Yeah that’s exactly what it means. I’ve been practicing one arm pull ups this way for the last few weeks. I imagine that I’m actually grabbing a bar and position my body exactly how I would if I were actually going to do the exercise.

Then I pull my hand down, flexing all the muscles I can control–imagining myself actually lifting off of the ground. It really teaches good muscle control, especially when you do it everyday because you learn how to flex many different muscles that you might not have had good conscious control of before.