I have been wanting a pullup bar in my own home for years. At least since I started to learn how to do them myself. I would read about things like “greasing the gears” which means doing many small sets (even 1s) of pullups throughout the day. It was something that I couldn’t do without a pullup bar in my home.
Now, there are home pullup bars that don’t require installation. There are the kind that tension between doorways and those that hook onto doorways. But I’ve seen too many fail videos to trust those… plus, the apartment where I lived for the ten years before moving out to Cambridge didn’t exactly have a large selection of doorways to choose from. Front, back, and bathroom, with a doorway without door or frame for the closet. No matter which type, I wasn’t going to risk either damaging the apartment or myself with a flimsy bar.
But now that I live in a home that I own, I can make holes in it! I purchased a doorframe pullup bar that has brackets that screw into the doorframe. I used Ambrose’s drill to predrill holes for the screws, and then my electric screwdriver to secure the screws. The bar then slots into the brackets and there are metal pieces that lock it into place. I can remove the bar, but I’ve placed it high enough that neither my husband nor I needs to duck to get by it. It will live there indefinitely.
And now, I can actually start doing pullups whenever I feel like doing them. I can take a brief pullup break in my workday and grease those gears! I’m not going to do anything dynamic on the bar – no kipping of any kind. But that doesn’t mean I’m limited to only pullups. I plan on hanging to build grip strength and working on my L-sit hang and maybe even work my way into some strict toes to bar.
The bar itself has a slicker finish than I would have chosen, but that should be good for my grip. If I can do my work on a slick bar, then a textured bar will be easier.
Lacking a good place to do pullups was holding me back on a calisthenics program I was trying to start, so I’m going to get that started this weekend. Ordinarily I’d say Thursday, but this Thursday I’m giving blood. Exercise is to be limited the day after giving blood, so I’ll put it off a bit longer. So excited to be doing pullups at home!
