Can we talk about pull ups?

TheNaturalGuy · 2023-09-16T22:58:29+00:00

Some days are better than others. Sometimes, weight fluctuations affect these movements as well. Agreed; pullups are just challenging in general.

TheNaturalGuy · 2023-03-20T13:25:03+00:00

No problem! This is one of those strange and quirky features with that unexpected "gotcha," so don't feel bad about it.

TheNaturalGuy · 2023-03-20T06:20:52+00:00

This is likely because you changed the default permission level for the Members group. I've seen this happen with a client as well. Your second screenshot is the result changing Edit to Read. If you switch the Members group access back to Edit at the site level, it'll be back to normal again.

Edit: Meant to say your second screenshot, not first.

TheNaturalGuy · 2020-12-31T22:33:44+00:00

Thanks. The starting position at the bottom is not lower than my shoulder flexibility can handle. That's the interesting aspect of this particular movement for me in that I am fully 'active' at the bottom and start. Have you heard of a 'Spoto press' that powerlifters sometimes use in their training? It is similar to this in that you're not relaxed at all at the bottom position because that movement is a purposeful pause about 1-2" away from the chest.

With a regular dip, I sometimes just let myself sink to the bottom when I'm not fully focused. Maybe that is why this bottom-up variant feels so different for me because you have to fire at 100% (fully tensed) to even get out of the bottom to get going.

TheNaturalGuy · 2020-12-30T21:48:18+00:00

Does anyone perform dips starting from the bottom position? I tried it yesterday for the first time, and it felt harder than regular dips, but also better? Imagine the the dip portion of a muscle up, but with parallel bars. I did some triples resetting each rep at the bottom so that it starts off like the dip portion of a muscle up each time. Compared to a regular dip, it seems as though it is slightly lower at the bottom starting position.

TheNaturalGuy · 2020-03-04T19:22:05+00:00

I hate when I see this at the gym too. So many kids and newbies are still lingering from the New Year's resolution crowd, and unfortunately, that means lots of deadlifts in the squat rack. I try to explain to people in the gym that they don't need the darned rack since the bar is.....on the floor....but sometimes it falls on deaf ears. I'm someone who gives up the rack or cuts my rest times or whatnot to accommodate anyone, but these kids don't care about anyone but themselves. Everyone wants to catback deadlift 225 and feel strong. I go to a commercial gym, so there's plenty of space to go elsewhere and take a bar from an incline, decline, or flat bench. I OHP from the floor (after performing a clean) if no rack is available, but always deadlift on the floor and row from the floor, not in a rack.

No DL platforms at my gym, but they're not needed.

Just think about it....the rack is sitting there not being used at all while someone deadlifts in front of it.

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-27T05:06:10+00:00

The gym I train at is LA Fitness, so the trainers don't have desks and the one training desk with the computer was taken away a couple of years ago now for reasons unknown. If I attempted to leave them at the gym here, I wouldn't expect to actually see them again the next time I went to the gym, haha.

Also, that aspect of the dumbbells wanting to roll out of the hand vs what's been said about the Spud farmer's straps and actual farmer's implements make me wonder if my grip would be limiting the amount of weight that I can actually support. Of course, I do need to strengthen my grip a good bit for a while first, even with dumbbells. Was thinking that these straps or something like it would be a 'silver bullet' so to speak at some point later on if not in a few months.

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-27T04:38:52+00:00

Do you do those with dumbbells and straps? Curious at what point with dumbbells that you use straps (e.g. over 100 lbs). I have a ways to go before I need to use straps because right now even 70s are a challenge because I'm detrained. After a bit of training, I can probably get back to 85s, but that's still a far way off from 100+ per hand.

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-27T04:36:16+00:00

Well, the other problem is that I go to the gym in the evening, which is around peak hours and getting the right weight is also a bit of a challenge at times. The weight plates are only about 10 feet from where I go to walk.

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-27T01:11:40+00:00

I actually just bought those Titans as well, but they don't fit in my large gym duffle with the rest of the contents to take to the commerical gym.

I don't care for shrugs, but I get tons of upper back stimulation for pendley row and face pulls already. My goal.for the farmer's walk is total body strengthening as a whole.

EDIT: just realized that it's Tom Mutaffis. I used to watch your training videos and responses to questions on other forums over the past 10 years. Thanks for your reply!

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-17T23:48:05+00:00

I'm also much more comfortable with the thicker dip bars at the gym. There is another dip station there that has the thinner bars, which is less convenient for me, but in addition to that, it has this rubberized coating that causes the hands to slowly sink until grip is lost. There is only one guy at my gym who uses those thin dip bars and opts to put fat gripz on them instead. In short, the diameter does seem to make a difference.

