Brag Post: Two Pull-ups!

[fitfool]

Thanks to all of you who offered advice and tips on how to work up to doing pull-ups. I work from home and the pull-up bar is in the doorway of my home office. So I kept trying stuff on the bar whenever I walked by it. I tried a mishmash of the various suggestions I could do. Lots of bent-arm hangs, slow negatives (jump up and then lower myself from bar) and assisted pull-ups whenever my boyfriend was around to help push me up over the bar. At the gym, I focused on the Gravitron (for assisted pull-ups and dips), lat pull-downs, and any machines that said they helped make my back stronger.

And especially thanks to all you women who posted that you could do a pull-up (and even several of them!). It made it seem that much more possible with enough work. (http://community.livejournal.com/gymrats/1831348.html)

Questions:
1. My body just folds up when I try to lift myself up. Is it trying to doggy-paddle its way towards a kipping pull-up?

2. Does it make it easier to do a pull-up when my legs come up too? I need to concentrate to try to keep my waist straight and if I do so, I can only do one at a time so far. My boyfriend's legs come up naturally straight so he ends up in an L-shape when his chin is above the bar.

OK...maybe it's not a big deal for some of you but I've never been able to do two pull-ups in my life. I was so happy about it that I called up my sister to boast. Her husband picked up the phone.

Me: Oh Hi! I was calling to brag to my sister but I can brag to you too.
Sister's husband: Ok...Go ahead. Let's hear it.
Sister (noticing the anticipating-big-news tone in his voice): She's getting marrried?!

My sister got on the phone afterwards to congratulate me for the pull-ups too (though I don't think she was as excited as if I had gotten engaged)

Cross-posted to gymrats

Comments

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

oooh go you!

I need to start doing reverse pull-ups. I may never get strong enough (or shrink enough) do to real pullups, but anything counts.

[hanseth.livejournal.com]

Color me super-impressed! You look buff and great, and I bet it feels great to be so strong, too.

(Edited for icon!)

[itsacountry.livejournal.com]

AWESOME!!! Go you! Seriously, that's fantastic. I totally knew you could do it!

Concerning the legs coming up, it is a kipping motion. Focus on letting your body relax, while still hardening your abs and lower back. It's harder, like you mentioned.

Really, there's nothing wrong with kipping. It's not a true dead-hang, but a workout is a workout. All I can really speak for is the Marine Corps standards, which don't allow the knees to come above the waist, or any swinging motion.

[dg76.livejournal.com]

ooooh, you're my new hero!

what do you do at the gym? i want to be able to build up to doing at least one pull-up too. i'm afraid of looking like an idiot on one of those assisted pull-up machines though. i might have to suck it up and ask someone who works there.

[mylkqueen.livejournal.com]

Thats beyond awesome!

Envious!

[manley1.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the newfound strength!

[fixnwrtr.livejournal.com]

Good for you, but using your legs like that means your arms aren't taking all the weight. If you want to strengthen your back, Pilates is the answer. That will do it because it works all the girdle muscles.

[alchemi.livejournal.com]

Kick ass.

[deltamiss.livejournal.com]

Excellent! I'm very proud of you!

I've been exercising since school let out...curls...with a glass of sweet tea in my hand. :D

[faustin.livejournal.com]

The short answer is Yes, lifting your knees makes it easier.

Your body knows this: it prefers the rowing-angle to the pulling-straight-up-overhead angle. The lats connect to the upper arm across the scapulae, so they have an angle coming from behind or across the back --- so they're stronger if they're rowing an object toward your chest with your back almost perpendicular to the line of pull. When you curl your knees up, you enable your lats to pull at this stronger angle.


The next step for you is a fast 1-2 step: (1)curl those knees up explosively, then (2)even more explosively open your hips to throw your upper body towards the bar. This is the essential heart of the kip.

The other parts of it are two, 1) start from a swing, and 2) push away from the bar at the top - like a push-up or bench press - to cycle your body backwards and feed yourself back into the swing.

These steps to the kip, the swing, the knees-up, and the opening-the-hips, are why I designed the assistance exercises and billed them as drills to develop the pull-up. They are precisely that. The assistance exercises included swings, knees-to-elbows, L-sits. They get you comfortable with the kipping components while building your grip and hang strength, all of which will feed right into kipping pull-ups.

If you've got a problem with kipping pull-ups, let me know so we can discuss it. This is one of the most trenchant dogmas in the fitness world, and sadly, one of the most counterproductive and wrong-headed.

[jessacord.livejournal.com]

Those are awesome videos! Congratulations, it is so hard to do pullups or chinups! Are you left handed or is your right wrist the injured one? I'm asking because I noticed that you seem to be initiating/leading your pulling motions with your left arm.

[jazzbird.livejournal.com]

Woo hoo!!! That's so cool. I was never one for arm strength.

[razz.livejournal.com]

You're so badass!!!! Sorry for the swear, but that was awesome AND inspiring. I guess if you keep trying, you'll start building the muscles you need to make them feel more natural.

[shelikesclots.livejournal.com]

that's fantastic! kind of inspiring, too. :D

Awesome!

[bob-mars.livejournal.com]

You're really making some serious progress!

Here's a book you might really come to treasure...

Bodyweight Exercises for Extraordinary Strength. Brad Johnson
from Ironmind. www.ironmind.com (powerlifting, strength training)

http://www6.mailordercentral.com/ironmind/prodinfo.asp?number=1396

God Bless!

[swordofthejedi.livejournal.com]

fantastic!!! i've never been able to do one...unless you count the weight-assissted machines at the gym, which i don't :-)

[vereorc.livejournal.com]

I totally meant to reply back when I first read this, but I have such a big backlog of posts to reply to! Anyway, my husband has been trying to follow the fitness program on crossfit.com for a few months now. And everytime I think about his doing that, I automatically think of you. Whenever I glance over his shoulders at his screen when he's watching one of the video demonstrations of the fit girls at crossfit, I think of you!

Anyway, just thought you might want to check it out.

[grapefruitgirl.livejournal.com]

im not sure if i can do a pull-up or not. i dont have a bar/place where i can try. but...i have an idea/suggestion that will definitely help you. in addition to your pull-ups, do push some push-ups each day. this will build your arm strength that will help with your pull-ups. if you can't do a full-on push up, then do then modified type where you put your knees on the floor and cross your feet in the air, and then do the push up that way (hope that description makes sense). this'll certainly help you when it comes time to do your pull-ups ;)

[canyoncat.livejournal.com]

LOL! I don't think I've done a pull-up or chin-up since high school. I doubt I could do even one of either.

Good for you!

[mavx.livejournal.com]

Actually, try turning the fold in your body into an L-shaped pull up. There's videos of this on www.crossfit.com---it's a great way to work different muscles in your arms as well as tone up your abs.