One of the foundational achievements in fitness is mastering the ability to pull your own bodyweight up without help! This is no small task and each individual is at a different part of this journey. But, we will all have one thing in common…
WE CAN ALL IMPROVE!
February’s challenge is to develop our pull up strength no matter where we are in that journey. If you are advanced, we have some advanced goals. If you are a beginner we have other goals that will still yield improvement.
STRICT PULL UP GOALS BY LEVEL
We have organized benhcmarks and goals by current ability level so this challenge is accessible and a difference maker for everyone! Start by complete the benchmark on day 1 and then simply go after your goals throughout the month. Finish the last day by repeating the benchmark from day 1 so you can see your progress!
As always, we will track total number on the whiteboard. Get it done!
how should you approach your target?
On the simplest level, just chip away at it each day. If your daily minimum is 20 and you do 20 sets of 1…you will get better. If your daily minimum is 20 and you accomplish that in 3 huge sets…you will still get better.
If you want to geek out a little bit, here are some basic strategies that work well and keep it interesting.
1. Vary intervals and set sizes. This approach is really good if you have single digit pull-ups. Start with smaller sets with a timed interval between. Example: Let’s say your goal is 10 a day, then start with 5 sets of 2 with 1 minute rest between. Then the next day, try 5 sets of 2 with 45 seconds rest. Then perhaps 5 sets of 2 with 30 seconds of rest. Now start back at 1 minute but now maybe your first set or 2 is 3 instead of 2. As long as you vary rest and reps eventually to make it more challenging, you are doing great! Note, it’s unrealistic to always expect improvement so you may for example have to stay at 5 sets of 2 with a 45 sec rest for a couple of days before a 30 second interval is possible!
2. Max sets with big reps and big rest. This is my personal go to and one I recommend for those with 10+ strict pull ups. My favorite is 3 sets of max pull ups with a 3 minute rest. This gives me feedback regularly as to where my max set benchmark is at. You’ll be surprised how often it increases by a rep here and there. I like to track both my first set total and my 3 set total. As soon as one or the other becomes stagnant, I start playing with rest intervals. If you use this approach, you will really only need to do this every other day or so because your rep range is so big and you’ll want some rest.
