Image credit: CrossfitNYC
Fred Peters posted in StrongLifts.com Forum:
I did Pull-ups with the assisted pull-up machine. I know that this is discouraged, but my pride will not allow me to do the jump method or ask a stranger to assist me.
What If They Laugh? There’s nothing funny about someone struggling with Pull-ups. I see someone who wants to get better at something. You have 2 kinds of people who might laugh at you:
- People who never struggled on that Pull-up bar like you & me. They don’t know what working hard is. Ignore them. Only thing you can learn from them, is not to be like them.
- People who are conditioned to laugh at anybody who “fails”. You’re not failing. You’re working at getting stronger at Pull-ups. Ignore them. They don’t even know why they’re laughing.
Let them laugh. They won’t laugh long anyway. Check this thread in the forum: it doesn’t take long to get stronger at Pull-ups.
Stop Caring. Jason wrote this before: the trick is not to care. It hurts your ego at first, but you’ll get immune to it. Focus on achieving your goals, not on what people think.
What I do
with that moneymay seem crazy to those sons of bitches in Houston. I’m sure it does, but it all makes good sense to me. You got that? - The Aviator.
the pullup is one of the best exercises you can do, but i too am guilty of one using the assist machine, i only started to get stronger at it when i pushed myself and got out of my comfort zone. ask for help, jump up, do negatives, do one rep (or half rep) for 5 sets, whatever it takes. you will eventually get stronger.
forget about your pride for a second. pride in the gym will only get you injured or very small gains. some people are assholes, fuck them, don’t compromise for these assholes.
Well said Michael.
My person experience with pullups is identical,
also if you wan’t to get stronger at them, start adding weight as soon as possible, this has given me some great strength gains after I had been at a plateau for a long wile (I could do 8 PU, now I’m up to 20 or more with BW and I can do sets of 5 with 10-15kg between my legs)
Kudos to Fred for taking action where so many prefer to talk instead. Like Michael said, forget about pride and don’t compromise for other people. There is a quote by Bruce Lee that I clipped out and put on my refrigerator. I keep the quote in mind all the time when I find myself dwelling on my fears or what-ifs:
My interpretation being: put everything out of your mind and do what you have to do. When it is time to act, just act. Life is too short to worry about crap
While at the gym one day a group of freshmen football players came in and decided to talk trash about me. One of the college students I was friends with who thought they told me the next day that he was about to scare the hell out of them. The funny part was a month later when I saw the football players training was i was now stronger then them and they were working out with lighter weights.
I basically followed Mehdi’s advice in one of his earlier posts and now did 4×10 pullups yesterday. Its probably time to add weight. I haven’t seen a belt or anything at my gym that holds weight. What is the best way to do it, just squeeze a plate(maybe dumbell) between your knees? Flupn, what do you do?
Mehdi,
Firstly in relation to this post, it’s amazing how much of that goes on in a gym. As a female athlete it’s even more amusing, the guys just don’t think you should be lifting like them. Regardless of your gender, your method is the best, simplest, way to go about getting the best results.
Secondly, I can’t believe I hadn’t found this site before. It’s an awesome source of information for people. It’s very hard to find correct, evidence based info on the web, and you are doing a great job of supplying it. The principles you teach in this blog are 100% what should be common knowledge, but are so poorly understood in the fitness industry.
So, sorry that I am a step behind everyone on this one, but great job, and I will definitely be reading regularly.
Cheers
Some people are just idiots. I’ve had my share of people looking at me and laughing when they see my do my 5 x 2 warm up sets with an empty bar.
Gads I still hate pullups. But I have gone from doing 3 sets of 1 to 4×3x3 this week.
But man do I hate them, which is why I’m going to keep doing them until I like them.
Instead of the assisted machine, try using strength bands to assist you. They’re more natural.
As a total beginner, these lifts are the worst part of my workout. I go from successfully lifting (admittedly light) weights to struggling to do even one rep.
But I’ve decided that if I want to get strong I need to get over my pull-up inadequacy and just start doing them.
@Parker
Belt + chain works best to attach weight. Check the post on pull-ups.
@Lauren
Thanks for the motivating words on the blog.
As a thin guy I’ve always had a twinge that people would judge me at the gym. I’ve come to the conclusion that it was 100% in my head. Think about it. Would you judge others?
The guys that are really good are completely focused on what their doing.
The posers are trying to catch their breath because they are throwing around way to heavy of weights.
On aside, this is why the running community is so great. You can’t pose. You can only fake it for 3 mins and if you do, you wont survive. In fact everyone suffers. It’s very humbling. For all. So when you meet a world class runner, he/she views you as an equal. Because they suffer & sacrifice & they know you do the same.
Thanks for the great site. I check it every day.
I even had my share of looks and even a asshat who talked down the routine I was doing. Funny thing is I just heard that no one likes him in the gym and he is quite annoying and interrupts everyone for some conversation. Besides the clown everyone comes in and is serious and to busy to be joking or talking anyone and that’s how it should be. Come in, focus on the workout, and when done leave. Maybe wave your hand and say hi and bye to a someone you know but that’s about it, no chit chat.
The way I look at it, I don’t compare myself to the guys at the gym lifting twice as much weight as me. They’re a minority. I compare myself to the majority of the population that hasn’t set foot in a gym more than twice per year. I’m in a lot better shape than those guys.
I am the opposite of you Seth. I do compare myself to the people in the gym. The only reason why was because of something my wrestling coach said, “Don’t Compare yourself to the bottom of the barrel, but instead go for the top” I don’t count those big muscle head guys. I try to make comparison with the guy who can run forever and yet still bench, squat, etc a decent amount. The ones who would survive if they lived in the wild. Thats the type of guy I believe this routine and site helps us become physically and also mentally at times. Let me know if I am wrong Mehdi, because thats what I am taking from this site and I love it