Great article. I would also encourage people to do pushups. I do 5 sets of 25 before I leave the house in the morning, Monday thru Friday. I then do 5 sets of 25 in the afternoon after work along with 3 sets of the following pushups: diamond, wide-spaced, normal, Spiderman on each side, and clapping. You do 1 rep of each type except for the Spidey one. Pavel also has the "Simple & Sinister" kettlebell program which is great.
At 71, I try to do 3 sets of 10 to 12 pullups every day. I invested in a solidly built rack that I attached to the rafters of my upstairs porch. Thanks for the workout regimen. I’ve just been winging it.
I suffered a gunshot wound to my hand a few years ago and the damage was catastrophic. I went from in shape to complete atrophy in my entire left arm and upper body.. anyway after I recovered I did a “pull-up challenge” similar to this for 30 days and the gains were insane- watching my fingers, hand, forearm, etc get bigger as the muscle developed was life changing. Endorsed!
strong-endorse. it's amazing how much bang for your buck you can get out of 15 minutes a day (give or take) of body-weight exercises.
if someone is looking for something slightly fancier, i've had nice results w/ the progressive set of 6 body-weight exercises in "convict conditioning". it's dead-simple and took me from typical skinny-fat geek to muscular enough that when guy's meet me they ask what my routine is.
being fit is like turning a knob that makes every normal humdrum moment of existence more enjoyable. the roi is crazy.
also, do not try to go too hard! you're basically guaranteed to make a lot of progress at first as long as you're consistent and DON'T GET INJURED! not getting injured is key.
as mentioned, definitely don't balls-to-the-wall at first. Ease into it and let your body acclimate. I used to do pull ups much more religiously than I do now and I was very good at them. I would do pullups at almost every workout, for years. Eventually I ended up developing golfer's elbow. Still have issues with it and it flares up whenever I start doing them more frequently.
Great article and I am glad you used Pavel Tsatsouline as the gold standard for pullup progression. I am the same age as him, 54, and have been into weight training and fitness since my early 20s. I am not saying that to brag, but mainly to talk about what a waste of time it was to ONLY focus on physique. Had I used my desire for fitness to focus on functional exercises, I would have avoided a lot of injuries and problems. So, while pullups are important, pay even closer attention to kettlebell training.
He was the one who introduced it into the U.S. and is responsible for its popularity. It is not just some variation of an exercise routine. It helps to develop gluteus, hamstring, pelvic and hip strength, which is where all the explosive energy comes from in order to perform the basic kettlebell swing. I have only recently started training with them (within the past month), and the results are remarkable. Doing a basic 3 day per week routine of 100 kettlebell swings, using a 36kg bell, and 10 'Turkish Get Ups' has improved my physique, posture and overall strength. In between those days I will use a kettlebell 'Tabata' routine or other variations on their use. Some muscled up guy might be able to bench press 350lbs, but, can he perform a Turkish Get Up with a 36kg bell? The Turkish Get Up is one of the most challenging exercises that involves every single muscle in your body. One of the things Pavel said in an interview, and it really caught my attention, was 'traditional Western weight training combines fitness with dysfunction', noting that most people exercise in ways that makes them vulnerable to injury and then it all compounds into more dysfunction. The first time I started to question traditional weight training was a few years ago. Some huge guy was at my gym and needed a spotter to perform the overhead dumbbell press. I was watching and thinking: 'If this guy can not get the weights from the floor to shoulder height, why would he want to press it over his head?'. It's a recipe for injury and dysfunction.....which is exactly what I did. If you have back, shoulder, hip, knee, etc. pain, start adding some light kettlebells and then progress. They will rebalance your midsection and make you stronger. They are simple and follow the basic fundamentals of your body's mechanics. Kettlebells make you very strong.
P.S. I have purchased his kettlebells. The highest weight I have now is the 36kg, which is nearly 80lbs. I weigh 220lbs and my goal for swings is half my bodyweight. The 36kg is challenging for me. Also, the 24kg bell is challenging for me to do on Turkish Get Ups. I am working my way up to the 36kg and higher.
I've been avoiding pull ups because I had abdominal surgery and my muscles healed together all twisted, but this inspired me to try again, and I can still rock out seven before my guts start screaming at me.
I use a 15lb dumbbell rather than a kettle bell and do 7 reps per arm, plus 40-lb barbell squats and curls. I do 20 15lb dumbell twists around my head as a warm-up. My workout is 15-minutes M-W-F.
This exercise works on shoulders the most but engages the entire body and is also aerobic.
If ur going to a gym u prolly don't need this. But if you want to incorperate it, just do it for back day plus other lifts & sub the 5-4-3-2-1 number for your own max & stuff.
The elites don't want you to know this but you can do push-ups anytime you want for free
The Armstrong Pull-up Program took me from 2
to 12 in under 2 months. Highly recommend.
Also there’s no way grove isn’t a fakecel if he’s putting out all this corny self help stuff...
Great article. I would also encourage people to do pushups. I do 5 sets of 25 before I leave the house in the morning, Monday thru Friday. I then do 5 sets of 25 in the afternoon after work along with 3 sets of the following pushups: diamond, wide-spaced, normal, Spiderman on each side, and clapping. You do 1 rep of each type except for the Spidey one. Pavel also has the "Simple & Sinister" kettlebell program which is great.
