There is a very important question when it come to your training.
If you don’t know the answer to this you’re just spinning your wheels. Hell, you may even be wasting your time.
The sad thing is that not only do most people not know the answer to this question, but most people never even bother to even ask it in the first place. Thus all of their hard work, all of their blood, sweat and tears is just a great big gamble that may or may not pay off. However, if you ask this single question then you’ll turn your workout from a gamble of lifestyle resources to a very smart investment.
Here is the question:
I know, it’s simple, direct and strait to the point. But it’s a much deeper question than you might imagine.
The sad truth is, mot folks aren’t working on diddly-squat when they exercise. Oh sure they are working hard, and they are putting in a lot of effort, but that doesn’t account for much. If hard work was enough we’d be the healthiest nation on earth.
Always remember, you don’t get results by doing things hard, different or new. You only get results when you do things better.
Your quest for strength doesn’t come from a special pull up routine. It’s not about some special combination of rest periods with undulating repetition patterns under the full moon. You get better results by learning how to become better at doing pull ups.
So once again I ask you, what are you working on? What are you doing to make your pull up performance better?
Here’s a few things I’m working on when I’m doing pull ups:
– Working on pulling my elbows together while doing them with an under hand grip.
– Working on a bigger range of motion so the bar is getting closer to the bottom of my chest.
– I’m playing around with keeping my back arched with full posterior chain activation. I’m also playing around with keeping my spine strait and keeping my body at an angle.
– My second and third sets are usually about pushing my elbows forward to place a bit more emphasis on the biceps.
– As I pull up, I’m working on getting my rear shoulder muscles to engage sooner.
– I’m still working on getting my lats to fire with more power especialy during over handed grips.
– When I do progressive pull ups, I’m working on pushing my body more towards the pulling arm with the assit arm. I’m also working on getting a full scapular retraction at the top. This may be more possible with a slight twist in the orientation of the body. I just haven’t figured out if it’s a clockwise or counter clockwise motion.
– In my next workout I’m going to play with more dynamic tension in my hands to either squeeze the bar together or pull it apart.
– I still want to work on controlling my legs so they don’t hang quite so loose and jeopardize my position while lowering myself down.
– I’ve been falling into a habit of tensing up my neck and clenching my teeth. This is draining energy, not to mention creating a bit of a head ache.
I could go on, but I think you get the idea. The bottom line is that I never do a single rep, set or workout without a clear and definite thing that I’m trying to improve on. When I improve my pull ups, I get better results. When I just do them for the sake of working out my progress stagnates.
You don’t have to have as long a list as this. Just one or two things is plenty. If you’re working on even one little thing then you’ll get better at your exercise and the results will follow.
So let me ask you one more time;
What are you working on???????
