Pull-ups are one of the most difficult forms of strength and
conditioning because it’s the one basic exercise most people have trouble
doing. It doesn’t have to be a burden to learn how to do pull-ups. Once you
learn the basics an can do a few reps what’s next? Just doing a few reps alone
makes you a strong person at that exercise but it’s really the quality of the
reps that count and not so much the quantity. Repetitions in any exercise up to
a point can be boring like the 500 push-ups or the 1000 Hindu squats or even
the military goal of 20 or more pull-ups to get 100 points on your PT Test. I
like doing reps but I get bored easily so to enhance my interest I change grips
and do them as best as possible. To get the greatest benefit in your reps, work
different parts of the pull-up and try different tempos in speed and precise
movement.
One of the most common neglected parts of the human body is
training your grip. Without grip strength, how will you hold onto something
such as a baseball bat, opening a jar of pickles, picking up heavy weights or
squeezing a Captains Of Crush hand gripper? Working your grip has more of an
impact on your training than doing a bicep curl, a press or
swinging/
juggling a
kettlebell, think about it, how would you be able to do those exercises if your
grip can’t even hold on? Grip strength is essential to your training and the
more likely your grip strength is the better your lifts and feats will become
easier. If you don’t believe me than learn from two warriors of pure
unadulterated gripping power and that’s
Arthur Saxon and Slim The Hammer
Man.
A lot of people have this notion that pull-ups and chin-ups
are just for the Biceps and Back, obviously they haven’t done much research
because when you really get into doing this exercise, the back and arms are
just the tip of the iceberg. You are working the upper body in ways not many
other things can do and eventually you’ll be working the whole body. When you
use
certain tools to put more into your pull-up training, you’re learning the
key secrets to challenging your grip, mind, body and your coordination to keep
tight and tough in order to make the quality reps.
If I had to pick one of the strongest pound for pound
athletes in the world, it’s a guy you don’t hear of quite often unless you live
in Vegas and know something in Gymnastics and that is Dutch Gymnastics Champion
and Performer Cees De Kok. I once saw this old school gymnast do a show in
Vegas called Bite, a vampire type production where heavy metal is blasting and
a Circ De Soleil type action styled performance happened. In one of the epic
scenes of the show, Cees wrapped a chain around his wrist and started flying
around the audience and out of nowhere grabs his wife in mid air and twirls
around the stage like a figure skater in space, it was unbelievable and one of
the most awesome displays of strength and agility I’ve ever witnessed. This guy
was just incredible and he has the mastery to even teach you the
secret andmost impressive ways to build pull-up strength.
Who are the strongest climbers in the world? Not humans
sorry guys it’s the mighty Apes. Animals like
Gorillas,
Orangutans,
Chimps and
Gibbons are the most powerful species of this caliber because the way they need
to move either on the ground or in the trees takes grip strength to a level
only rock climbers have come the closest to and yet we still can’t match their
strength and agility. Training like an Ape however is a key to opening a new
door of strength and fitness that can only be explained by experience and
experimenting. I’m not a climber nor am I a tree swinging jungle man but I have
practiced brachiating, hanging and pull-ups from many different angles and at
240+ lbs. I’m surprised I can actually do it. Training this way works your
tendons and muscles to their very brink and if you truly want to feel real
gripping strength, hold onto a pull-up bar with one arm and see how long you
last.
In many areas of fitness today, we don’t do much in the way
of pulling movements unless it was a curl or pulling on a cable and deadlifts
aren’t really that big anymore but yet pulling movements that work major muscle
groups even out the front and back portions of the upper body since most gym
rats focus on what they can see in the mirror as oppose to neglecting the back.
If you can’t pull yourself up than you’re in trouble my friend. It is important
to work your body from as many angles as possible while working as many muscles
in one or more motions as possible and when you work on your pulling strength,
it’s going to help you in other parts of your life you may have not realized
and I’ll let you figure that out on your own.
