CalisthenicsIn review

Scapular Pull-Up

A small straight-arm pull on a fixed bar that moves only the shoulder blades.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Vertical pull
Modality: Calisthenics
Difficulty: Beginner
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Bilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Hang from the bar with an overhand grip and straight arms.
Let the shoulders rise toward the ears in a relaxed hang.

Do the rep

Keep the arms straight and pull the shoulders down away from the ears, so the body rises a little.
Lower back to the relaxed hang under control.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the shoulders move down away from the ears with straight arms and then return to the relaxed hang.

One rep starts in a relaxed straight-arm hang, draws the shoulders down away from the ears without bending the elbows, and ends back in a controlled hang.

Breathing

Exhale as the shoulders move down; inhale as they return.

Cues

Keep the arms straight.
Pull the shoulders away from the ears.
Hold the top position longer when the reps get easy.

Common mistakes

Bending the elbows
What you seeThe elbows bend and the movement becomes a short pull-up.
FixKeep the elbows straight and make the movement smaller.
The rep trains the shoulder blades, not the arms.
Swinging
What you seeThe legs swing forward and back during the set.
FixStart each rep from a still hang.
A still hang keeps momentum out of the rep.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if your grip slips or you cannot return to a controlled hang.
End the set when you cannot meet the stated range under control.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Latissimus dorsi · moderate confidence
Trapezius · moderate confidence

Assisting

Forearms and grip · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence

Equipment

Pull up bar + Bodyweight

Use a fixed pull-up bar with enough clearance for a straight-arm hang.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A coach reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 1, written from the blueprint CSV row and the Wave 2 rules page of 2026-10-12. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the rules page; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_pull_up, the closest Wave 1 record.
The CSV puts this row in Wave 3. The Wave 2 rules page (rule 6) moves it to batch 1.
The CSV lists vertical-pull. The arms stay straight and only the shoulder blades move, so the record uses the straight-arm pulldown roles (secondary_pull, isolation_target), not primary_vertical_pull. A scapular drill is not a main vertical pull.
Skill tier beginner: a new user who can hang can do it in the first session (rule 3). The CSV says intermediate.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-3 blueprint CSV.

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