Shovelglove supplement: Chin up bar

[reinhard]

Some of you have been wondering about whether and how to take shovelglove up a notch, either by doing more 14 minute sessions or longer ones. I think there are significant risks with both, but I also understand that some people just aren't going to be able to throttle their exercise drive to a mere 14 minutes x 5.

So here's another idea: keep your shovelglove routine as is and invest in a chin up bar. Don't make any rules about when and how many chinups you should do. Just install the chinup bar in a prominent location that you pass multiple times a day. My guess is that merely seeing it often will inspire you to use it plenty -- that certainly seems to be what's happening with me since I installed mine on Tuesday. Unfortunately my daughters constantly want to dangle from it as well... (even my 15 month old!) which can get tedious (and scary), though I guess it might be a good thing for them long term (and it's less tedious and scary than using my four year old to do "butter churns" and "hoist the sack/child").

Chin ups and pull ups are the perfect "opportunistic exercise" to supplement your regular shovelglove routine, because they're so intense that in SECONDS most people can work to exhaustion and yet they're (relatively) safe. They add plenty without risking your established habit. They're also, apparently, very effective exercise for developing real world strength.

Here's the bar I bought:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... aysyste-20

The installation was pretty straight forward. It goes just three inches under the top of the door so there's plenty of clearance to walk underneath, and it's aesthetically inoffensive enough that my wife tolerates its presence even in a very prominent place.

Reinhard

[Finnigan]

I have been considering one of them for some time. Actually I was looking at the one that sort of hags from, or uses your door molding for support. I'm a bit concerned about the doorway itself and wether or not it could take my weight.

[anndelise]

My laundry room is separated from the kitchen by a walkway type set up.
A couple of years ago I had my bf buy a bar that he cut down to the proper length, and purchase some of those closet hanger bar thingies. You know that bar that you hang your clothes on? They are usually held up by some u shaped holders that allow you to remove the bar. He placed a 2x4 board against each side (to reduce damage to the actual support beams. Then he put on about 4 sets of those hanger bar supporters. Each strategically located so that if I could do modified pullups (ie laying on ground and pulling upper body up), modified push ups (use the bar height as my push up angle since I can't use the floor at this time), a standing height with arms overhead for regular type pull ups, and finally a tippy top location where we also attached two single foot sized rope ladders.

We wound up just leaving it at the tippy top location with the ladders, because I was able to use the ladder steps to vary the angles and heights. With the ladder, it became a matter of just playing around with what kinds of upper body things I could do with it. Climb the rope to the top? step on one end and let the rope ladder support me at an angle? modified pull ups from laying position? from sitting position? from kneeling position? modified pushups? How low can you go? even hanging and swinging like a kid's play gym.

I recently took it down because my weight had gotten so much that my hands and wrists couldn't hold the ropes/bar without really hurting me at night (and even in day). And having it up there was just too much temptation to play on it. I look forward to reducing my weight enough and somehow strengthening my grasping abilities so that I can put it back up there and play some more.

Anyways, I mentioned this because it might be an alternative for some people to set up modified locations if they can. Or even for those who can, setting up a rope ladder may also be a viable option.

Note: the bar set up was strong enough in each position, as well as the rope ladder's strength, so that both richard (270 lbs) and me (almost 200 lbs) could both hang on it without feeling any slippage to structural integrity. (obviously the rope ladder bent and stretched to the weight, but the knots never came loose).

[morganalefay]

I've got one in the doorway to my living room. I can't do anything more than hang like a dead fish off it at the moment, but at least I can do that regularly. It's a bit of a talking point, too, especially since people over about 6' have to duck under it.

