HIGH PULL

Instructions Approach the bar and stand with your feet shoulder width apart (Strength Stance, Narrow stance). Place the hands right outside of the legs just and inch away from where the feet are placed. Lower down above the bar, keeping your Back Flat, Spread the chest and the head and eyes looking straight ahead and forward. Tips Once you are settled and set to make the first pull, make sure that your arms are taught and not bent. Quickly and violently, stand up bringing the bar to the middle of the thighs keeping your back Flat. As the bar is moving upwards, keep the bar close to your body and in one movement Shrug the shoulders and allow the bar to come up to the top of the clavile and drop back down to the thighs.

High Pull Instructions 1. Setup with your feet in a shoulder width stance, toes pointed out slightly, and your hands in a slightly wider than shoulder width grip. 2. Dip slightly to the power position and allow the bar to slide down your thighs. 3. Explosively jump straight up, shrug the bar aggressively, and then drive the elbows high. 4. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions. High Pull Tips 1. Olympic lifting is about efficiency, not just brute strength. 2. Ideally you want the movement to take place in a vertical fashion. Don’t think about pushing the hips forward, think up. 3. Toe angle is highly individual - experiment to see what feels best for you. 4. Drive through the whole foot - you want 3 points of contact: big toe, little toe, and heel.

Using a wide snatch grip on the bar, yank the bar up and keep it close to your body. Your elbows should be higher than the bar and aimed 45 degrees back. I can't emphasize strongly enough that this movement should be done explosively. Pretend you have just walked into the room and the weight is on top of your puppy dog. Pull with violence! Blast it off! Let the bar fall quickly back to the starting position, too. Don’t try to lower it slowly. Again, remember that this is an explosive Olympic lift variation. Important Notes Even though it's an explosive movement, the most important portion of the high pull is the starting position. A proper starting position can actually make as much as a 40-pound difference in your lift. It’s crucial that you pull the shoulder blades together and then “roll” the chest up as high as possible. That will turn the whole upper back into a solid base from which to explode. And while the upper back is tight as can be, the arms should remain as loose as possible: Tight back + loose arms = highest power transfer possible. Lift the bar toward your neck. To do so, use a powerful posterior chain pull to create a lot of momentum at the start of the movement. Once the lower back is approaching full extension, aggressively pull the bar toward your neck – up and towards you – keeping the elbows higher than the bar. I only make reference to the neck to help you understand that you need to keep the bar close to your body. Don’t pay attention to the actual height. While a lift must reach at least nipple line to qualify as a high pull, focusing on the end position instead of the powerful launch will undoubtedly lead to using your arms to pull instead of using the lower body power to drive the weight up.

START: The first part of the movement is the same as for the clean and jerk.

MOVE: When the bar reaches thigh level, explosively move it upward by extending the hip, knee and ankle joints in a jumping motion. When you reach full extension, shrug your shoulders, then pull with your arms, bringing the bar as high as possible. Slowly lower the bar and reset.

START: Stand holding a barbell in front of your thighs with and overhand grip. Both your hands and feet should be spaced shoulder-width apart. Your knees should be slightly bent and your torso leaned forward slightly.

MOVE: Pull the bar upward in an explosive manner by extending the hip, knee and ankle joints in a jumping motion. Simultaneously shrug your shoulders, then pull with your arms, bringing the bar as high as possible. Slowly lower the bar to thigh level.

A.K.A. Smith Machine High Pull

A.K.A. Dumbbell High Pull

A.K.A. High Pull Throw to Overhead Press Throw

Stand with a hip- to shoulder-width stance over a loaded backpack (or medicine ball or sandbag). Hold the top handle of the backpack with both hands (like you'd do with a kettlebell), with your arms hanging straight down in front of you. Quickly dip down into a quarter- to half-squat, then immediately extend your hips, knees, and ankles to explode off the floor. As you do this, pull the bag up in front of you using your upper body (similar to an upright rowing motion), and release the bag near the top position, throwing it overhead as high as possible. As the bag comes back down, catch the bottom of it in front of your chest with both hands. Pause for a moment and reset the bag in your hands if needed. From there, dip down again into a quarter-squat and explode off the ground, this time launching the bag up in the air using an overhead pressing motion (as opposed to the high pull motion you used for the first throw). Catch the bag again on its descent with both hands in front of your chest. You've now done one high pull throw plus one overhead press throw - that's 1 complete rep. Lower the bag to the floor and repeat for reps.