Critique my form on pulling movements! (vid)

Aleksander93

So I created a youtube channel where I will post workout vids and healthy food recipees. I was wondering if you can correct my form on exercises in my pulling movements! Here is the vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h30fFRhrI5M

Aleksander93

Anyone?:-)

Hendrix7

nothing really wrong with it but looks like you are not going through the full range of motion on those 1 arm db rows.

Azdak

It's mostly minor stuff--some of the mistakes I see are common with people doing pulling exercises. Mainly--not fully engaging your lats and using a certain amount of body leverage, esp when you start to get tired.

Maybe you were tired by then, but the pulldowns with the square handle looked like a lot of arms, shoulders, and leverage and not much in the way of lats.

The same with the bent over rows--a lot of arm pulling and torso leverage, Rows are one of the most poorly-performed exercises in any weight room. Yes, you want to retract your shoulder at the beginning of the lift, but that means only to the level of a flat back, not rotating the torso upward.

This video is a better description of what I mean:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gOYkpfT9Hc

One thing I have people do to check their form is to do pulldowns, pullups, and cable rows as a "two step" movement at first. When lowering the weight, relax the shoulders and let them be pulled forward or up by the weight. To, start the lift, retract the shoulder without bending the elbows. This engages the lats--then you finish off the movement using the lats instead of arms, shoulders and chest. Once you are sure of your form, you can stop the two step movement--it's just meant to be a physical cue to make sure you are engaging the back.

With the biceps curls (BTW, thats a lot of bicep work IMO), again, you tend to use some leverage to move the weight. When you move your elbows forward during the movement, you change the resistance angle and make the lift easier.

Again, all of these are minor things--except for the bent over row--and they are quite common mistakes. Usually they stem from lifting too heavy a weight before one has mastered form.

I only wish I could do those pullups ;-(

krstfolo

For the pullups try to get fuller range of motion at the bottom. All the way up and all the way down. This will help engage more of the lat at the bottom. Also try to keep your core a little tighter to avoid the forward swing/rise of the hips, which is a way to lessen the weight you have to pull-up and can cause a rotation of the shoulder at the top of the movement. This elbows back to hips at the top, not hips forward to elbows.

For the one-arm DB row. Do not let your upper body round, try to keep the back as flat as possible. A way to fix this is to think chest up and look forward not down. Also try to bring the weight directly up to your peck and don't just let it drop back down but more forward to below the shoulder position. This will also engage more of the lat on the pull.

For the cable curls, keep your hands closer together at the top, do not let them drift so far out. When they do you are putting a lot of pressure on the elbow and are no longer using the biceps to keep the weight up. Take the weight up to where you still have tension in the bicep so that it is not relaxed.

For the barbell curls. Do not swing your hips to help get the weight up. If this is happening you need to drop the weight a little. Keep your chest up and focus on slowly pulling the weight up, not swinging it. Keep your core tight at the top so that you are not arching your back as the weight comes to your chest.

For the seated DB curls. Do not let the weight swing. Again slow and deliberate on the movement. Also try not to let the elbows track too far forward as you get to the top.

Lat pulldown, sit more upright with an open chest and think squeezing the lats together at the bottom. This will engage the lats more with your pull. The leaned back position puts a lot of pressure on your lower back and unless you have a strong core you will start to round your back and try to use your abs to pull the weight down. With added weight this will cause injuries to your back.

Seated rows, keep the rope at a level in front of your face, sit up tall with an open chest. Otherwise not bad.

Hope this all makes sense and helps.

Aleksander93

Awesome thanks for the replies guys!! This is extremely helpful for me :-)

haroon_awan

Few things:

Pull ups: go all the way down and try not to swing/kip too much.
One arm row: your form looks quite bad - it seems like you are pulling with your hand. This is not the exercise, you need to pull back with your elbow and keep your shoulder in one place. Drop the weight, choose a lighter one and try again with FULL range of motion.
Bicep work: the key to getting guns is form, range of motion and good ECCENTRIC work. Once you curl up, go SLOW on the way down. This creates a more burn and you'll have to use lighter weight, but from what I have read from trainers is that studies have shown it to be more effective in building muscle. Also, don't rock your elbows and shoulders too much.
Pull downs/row exercises: Shoulders back and squeeze the lats when you've pulled
Seated row specifically: sit A LITTLE more upright. That particular rope handle is a bit weird, if you can, take it off and use a different one if you are doing wide rows. Also, keep the pull in line with your chest, looks like your working your shoulders if you do it too high (eg face pull with external rotation)

This might be helpful in general: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytl3AJAVZuk