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Im really just interested in seeing how many the average pole vaulter can do, so how many can you do?


I was how important they accualy were to pole vaulting. I mean they are a decient display of relative upper body strength, but is there ever really a molment in the vault that mimics the pulling motion of a pull up? Vaulting seems to be more pushing and swinging to me.

ps. Ive done 30

VaultPurple wrote: ... is there ever really a molment in the vault that mimics the pulling motion of a pull up? Vaulting seems to be more pushing and swinging to me.

I think being too muscular in the PULLUP direction can actually hamper your technique ... by you pulling after takeoff. You should actually be PUSHING with the top arm instead of pulling after takeoff ... to maximize your leverage during your swing.

In HS, I used to climb ropes (a LOT!) rightside up. Once I got to UW, I found out that I'd been doing them wrong. I should have been doing them upside down ... to excercise the muscles that you use during the extension.

Pullups ...

Upside down rope climbs ...

Kirk

Upright Rows are an excellent exercise for the "Pull" portion of the vault after you invert. Aside form the exact grip on the pole, Upright Rows are exactly the "Pull" portion of the vault.

As for Pull-Ups, I agree they are a great upper body exercise in general. I do them ( chins version ). As Kirk said, not really a vault specific strength exercise, though you do use your lats during the swing phase of the vault. The pulling part of pull-ups is definitely not good muscle memory for vaulting. Anyway... Sorry to diss your 30 pull-ups number, but I highly doubt you can do close to that if you do correct pull-ups. 99% of people claiming more than 15 - 20 real pull-ups is bogus. I could do about 50 if I speed through them and not completely extend my arms at the bottom. Go slowly, pausing for a second at the bottom when your arms are fully extended and then tell me how many you can really do.

I do wide grip chins ( pullups, but end with the bar behind your neck like a lat pull-down ) and can only do 10 - 12. I've been doing them for a long time now. Not saying people can't do more because I've seen people do 20+ real ones.

Plus, you'll truely work the lat muscle if you do them slowly and to full extension. Speeding through them with half extended arms is like people saying they can curl 50lbs. dumbbells. Sure, so can I if I swing it like hell and lean back.

Sorry for the rant. I myself was always caught up in numbers and weight when I was in high school and college. It's way more important to move through full rage of motion with perfect form

About 11.

Yeah I get what your saying about full motion. When I am doing them as an exercise I pace myself and lock out my elbows and then touch my neck to the bar with arms at normal distance apart (sholderish?). I did 20 last night by going all the way down and up. When I did the 30 I did bout first 24 full then really yanked and struggled for last 6 (was for stats and wanted most on team.. also ripped a dime size hole in my hand where a calus came off)

Yeah I don't buy the 10-15 thing one bit... If VP can squeeze out 30 (and it was being regulated/supervised) then people who actually spend a lot of time training their lats and arms (unlike us vaulters) should be able to get 40+ without too much trouble... (If they're allowed to 'wiggle'...)

Pullups are a good general strength thing to do. If a girl can't do 5 pullups, and a guy can't do 10, you probably need to be stronger in a number of areas.

But if you can do 20 pullups, you're probably not going to pole vault any higher if you increase your pullup max to 30 or 40.

One way to make pullups a little more vault-specific is to do them with one knee lifted. (switch legs). This activates the core muscles more.

I started doing them with both legs out straight... a real killer on basically the whole body! (Arms, back, abs, hip flexors, and technically the quads too...)

Not sure where PP got 10 - 15 from, but I personally do wide grip chins instead of regular pull-ups. Wide grip chins work the lats much more than basic pull-ups and are much more difficult. Here's a vid of what I'm talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxdCUHQM0SU

superpipe wrote:Not sure where PP got 10 - 15 from, but I personally do wide grip chins instead of regular pull-ups. Wide grip chins work the lats much more than basic pull-ups and are much more difficult. Here's a vid of what I'm talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxdCUHQM0SU

Alright those looked intense ... not to mention painful so i thought I would try, managed 16.

But ive had a number of trainors and doc (well my chiropracter) say never do pull ups behind the head like that because it is bad for the spine. Kinda felt it too, really pulled back muscles and hurt neck a little but not too bad.

If VP can squeeze out 30 (and it was being regulated/supervised) then people who actually spend a lot of time training their lats and arms (unlike us vaulters) should be able to get 40+ without too much trouble...

I think its just body weight specific to that exercise (ie. you can do more pull ups, by doing a lot of pull ups) . I mean I can do a relatively decient amount, but I only weight 140, but i can do pull ups with the lat pull down bar with around 190lb. Then we have throwers that use 250 but can only do 5 pull ups. The most extreme feet Ive seen is that we had a hammer thrower do 39 one year and he weighs around 350 (they were not fully extended but far enough, id be amazed if he could accualy straighten his arms they are so big). But this guy would warm up for hammer on high bar doing pull ups where he would throw himself up in air, let go of bar, theng grab on way back down. I mean the guy also threw 71' weight, 215' in hammer, and holds multiple world records in the highland games.

Ummm...let's go with a half of one
really though...like, NOTHING.
I get up halfway and I can't go further.
I'm working on it though.

Has anyone else tried clap pull ups? They're a good way to get the ladies over to the pull up bar...