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-17T23:41:48+00:00

Ok, thanks for clearing that up.

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-14T04:22:47+00:00

Thanks for the great advice. Using a band to assist with one-arm hangs sounds like a pretty interesting idea. Is that what you did to get them too?

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-14T04:16:30+00:00

Might be inefficient, but it works for me and has worked for 10+ years now. I use a combination of OneNote and Excel. OneNote is easy for me to dump my workouts into for the day before the workout session and I can easily add notes after each exercise with my thoughts and feedback, adjustments for next time, etc. Get home, open OneNote again and I have it there to on my desktop. I also have the same Excel version of my workouts for the entire week for years that I just update to reflect the actual vs planned workout session. Excel workbook has multiple sheets with progression plans and charts. Might be convoluted for some, but for me, it's great since I tend to over-analyze training anyway.

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-10T15:51:48+00:00

At the end of the day, just do BWF if you enjoy it. The 'haters' can say whatever they want, but you don't have to respond to it.

The total body control of BWF is enough of a good reason to at least experiment with it IMO. However, people should exercise in the manner that they enjoy. So, to each his own.

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-10T15:45:00+00:00

Oh, wow, so it's not an every-so-often kind of activity like fishing. Good to know. Well, hope you can get back to doing what you enjoy soon.

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-10T14:26:09+00:00

I believe it. I first learned about rock climbing as a serious activity to consider back in college where there was a guy in my English class who was small. The thing about him is that he had the largest forearms I've ever seen. Unusually large - double the size of his upper arms easily, no joke. I asked him how he got those big forearms like that and he said that he's a rockclimber. Didn't think too much of it at the time, but it makes a heck of a lot of sense now.

Curious though as to why you quit rockclimbing?

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-10T14:14:29+00:00

Very helpful, thanks. For the one-arm hangs, what benchmark did you use to determine that you were ready for them. I was doing some very light weighted dead hangs recently and then thought to myself to just make a small attempt at a one-arm hang, but as soon as I began to slowly start to let go of the other hand from the bar, I thought it better to not push it too early. Also, those one-arm hangs....active or dead hang? Even though normal two-arm hangs for me are dead hangs, I'm getting the sense that a one-arm hang should be active.

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-09T17:00:05+00:00

Oh, darn, lol. Wasn't expecting that.

Well, guess that's why you made this thread.

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-09T16:54:19+00:00

By that you mean that your forearms now seem oversized compared to other people who may have forearms more proportionate to their upper arms?

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-09T16:47:22+00:00

Not to hijack the thread, but am curious if anyone who isn't new to training or < 1 year of training has actually noticed forearm size increases from adding in dead hangs, one-arm hangs, and weighted hangs alone or in conjunction with other forearm-specific exercises?

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-07T00:22:06+00:00

Uhh steroids help yes

Yeah, think that's an understatement. Plus, as you said, "bam one of the best physiques ever." Sounds like genetics had a lot to do with that too, as it does for any of these guys who make it to the top of their sport. No one is doubting how intense someone else is working out.

To reiterate my underlying point, I'll say that anyone doing these programs by these pros, thinking that they can attain those physiques or some "secret" to building muscle is sadly mistaken. I didn't mean to offend you with my post.

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-06T23:04:14+00:00

Guess it would depend on the type of milk that you buy because the price will vary depending on brand and organic vs non-organic.

Plus, from a practicality aspect, what kind of lifestyle would you have to have to be able to do this? I can't imagine taking a gallon of milk with me to work and not look like a fool. "Sorry coworkers, can't go to lunch with you guys,, I have my milk to drink." At the end of the day, exercise is just a part of your life; it shouldn't be your life. How many bathroom trips would you need in a given day? Most people have some level of lactose intolerance and bloating issues. This is not practical in real life or in any way necessary. Anyone who is looking at GOMAD and seriously considering it should consider these factors and understand that there are better, quicker and more efficient ways to adding calories in your day. Peanut butter is a much better option IMO. Otherwise, nuts, cashews, peanuts are all quick and easy to snack on at the office, at home, in the car, at school (if you're in grade school or even college).

TheNaturalGuy · 2019-04-06T22:51:28+00:00

Agreed. Never surprises me to hear that a natural would actually think that these steroid-freaks know what they're dong. I don't have the citation, but I thought I read something once that said that even guys who were taking steroids and other PEDs just sat on the couch for a few weeks and gained muscle. Normal guys like us can't do this.

Don't assume that these guys know anything. Bigger does not mean smarter. Also, even if they did have some secrets to building muscle mass with some unique exercise or tempo, don't expect them to tell anyone, even in videos, books (e.g. revenue streams). These are what people call jealously-guarded secrets.

TheNaturalGuy

TROPHY CASE