Posts Tagged ‘Pullup’
Snatches, Ring Dips, and Rope Climbs
My all time favorite lifts are the squat, deadlift, pullup, and pushup. You know, the basics. I’m all about the K.I.S.S. principle when training. There’s really no need to complicate things. I think with all the fancy equipment and hundreds of TV training gurus out there today, people tend to over think their training. It’s not that complicated.
Believe me!
Just think for a minute. What did people used to do before globo gyms, celebrity trainers, and the internet? Take a few minutes and google some of the old time strongmen. Those guys were incredibly strong and unbelievably well conditioned. They didn’t do anything fancy. They lifted heavy, sprinted, jumped, and ate clean.
I mentioned some of my favorite movements above but I’ve been expanding my horizons lately, trying to get better at things the give me a little bit of trouble.
Take a look at some of my new favorites!
High Rep Training
Today was squat day. It was hot inside the strength shed as the thermometer here in Richmond hit about 97 degrees.
As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago I’m on a mission to build up my 20 rep squat weight. I’m up 20lbs since I started two weeks ago.
Honestly, I wasn’t feeling it today but like I’ve said before, NO EXCUSES!
After recovering from my death set, I got to thinking more about my gladiator training post and how important mixing in high reps into your training regimen should be standard.
I’m not talking about high rep training with pink dumbbells here. I’m talking about heavy s***. High reps sets should make you want to puke not just give you a pump.
So, I’ve decided to make a list of 10 my favorite lifts that I like to take high from time to time!
1. Any bodyweight movement. Add some weight to your pullup and pushups and start counting.
2. Barbell Complexes. There’s nothing like destroying 35 reps of your favorite 7 exercises!
3. Squats…
4. Deadlifts…
5. Barbell Combos
6. 1 arm DB Rows
7. KB Swings. Your hamstrings and lower back will thank you!
8. KB or DB Snatches
9. Any variation of the lunge.
10. Overhead pressing. Nothing challenges your shoulders like a set of high rep pressing.
Drop a comment and let me know about your favorite high rep gut wrenching set!
Bodyweight Brutality and a Challenge
One of the biggest problem areas I see with young athletes and adults alike is a lack of strength with bodyweight movements.
This shouldn’t be surprising actually, since laziness and weakness is engineered into nearly every single piece of “fitness” equipment today. Lay here, sit here, stand here. What ever happened to using the ultimate machine, your body?
I see athletes and adults that can’t do 10 proper pushups and even a single pullup. It drives me insane.
You simply cannot expect to perform at your best if you are not able to move and control your body in space effectively whether you’re a competitive athlete or just a weekend warrior.
If you really want to get strong practice your pushups, pullups, squats, and lunges. A good barometer of where you are on the bodyweight strength meter is being able to perform at least 25 pushups, 5-10 pullups, 50 squats, and 50 lunges. If you can’t hit these numbers, get to crankin’!
My session today finished with a brutal bodyweight challenge. Check it out below.
Get Strong(er) Wk 3 – Day 3
1 – Hang Snatch 5×4
2 – Bench Press 5×4
3a – Thick Rope Recline Rows 100 reps
3b – Pushups 100 reps
Here is the challenge.
Perform 100 reps each of the rows and pushups in as few sets as possible and let me know your results.
Today I finished in 6 rounds.
I need to be stronger than that.
I’m determined to improve.
Crush the bodyweight movements and you’ll be crazy strong, pack on slabs of rugged muscle, and increase your on field/court performance no matter what sport you choose.
Keep killin’ it out there.
The Strength Shed and Full Body Training
For about the last week I’ve been training exclusively at home. In preparation for opening my own warehouse gym, I’ve started stockpiling equipment. Last week I picked up a squat rack, 2 barbells, about 400lbs of free weights, dip station, and a ton of floor mats. It was a steal at only $200 for EVERYTHING! I felt like I had won the lottery when I found this stash!
I’ve set up everything in my shed which luckily provided enough room for everything. So I guess you could could say I have a “strength” shed instead of a tool shed. In addition to the above equipment, I have ton’s of sandbags, bumers, thick rope, and homemade sleds. So, I have everything at home to get to beast status! Below is what my new full body training cycle looks like.
Full Body Training Wk 1 – Day 1
1a – Power Clean + Throw 5×6
1b – Burpee + Broad Jump 5×5
2a – Zercher Squat 3×6
2b – Sandbag Clean 3×4
3a – Recline Rope Climb 3×10
3b – Pushup 3xsubmax
Full Body Training Wk 1 – Day 2
1 – Clean/Press 5×5
2a – BB Walking Lunge 3×16
2b – DB Floor Press 3×7
3a – Pullup 3xsubmax
3b – GHR Situp 3×15
3c – Dips 3xsubmax
This training phase will be simply but crazy deadly. In between I’ll throw in tons of GPP and conditioning to stay lean and mean while killing it in the “strength” shed!
The Power of the Pullup
I was reading a post on Zach Even-Esh’s blog about pullups and how valuable they are. It got me thinking of the days were I could barely complete 1! Now I can crank out a set of 20!
The pullup is THE greatest body weight exercise. It’s definitely one of the best measurements of strength. It’s also one of my favorite exercises.
I crank them out at least twice per week if not more.
The bottom line is, if you’re not incorporating pullups into your training, you’re really missing out. I guess you don’t want a thick muscular back, jacked biceps and forearms?
I think Arnold did a few pullups during his day?
Pullups can be done with tons of different grips, with ropes, thick bars, etc. I could go on for an hour about the different ways to do them.
Zach Even-Esh has some great pullups videos on his site. Here is one of my favorites.
Go outside to a park or playground today and test your pullup strength. Find a tree or a set of monkey bars and crank out 3 or 4 sets of max reps. Remember your total and see if you can add to it next time.
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