{"id":1402,"date":"2015-09-24T22:43:30","date_gmt":"2015-09-24T22:43:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/?p=1402"},"modified":"2015-09-24T22:43:30","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24T22:43:30","slug":"re-post-mastering-the-pull-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/?p=1402","title":{"rendered":"Re-Post: Mastering the Pull-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want to improve your appearance and boost your confidence, there is no substitute for building muscle. \u00a0The good\u00a0news is a man can build muscle at any age, and you don’t need a gym membership or even a set of weights to do it. \u00a0If you’re healthy enough to exercise — and if you say\u00a0you’re healthy enough, I believe you, but check it with your doctor — the express lane to building your upper body is the overhand grip, dead hang pull-up.<\/p>\n

\"Power<\/a>

Power to the people.
This is the grip I recommend for pull-ups. Note the position of the thumb<\/p><\/div>\n

Prospective\u00a0Marine Corps officer candidates have to pass regular physical fitness tests. \u00a0To obtain a perfect score, a candidate has to\u00a0run three miles in 18 minutes or less, complete 100 sit-ups within two minutes, and complete 20 pull-ups with strict form. \u00a0When my son went through the candidate selection process, he\u00a0had no trouble with the run or the sit-ups, but to get him up to speed in pull-ups, the officer selection officer told him to look up the Armstrong Pull-up Program\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0and do it.<\/p>\n

Although I had done wide-grip pull-ups during my\u00a0college years, I had let them go by the wayside. \u00a0To help encourage my son, I decided to follow the Armstrong plan myself. \u00a0I had no idea how it would go, but I promised my son that as long as he kept at it, I would stay on the program.<\/p>\n

Progress?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

I began on a Monday, doing three, maximum-effort sets of push-ups in the morning and attempting the prescribed five maximum-rep sets that evening. \u00a0Unfortunately for me, the pull-up bar fell out of the doorway during my first set. \u00a0I fell\u00a0— thought I had broken my elbow. Annoyed, I walked it off and started again. \u00a0My first official five sets on the program yielded\u00a0the following repetitions: 3-2-2-1-1 for an impressive (I’m being facetious) total of 9 pull-ups.<\/p>\n

I kept my word to my son, and over time reached\u00a0the point where I could complete 20+ pull-ups in a single set. \u00a0Not bad for a man in his late 40’s. \u00a0And in the\u00a0ensuing years, I have maintained a consistent commitment to pull-ups, making sure I complete 50 or more per workout two or\u00a0three times a week.<\/p>\n

Are You Bragging, Viejo?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Not at all. \u00a0I’m telling you this so that you, in your youth, will abandon your excuses and get moving. \u00a0If I was able to start with a one-set maximum of\u00a0three and work to the point where I could do 20 (and sometimes more) pull-ups in a single set, you can, too.<\/p>\n

Tips Welcome<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Here’s a quick list of things I learned on the way to achieving my goal:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • A permanently installed bar is less likely to fall with you on it. \u00a0Ask me how I know.<\/li>\n
  • Let your thumbs rest on top of the bar, rather than wrapping around. \u00a0Grip with your fingers. See the photo.<\/li>\n
  • Keep your shoulders in their sockets — i.e., S<\/strong>houlders B<\/strong>ack and D<\/strong>own (SBD) \u00a0— especially at the bottom of every rep.<\/li>\n
  • Exhale on the exertion – that is, on the way up.<\/li>\n
  • Let your back, rather than your arms, do the work. \u00a0This is important — physically and mentally.<\/li>\n
  • Look where you want to go (up and over the bar)<\/li>\n
  • Clench your glutes.<\/li>\n
  • Don’t allow your body to swing or bounce<\/li>\n
  • Unless you’re into CrossFit, don’t lurch or kip up. \u00a0These are dead hang pull-ups.<\/li>\n
  • Use varied grip widths and types (narrow, wide, overhand, underhand) from workout to workout.<\/li>\n
  • Keep written records to gauge your progress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Bonus tip:<\/strong><\/span> Enlist a buddy to keep you on track.<\/p>\n

    So how about you?<\/strong> What are you doing to improve your fitness and your confidence? \u00a0What help do you need to get started? \u00a0Add your comments below.<\/span><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    If you want to improve your appearance and boost your confidence, there is no substitute for building muscle. \u00a0The good\u00a0news is a man can build muscle at any age, and you don’t need a gym membership or even a set of weights to do it. \u00a0If you’re healthy enough to exercise — and if you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[28,26,25,3,27,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-confidence","category-fitness","category-muscle","category-perseverance","category-pull-ups","category-strength"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1402"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1405,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1402\/revisions\/1405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.therealgeobooth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}