A while back I made the determination to start incorporating more body-weight (calisthenic-based) exercises into my regularly scheduled lifting program. And then the 'rona swung through and as the gyms were shut down I managed to get a pull-up bar installed in my garage and two kettle-bells. This seemed like an opportune time for me to hit my (arbitrary) goals of 60 unbroken, full-extension, strict form, push-ups and 18 dead-hang pull-ups. After a few weeks of 5-10 sets every two to three days I found myself maxing out in the high-40s/low-50s (on push-ups) and consistently hitting 14 pull-ups. Needless to say I was disappointed and decided to buckle down on hitting my goal.
After doing some research I found that the reviews were primarily positive and that no one had come out saying that either program had harmed their progress; in fact the more searching I did the more it seemed as if enthusiasts were completing both programs simultaneously. Convinced that the worst thing that could happen would be ten days of upper body soreness I decided to give both programs a go.
Provided is my training log from this experiment:
10 May: Testing Day
Push-up max: 41, per the program my daily target is 164 push-ups.
Pull-up Max: 13, per the program my daily target is 65 pull-ups.
Day 1, 11 May
Set structure: push-ups (rpe 9-10), 90s rest, pull-ups (rpe 9-10), 90s rest, repeat.
Push-ups: 40, 25, 27, 20, 20, 20, 12
Pull-ups: 12, 11, 10, 11, 8, 8, 5
Day 2, 12 May
Set structure: time, push-ups (to failure), 8min rest, pull-ups (to failure).
Time(s): 1155, 1400, 1900, 2030, 2140 (ran out of time and had to get my #'s in).
Push-ups: 36, 35, 20, 25, 25/16/7
Pull-ups: 11, 11, 8, 11, 8/6/4/3/3
Day 3, 13 May
Set structure: push-ups (rpe 9-10), 90s rest, pull-ups (rpe 9-10), 90s rest, repeat.
Push-ups: 35, 22, 20, 25, 22, 21, 19
Pull-ups: 12, 8, 6, 8, 8, 8, 8, 7
Day 4, 14 May
Set structure: time, push-ups (to failure) immediately into pull-ups (to failure).
Time(s): 0900, 1140, 1510, 1700, 1810, 2000
Push-ups: 25, 25, 25, 25, 30, 25, 9
Pull-ups: 10, 10, 10, 9, 10, 10
Day 5, 15 May
Set structure: push-ups (rpe 9-10), pull-ups (rpe 9-10), 90s rest, repeat.
Push-ups: 25, 20, 22, 22, 16, 20, 20, 19
Pull-ups: 12, 10, 9, 10, 8, 8, 8
Day 6, 16 May
Set structure: time, push-ups (to failure) immediately into pull-ups (to failure).
Time(s): 1300, 1400, 1700, 1730, 1830, 1900
Push-ups: 25, 28, 25, 25, 30, 31
Pull-ups: 12, 11, 12, 11, 11, 8
Day 7, 17 May
Set structure: push-ups (rpe 9-10), pull-ups (rpe 9-10), 90s rest, repeat.
Push-ups: 33, 21, 21, 22, 18, 21, 20/8
Pull-ups: 14, 10, 10, 8, 8, 7, 8
Day 8, 18 May
Set structure: time, push-ups (to failure) immediately into pull-ups (to failure).
Time(s): 1400, 1520, 1730, 1815, 1900, 1930
Push-ups: 25, 20, 30, 30, 29, 30
Pull-ups: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 7/3/5
Day 9, 19 May
Push-ups: 30, 30, 22, 23, 21, 21, 17
Pull-ups: 11, 10, 10, 10, 10, 8, 6
Day 10, 20 May
Set structure: time, push-ups (to failure) immediately into pull-ups (to failure).
Time(s): 1435, 1545, 1800, 1945, 2030, 2200
Push-ups: 25, 30, 30, 30, 31, 18
Pull-ups: 10, 12, 11, 10, 11, 8/3
Day 11, 21 May: Rest Day
Day 12, 22 May: Rest Day
Day 13, 23 May: Rest Day, got horribly sunburned while landscaping so I took an additional day for my back.
Day 14, 24 May: Rest Day
Day 15, 25 May: Testing Day
Push-up max: 32, net change of -9.
Pull-up Max: 14, net change of +1.
So… what the heck. Where did I go wrong? I have a few ideas about this and I wanted to share them on the one website where it seems like most people give a damn about their fitness. A few things to note first:
1. I kept my protein intake high throughout the program.
2. I didn’t do any crazy workouts during this phase. Things were kept simple: stereotypical cardio sessions, abs, and goblet squats.
2a. Water intake was more than adequate and I was never insanely dehydrated.
3. The sunburn didn’t stop me after the first day. (Thank you aloe-vera).
Were I to revisit this program later I would incorporate more stretching and push-up variations during my workouts. I think my soreness stemmed from the sheer volume that I accumulated throughout the program and it didn’t help that I failed to add in any additional recovery items (such as supplementation or, as I noted, stretching).
Final thoughts? The program isn’t worth it’s salt or, at the very least, it wasn’t worth it for me. There were plenty of days when I was so sore I truly thought I should stop and as such I now know that my gut feeling was right. I should’ve just taken the time to keep up with my own programming and seen what results I could’ve achieved.
On a positive note I will say that I noticed significant tricep and upper-back hypertrophy.
Hope this was worth the read.
-E