PULLING EXERCISES

For a long time, the division of exercises into strength training has been done according to the muscle groups you wanted to work on. Performing this training methodology can lead to imbalances in the development of the muscles involved. The origin of this idea came mainly from bodybuilding.

At present, this aspect is taking a turn, since now what is being sought with strength training is functionality, that is, the character that is given to a training so that it is useful, practical and beneficial for the activity being carried out. Therefore, we must work the force in function of our patterns of movement that offer us our muscle-skeletal system, which are:

• Vertical thrust.
• Horizontal thrust.
• Vertical pull.
• Horizontal pull.
• Dominant hip.
• Knee dominant.
• Rotational, diagonal and spiral.
• Anti-Rotation (CORE).
• Anti-Flexion (CORE).
• Anti-Extension (CORE).
• Anti-Lateral Flexion (CORE).

Strength training using this methodology can bring us benefits such as:

• Increased muscle activation.
• Higher quality of training (less risk of suffering muscular imbalances).
• Greater integration and sports transfer.

After all that has been explained above, in this post we will focus on the training of the pull movement, a movement that is often forgotten in our training sessions, due to the continued use of push exercises, thus causing, in many cases, muscular imbalances with the consequent risk of injury.

As we have seen before, traction exercises are classified into vertical pull and horizontal pull. In the case of vertical traction, the weight is moved vertically from the trunk and involves shoulder extension and adduction along with elbow flexion. On the other hand, in horizontal traction, the weight approaches the trunk in a horizontal direction and also involves an extension and adduction of the shoulder accompanied by an elbow flexion.

Fitness Workout Exercise by skeeze in pixabay.com. Pixabay License

The main musculature that we work with these exercises is the following:

• Vertical pull:
• Latissimus dorsi.
• Teres major.
• Rhomboid.
• Lower Trapezium portion.
• Anterior brachial. 

• Horizontal pull:
• Posterior deltoid.
• Trapezium.
• Latissimus dorsi.
• Rhomboid major.
• Brachial.

Next, we will propose a series of exercises to work these movements.



See you in the next post.
May the force be with you!

REFERENCES

Cronin, J. B., Jones, J. V., & Hagstrom, J. T. (2007). Kinematics and Kinetics of the Seated Row and Implications for Conditioning. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21(4), 1265. https://doi.org/10.1519/R-21246.1

Fenwick, C. M. J., Brown, S. H. M., & McGill, S. M. (2009). Comparison of Different Rowing Exercises: Trunk Muscle Activation and Lumbar Spine Motion, Load, and Stiffness. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 23(2), 350–358. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181942019

Siff, M. C. (2002). Functional Training Revisited. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 24(5), 42–46. https://doi.org/10.1519/00126548-200210000-00011

Yoo, W.-G. (2013). Effect of the Foot Placements on the Latissmus Dorsi and Low Back Muscle Activities during Pull-down Exercise. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 25(9), 1155–1156. https://doi.org/10.1589/jpts.25.1155