Pull-up progression

The pull-up ladder starts with a dead hang, moves through band-assisted pull-ups, and builds to sets of full pull-ups.

A full pull-up starts from straight arms and ends with the elbows fully bent, then goes back to straight arms. A rep that stops short at the top, or never returns to a full hang, is named and not counted.

The steps

Each skill is a ladder of steps. Every step has a target — clean seconds for a hold, full-range reps for a set — and you move on when you hit it in one set.

1
Dead hang, 30 sTarget: 30 clean seconds in one set.Arms fully straight, hanging from the bar.
Check this step on camera
2
Band-assisted pull-ups, 8Target: 8 full reps in one set.From straight arms to elbows fully bent, chin over the bar, back to straight.
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3
Pull-ups, 3Target: 3 full reps in one set.Every rep from a full hang to elbows fully bent.
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4
Pull-ups, 8Target: 8 full reps in one set.Every rep from a full hang to elbows fully bent.
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5
Pull-ups, 12Target: 12 full reps in one set.Every rep from a full hang to elbows fully bent.
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The targets are common coaching numbers, not a standard. The thresholds for “clean” are starting values, and they are written out on each page.

What counts as clean

Elbow angle (shoulder–elbow–wrist) from a straight-arm hang to fully bent.

Dead hang

Elbows at least 165° straight (shoulder–elbow–wrist), hands above the shoulders.
The line score starts at 100 and loses 1.25 points per degree the body is off the ideal shape; a second counts when the score is 75 or more — about 20° off in total.

Faults the camera names: “elbows bent”

Pull-up reps

Every rep starts with the elbow (shoulder–elbow–wrist) at 155° or straighter.
It reaches 75° or less at the top.
And it returns to 155° or straighter before the next rep begins.

Faults the camera names: “not high enough — elbows not fully bent”, “no full hang between reps”

A fault is named on screen once it costs 8° or more. Reps that fall short are named and not counted.

Setting up the phone

Stand the phone on its side two or three metres away, looking at you from the side, whole body in frame. The pose model runs in the browser; the video never leaves the phone.

What it cannot see

One camera sees one side. It cannot see a handstand drifting towards or away from it, or one arm doing less than the other.
It needs the whole body in frame and reasonable light. When it cannot see a joint, it stops counting rather than guess.
The thresholds — how straight is straight — are starting values from the geometry of each position, not yet tuned against many athletes. Expect them to change.

Check step 1 on camera All progressions

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