I don't think that I could do a pull up without using the kind of machine that assists you by putting extra countervailing weight on the other end. How does the Door Gym help you with push ups?
It gives you a place to hold onto for push-ups, but I never use it that way.
I don't think that I could do a pull up without using the kind of machine that assists you by putting extra countervailing weight on the other end.
Me neither. I was down to only 25lb countervailing weight on the other end at one point a couple years ago, then got lazy in training. My goal is to do an unassisted pull-up by the end of June, but I'm not sure that that's a realistic goal.
(a) Holy crap. Those dudes are strong. (b) ogged, I'll let you know about how far I can budge from the straight arm hang; you strap 70 pounds to your body and tell me how many conventional pullups you can do.
At first glance on that last one, I wasn't quite sure where he had attached the 115 lbs...
I remember pull-ups from elementary school and the presidential physical fitness tests. Man, I hated that whole program. But it turned out that for pull-ups, even if you could do 0 in 5th grade you were still in the 35th percentile. At least I can do some now.
you strap 70 pounds to your body and tell me how many conventional pullups you can do
Ah, the refrain of the fat man. It's about strength to weight, my bulky friend.
That first one is pretty impressive, he's not swinging much at all.
Speed really helps in many moves. Probably the most impressive think like this I've ever seen is a guy do a slow inverted iron cross (i.e., on rings) from handstand and back up after. Perfect form, and more than 10s I'd say.
Yes, as you remember from the meet-up, I'm morbidly obese. Oh, right, you couldn't pull yourself out of bed.
sometimes i can't open a jam jar
without knife trick
Ah, the refrain of the fat man. It's about strength to weight, my bulky friend.
Depends on context, doesn't it? In a fight with the 'fat' man, mr-strength-to-weight gets crushed. If it's a race to free-climb up a rock-face, mr-strength-to-weight rules.
While the dynamos that that guy is pulling in the first ten seconds of the "Whoa, Dude" video are very impressive (and I have no idea how those bastard climbers do them), I'd argue that his full-body dips at around 0:50 are crazier. Look at his control in those dips, while he's holding his whole body up and outward at an awkward angle. That takes incredible stabilization from secondary muscles that most people neglect.
10: Not to mention who you want helping you move. Sometimes it's about strength, sometimes it's about strength-to-weight. Mostly `it' isn't about either (jam jars notwithstanding)
You're so defensive about your bulk.
Yeah, read, there's no need to be ashamed of eating jam.,
Sometimes it's about strength, sometimes it's about strength-to-weight.
Maybe ogged just wants to run obstacle courses. Or, better yet, get on the new American Gladiators.
When I did rock climbing in my youth, I could do a one armed pull up (not more than one, though). I was also underweight at the time.
Maybe ogged just wants to run obstacle courses. Or, better yet, get on the new American Gladiators.
In the new millennium we desperately need a new Iron Sheik.
Jam jars are about who is smart enough to use tools.
There was a tiny kid in my high school class who could do pull-ups all day [or it seemed like it]. He could also press more than his own bodyweight over his head.* It was damned impressive.
* i.e. about 20% more than I could press now [his bodyweight, I mean] despite weighing about twice as much.
The Door Gym over the Phoenix? I just saw one of those at the store and was thinking about placing an order. One clear advantage: name.
God I wish those dudes would stop copying me.
While we're on the topic of metaphysics pull-ups...
Did anyone see the new American Gladiators? I was surprised at how bulky the gladiators were and how lean and fit the competitors were. It seemed like a weird setup.
I'll bet that the "whoa, dude" guy could take on the gladiators, no problem.
I was surprised at how bulky the gladiators were and how lean and fit the competitors were. It seemed like a weird setup.
I thought that's how it always was. They make it look like David vs. Goliath, then pit the competitors against gladiators in competitions that actually tend to hinge on agility and speed, limiting or eliminating their bulk and strength advantage.
25: Yeah, I suppose so. I'd be interested in seeing a speed-on-speed matchup, though. Depending on the quicks of the entrant, some of the gladiators were badly overmatched.
Depends on context, doesn't it? In a fight with the 'fat' man, mr-strength-to-weight gets crushed. If it's a race to free-climb up a rock-face, mr-strength-to-weight rules.
I was just thinking this same thing.
Of course, having said that, I would trade to have better strength to weight any day.
Back in the day, we did lots of rope climbing. I could go up and down the rope with no hands ten times very, very fast. Even then, I would have been impressed by the one handed pull up guy.
Do you mean no feet, or did this specific rope have no hands? Or have you been reading Kit Fine?
Ogged:
What are you now? 140 lbs? You should come close to doing one-hand pull ups at that weight.
Of all the things in the gym, pull ups probably impress me the most when the guy (or girl) isnt rail thin.
I like the way the Bartendaz use "Let's get that paper!" as an all-purpose slogan.
