Friday, November 7, 2008

Death By Pull Ups...or Death to Connective Tissue?


With latisimus dorsi tendons once capable of 62 consecutive Pull Ups, i now spend countless hours in yoga postures attempting to undue the imbalance created by my Pull Up-specific strength from the 1980's when i was a sponsored climber. Always remember, the pursuit of Wholeness is far, far more difficult to attain than sport- or discipline-specificity. photo from TOTAL BODY TRANSFORMATION
note; photo may appear only for DL Subscribers


***

Steve,
i just tried this
"Death by Pull-Ups" workout i got from {a professional fitness training company - name withheld to protect their idiocy}: With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute... continuing as long as you are able.

The record is 27 rounds.

I got completed 6 rounds and crapped out in the 7th.


love,
Student H


***


Coach Responds:

H!
Listen closely:
that "Death By Pull-Ups" Workout is a recipe for Death To Connective Tissue Health...especially if a wise and very capable Pull Up base has not been attained. the ligaments and tendons fastening the vulnerable joint articulation of the elbow are easily tweaked, strained, and sprained by jumping into a 'numbers-obsessed' workout choreography like that. worse, from an energetic perspective, is the 'gluing effect' upon the scapular mobility which locks up Anahata Chakral energies from following such 'routines.'

Mastery of elegant, powerful Pull Up FORM is far more important, safe, and wise than obsessing on numbers
(oh i know...i hear you chortle knowing my history with Pull Ups...however, i was a sponsored rock climber back then;
basically, i was professional Pull Upper! dat's different).

if you really need to set your goals on a great Pull Up workout, WF offers many more wise options. Here's one that you can try after you have the capacity to do 3 sets of 10 Pull Ups in elegant form:


ROUTINE AVAILABLE ONLY FOR DL SUBSCRIBERS