Rise Above (the Pull-Up Bar!)

[Tobbe]

4 x 13 negative pull-ups and 120 + 120 seconds deadhangs during my workout today for 544 more points

[Tobbe]

2 x 16 just now before bed

[Tobbe]

I am done and done!

 

I had two goals this last week. Getting more than 20k points total, and getting more than 3k points in one day, beating @jonfirestar's previous record of about 2000 points in one day. I have now done both!   Spread out throughout the day I've done 15 sets of 21 negative pull-ups for a total of 3150 points, getting my challenge total up to 20466 points!

 

[WhiteGhost]

7 hours ago, Tobbe said:

Spread out throughout the day I've done 15 sets of 21 negative pull-ups for a total of 3150 points

Beast Mode: Activated!

[Tobbe]

Did 40 seconds of deadhangs for 4 points and 3 negative pull-ups yesterday, just to round out my score Final tally is 20500   

[Rhovaniel]

PvP Wrap Up

 

Sorry I went AWOL again over this last week. I could blame a myriad of things, but ultimately, my bad. Sorry!

 

Anyway, the challenge has come to an end. And, it will come as no surprise to you all, that in first place, with a bicep-burning 20,500 points, is @Tobbe! Honestly, I have been so impressed with the way you've thrown your all into this challenge and pulled far ahead of us all. Amazing effort!

 

In second place, with a by no means measly 4,170 points, is @jonfirestar! Well done my friend. I am always impressed by how much you do and how much effort you put into every thing you put your mind to. Sterling in silver, Jon!

 

And in third place, with a decent haul of 3,208 points, is me! Most of these points I obtained through my programmed pull-up workout, and I made a few significant wins during this challenge. Like using only one resistance band for assisted pull ups, and adding a good 5 - 10 seconds onto my bar hang time. 

 

Honourable mentions could go to everyone, really and truly. I have loved seeing this challenge inspire you all. And I am impressed with all of our scores. You are all awesome!

 

 

 

Only one thing remains for me to say. Merry Christmas to you all. Whether you are religious or not, feeling festive or would rather hide from it all, are spending it with family or not, I wish you all joy and comfort and mugs overfull of hot chocolate and ale (or whatever your drink of choice is, but that's what I want mine to be full of!)

 

                                     

[Jarric]

Thank you Rho for organising this, it's been good fun. And a huge well done to everyone who took part - I've been absent from the forums a lot but it's been great to see how well everyone is doing here.

 

Merry Christmas all!

 

[Tobbe]

@Rhovaniel, thank you for organizing this. It's the first PvP I've taken part in, and it's been a lot of fun! And a great reason to get some extra workouts done  And thanks @jonfirestar for suggesting doing negatives! Feels much more productive than doing leg-assisted full pull-ups/chin-ups. And while I still can't do a full pull-up or chin-up, I've most definitely increased the number of negatives I can do in one set. Starting this challenge I never thought I'd be able to do 30 in a row! 

 

2 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

with a bicep-burning 20,500 points, is @Tobbe!

 

It might just be wishful thinking, but I actually think my upper arms have grown a tiny little bit during this month  

 

Another unexpected change to my body is this

 

 

I've had calluses right below my fingers before, but never in the middle of my hands!  

 

Now my (upper) body needs a good rest over Christmas. Then I'm going to keep working on the bar until I can finally do the full pull-up!

[WhiteGhost]

Welcome to the Callus Club!

 

[Tobbe]

4 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

Welcome to the Callus Club!

 

[TimovieMan]

Congrats to Jarric, jonfirestar and especially Tobbe for their amazing effort these past weeks!

 

 

 

I'm noticing that calluses under the fingers are very much a part of this PvP as I have them now as well...

[Elastigirl]

Congratz ,Tobbe, those callouses are well earned.

Thanks, Rho for  starting the PVP. It was a great incentive. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

[jonfirestar]

7 hours ago, Rhovaniel said:

 

In second place, with a by no means measly 4,170 points, is @jonfirestar! Well done my friend. I am always impressed by how much you do and how much effort you put into every thing you put your mind to. Sterling in silver, Jon

 

I accrued a few thousand more points that I neglected to add but nothing close to @Tobbe well done to him!

[jonfirestar]

5 hours ago, Tobbe said:

Now my (upper) body needs a good rest over Christmas. Then I'm going to keep working on the bar until I can finally do the full pull-up!

Give a pull up a go once you have rested up. It will make a difference 

[Tobbe]

17 hours ago, jonfirestar said:

Give a pull up a go once you have rested up. It will make a difference 

 

I've been looking at various workout plans/progression plans to be able to do a full pull up. In all of them you're supposed to be able to do a full pull-up well before doing four sets of 15 negatives for example, which I'm already able to do. So I should be able to do it now! 

