heart rate.
and male. So, what we ended up with was a
competition where the ability even to complete
The essential features of our warm-up are that
the test suggests a fairly advanced level of fitness.
they include a stretch and major hip/leg extension,
(continued on page 4)
trunk/hip extension (continued on page 2)
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April 2003

and flexion, and pushing and pulling movements. The combinations are limitless and might include more
challenging movements like good mornings, hollow rocks, rope climb, or handstand push-ups in place
of back extensions, sit-ups, pull-ups, and dips. The movements used will largely depend on your athletic
development, but overtime the more challenging movements can be included without being a whole
workout.
A warm-up like the one we are describing can quite easily become more than a warm-up. In fact, it can
serve as a workout for any athlete if so constructed. The idea is to compose the essential features into a
fifteen-minute circuit that challenges but does not unduly tax. Over time the regimen can be toughened
to the point where three rounds of squats, sit-ups, back extensions, pull-ups and dips, even at 15 reps
requires similar exertion to riding the stationary bike casually for fifteen minutes and produces a similar
heart rate.

Overhead Squat Stretch

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April 2003

If initially you need to use the Gravitron or some similar device to assist the pull-ups and dips, fine.
Over time youll give yourself less and less assistance until you can do the pull-ups and dips without
assistance and still find the work load consistent with a warm-up. It may be that you want or need to start
with one pull-up and one dip per round and add a rep every other week in order to get used to the load.
Incrementalism, patience, and practice will make the basic calisthenic movements as easy as riding a bike
and provide wildly greater benefit.
One consequence of a warm-up like this is that bigger numbers of pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, and other
calisthenic movements will ensue. Before anyone gets 25 pull-ups, three sets of 10 will have to be a breeze.
Your max set of pull-ups, sit-ups, push-ups, dips, rope climb (fastest climb/most consecutive trips), and
handstand push-ups will be a multiple of the number that doesnt tax you beyond a warm-up. Some coaches
have called this synaptic facilitation, Pavel called it greasing the groove; we call it practice. (It is our
contention that all exercises have a stronger neurological component than is commonly recognized.)
In any case, success with high- rep calisthenic movements like the pull-up, squat, dip, and sit-up will make
you stronger, improve your stamina, and wont come to be without regular practice. Not all of that practice
need be max rep but it will need to be regular and the warm-up is the perfect place for that practice.
* The Samson stretch:
1. Lace fingers and turn palms outward locking arms
2. Push arms and hands out to horizontal
3. Push hands forward and head back getting nose as far away from hands as possible
4. Keep gaze straight ahead
5. Push arms to overhead
6. Push hands hard towards ceiling
7. Keep arms perpendicular to floor
8. Keep palms turned to ceiling
9. Close space between head and arms closed by raising shoulders
10. Lunge as far forward as possible with one leg
11. Let trailing legs knee settle to ground
12. Push hips forward feeling stretch in front leg and back
13. Maintain push to ceiling, perpendicular arms, closed arm-head gap, gaze forward
14. Hold for 30 seconds
15. Repeat with other leg
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(continued from page 1)

