It worked! Pull ups without the greif

[neutronnorman]

Just a little hint I figured out. Pull ups / chin ups are by far the best upper body workout on the planet. They are equivalent to what squats do for your lower body. The problem is that they are brutally hard and all the lat pull downs will not prepare the lifter to execute chin ups. Fitness companies sell rubber straps that give you an upward push so you can perform the pull up assisted.

I tried and figured out a cheap way of overcoming the obstacle. Use bicycle inner tube(s) and loop them around the bar. Stick your knee through the loop, hang down to the extreme stretch position and pull using your lats. The great part is that you can loop 2 tubes and they also come in different sizes. It worked out quite alright for me.



Misspell...I meant GRIEF!!!>>>

[liv]

Do you have a pic?
Wow I wonder if will ever be able to do just one of those pull ups. I watch the guys (and occasional girl) do them at the gym and it is indeed impressive. I could do them when I was a child.
Thanks for sharing.

[greedyvw]

thats a great idea! may have to try it considering i dont even remember the last time i did a pull up or chin up

[neutronnorman]

Thanks. What's cool about it is that tubes come in 20", 22" 26" etc. They provide an upper acceleration them momentum takes over. It's great to re-learn how to do pull ups / chin ups. My back is still pumped! Before, I could only get 4-5 reps per set, now I can crank 12-14 or so.

(Lifting cans of peaches?...cheez...girls...)

[neutronnorman]

Originally Posted by liv

Do you have a pic?
Wow I wonder if will ever be able to do just one of those pull ups. I watch the guys (and occasional girl) do them at the gym and it is indeed impressive. I could do them when I was a child.
Thanks for sharing.

Sure you can, Liv. Get a pull up bar that can firmly attach to your door way. Careful! Follow the instruction on how to mount it correctly. Use 2 inner tubes and a stool to fit your knees into it. Do 1 -2 reps or whatever is comfortable. Eventually, you'll be able to do one rep on your own. Every time you pass under the bar, crank out a rep or 2. before you know it, you'll be doing them in the gym with the best of them.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, i know the emphasis is probably getting all cute and hot looking, but functional strength is very useful.

Norman

[liv]

I was always cute looking and darn hot (peach cans and all) It is all about being strong and keeping my metabolism going now. Cannot improve on cuteness. You either have it or you don't.
Thanks for the encouragement. You are right. I should start doing something and keep working towards it. No sense in giving up if it is really something I want to achieve.

[neutronnorman]

Jeez...girls...

[chinadoll]

I like this idea. I like the assisted pull up machines at the gym but sometimes pass them by because I don't want to look like an idiot with all the counterweight I need to pull this whale carcass up to the bar. The inner tube Idea is brilliant! Same kind of assist. Now all I need is a chin up bar. Any suggestions on a good one?

[neutronnorman]

You should not call yourself a whale carcass. You are down to 228 lb. I'll send you a private message because I just finished having an accident in my lab. I'll google the info and tell you about some gains i had over the weekend, mean while, I'm waiting for the university's EPA department...

[Gumby]

Those rubber bands are great to use to help build your pullup/chinup numbers. As an alternative (if you cant do pullups) you can also do negatives. Just jump up on the bar and try as hard as you can to hold yourself up, even if your body weight will simply pull you down. You will gradually strengthen your back and will eventually be able to do a pullup, maybe more