In January 2011, I set myself a target which was ambitious but, I hoped, achievable.
20,000 pullups by the end of the year.
I tried a few, decided how many I could do back then in one day, and set myself a target of 100 in the final day. A simple spreadsheet gave me my total, with a linear daily increase.
I realised pretty soon that when I said pullups, I really meant chinups (distinguished by the direction the palms face on the bar). I mixed in pullups and chinups most days. I hope nobody hold it against me.
I also failed to allow for rest days, which meant that I had to keep ahead of my schedule to allow for rest days. Quite manageable at first, but tough towards the end. I also had a few setbacks, with a pulled muscle putting me back by 2 weeks, and a holiday during which I found it hard to do any pullups (I found a pullup bar in a children’s playground but the idea of hanging out at a playground wasn’t too appealing).
Much of October and November were spent clawing back the lost time, but, with the end in sight, I made a final drive to complete my target on Christmas Eve and in time to take my mother-in-law to Midnight Mass.
My cheapo bar from a large national supermarket held up surprisingly well. I had to wrap old flannels around the ends where it presses against the door frame, and it’s slightly bowed in the middle.
You can sponsor me, up to the end of January 2012, at my Just Giving Page
UPDATE:
My arms now look like this:
Congratulations, now show us your guns ๐
Updated the post with a dodgy camera-phone shot.
Well done! Great achievement.
But what’s your next goal ? ๐
Congrats Joe, how many were you able to do at the start?
Scott – I think my max-reps in a set was 4 chinups (palm in) and either 2 or 3 pullups (palm out)