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A month on Armstrong pull ups program


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No gym possibility for one month. Decided to do Armstrong pull ups program to stay in shape and to improve in doing pull ups in general. I will also do hill sprints every second day, for leg muscles. Numbers below mean repetitions in one set. I'll put the last 3 days in this post and then each day separately, as they come to pass.

I walk all day long (I'm a tourist in Barcelona at the moment), and this resulted in weight loss, from 71 kg to 69 kg. I'll try to put on some weight again, or at least not to lose more...

Normally, I can do 7-8 pull ups in first set. Let's see if this program works. One month. One man. One training bar. LET'S GO!

 

First day, week 1:

MORNING ROUTINE PUSH UPS: 30, 25, 25

PULL-UPS: 7, 7, 6, 6, 5

 

Second day, 1 week:

MORNING ROUTINE PUSH UPS: 30, 25, 25

PULL -UPS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7

 

Third day, week 1:

MORNING ROUTINE PUSH UPS: 35, 20, 15 ( my muscles are sore!)

PULL -UPS: 3 repetitions x 9 sets

 

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AS1,

you just have to be patient with pull ups and do them regularly. Couple of months ago I could do only 2 in one set. Don't give up! And for the hill sprints: wanted to do them again today, but postponed for tomorrow or today late in the evevning, since my quads are so sore, I couldn't believe it. It's strange, because yesterday (day after hill sprints) they weren't! And I woke up today with sore quads. I guess it's good sign:)

 

Fallen Horse,

thanx for the link and support! I already feel I'm improving:))))

 

So,

Fourth day, week 1:

MORNING ROUTINE PUSH UPS: 30, 25, 25 ( felt good!)

PULL -UPS: 3 repetitions x 13 sets ( yeah!:)

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Angryvegan, thanx

I'm not that strong, it just looks like that, really. I can't lift much weight. And I started lifting just 2 months ago. I guess muscles and definition comes from doing hatha yoga for 5 years before that. And also, I lost all my fat through fruitarian diet (80/10/10 Diet by Dr. Douglas Graham) before I started to go to gym and eating cooked vegan food again.

All best with your workouts!

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Made 2 days rest, as the Armstrong program recommends. Yesterday I was doing hill sprints and I noticed I am in better condition then the last time. Didn't really count and measure, but overall feeling is I'm better then the last time.

 

Today was the first day of the Week 2. Haven't notice any improvements in number of pull ups I did, when compared to Week 1:( Actually, it dropped in last 2 sets! ((((

Maybe it's a normal process, I have a constant soreness in muscles, since on this program...

Nevertheless, I'm noticing improvement in morning push ups routine - now 30 push ups looks very easy. Tomorrow I'll increase the number, maybe 35 or 40...

 

 

OK, these are the data for today:

 

First day, Week 2:

MORNING ROUTINE PUSH UPS: 30, 30, 30

PULL-UPS: 7, 7, 6, 5, 4

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Today it was a disaster. I was tiered even when I did morning push ups. And then later, I did less pull ups then last week. I don't know what is happening... My muscles are sore. I was wondering: how can you avoid overtraining on this program when you're expected to do the same exercise every day? I'm loosing strength from my upper back and shoulders and hands... I'm yearning for some bench presses, really... But I will stick to the program. Maybe it's going to be better soon...

 

Second day, Week 2:

MORNING ROUTINE PUSH UPS: 25, 20, 20

PULL -UPS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5 (damn it! I'm getting weaker!)

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Fallen Horse,

honestly, I've been doing more exercises than this program says. I would finish Armstrong program and then after few hours I would do another set of push-ups just for fun. Maybe I should have stick only to this program and do nothing more. Anyway, today I was feeling better, at least I did as good as last weak. I won't do anything else except this program now. Maybe it was the weather also, I'm like old people, when it's cloudy and rainy, I feel like shit. Today sun is shining again. I was at the sun 2 hours before exercising:))))

Sleep - better then ever. Food - I eat like pig, sometimes I force myself to eat. Supplements - no. Actually, no money for that. Just fruits, veggies, beans, chickpeas and lentils, nuts and seeds, tofu and stuff like that. I'm eating more tofu now, though. I hope it's not that soy estrogen that's making me weak lately..?

 

Third day, Week 2:

MORNING ROUTINE PUSH UPS: 35, 20, 20

PULL -UPS: 3 repetitions x 9 sets

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Hm... B12, never really thought about it. I'm not a 100% vegan, that's why. Maybe one or two eggs or can of sardine every two or three months isn't enough for the B12... I should find another source of B12, since I plan to become a 100 % vegan. What do you experienced vegans suggest? Shot or pills of B12? Or eating fortified cereals should be enough? I never eat those, I always looked at that as a junk food, don't know why, it looks too dead for me, and dry. But better dead grains than dead sardines, right? ))))

I'll buy some today! Thanks!

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Agreed! There is a big debate thread about the whole thing, which I have linked below, but if you don't want to get into the battle, then I would suggest some fortified foods (vegan milks, cereals, etc) or a B12 tab every few days. Thankfully the vit is cheap, so it's a solid way to make sure you are getting enough...

