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Want to get strong? get a home pull-up bar
11-03-2013, 10:36 AM
Incorporating powerlifting bands with pullups will take your workout to another level. I saw fast gains with these.
For guys starting out and can't do but a couple, these will give you a boost. For advanced guys, they shock the muscle groups. Loop the band around a stationary bar and put your knees in it. It makes the pullup easier, but then you have to push yourself back down to the starting position.
I'm a firm believer in bands and have a couple hundred dollars invested. Well worth it for long term gains.
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Want to get strong? get a home pull-up bar
11-03-2013, 12:24 PM
gym bad monkey bars good, got it. Every week with the new craze that nobody keeps up
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Want to get strong? get a home pull-up bar
11-03-2013, 02:18 PM
Quote: (11-03-2013 12:24 PM)mikeymike Wrote:
gym bad monkey bars good, got it. Every week with the new craze that nobody keeps up
Calisthenics/bodyweight exercises have been around a lot longer than gyms. I wouldn't exactly call it a craze. I consider it far more masculine to use ingenuity and imagination to use common things around you for fitness, not in a controlled environment where someone else has figured it out for you. Ie. gyms.
While most people go into Home depot dreaming of remodeling the kitchen, I think of how to turn everything into weapons or workout gear.
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Want to get strong? get a home pull-up bar
11-03-2013, 02:24 PM
As I mentioned in the OP, gyms all around the US have been getting rid of straight pullup bars to the point where you'd be lucky if your gym has one. This was part of the motivation for the thread.
same old shit, sixes and sevens Shaft...
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Want to get strong? get a home pull-up bar
11-03-2013, 03:36 PM
I would say that the last 4 gyms I've been to didn't have a straight pullup bar, including the main gym I train at. Most of them used to have one and have replaced it with various bullshit curved handles positioned at different angles. I believe the reason is that women like the curved handles better and the gyms accommodate them.
I'm not surprised that a tiny hotel gym in Thailand would have a straight bar, after all it's just about the simplest thing you can put in a gym. But it's the fancier gyms in the US that are actively getting rid of them.
same old shit, sixes and sevens Shaft...
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Want to get strong? get a home pull-up bar
11-03-2013, 04:07 PM
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Want to get strong? get a home pull-up bar
11-03-2013, 06:47 PM
@mikeymike, to reiterate: I
never said lifting was just about pullups.
Only that pullups are an extraordinarily effective exercise for building upper body strength.
And yes, of course I agree that to get benefits you should do them consistently, not as a passing fad. That's exactly why I suggested getting a home pullup bar -- that's one way (not the only way, but one way) to make sure that you
will do them consistently.
@Cyr,
Quote:Quote:
If you're worried about having a straight pullup bar, just put a barbell on the top rung of a squat rack and do pullups off of that.
Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what I ended up doing in my gym, except that I use a leg-lifting/dipping station instead of a squat rack.
same old shit, sixes and sevens Shaft...
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11-03-2013, 07:56 PM
I see something else entirely. I was in the fitness equipment business for a long time so I look at this stupid stuff. I see gyms all over the US going more 'functional'. Oly platforms, bumper plates, kb's, power cages, pullup bars, ghd's, battle ropes, jump ropes, sandbags, etc etc. Right now I have an Equinox membership, lame I know but with my schedule and being all over the place its easier, plus its damn nice. They have all of this stuff, and the trainers are all trying to get certified and up to date with this stuff, because their clients are asking for it. Its only a matter of time before it trickles down to the lower cost gyms and what not, its already there anyway. I see 'strength and conditioning' gyms opening in every town in the US, basically lower cost versions of crossfit without the crossfit name.
Would I like to work out in my yard and garage? Fuck yes. Can I do that in a 600 sq ft apartment, well.. apart from some kb's, weight vest and jump rope....
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Want to get strong? get a home pull-up bar
11-04-2013, 02:53 PM
If you talk about "functional strength" but can't wrestle a man to the ground and choke him out, you are a poser.
Doing kipping pull-ups ain't functional. Real life doesn't require you to fuck the air while you try to pull yourself up to the bar with weak lats.
Get your functional strength in the boxing or mma or bjj gym.
The gym is for getting strong and looking jacked.
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11-04-2013, 03:17 PM
True that 'functional' isn't going to get you jacked, but pullups and dips are excellent excercises in their own right and target a lot of the muscles which will give you that v-taper and thick upper body. The proof is that the pullup/dip station is almost always available, just like with the squat rack ;-) I've personally never seen much mass gain in the chest from flat bench, despite strength gains. That leads me to believe the flat bench hits triceps more really.
I've always been told to do pullups instead of pulldowns and to do more dips instead of flat bench. Rippetoe has them in Starting Strength as well. And if you're not a skinny guy, you are actually moving quite a lot of weight which means strength gain and hypertrophy.
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Want to get strong? get a home pull-up bar
11-04-2013, 03:49 PM
What the fuck does "functional" mean???
It means that you can use the strength in real life situations?
Banging a girl is a real life situation. So, if the exercise helps me bang better and longer, its functional.
Lifting weights is a real life situation. So, if the exercise helps me lift weight better, its functional.
Playing sports is a real life situation. So, if the exercise helps me play ball better, its functional.
Modeling is a real life situation. So, if the exercise helps me get a modeling contract, it functional.
Bodybuilding is a real life situation. So, if the exercise make me a better bodybuilder, its functional.
Arm wrestling is a real life situation. So, if the exercise helps me become a better arm wrestler, its functional.
"Functional" is all relative to ones life and ones personal "functions".
Any exercise can be functional as long as you use it in real life.
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Want to get strong? get a home pull-up bar
11-04-2013, 09:15 PM
MikeCF, who said anything about "functional strength"? And who said anything about "kipping pullups"?
Here's what I wrote in the OP:
Quote:Quote:
There is no better exercise for developing a strong and proportional upper body than strict straight bar pull-ups done with perfect form. That is:
-- completely locked out at the bottom
-- going up as as high above the bar as you can
-- moving up and down in one plane instead of swinging your body for momentum
Again, that is all I'm saying: that strict straight bar pullups, done with correct form (meaning, no kipping, among other things), are a fantastic exercise for developing a strong and proportional upper body. I think it's the single best upper body exercise and others may disagree, but that's not really important. As far as I can tell there is no argument that it's one of the best.
From what I've observed I think it's also under-utilized because when done correctly it get very hard very quickly. I see a lot more guys in the gym duly and dully curling dumbbells than I see doing strict pullups, that's for sure.
same old shit, sixes and sevens Shaft...
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Want to get strong? get a home pull-up bar
11-04-2013, 09:49 PM
Tip: if you're gonna do high volume pullups daily (or 3-4x weekly), rings or TRX are safer than straight bar for your shoulder health. Do straight bar too, but don't overdo it.