ActivitiesGuy Intro and Log

Training Training Logs
401

[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
I actually realized that if I hang them from the pullup bar in the assisted pullup station (which is about a foot higher than the other pullup bar in the gym), I’ll have plenty of ground clearance. This will work because the assisted pull-up station is adjustable (i.e. you can take the little foot-stand and flip it out of the way, so you’re just doing regular pull-ups).[/quote]

Oh cool that’s handy! When my local gym re-opens I might see if I can take my rings there (it’s being refurbished at the moment).

[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
I also am trying to think of creative solutions for a way to hang them inside my apartment, but frankly I don’t trust the walls or roof to support my full weight without ripping some kind of hole in either. I think I’ll have to wait until I buy a place of my own to have a good home pullup station. I’ll keep brainstorming for random places outdoors where I can hang them from, too…gotta start looking for some sturdy-looking trees in my neighborhood, maybe…[/quote]

Yeah a sturdy tree would be good, weather permitting. Where in the states are you again? Do you usually have pretty good weather? It’s pretty grim here today lol.

I can’t wait until I own a property and can build my own home gym. It’s going to be super minimalist lol, just a large matted area, a range of KBs, rings and a heavy bag. Do you have any home gym plans?

402

[quote]furo wrote:

Yeah a sturdy tree would be good, weather permitting. Where in the states are you again? Do you usually have pretty good weather? It’s pretty grim here today lol.

I can’t wait until I own a property and can build my own home gym. It’s going to be super minimalist lol, just a large matted area, a range of KBs, rings and a heavy bag. Do you have any home gym plans?
[/quote]

I live in Pennsylvania. Beautiful summers, but it does get cold, dark, windy, and snowy in the winters…however, I’ve trained for marathons and such outdoors through the winter in the past, and I don’t mind a little outdoor work even in cold weather.

I have a pretty similar plan to your own. I’m 28 years old and just recently completed graduate school, so property ownership is not in the cards immediately but is probably out there in the next 3-5 years (I recall that you’re just recently engaged…I’m a few months away from taking that step myself, and my fiance-and-eventually-wife-to-be have decided that we’ll probably buy a place when we’re ready to move in together; career needs presently have us living about 400 miles apart, so we both rent apartments out of necessity). But when I do buy a place…here’s what I currently have:

20 lb kettlebell (for my GF; this is currently at her place)
35 lb kettlebell (also at GF’s place; we do KB workouts together when I visit)
45 lb kettlebell

I’ll probably buy a heavier one, perhaps a 28kg or a 70-pounder, when ready.

10 lb dumbbells
20 lb dumbbells
30 lb dumbbells
40 lb dumbbells

EZ-curl bar with about 90 pounds of small plates (10’s, 5’s, 2.5’s)

Gymnastics rings (will affix these to something for pull-ups)

Spinning bike

My father also has an assortment of Olympic bars and plates, some of which he intends to give me when I have the space to accommodate them. Probably at least a nice bar, a set of 20 kg bumper plates, a set of 10 kg bumper plates, and a few smaller plates.

Basically, I’ll have a pretty nicely tricked out home gym, whether I set it up in the basement or garage. This is important to me because I expect that, once I start a family, I will really appreciate the convenience of working out at home. Even now I like working out at home as much as practical (if I could attach my pullup rings to the wall with any confidence, I’d just have at it and wouldn’t need my Uni gym any more; I could do all of my pull-ups, kettlebell stuff, and cardio - spinning bike - at home).

403

That sounds like a great plan. Oh cool, that’s exciting! Good luck with everything :slight_smile:

404

Thursday 10/23 (PM)

Spinning Bike (20 Minutes)

405

Friday 10/24 (AM)

85 Pull-ups (20 Minutes)

406

Saturday 10/25 (AM)

93 pull-ups plus a few hundred kettlebell swings (35 minutes)

With my GF in town, we drove to a park and did some kettlebell work outdoors, with me mixing in sets of pull-ups along the way. Lotta fun. She was a good sport about it and worked hard with her kettlebell.

