Tip The Most Useless Pull-Up Exercise Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip The Most Useless Pull-Up Exercise This movement is often used as a regression in functional fitness classes Problem is it doesn' t do much of anything Here' s why by Christian Thibaudeau January 26, 2018April 20, 2022 Tags CrossFit, Pull-Up, Tips, Training Jumping Pull-Ups Worthless Over the years I've been a defender of CrossFit and many of its exercises, even certain styles of kipping pull-ups, which have their place for advanced competitive CrossFitters. But one exercise I just don't understand is the jumping pull-up. I'm not taking about jumping from the floor to grab the bar then pulling yourself up, which can have some value. Here's what I'm referring to: In some CrossFit classes you have the option to "scale down" if you can't do an exercise as prescribed. Let's say you have pull-ups in a WOD. If you can't do pull-ups, instructors normally have you do banded pull-ups. But some people are too weak (or heavy) for those. What do they do then? The coach puts a box below the pull-up bar. The person stands on the box with his or her hands grabbing the pull-up bar. They're instructed to "jump and pull" until their chin is above the bar. The problem is that because of the height of the bar, most people don't have to do any pulling work to get their chin over it. They're basically just standing on the box and hopping while holding the bar. This doesn't do anything, though I suppose it burns more calories than sitting the exercise out. But the small hops aren't intense enough to build power, and the upper body doesn't do any work. It has nothing to do with the original exercise, the pull-up. There are much better options. Can't do pull-ups or banded pull-ups? Do barbell, dumbbell, or band rowing... or even inverted rows. You're at least respecting the initial spirit of the exercise. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Lighter Weights Bigger Legs A veteran bodybuilding coach shows you how to lighten up your leg training and get your best results ever. Bodybuilding, Training Scott Abel March 16 Training Tip The Missing Chest Exercise Here's how to increase muscle fiber recruitment to build bigger, stronger pecs. And most people never even do it. Tips, Training Eric Bach November 14 Training Tip A Startling Benefit of Exercise A huge study of tens of thousands of people reveals that the upside of exercise is far more potent than we realized. CrossFit, Metabolic Conditioning, Tips, Training TC Luoma November 17 Training Tip Scorch Your Triceps With This Exercise Combine the best elements of rope pressdowns and straight bar pressdowns to create one hellacious exercise. Arms, Bodybuilding, Tips, Training Joel Seedman, PhD May 24