Everyday Pull Ups

 

I can’t find a more rewarding movement. Using your arms to move the mass of your body upward against gravity is harmonious and rewarding. Pull ups are all about performance and power, like a super car only cheaper. Power to weight is the balance that decides if you can do one or ten. If you maintain a proper diet and don’t carry excess weight on your body you are poised for success under the bar. I remember being tested as a child on the wall mounted pull up bar of the elementary schools cinder block wall for the states physical fitness tests. When your 50 pounds pull ups are easy because your power to weight ratio is where it should be. After elementary school I don’t recall having any more exposure to pull up bars. Since they weren’t accessible I stopped doing pull ups. Fast forward to 2008 and I was introduced to CrossFit which places a strong emphasis on pull up bars as a base for pull ups, kipping pull ups, knees to elbows and muscle ups. So at 28 years old I fell in love with the pull up. Like anyone in love you want to share it with everyone so they can feel the love too. After designing and building my own interpretation of what a pull up bar looked like in my head I was hooked. I installed the pull up bar in my garage right over the entrance to my house like a welcome mat for the ceiling. I Challenged myself to knock out ten reps each time I passed under it coming or going. I turned my training into a game and took the monotony out of just doing pull ups. Challenging yourself and pushing your perceived boundaries is rewarding and teaches you how to do the same in other aspects of life.

Eventually this wasn’t enough pull ups for me, after all I was in love. I then added a cheap and frankly dangerous doorway pull up bar inside my house to make pull ups more convenient. This allowed me to knock out pull ups while just wearing my underwear. Venturing into the garage almost naked and risking an HOA complaint for being the neighborhood kook who does pull ups in tighty whiteys. The more pull up bars I surrounded myself with the more ripped my back became and the more advanced movements and reps I found myself doing.

As my progression continued I realized I spend 42.5 hours per week at my job which was impacting my time under the bar. I installed two pull up bars in the work gym for all to enjoy and feel the love on. The work gym reminds me of a dungeon filled with crusty sweat and asbestos falling from the ceiling. Not the kind of environment that fosters loving feelings. I decided to take my daily lunchtime workouts outdoors in the So. California sun. Why workout indoors when it’s so perfect outside. After fighting some typical workplace bureaucracy my outdoor pull up bar was approved and given a small parcel of dirt on the fringe of the employee parking lot. I happily purchased the materials and rented an auger to dig the post holes. After spending an afternoon erecting my version of the great pyramids or Stonehenge for comparison, my great pull up bar was there gleaming in the sun for all to see. My life was now complete I have completely surrounded myself with pull up bars and I’m still in love.