Article Link Women's difficulty with pull-ups is about more than biology

[KarenP]

Originally Posted by Diane135

Debbie you are always such a wealth of knowledge.

Agreed!

I loved the link and Googled Grease the Groove and I'm intrigued. As someone with long, gangly arms, pushups and pull-ups have always eluded me. I'm going to give "greasing the groove" a try.

One thing about greasing the groove: if you're lifting very close to or above failure (i.e. doing negatives) you may want to stay away from that technique. You need to stay well below failure, IMO, to use that technique.

[eyefit]

So I went to Target yesterday and got the Iron Gym door mounted pull up bar! I think I'm going to like this better than the Turbo Tower for attempting pull ups. I got it all put together this morning and went to attempt a pull up. Well, I didn't manage it. I DID however manage to eek out a single chin up. Granted it wasn't from a dead hang (I couldn't reach the bar without a step stool), but I did it! I felt positively giddy as my feet dangled in the air! LOL

Great point about mental toughness being just as important as physical strength Debbie! What is that saying? "If you don't think you can do it, then you can't"...or something to that effect. SO true! I'd say it's at least equally as important in reaching our goals, for sure.

Here's a question for you ladies that do pull ups on a regular basis. I am DETERMINED to manage at least one real pull up this year. Do you think it would be considered over training to attempt a few every day? That one lady I mentioned before said she did a few every time she walked by her permanently mounted bar. However, when I'm just working up to do it should I just stick to doing them on the STS back days where Cathe includes them? Maybe just every other day try to attempt a few? Would every day be over doing it and hinder me? TIA for any advice!

Now I need to go check out that Greasing the Groove thing...

[Sarah-lara]

Originally Posted by eyefit

I DID however manage to eek out a single chin up. .... Do you think it would be considered over training to attempt a few every day?

That's great! I love that Iron Gym door kit. I had to use a chair assist, but I still improved my strength when I used it regularly. Lately I've been kind of lazy (and worried about my wonky back) and am just pulling on a band attached to a door for the pullups in Metrx 180. By the way, one of the women in that program can easily knock out pullups but the other was probably a little caught by surprise when he asked her to demonstrate. (ETA: they all look freaking awesome.)

I don't know if this ebook on pullups is any good; I've had it bookmarked for a thousand years with lots of good intentions to use it, but maybe it will help you:
http://relativestrengthadvantage.com...ro_to_Hero.pdf

[eyefit]

Originally Posted by Sarah-lara

That's great! I love that Iron Gym door kit. I had to use a chair assist, but I still improved my strength when I used it regularly. Lately I've been kind of lazy (and worried about my wonky back) and am just pulling on a band attached to a door for the pullups in Metrx 180. By the way, one of the women in that program can easily knock out pullups but the other was probably a little caught by surprise when he asked her to demonstrate. (ETA: they all look freaking awesome.)

I don't know if this ebook on pullups is any good; I've had it bookmarked for a thousand years with lots of good intentions to use it, but maybe it will help you:
http://relativestrengthadvantage.com...ro_to_Hero.pdf

Thank you Sarah! I will check out the link!

[videofit]

For tests to become a fire fighter or in a combat unit, they should have to carry someone for a specified amount of time over a specified length. Seems more relevant to the job.

[Helen S]

Originally Posted by eyefit

So here's an interesting perspective. I was having this same discussion on another fitness forum and a woman who is now in the military spoke up on the subject. I asked her if she thought pull ups were a necessary requirement. In other words, did she feel it was an arbitrary requirement with no real bearing on what was required in the field or did she think training for that kind of move and that kind of strength was beneficial or even necessary.

Here was here reply (quoted with her permission). She did give the caveat that others in the military may not agree, but that she stands by what she said!

I thought it was very interesting that what she mentioned was actually needed for combat readiness was really more endurance based functional type fitness. Thought I'd share her inside perspective.

Debbie, I agree that you are a wealth of knowledge. And that's a good point about mental toughness.

Colleen, I have never been in the military so I can't comment on whether pull-ups are necessary or not. I just wanted to say that I agree with her that endurance based functional fitness is important. I just assumed that was also taken into consideration when they do boot camp. Don't they need to do an obstacle course and pass it within a certain time? Yesterday, I also had thoughts that sandbag training or something like Combat KB would be good for them.

Thinking of pull-ups also makes me think of Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2. That was such an inspiring scene. But I also like movies where women are kicking enemies' butts with martial arts or something.

As for pull-ups, since I'm currently not doing DVDs that do them, I always forget to do them regularly. So I do think the one person's suggestion of having it easily available is good. My chin-up bar is part of my home gym so it's in one side of the fitness room where the equipment is. I mostly work out in the opposite side (the free area). Also my DH was doing bench and shoulder presses and put the bench under the barbell portion. So now, I have to move the bench in order to do pull-ups. I know it's not a big deal to move a bench but it's adding to the argument that if something is not convenient, you won't do it.

When P90X first came out, I did buy Superbands to help assist with pull-ups. So that's a suggestion for some people.

[Sara1000]

Doing a pull-up could mean pulling up 90 pounds or 190 pounds or 290 pounds, depending on the person's weight. I used to do them all the time when I was a kid and weighed about 80 pounds.

[eyefit]

You're right Helen. I totally thought of sandbag training and those "Fitness is Function" dvds when I read what she had to say about combat readiness. She also mentioned a few types of standardized test that they could employ, but don't. Here's what she wrote about that:

There are other ways of measuring competence. For example, running four miles in thirty-six minutes (Airborne standard) or rucking (carrying a weighted pack and walking/running) twelve miles in three hours. But failing pull-ups/push-ups will get you kicked out of the service. I guess it isn't as big of a deal in the Army...most women can do 19 push-ups (the minimum) in two minutes.

She did say that while the Marines had the pull up requirement, the branch she is a part of (the Army) didn't require pull ups. They did encourage them, though. It sounds like while they may run obstacle courses in bootcamp training, it apparently isn't part of the standardized fitness test that is administered. Maybe the requirements they have now are simply easier to administer (and less costly?) for thousands of recruits?

[m42]

Originally Posted by SEV

m42...wow, how rude! Why do people think it's OK to say whatever they are thinking? If it's any consolation, I'm extremely jealous of you! I cannot get cut arms even with heavy lifting, and I do want them. I'll bet you look awesome.

Susan

Awwww thank you.

[KarenP]

Originally Posted by eyefit

I got it all put together this morning and went to attempt a pull up. Well, I didn't manage it. I DID however manage to eek out a single chin up.

That's fantastic. Congratulations!!!

Here's a question for you ladies that do pull ups on a regular basis. I am DETERMINED to manage at least one real pull up this year. Do you think it would be considered over training to attempt a few every day?

As I stated above, yes, I do think it would be too much. Your doing a single and that's very intense. Chin-ups work a lot of muscles in your upper body. You need to recover because that's when your body repairs the muscle fibers and makes you stronger. Unless you're very young, I would recommend training them no more than twice per week. Even once per week would be OK. In fact, IIRC, that's what I did when I first got chin-ups. You'll be performing sets of 1 at first, but hopefully they'll get bigger soon. My recommendation is to do them on your lifting days, and make them your first lift.