I stopped doing my old pull up workout a few months ago. I was focusing my training on preparing for my next section of the Idaho Centennial Trail, and I didn’t want to take the time out of that to continue with the three day a week routine.
But that doesn’t mean I gave up on pull ups entirely. I did continue to work on pull ups most Sundays with a group of other women at my cross fit gym. This work was more about endurance. We do 3 dips and 3 pull ups, every minute on the minute for 15 minutes. Then a bit of rest, followed by 10 push ups, every minute on the minute for 5 minutes. It’s a nice workout.
I still use bands for the pull ups and the dips in this workout because of the volume, but most weeks, I will do the first few sets off the pull ups without any bands (I’m still working towards strict dips, so they stay banded).
I’d had the goal of 10 linked kipping pull ups on the board for something like 8 months, and I figured it was time to try a different tactic than just doing my same old workout. So after a couple of months of this new routine I came into the gym on a Sunday and none of the other women were there to do the regular 15 minutes with me. I decided to give the kipping goal a try.
I’d gotten to the point where I could do 8 in a row back in January. And in May I managed to do a set of 8 during a workout. I figured I was close – I even dreamed that I’d gotten 15 in a row.
I pulled a short box over to the rig where I was going to give my set a try so I wouldn’t have to jump up to the bar. I did a quick warm up set of 5.
And then I tried for 10.
I got 12.
And that was after doing a class where I PR’d three lifts. 3 rep max front squat at 115 pounds, 3 rep max push press at 95 pounds and 1 rep max thruster at 100 pounds.
I hadn’t expected to get my goal so quickly. In June, my gym was doing a bingo game, and with all that I needed just two more things to fill a row. Do a “girl” WOD and post a picture with a workout buddy.
So I did Annie, which is 50-40-30-20-10 of double unders and situps. I didn’t post my best time really, because I think I could have beaten this time if I hadn’t been time capped the last time I tried it. But I was. So the time I posted was indeed the best Rx time I had recorded for yet another PR.
Well, after all that, I had to find a workout buddy to take a picture with, and luckily for me, Nat was game. I finished my bingo row and checked off my goal.
Next goal is a 10 second freestanding handstand hold.