Pull ups
Pull-Ups are the best exercise to strengthen your back. There is just one problem. Not many of us mere mortals can perform a full body weight pull-up. Hey, they’re hard! Herein lies the beauty of Total Gym’s entire philosophy: the ability to use a percentage of your bodyweight applying incline plane training. The result is a purely functional and safe way to train your body.How Total Gym helped me with my 1st Spartan race
Today's blog was inspired from me just completing my first Spartan Sprint Race. Check out the accompanying video and you will see live footage from the race. As you’ll see, I was very excited yet nervous in the beginning (and clean!) and so joyous, proud and very muddy at the finish line. The feeling of accomplishment and the energy of the whole event made the toil and effort well worth while.
I could not have gotten through it without 10 months of dedicated training on my Total Gym. If you're looking for a non-negotiable reason to get in good shape in 2020, look into doing a Spartan race. I highly recommend you get a team together as the support and camaraderie helped the training leading up to the event and the team spirit was a tremendous boost during the race.
The Spartan team forewarned us to focus on increasing our grip strength and on pull-ups as there is so much climbing in the event. The distance was only a little over 3 miles but the 20 obstacles we had to conquer were the real challenge. Here are just a few examples:
- 20 Foot Rope Climb
- 450 lb. Tire Flip - (we partnered up for this one)
- Monkey Bars
- The Ring Traverse
- Rope Ladder Climb
- Hoisting a 200 lb. Sand Bag 25 feet up via a Rope Pull
- Carrying a 60 lb. Cement Ball Covered in Mud
- Tons of challenging walls to climb over.
*(weights above were less for women)
Let’s get into our pull-up party. I used to hate traditional pull-ups at the gym. Probably because I stunk at them. After attempting a couple with decent form, I’d be doing the worm wiggles, contorting my body in convulsive ways trying to get my chin above the bar.
Pull ups on your Total Gym
A popular body builder at our gym told me if you want a bigger back, you gotta do pull-ups. I pleaded, “Isn’t doing the pull down machine the same thing?”. He gave me a serious glare and said “Make pull-ups your best friend”. So I did and now I love them. Well, let me rephrase. I love pull-ups on the Total Gym and the results!I want to give you a bunch of pull-up versions to truly tax your back muscles and have some fun. Check out the video for a glimpse of the following:
Core Pull-Up Moves - Higher Levels on Your Total Gym
- Traditional Pull-Up
- Chin Up Grip
- Alternate Grip
- Pull-Up with Back Extension - Awesome 2 for 1 Exercise!
- The Rock Climber
Take the Level Down a bit and have some FUN!
- Negatives - Holds and Playing with Tempo
- One Arm Negatives
- One Arm Pull-Ups - try that at your local gym
- Plyometric Pull-Up Party!
For the Spartan race, our team’s mantra was OMMS which we yelled out during the race. Not the Ohm's chant from yoga but OMMS - Obstacles Make Me Stronger. What a great metaphor for life. We all face obstacles. We have the choice to cower into safety and digress or say “Bring It On!”, embrace the challenge, grow, and realize our innate potential.
Wishing you an incredible 2020 filled with growth inspiring obstacles!
Thanks TG Team,
jd