407

Sunday 10/26 (AM)

Bikram Yoga Class (90 Minutes)

408

Sunday 10/26 (PM)

Spinning Bike (20 Minutes)

409

Monday 10/27 (AM)

80 Pull-ups (20 Minutes)

Mix of neutral grip and underhand today, but big news: my gymnastics rings are in transit and should be delivered tonight. I’ll be able to start doing pull-ups on rings tomorrow, which should be good for longevity…something about a simple minimalist’s program of 100 daily pull-ups and a few hundred kettlebell swings a week really appeals to me in the big picture!

410

Nice job on those PRs a while back!

Have you tried your pull up routine on rings before?

It might be harder. The fixed bar allows some of your twisting/torquing muscle power to be translated to the pull.

Rings don’t have that advantage, so you may find them more challenging.

I guess you’ll find out soon! Have fun!

411

[quote]Serge A. Storms wrote:
Have you tried your pull up routine on rings before?

It might be harder. The fixed bar allows some of your twisting/torquing muscle power to be translated to the pull.

Rings don’t have that advantage, so you may find them more challenging.
[/quote]

Only once, several years ago at a climbing gym in Texas that had rings suspended from the ceiling (and it wasn’t a full workout, just a “Gee, let me try a set or two” kind of thing).

I agree that it might be harder at first; but I don’t mind if I have to take a bit of a step back in the total-reps department while I adjust. I’ll do “however many reps feel like the same intensity as what I’ve been doing” - if I drop to getting 60-65 reps in a 20-minute window, fine, then I’ll start building from there. I’ll probably still do an occasional fixed-bar workout, but the switch to rings ought to be good long term (and I also think/hope that the rings might give me a nice “portable” way to do pull-ups any place that I can find a sturdy structure to fix them to).

412

Monday 10/27 (PM)

Spinning Bike (20 Minutes)

413

Tuesday 10/28 (AM)

85 Pull-ups (21 Minutes)

Today was my first session with the rings. As one might expect, they were a bit more challenging, and TBH a few of the “5th reps” in my 17 sets of 5 were definitely NOT full range of motion (couldn’t quite make it to the top). With that said, it was an enjoyable, challenging, and hopefully productive session. I’ll try to do at least half of my pull-up volume on rings from now on - I’ll start by bringing my rings to the gym for every workout and doing 40-plus reps on rings and then finishing with a few sets on the fixed bar.

414

Tuesday 10/28 (PM)

87 Pull-ups (21 Minutes)

Couldn’t resist going back to the gym for some more pull-up action.

415

Wednesday 10/29 (AM)

80 Pull-ups (21 Minutes)

10 sets of 5 on the rings
8 more sets of 3 on the rings
1 set of 6 on the fixed bar

416

Wednesday 10/29 (PM)

80 Pull-ups (20 Minutes)

Piling on some volume now.

417

Thursday 10/30 (AM)

98 Pull-ups (26 Minutes)

Played around with some rep-accumulation techniques today.

1-2-3-4-5 on rings (15)
1-2-3-4-5 on the fixed bar (30)
1-2-3-4-5 on rings (45)
1-2-3-4-5 on the fixed bar (60)
1-2-3-4-5 on rings (75)
5 on the fixed bar (80)
6 more sets of 3 on the fixed bar (98)

418

Thursday 10/30 (PM)

87 Pull-ups (21 Minutes)

419

Friday 10/31 (AM)

88 Pull-ups (21 Minutes)

More games with different rep-accumulation pyramids.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 fixed-bar chinups (36)
1-2-3-4-5 on rings (51)
1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4 neutral-grip on fixed bar (81)
7 regular chinups to finish off (88)

420

I like your approach to working out. You said you wanted to get better at pull-ups and that’s exactly what you are doing and making some great progress. I get so caught up in thinking if I’m not squatting a heavy weight that the weight lifting Grim Reaper will take my soul for not squatting. When having to squat a heavy weight (for me) my drive to the gym feels like that miserable drive to school before you have to take a test you didn’t study for the previous night or having to give a report in front of the class.

Stressful to think about but once you are doing it and when it’s over it’s not as bad as you thought it would be. My point is good job on doing the workouts that you want to get really good at and doing the “Activities” that will keep you happy with working out and healthy over the long haul as opposed to what some article says on the internet!