It’s all about the pull ups…

I had a revelation about 2 years ago, I have read endless books and articles on training over the years. I really enjoy the technology, theories, equipment and the process of testing it all out on myself. Power meters changed my training for ever, perfect tool for me. If I can measure my fitness, induce new training stress on my body and then measure the improvement, I am the happiest guy around. This is what the power meter did for me. Combo it with an HR, stopwatch and average speed and I am as giddy as a school girl. But, this can also lead to overly complex training programs and lots of confusion and stress.

So this is how it started, two years ago I went big over the off season and logged onto wallmart.com and ordered a bunch of budget workout equipment. I decided that it was time to get busy on my core, this would help my cycling and general health. Additionally I would set up this new gear in my office, with out a heater in the office it gets a bit cold over the winter. Bam! Every time I get cold I bang out a core workout, warms me up and tightens me up all at once. When I do my first windows re-boot of the day, I jump over to the home gym and bust out my core workout, I do the 5 days a week. When Windows does an update and I need a second re-boot, core workout double day!

I bought 3 items:

Roman Chair: I do 15 reps on my back and 15 on each side.
Sit-up Bench (not sure if that is the correct name): I do 50. I got this rig 1/2 off for 30 bucks, I should have spent more as it is a bit cheesy, but it works all the same.
Pull-up Bar: I am up to 12 pull-ups.

This all came out to about 150 bucks shipped.

Now for the revelation in training… My first day I was able to do 1 pull up. Then for the next week I did 1 pull up every day, finally after about a week I went for 2. Once I did 2 for the first time I knew I could do 2, so I did 2 every day for about another week. Then guess what? I went for 3 and could do it! So, after that day I did 3 EVERY DAY going forward. Another week or so and I went for 4, sure enough I “locked it in” and was now doing 4 every day. Pretty complicated training program right? My workout takes me exactly 3 minutes, huge time investment. That is less time than it takes me to go to the bathroom.

So here is the deal, once I could do 4 I would not consider going back to doing 3. I mean once I could do it I was not going back, only going to match what I had already done. And keep matching it EVERY time I did pull ups until I felt I could bang out one more. Once I banged out one more, then I would have that locked in, no looking back. Went the same way with sit-ups, though more in increments of 5.

Sure, some days hitting my “locked in” number was a struggle, but I did it, even if I looked like my 10 year old son trying to do one. Some days I could hit the number with ease, that is when I would do one more and set my number that one count higher.

So, are my arms really that different from my legs? Nope, they are not.

The main basis for all my training is my sustainable power for 15-30 minutes, what I call “my number”. I only do about 5 workouts for my threshold/FTP – I do this specifically because I love to be able to measure improvement. Pretty sure my training partners are burnt out on the same rides, but to bad. Once I nail down my local 30 minute climb at 320w, it is locked in. The next time I hit it I am going to stick to 320w like glue, just shooting to match it. If the legs are good I will roll it out and pick up a watt the last few minutes. If the legs are bad then I just suck it up and die a million deaths to match “my number”, shit I did it last time so I can do it again. Not going back to 3 pull ups right???

Aerobic gains come slow, this is a physiological reality. If you are knocking down 320w on a climb then don’t hit it 3 days later and try and average 335w, it is not going to work. Funny how the body works though, I can repeat the same number 2 or 3 times in a row then pop up 2 or 3 watts, then repeat that number a few times and make another jump. Not a linear gain, but over time it is pretty steady, about 1.5 watts per week for me in the big picture.

So this is training back-to-basics. Induce fatigue, recover a bit stronger and repeat. Slowly climbing the fitness ladder rung by rung. Consistency and patience is key, I think Bannister may have been onto something.

And damn, would you imagine that after a few months I actually have visible muscle in my arms! Only took me 35 years to figure this out.

It’s all about the pull ups you know…