Looking at the ten general physical adaptations to exercise (cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, stamina,
power, speed, flexibility, agility, accuracy, coordination, and balance) we saw that advanced calisthenic and
weightlifting movements present an excellent opportunity to advance neurological skills like agility, accuracy,
coordination, and balance. We realized early that any test that pushed the envelope for gymnastics movements
was going to eliminate a large segment of the exercising public and indeed some of our dedicated athletes.
In the end we decided that improving these neurological skills and thereby encouraging a greater level of fitness
in our participants was more important than offering a test that was universally inclusive. We are, ultimately,
a program of elite fitness, and any test of elite fitness will contain elements that cannot be performed by
everyone. We also felt that many of our best athletes while among the fittest people on earth needed additional
motivation for improvements in absolute strength, relative strength, and gymnastic foundations.
While we make no apologies for offering a fitness test that best serves the already very fit, we have developed
several strategies whereby others can participate and, more importantly, benefit from practicing for and
working towards completion of the test. For every phase of our test we have suggested adaptations for
women, juniors, seniors, or anyone else who may not yet be able to complete all of this competition.
Similarly vexing was the difficulty of testing for various capacities simultaneously rather than separately. The
origins of this concern arise, you may have guessed, from our oft-repeated contention that the blending and
mixing of demands most clearly replicates the demands of nature.
One aspect of athlete testing that remains tricky is balancing elements favorable to larger and smaller athletes.
We referee debates between our bigger and smaller athletes almost daily. The big guys want to deadlift, bench
press, and throw. The smaller guys want to run, jump, and do pull-ups.
Our design requirements included but were not limited to the following: quantifiable results; consistency with
the CrossFit fitness concept; raising our commitment to improving absolute strength, relative strength
and gymnastic foundations; balancing intrinsic abilities of smaller and larger athletes; emphasizing exercises
critical to and foundational to advanced training; mixing training demands within each test and, of course,
over the total competition; a design that would identify an athletes weaknesses and possibly stand as a
workout plan for improving overall fitness; and, finally, we wanted to design a competition that would be
hard as hell.
The competition that weve designed is comprised of five tests. One test is performed for each of five days in
the order given.
Weve listed within each test description a possible workout that would test for and consequently improve the
performance of that test. We asked ourselves while designing each test, what kind of fitness might develop
from turning the tests into workouts that were repeated to the exclusion of other work and with the sole
purpose of improving the tests? The answer in the case of this final product is elite fitness.

April 2003

April 2003

Scoring The Tests

This table describes a system of awarding points for each tests score. The total points for all five tests can
range from 20-100 points. An individual getting 20 points is a reasonably good athlete. Anyone scoring 100
points has credible claim to being one of the fittest men on earth. Dont despair if your score looks like what
would be a D- on a sixth grade spelling test the numbers are just that, numbers.
If youd like to share your total fitness score with us, send it along with the details of each test to
howfitareyou@crossfit.com. We plan to regularly offer fitness competitions like this.

April 2003

Pull-ups
Interesting, intelligent, useful information about the
pull-up is not easy to come by. Heres an interesting
article we found on the Internet from Clarence Bass
site on Pavels theory of greasing the groove
(http://www.cbass.com/Synaptic.htm). Find us
another. Please!

Editor-In-Chief
Greg Glassman

There are Internet sites and message boards

dedicated to bench press technique, mechanics,
routines, and performance where nothing similar
exists for the pull-up.

Editorial Director
Lauren Glassman

Design
Art Director Lauren Glassman

How can a movement of such enormous import

stir such little interest? It doesnt make sense that
the pull-up doesnt inspire the same discussion,
analysis, and overall attention that so many other
movements do like the bench press and squat.

Photography
Chief Photographer Dennis Bury
Picture Editor Lauren Glassman

Technical Advisors
Derek Wray
Danny John

But, first lets back up a little bit and give a definition

of the pull-up. Well use Merriam Websters
definition of chinning: to raise oneself while
hanging by the hands until the chin is level with the
support to describe what we call a pull-up.

Athletic Contributors
Loyd Lewis, Greg Amundson, Dave Leys,
and Athena

Subscription Information

Notice that we make no mention of grip, underhand

or overhand (supinated or pronated). We dont care,
and we dont want you to either. When you can
do 40 pull-ups you wont care much if the grip is
underhand, overhand, wide, narrow, or mixed it
all starts to feel the same. The lesson is mix-it up.

The CrossFit Journal is an electronically

distributed magazine (e-mailed e-zine)
published monthly by www.crossfit.com
chronicling a proven method of achieving
elite fitness.
To subscribe go to: http://www.crossfit.com/

How significant is the pull-up? In our view the pullup is:

At least as important as any other upper body
exercise
An essential part of athletic training
Perfectly functional
A gateway exercise to highly developmental
gymnastics movements
Singularly unique and valuable, and so has
no replacement (lat pull-down is a weak
substitute)

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Send a check or money order in the amount
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Contact us at:
info@crossfit.com

The requirements for the CrossFit pull-up are

simple yet tough to execute. The pull-up begins
from a hang at full arm and shoulder extension
and ends, regardless of grip, with the chest pressed
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April 2003

tightly to the bar.