 

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=22046

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Surprisingly, today I was feeling great! But I didn't dare to increase the numbers of repetitions in "working set", so i kept it on 3. I improved comparing to last week, I did 20 sets:))))

 

Fourth day, Week 2:

MORNING ROUTINE PUSH UPS: 30, 25, 25

PULL -UPS: 3 repetitions x 20 sets

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There ya go!

Yes, amazing how things change from day to day

Today was the fifth day of the program, and I didn't quite followed the Armstrong's suggestion to choose to repeat the hardest day during the week. I chose the most pleasant day instead - yesterday. Decided to do 3 repetitions and make so many sets I can with this 3 repetitions. It was a little less then yesterday, but hey - I'm tired!!!

I also did hill sprints in the morning, till I dropped. My quads are burning (pleasantly )

 

Fifth day, Week 2

MORNING ROUTINE PUSH-UPS: 30, 30, 25

PULL UPS: 3 repetitions x 15 sets

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I'm interested to see some progress pics when you get through this program. I have always had a sneaking suspicion that pullups would do wonders for increasing back lat spread size, but I have always been too lazy to do a month of intense pullups hahaha.

 

You have any more details on your diet? I know you said you did 811 for awhile, but what's your current setup?

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I'm interested to see some progress pics when you get through this program. I have always had a sneaking suspicion that pullups would do wonders for increasing back lat spread size, but I have always been too lazy to do a month of intense pullups hahaha.

 

You have any more details on your diet? I know you said you did 811 for awhile, but what's your current setup?

 

Don't know if any progress is visible on the body, I actually want to increase the number of pull ups I can do. I think that I made better results in adding muscle mass by bodybuilding. As soon as I get back from Spain I'll stat again with the gym and BB. But I think adding some "real strength" can't do anything bad I wonder if I will be able to work with bigger weights when I get back to gym.

 

As for the diet: I would call that semi-vegan. Typical day would look like this:

 

breakfast:10 bananas (or one big cantaloupe), or something else from fruit, big quantities

 

lunch: 150 g of dry and then cooked lentils, chickpeas or white beans. To that I add usually 150 g of whole grains: quinoa, buckwheat, rice, millet or whole wheat or kamut pasta. With some steamed greens: collard, swiss chard, broccoli, spinach. Sometimes I eat also steamed root vegetables: carrots, parsnips, burdock, red beet, etc. Also a fresh salad from lettuce, tomateos or what is in season. Sometimes I eat whole avocado. Usually I drown in tahini as a condiment

 

dinner: same as lunch

 

late dinner: rolled oats (100 g) with some apple juice and seeds or good fats. (100 g): pumpkin, sunflower, coconut, walnuts, etc. When at home, I make often hemp milk, almond milk.

 

Why then I say it's semi-vegan diet? I eat sometimes a can of sardines (it has the highest level of B12 of any foods), or one organic free range chicken egg ( I love that, to be honest). When I'm at he seaside like now I eat some shrimps and mussels or any other kind of clams... I KNOW, IT'S NOT VEGAN But I try to get such food out of my diet, too. It's like I eat a can of sardines ones in month or two months.

 

My personal belief is that 811 diet is the best, but for me in Serbia, living on a budget, in continental climate with cold winters and no fresh and cheap fruit for long time - it is not possible for more then few months.

 

BTW, I was looking for B12 pills here in Barcelona and they have only combination with other B vitamins and it cost like 15 dollars! I heard you people speaking how cheap B12 was... How much is it in USA? And which is the best brand? MAybe I can get some friends to bring me that from USA.

 

http://a.imageshack.us/img225/246/dsc00032xl.jpg

 

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After the debate about methyl vs cyano b-12, I priced some methylcobalamin b-12 and it's actually pretty cheap now too. 100 vegan lozenges of 1000 mcg each are under $10 on amazon in the united states - http://www.amazon.com/Methyl-B-12-1000mcg-100-lzngs/dp/B0001VKFIK/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1280937120&sr=8-20

 

And at 1000 mcg, you only need to take two of them a week. So that's almost a year's worth for under $10 and the other type of b-12, cyanocobalamin, can generally be found for a couple dollars less.

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I would guess cyano would be in cereal because it's cheaper and more stable. I don't think there's a problem with cyano but I started looking at my protein powder mix (Now Foods brand "Tru-Food Vegan") and the b-12 spray I bought a while back and they use methyl so I guess it is getting wider acceptance.

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After 2 days of recommended rest, I'm starting a Week 3 of the program. I will not panic, the first day of this week was a catastrophe, just like the first day of the last week. Don't know why is tjis happening, but I seem to be the weakest after having those two days of doing nothing. I'm supposed to increase the number of pull ups I can do, but nothing happens, it actually decreases:( As said before, I'm doing better with my routine morning push ups - I feel stronger with them. Maybe that betterment with pull ups comes in last week of the program, who knows... Anyway, I'm not giving up!:))))

 

First day, week 3:

MORNING ROUTINE PUSH UPS: 30, 30, 30

PULL-UPS: 7, 6, 5, 4, 4

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