[jonfirestar]

1 hour ago, Tobbe said:

 

I've been looking at various workout plans/progression plans to be able to do a full pull up. In all of them you're supposed to be able to do a full pull-up well before doing four sets of 15 negatives for example, which I'm already able to do. So I should be able to do it now! 

I wasn’t able to do sets of 30 by the time I got my first pull up. I can suggest trying to do a pull up coming off of a negative because that is slightly easier than going from a dead hang. I think it is because you already have the tension in your body. At this point I think you are lacking the skill and not the strength to do that pull-up

[Tobbe]

1 hour ago, jonfirestar said:

I can suggest trying to do a pull up coming off of a negative because that is slightly easier than going from a dead hang. I think it is because you already have the tension in your body.

 

I only struggle at the top of the pull-up, that tension would only help at the start, right?

[Elastigirl]

 

51 minutes ago, Tobbe said:

 

I only struggle at the top of the pull-up, that tension would only help at the start, right?

Could be your form. If you are shrugging your shoulders, once you get to the top, your shoulders sort of run out of room to move if they are shrugged. Have you taken a video of yourself to check your form?

One thing that GMB has you do is start off your pull up with what they cal a pull up prep. Start like you are going to do a pull up, lower your shoulders, then pull yourself up without  bending your arms. There is a name for this movement, which is a good skill to practice, but  I can't think  of it at the moment.

[Tobbe]

"scapular retraction"? Is that what you mean?

[Elastigirl]

4 hours ago, Tobbe said:

"scapular retraction"? Is that what you mean?

Hmm, well that's what you need to do, but that's not the name of the exercise I was thinking. Probably when I've had more than  four hours of sleep and not sugar hung over, I will think of it

[WhiteGhost]

13 hours ago, Tobbe said:

 

I only struggle at the top of the pull-up, that tension would only help at the start, right?

It isn't that simple.  There are a few likely reasons why you struggle at the top.  The first could be shoulder placement as Elastigirl mentioned.  The exercise for that is sometimes called scapular retractions or scapular pulls.  There are few other names but usually one of those.  These would be very helpful if the issue is lack of proper tension in the shoulders. 

 

Another possible reason could be elbow position.  If you flare your elbows too far out to the side, you will reach the end of your range of motion before your chin gets over the bar. If you try to force it, you end up with shoulder impingement, which of course isn't any fun.  The more you can get your elbows in front of you, the more potential range of motion your body can use. 

 

The last thing that may be helpful, especially for people working on getting a first pullup is momentum.  The more explosively you can pull out of the bottom, the less work you have to expend to get the rest of the way up.  The tension Jon mentioned is mostly helpful for creating momentum.  Using that existing tension to pull just a little harder out of the bottom means a little less you need to get the last inch or so.  Getting back to your question, yes, it does help primarily at the start, but that doesn't mean that extra bit of help doesn't also help through the rest of the motion, if you let it.

 

Hope that is helpful    

[Tobbe]

15 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Another possible reason could be elbow position.

 

Thanks! Now that you mention it, I was feeling very sore in my elbows during my last workout. So much so I couldn't follow through with all the reps I wanted. Maybe wrong position has something to do with that.

 

15 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

The more explosively you can pull out of the bottom, the less work you have to expend to get the rest of the way up.

 

I'm not explosive at all. Not the tiniest bit... All I can do is a very slow, drawn out, pull-up.

[WhiteGhost]

12 hours ago, Tobbe said:

Now that you mention it, I was feeling very sore in my elbows during my last workout. So much so I couldn't follow through with all the reps I wanted. Maybe wrong position has something to do with that.

That's possible, but it could also be your tendons crying for a break.  Muscle strength can develop much faster than tendon strength, so if you have been seeing a lot of arm strength gains your tendons may not have had a chance to catch up, meaning they would not be ready for the strain that the new muscle strength can apply on them.  Fixing elbow position is of course very important, but if the elbow pain still remains, you may need to let them rest up a bit by working them at a deload intensity level for a bit. 

[Tobbe]

33 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

you may need to let them rest up a bit by working them at a deload intensity level for a bit. 

 

Yeah, I've been taking it easy lately   Have a workout scheduled today, but will take it easy on the exercises that involves the elbows 

[Tobbe]

On 12/27/2018 at 11:00 AM, Tobbe said:

Have a workout scheduled today, but will take it easy on the exercises that involves the elbows 

 

Did dumbbell rows instead of pull-up bar work. Resting today. Back at it again tomorrow!