Clean High Pull – catalystathletics.com
Take a moment to watch the youtube video and the Catalyst Athletics video. Notice some similar positions? I bring this point to light because a lot of us, as we perform our rowing workouts, are allowing some very poor mechanics with the row stroke. I compare the stroke to the clean high pull rather often simply because of the similarity between the two!
Both movements must be performed with a rock solid back, first and foremost! This is the position most often violated in rowing workouts. The reason for the comparison between the two is simple. you would never see a high-end weightlifter performing a clean high pull, or clean for that matter, with a round spine. Ever!
That said, why do we allow for such a position to exist in our rowing stroke? Is it because there is no load? Believe me, this is not the case. Granted the load on a rower pales in comparison to that of clean. However, given enough exposure to an improperly performed row stroke and the spine will tell you it’s not happy.
The row stroke is intended to be a powerful, graceful expression of whole body just as the clean is. This cannot occur with sloppy mechanics and a poorly aligned spine.
WOD
HSPU
4 x MR
Death by Bodyweight
Every minute on the minute perform:
1 Pull Up
1 Push Up
1 Box Jump
2 Pull Up
2 Push Up
2 Box Jump
3 Pull Up
3 Push Up
3 Box Jump
Continue until you can no longer make all the required reps in the minute allotted. Score is total reps.
