Steve's Goals

[Jack35]

Current Stats:

male
31 years old
waist: 37.5 at my last PT test
approx. 210 lbs.

My goal is to lose 20lbs
Keep a waist 35"


I’m a service member and after a two years break in service I returned to the reserves. To my surprise when I did my first PT test I nearly failed, only passing by 1 point. This is unacceptable. After years of being your typical gym rat I have grown bored of the thousands of redundant routines I have probably done over the last 12 years or so. I have come to the realization that in order to max my PT test (my main goal in this program) I needed to think outside the box. I have never trained just with bodyweight and because of this I am very skeptical of this program. I'm hoping that this is just not a fad and that I will really see some result after putting the time in.

Because I have taken a pretty lengthy break from any extensive exercise program I’ve decide it was best to start on Day1, Level 1(Damn good decision too, wow was I sore after the first day). It is going to take some getting uses to only working out for such a short period of time (I’ve thrown in some abs exercise due to PT standers), but will to give it a go.

I would also like to lose around 20 lbs, especially since according to service standers I’m currently 10lbs over the max. I’m starting to work on the food consumption. Thinking I always ate pretty healthy, after counting calories for a few days I have realized I really need to start watching my portion.

So far on day one I was able to complete 15 set and on day 2 I was able to get through L1 D2 in 3.26. This was not counting the 3 min breaks, but after the 4 and 5 set I start failing on the pull-up. I guess this is why you keep repeating the same week until you’re under the 5 min mark on D3 and level up

I do have one question if anyone is reading this: pull-up’s are done with palms facing away from you or facing you (I believe those are chin-ups) or does it really matter?

[Ruli]

hi steve, and welcome to SF! glad you joined the program.

I have never trained just with bodyweight and because of this I am very skeptical of this program. I'm hoping that this is just not a fad and that I will really see some result after putting the time in.

rest assured mate, this is not fad at all! put in the time and effort, and i guarantee you results - or your money back! (shit, i can't promise that, cause this is free).

to answer your question:

pull-ups - palms facing away
chin-ups - palms facing you
neutrals - palms facing towards each other (obviously, you can't do neutrals on a normal pull-up bar)

as to which one is the best: i suppose it's a personal choice. for me, chins are the easiest and pull-ups the hardest, with neutrals sort of in between.

the purists will tell you that pull-ups is the only way to go (which i suppose is the correct approach). unfortunately, due to an injury, i can't do pull-ups, so i do the next best thing: neutrals. so again, personal choice and circumstances. but don't forget, whichever grip you use, you are still lifting your own bodyweight - not something everybody can do!

and remember, apart from working different muscles in the arms when using different grips, you are also using different shoulder and back muscles. each grip targets specific muscles in the shoulders and back as well - so that's why i think it's important to "mix it up" (using different grips) - especially on D1 & 2

go and create your own thread on the "workout logs" page and post your results - it's always nice to see fellow SF'ers progress and it serves as a great motivator!

[Ruli]

steve, you can also read more about varying pull-up grips here