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

[faustin.livejournal.com]

Ummmmm... for the record, the kip I'm describing is the traditional swing kip. Some crossfitters call it the Eva T kip (after Eva Twardokens).

There's another kip, which I use, which gets called the butterfly kip, BFK, or even AFT kip (after the guy who first demo'd it with huge power and speed in a competition). But... one thing at a time. The trad kip has been around longer and has a lot more how-to developed and people using it, so start there. The butterfly kip (it looks like a butterfly swim stroke) is more difficult.

Both kips work by translating lateral motion to vertical motion. The traditional swing kip gets the lateral motion from the whole-body swing. The butterfly kip gets the lateral motion from a really powerful leg cycle as you're dropping down from the bar and uses the cycle to rebound the body back up.

But damn I say too much. Pardon.

[dg76.livejournal.com]

on the contrary! i'm finding this all very fascinating. thanks for sharing. are you a trainer?

[faustin.livejournal.com]

Yes, trainer. I think fitfool was partly inspired by this entry I wrote a while back: http://www.vcrossfit.com/200805/developing-your-first-pull-ups/

Listen up. DO NOT be embarrassed or ashamed to use the gravitron / pull-up assistance machine.

The gyms are packed with losers who let what-other-people-see influence their workouts. The winners are people who don't give a damn what all the spectators see, but simply do the work necessary. The necessary work is often unglamorous, and EVERYONE could be embarrassed by it. We have such strong sensitivity to glamour and looking good! And judged by glamour, true work rarely makes the cut. But it's the true work which pays off in the end. Worrying about what other people is the worst handicap you can impose on yourself. The ignorant will judge you by glamour, I suppose. The knowledgeable and the true will judge you by performance and hard work, and will be able to recognize it.

The gravitron or pull-up assistance machine can help you.

A fixed plan, which you *stick to* when you go into the gym, is also a key to success. If you don't have a fixed plan which you actually force yourself to complete, you'll try a pull-up or some other accessory exercise, then walk away -- because it's tough.

[dg76.livejournal.com]

oh, i definitely don't have any delusions of looking glamorous at the gym! haha. i'm all about getting down to business... but when it comes to strengthening the upper body i don't always know what i should be doing. and i have never been able to do a pull up, or used the gravitron, so i don't want to do things all wrong... but you're right... i should just ask someone who works there for the right way to use it and get me started.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Yup...I referred to his post about how to develop your first pull-up frequently. Lots of helpful stuff in there.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

Yes...I referred to that post frequently trying to get up to a pull-up. Thanks again! :)

Next up is squats...I started using those fixed-weight barbells but so far only got as far as 50 pounds since I got more nervous about hoisting them over my head safely. Maybe I'll try using that Smith rack thing since my legs felt fine with the weight.

[dragondare.livejournal.com]

Most will suggest not using the Smith machine, as it forces you to do the movement at an angle that is most likely unnatural for your legs/back/etc.

If you got up to 50lbs, why not start using an Olympic bar in a power rack? Then you don't have to hoist it overhead.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

>why not start using an Olympic bar in a power rack?

Ah...because I thought that's what the Smith machine thing does...I figured it would force me to follow proper squat form. Thanks for the warning. I'll look for the power rack at the gym.

[zadok-allen.livejournal.com]

QFT: "Listen up. DO NOT be embarrassed or ashamed to use the gravitron / pull-up assistance machine.

The gyms are packed with losers who let what-other-people-see influence their workouts. The winners are people who don't give a damn what all the spectators see, but simply do the work necessary."

Joe the Peacock's Official Rules of the Gym (Rule #2)

Don't laugh at the fat guy / girl. They're there just like you are, they're working just as hard as you are. In almost every way possible, they're 10x the athlete you are - not only did they show up to the gym to get better, they did it amidst snickering and comments from assholes like you - and that takes more guts than you'll EVER have.


Haha, that Joe has a little bit of a chip on his shoulder.

Oh, and...PRETTY LADY!

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

I read through Joe the Peacock's post about gym etiquette and was quite thankful that the folks at my gym seem pretty good on all fronts. :)
And thanks!