At 71, I try to do 3 sets of 10 to 12 pullups every day. I invested in a solidly built rack that I attached to the rafters of my upstairs porch. Thanks for the workout regimen. I’ve just been winging it.
I suffered a gunshot wound to my hand a few years ago and the damage was catastrophic. I went from in shape to complete atrophy in my entire left arm and upper body.. anyway after I recovered I did a “pull-up challenge” similar to this for 30 days and the gains were insane- watching my fingers, hand, forearm, etc get bigger as the muscle developed was life changing. Endorsed!
This is a good article. Thanks friend.
strong-endorse. it's amazing how much bang for your buck you can get out of 15 minutes a day (give or take) of body-weight exercises.
if someone is looking for something slightly fancier, i've had nice results w/ the progressive set of 6 body-weight exercises in "convict conditioning". it's dead-simple and took me from typical skinny-fat geek to muscular enough that when guy's meet me they ask what my routine is.
being fit is like turning a knob that makes every normal humdrum moment of existence more enjoyable. the roi is crazy.
also, do not try to go too hard! you're basically guaranteed to make a lot of progress at first as long as you're consistent and DON'T GET INJURED! not getting injured is key.
as mentioned, definitely don't balls-to-the-wall at first. Ease into it and let your body acclimate. I used to do pull ups much more religiously than I do now and I was very good at them. I would do pullups at almost every workout, for years. Eventually I ended up developing golfer's elbow. Still have issues with it and it flares up whenever I start doing them more frequently.
Thanks for this. Pull-ups have always been the one workout I struggle with.
Great article and I am glad you used Pavel Tsatsouline as the gold standard for pullup progression. I am the same age as him, 54, and have been into weight training and fitness since my early 20s. I am not saying that to brag, but mainly to talk about what a waste of time it was to ONLY focus on physique. Had I used my desire for fitness to focus on functional exercises, I would have avoided a lot of injuries and problems. So, while pullups are important, pay even closer attention to kettlebell training.
He was the one who introduced it into the U.S. and is responsible for its popularity. It is not just some variation of an exercise routine. It helps to develop gluteus, hamstring, pelvic and hip strength, which is where all the explosive energy comes from in order to perform the basic kettlebell swing. I have only recently started training with them (within the past month), and the results are remarkable. Doing a basic 3 day per week routine of 100 kettlebell swings, using a 36kg bell, and 10 'Turkish Get Ups' has improved my physique, posture and overall strength. In between those days I will use a kettlebell 'Tabata' routine or other variations on their use. Some muscled up guy might be able to bench press 350lbs, but, can he perform a Turkish Get Up with a 36kg bell? The Turkish Get Up is one of the most challenging exercises that involves every single muscle in your body. One of the things Pavel said in an interview, and it really caught my attention, was 'traditional Western weight training combines fitness with dysfunction', noting that most people exercise in ways that makes them vulnerable to injury and then it all compounds into more dysfunction. The first time I started to question traditional weight training was a few years ago. Some huge guy was at my gym and needed a spotter to perform the overhead dumbbell press. I was watching and thinking: 'If this guy can not get the weights from the floor to shoulder height, why would he want to press it over his head?'. It's a recipe for injury and dysfunction.....which is exactly what I did. If you have back, shoulder, hip, knee, etc. pain, start adding some light kettlebells and then progress. They will rebalance your midsection and make you stronger. They are simple and follow the basic fundamentals of your body's mechanics. Kettlebells make you very strong.
P.S. I have purchased his kettlebells. The highest weight I have now is the 36kg, which is nearly 80lbs. I weigh 220lbs and my goal for swings is half my bodyweight. The 36kg is challenging for me. Also, the 24kg bell is challenging for me to do on Turkish Get Ups. I am working my way up to the 36kg and higher.
I’m too fat for this. Gonna go run some miles instead so I can do this later on this year.
Start with this app, and follow the program exactly. 9 weeks will change your life
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/couch-to-5k-run-training/id448474423
Trust me, I'm the oldest one here, by far. The only pull-ups I struggle with are pulling-up my socks.
I've been avoiding pull ups because I had abdominal surgery and my muscles healed together all twisted, but this inspired me to try again, and I can still rock out seven before my guts start screaming at me.
It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
Thanks, MG.
Very good advice. If I might suggest an exercise I've been doing for the past three years (and wish I'd known about decades ago) – the Turkish get-up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpRbsl6A7ys
I use a 15lb dumbbell rather than a kettle bell and do 7 reps per arm, plus 40-lb barbell squats and curls. I do 20 15lb dumbell twists around my head as a warm-up. My workout is 15-minutes M-W-F.
This exercise works on shoulders the most but engages the entire body and is also aerobic.
Thoughts on adding this to an already existing gym routine? Is that possible? Would you do at a different time of the day?
If ur going to a gym u prolly don't need this. But if you want to incorperate it, just do it for back day plus other lifts & sub the 5-4-3-2-1 number for your own max & stuff.