[gratefuldeb67]

Great idea Reinhard
And bless your daughters for wanting to join in!
Just spot them.. When I was a kid, I was able to do chin ups, due to the fact I was still fairly lightweight.. We used to have one and my parents just put it at a level that was high enough off the floor to do them safely.. ie a foot or so above my reaching height.. Stick a few pillows on the ground LOL
It is amazing how the day to day things we do, even on a small level, like a couple of chin ups, or whatever, contributes to muscle health and strength.
When I started SG again this month, I was shocked and pleased to see i could do some "hoists" single handedly, without too much effort.. that was always really hard.. I realised that for a month prior to starting SG, I had been doing triceps extensions while doing my UR.. Whenever I'd hit a downhill slope, it would be easier overall, so I would do between 60 and 70 till the bottom of the hill, or more if i could muster..
Well even though it wasn't weightlifting, it got my muscles prepared for the heavy lifting in SG..
If I lived alone, I'd get a chinup bar for me and Richie, but we live with my mom and, well, she would give me a hard time about it marking up the walls...

I am a firm believer that all bodyweight exercises are the best forms of weight training.
Keep it up my friend
Debs

[Old Juicy]

I got one of these doorframe hanging models when I started shovelgloving.

I can do only a couple of chin-ups, but it's great exercise.

If you can't do any at all, just get a platform to stand on, and use your legs to help yourself do the pull-ups. Obviously, make sure you work you arms as hard as you can. Also, doing a chin-up or pull-up takes mental strength. It's like an epiphany when you realize you can do these. Always try your hardest to do one without aids before you resort to them.

Push-ups are a great way to build strength for chin-ups. So are dumbbell curls. And I think shovelglove will be too as long as I work my triceps too.

I also wanted to note that my doorframe is completely undamaged by this device.

[storm fox]

http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/69/

Reinhard, did you have any idea that your advice is so cutting edge? My landlord won't let me install a doorway bar, and the door gym/iron gym ones don't fit. I have a pullup bar in the shed, though, and it gets plenty of love.

[reinhard]

Great article, Storm. I love all the self-depricating "Empire of Evil" stuff -- you wouldn't think this badass Russian special forces type would have such a sense of humor.

Honestly, in so far as my advice is "cutting edge" it's pure accident. I'm thrilled that it jives with observations like this:

Russian strength researchers discovered that fragmentation of the training volume into smaller units is very effective for promoting strength adaptation, especially in the nervous system. In other words, one set of five every day is better than five sets of five every five days.

But my chief concern is not maximally efficient strength training; it's how to create a reasonably effective routine that is fun and unobtrusive enough to keep doing indefinitely. Still, stuff like this doesn't hurt -- thanks again for the link!

To meet the Soviet Special Forces pull-up standard of eighteen consecutive dead hang reps stick to your bodyweight plus heavy regulation boots.

Sounds like a fun "personal olympics" goal for 2009.... I can bang out 11 "dead hang" reps right now (minus the boots). But it would be very cool for an otherwise largely sedentary computer programmer to achieve "Soviet special forces" levels of fitness from 14 minutes a weekday plus some sporadic pullups.

Reinhard

[twa2w]

I've got one in the doorway to my living room. I can't do anything more than hang like a dead fish off it at the moment, but at least I can do that regularly. It's a bit of a talking point, too, especially since people over about 6' have to duck under it.

When you are doing weight lifting, studies show it is the eccentric phase that builds the most strength rather than the concentric phase. In other words on a dumbbell curl you gain more strength from lowering of the weight than from the lifting.
For people who can't do chin-ups, get a small stool and lift yourself up so you are hanging on the bar as if you had just chinned the bar. Now slowly lower yourself down to a dead hang. Keep doing this and soon you will have the strength to do a proper chin from a dead hang.
Or if you are almost strong enough then you can do kipping chinups where you swing your body and legs to assist yourself with the chinup

Some great info here on Clarence bass' website on synaptic facilitation with regard to chinups. Lots of other great stuff on his website.
http://www.cbass.com/Synaptic.htm
Cheers
J

[storm fox]

A friend of mine couldn't do a single pullup, but I asked her if she could hook up a doorway bar, and she was all about it. I ran into her later, and after a month or so, she could do two full reps. She may not pass any Spetsnaz standards, but she made a ridiculous improvement for a grandmother in her fifties. I'm still proud of her and am encouraged by her example of consistent moderate effort.
Reinhard, I'm glad you enjoyed the article. WHile I am not a Pavelite, lots of Pavel's stuff is gold. IMHO, the simplest programs are usually the very best you can do.