29 Nov The G-Force Source: From caterpillars to butterflies
Pull-ups are one of the most common movements performed in CrossFit. We do them often at G-Force, and we pride ourselves in coaching our athletes to move as efficiently as possible. One of the fastest ways to perform pull-ups is the butterfly, but learning this movement can be difficult, especially if you’re not learning the right way. We want to get as many of our athletes moving efficiently and fast; moving from slow caterpillars with the strict or banded pull-up, to fluttering butterflies with the butterfly pull-up. Continue reading below to our G-Force Movement Bank as we discuss this further by referencing efficiency tips from Chris Spealler.
The G-Force Christmas party is in less than two weeks. If you haven’t done so already, please send your payments through to the account on the whiteboard in the gym. The theme has been decided (apparently without it going through the standard event committee. When did we become a dictatorship Glen?). The theme is Star Wars. Dress up as your favourite Star Wars character as we cruise around Port Hacking for four hours in the afternoon!
Jokes. The theme is Hawaiian.
This week’s PBs include Big Will’s front squat going from 150kg to 160kg. Woah! Courtney’s front squat went from 90kg to 92.5kg, Little Lauren deadlifted 110kg for 2 reps, Si power cleaned 95kg, Lachlan completed a 400 metre run in 1 minute and 21 seconds, and Sergio power cleaned 90kg. Well done crew!
We would also like to extend our congratulations to Ryan “Clark Kent” Beattie. This is his final week as a not-really-single-because-he’s-engaged man. He gets married next weekend! G-Force wishes Beattie and future Mrs Beattie all the best for their future.
THE G-FORCE MOVEMENT BANK
Pull-up Efficiency
Some of you may have heard us talk about keeping your pull-ups tight, no matter what variation of the movement you’re performing. Whether it’s a strict pull-up, kipping pull-up, or butterfly pull-up, emphasis should be placed on keeping your midline tight without letting your body bend too far back or forward. When performing a strict pull-up, most people let the legs hang, or they bend at the knee, they hyper-extend their back by flaring out their chest, they look up towards the ceiling and try to perform a pull-up. That is a broken pull-up. We will tell you to stay tight by thinking about adopting a position similar to that of a hollow position on the floor: feet together, ribs down and stomach tight. You have to remember: “Tight is light, loose is heavy.” Being loose is dead weight, and it’s not transitional. By transitional in regards to the pull-up, we mean it doesn’t transition from the strict pull-up to the kip, and eventually onto the butterfly.
When thinking about the butterfly and first trying to learn the movement, we tend to see people start with smaller circles with their feet at a dead hang underneath the pull-up bar, or they try and over-exaggerate the kicking-motion by creating big circles with their legs and feet. Both of these are inefficient. As Chris Spealler explains in his efficiency video, smaller circles under the pull-up bar tends to make your head pass through the bar, which we never do in a pull-up. The larger circles with the feet and legs becomes inconsistent, and it will tend to break the tighter position mentioned above. As per the strict and kipping pull-up, the movement should be performed with tighter midlines. You will find that a tighter butterfly pull-up is going to be much quicker and more efficient than a variation where someone is using their legs too much by creating large circles.
Watch Chris Spealler’s pull-up efficiency video here.
See you all in the gym.
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