Pulling the chest to the bar is very hard but encourages fully opening the chest and pulling the shoulders
back or closing the back. In the early stages of developing a pull-up it is acceptable to bring the Adams
apple to the bar instead of the chest, but leading with the shoulders forward rather than back is a fault that
needs to be fixed long before you are going to get to 30 pullups.
Technically correct pull-ups:

Go from full hang to chest pressing tightly to the bar

Lead with the chest up and shoulders way back
Are visually directed, that is, a sight line is chosen
that is shortened as the body rises to the bar
Synchronize respiration to the pull-up: inhale down,
exhale up
Are motivated by trying to drive the elbows down to
the ground not to flex the arm!

Nearly any surface on which you can even get a fingertip

hold and hang is a potential platform for pull-ups, but for
regular practice you need a pull-up bar for which there are
several options.
Weve had Nick Massman (raahlu@pacbell.net) build
several pull-up bars for CrossFit including our thick handled,
rotating pull-up bar (a CrossFit original!). We recommend
that you either get a bar from Nick or have a local welder
build you a bar that can be permanently mounted to either
the wall or a conveniently located overhead beam. The
freestanding pull-up and dip towers are by contrast relatively
unstable and take up too much valuable floor space for any
but the largest facilities.
The thick handled, rotating pull-up bar is a grip forearm
developer of the first order. Just hanging from this beast
makes you a believer. Your grip doesnt slowly weaken, you
just find yourself in free fall.
For road trips and apartment dwellers without garages there
are several really cool doorway pull-up bars (and dip bars)
that will provide excellent service. The best of them require
no hardware for installation. http://www.easydip.com/ &
http://befittoday.com/doorgym.htm

Loyd on the thick handled-rotating pull-up bar

- underhand grip

For those unable to perform a pull-up (or dip) there are several options. The best option is a pull-up and dip
assistance device like StairMasters Gravitron 2000. Sadly, Stairmaster quit making the Gravitron recently, but
Internet savvy folks can still find some new and used. Though this option is best, it is also the most expensive.
A new Gravitron is over $2,000 but worth every penny. We have two. There are other manufacturers but the
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April 2003

Gravitron is our favorite.

Our second choice is to tie the ends of several lengths of
theraband to your bar leaving a loop that hangs down to
about mid thigh. By stepping into the loops and experimenting
with the number of therabands, you can develop a natural
spotting technique that is inexpensive, simple to build, and
assists along functional lines of movements. This method is,
though, fraught with one rather significant complication. If
the bands are allowed to slip from the foot there exists the
possibility of the bands snapping up and seriously injuring the
eye. If you adopt this method, keep your head up; dont look
at the bands otherwise wear protective goggles!
The third choice for assisting pull-ups is the manual spot.
This method requires a friend to stand close behind you and
grab with fingers and hands your sides and mid back and to
squat and press in synchronization to your efforts. This is an
especially great technique with large groups broken into pairs.
The athlete being assisted is engaged in one of the worlds best
pulling movement and the spotter is engaged in a classic bit
of hip extension and push. Between both efforts the activity
is whole body and very complete. Competing teams racing
toward 100 pull-ups combined per team is fantastic work.
The goal in your pull-up work is more. You want, you need,
more pull-ups. The more you can do the stronger you become.
Muscular endurance, absolute strength, relative strength,
whatever you want to define and measure gets better.
With the goal being high reps, regular exposure is critical.
We placed both the Better Warm-up article and the Pullup article as a two front effort to encourage more frequent
fundamental bodyweight movements (and better warm-ups)
in all our athletes. Gymnastic movements are eventually
well tolerated at frequencies never recommended for weight
training exercises.
Greg on the thick handled-rotating pullup

Weve known athletes to hang a pull-up bar in the bathroom

bar - overhand grip
doorway and obligating themselves to performing ten pullups every time they came out. It works. A rugby player friend
performed max set of pull-ups for every beer he drank and
managed to stay drunk and arrive at 30 pull-ups. We recommend incorporating the pull-up into your warmup routine. Try not to favor a grip. If there is a discrepancy in your number with the overhand versus the
underhand grip, give emphasis to the weaker grip. With increasing competency the difference between the two
grips in feel, muscle recruitment and development approaches zero.
Every personal best pull-up is an event worthy of celebration. Youre going to live to be 100 but youll not get
that many pull-ups, so treat the new ones like birthdays.
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