The end of the year is upon us, and I figure its time to examine how far I’ve progressed toward accomplishing some of my goals. I wrote back in September about setting a goal to do more pull ups. I’ve faithfully worked toward this goal, doing at least one set of reps of a classic pull up and one set of neutral grip pull ups at each workout. So, the moment was upon us today. I wanted to see how far I’ve progressed over the course of the last three months.
When I started, I could almost manage two classic, overhand pull ups. At that time, I started using the pull up assist machine and was doing 8 reps of assisted pull ups with 45 a pound assist. Since then, I’ve progressively lowered the assist weight, and am now down to 12 pounds of assist at the same 8 reps. Today, I managed to squeeze out… drum roll please… four unassisted overhand pull ups. I’m not sure if I should be happy about this or not.
I’m going to try putting a positive spin on this one. I’ve gone from barely managing two pull ups to a solid four pull ups. I’ll choose to view that as a 100% improvement in my performance, gleaned over a three month period. That’s good progress, right?
2009 Fitness Goal: Doing More Pull Ups
Even though the number of pull ups I can now manage is relatively small, I can definitely tell a difference perceived strength when doing the exercise. I think this goal is one that I would like to continue to pursue, as we move into 2009. I continue to see the benefits of the pull up as a total body exercise. So, since there’s nothing like actually writing a goal down to assure ongoing progress toward achieving it, I’ll publish my goal of achieving 12 unassisted shoulder width pull ups by December of 2009.
I guess that puts the pressure on me. So, are you working toward doing more pull ups? If so, how are you trying to achieve that goal? For the moment, I’m going to continue with my current regimen, but I’m always on the lookout for new ways to spice up my workout. Any suggestions?
