Building muscle and/or losing fat are understandable goals and for a goal to be achieved, it must be measurable—but there is something uncool about fussing with pant sizes, bodyfat calipers, and the like…
Instead, build your vain body comp goal into a noble performance goal. Pullups offer opportunities and choices.
Most exercises with iron reward an athlete for extra fat. Powerlifting legend Hugh Cassidy famously quipped that you “can always eat your way through a sticking point” in your bench press or squat. Good luck with that in pullups…
|
| | For a lady, achieving at least one strict pullup is a worthy goal and one that cannot be reached without building some upper body muscle, strengthening the abs, and dropping the bodyfat to athletic levels.
A lady who is way past her first pullup could aim high and excel at strict weighted pullups. Becoming an Iron Maiden—a challenge that includes a super strict pullup with a 53lb. kettlebell on a belt—is a package deal that comes with a world class physique as a bonus.
A gent focusing on getting lean needs to increase his consecutive reps in bodyweight only pullups. Generally speaking, an average size guy who can do 15 strict pullups is walking around with a single digit bodyfat percentage—although it would never occur to him to measure it. For a slight man that number is over 20. For a big man who tips the scale closer to 300 than 200 pounds getting 10 is nothing to sneeze at.
Naturally, pullups by themselves will not make you lose fat. Take on the Kettlebell Simple & Sinister training regimen, do aerobic work like hiking, and get your lifestyle dialed in: nutrition, sleep, and stress. At the same time, train your pullups and use them as your yardstick.
A gent who is looking for impressive upper body muscular development, not just a low bodyfat, should not bother with reps but train for weighted pullup excellence. Do you have what it takes to become a Beast Tamer and do three lifts, including a super strict weighted pullup, with a 106-pound kettlebell? |
| |
|
|