It's good to have strong people around who love how much they can lift, as smart people tend to need a lot of shit moved around and garbage bags picked up and furniture delivered and stuff. Yeah, put it over there, thanks.
In a fight with the 'fat' man, mr-strength-to-weight gets crushed.
That's not certain; they get tired real quick.
Among my academic nerdy friends, I'm one of the stronger ones capable of lifting things, so I've moved people's stuff around a lot. It was weird when shivbunny and I moved his cousin into a new house, and all his other male cousins were doing in the lifting, and not expecting me to help.
Cala, that freaks me out too. Doesn't happen often, though.
I think it's more interesting as a commentary on the weakness of grad school nerds, or social norms than anything. Come to think of it, there's no reason they should have. I'm not all that strong these days and they were all six foot farmboys.
My two best friends are big, strong guys. I am happy to hold the door open for them while they move stuff.
When BR kicks me out, will Cala and Megan come help me move?
I find Ninja Warrior more entertaining than push-ups, but I guess it's somewhat cheesier, and a bit less homoerotic.
That clip starts getting pretty insane about 5 minutes in.
40: That's just because you're not showing clips of the guy who competes in nothing but a thong. Or the buff transvestite, for that matter.
40: That was really, really cool. But how come he doesn't have to fight King Koopa?
Transsexual, I mean. Don't sell Ninja Warrior short, is all I'm saying.
I love those Japanese obstacle course shows. I was really hoping they'd bring one over here, but we get silly gladiators instead. Americans love their combat.
They air Ninja Warrior on G4, or were you specifically hoping for a version stocked with hearty American youth?
An American version wouldn't be nearly as good. Half the fun of the first stage is seeing the contestants dance around in their costumes and toss squid around, and I have a hard time imagining that happening with American contestants.
The other half is, of course, seeing people fail spectacularly.
specifically hoping for a version stocked with hearty American youth?
Precisely.
Did you see the episode where the guy fell 2 feet from the finish line? Brutal.
though maybe they do that a lot; i don't watch it that much
This post reminds me I've been slacking on pull up work. But it's a new year, back to the grindstone!
I do weighted stuff, but one arm has always been largely beyond me. I've done a single with around 120 or so, but not 5 reps like that last link. At the moment though 120 would probably 0 movement and lots of veins bulging in my head. Perhaps an eyeball flying across the room from the pressure.
I do weighted stuff, but one arm has always been largely beyond me.
This sounds like a problem with proprioception. Is there a neuroscientist you could see?
More like a problem with excessively large buttcheeks.
This year is going to include a better diet and more consistent workouts damnit. Also, more running.
The grindstone ought to help with that, gswift. Those are heavy buggers.
i was to write my jar opening technique
but seems everybody uses tools
though it was pretty clever trick
i'll keep it to myself
You said that you use a knife? Simply stabbing a hole in the lid seems like overkill.
read
i find
it easiest
to turn jar over
and bite
the glass
bottom
off
with my
teeth
Maybe read's jars have lids you pry off like those plastic storage buckets.
I thought read was saying she knocked the lid at an angle towards the opening direction with the not-cerrated edge of a butter knife. My mom does that.
You said that you use a knife? Simply stabbing a hole in the lid seems like overkill.
In a last-ditch scenario, breaking the seal by puncturing the lid is actually a great trick.
Read, do tell, for I am weak. Not grad student weak, but future grad student weak.
I used to be able to open a beer bottle with a spatula by whacking it up the side. Then I came home, and found out that it only worked in Samoa -- bottlecaps here are harder or something, and I kept on knocking the glass necks off the bottles. Which looked tough, but wasn't much good for drinking.
I used to open beer bottles on the buckles of motorcycle jackets. Also, on a Ptolemy Stone.
Bottle openers are good for breaking the seals on jars. Just act like the jar lid is a bottle cap and give it a pry. POP! I like to use the bottle-opening prong on my Swing-a-Way can opener.
Drunken guests love to show me their "trick" of opening beer bottles on countertops. I love to show them my countertops' gradually eroding edges.
by popular demand
i find
it easiest
to turn jar over
and slide the knife under the lid edge and let some air pass through, usually there is some 'pook' sound and now it's very easy to turn the lid
without any damage to the lid and
teeth enamel!
Stanley's mom does the same trick i quess
if i got it correctly
Opening beer bottles with your teeth is both stupid and (surprisingly) easy.
re: 68
'pook' is a great word.
Stanley's mom does the same trick
No, your version sounds much more effective.
pook! Exactly. That is a great technique that I never heard of before.
I used to open beer bottles on the infraorbital rim of the guy sitting next to me at the bar.
I smiled when I saw "pook."
No, your version sounds much more effective.
No! With the jar upside down?? Stanley's mom does it in the objectively most efficient way. Do it under hot running water, jar angled but right side up, turn it round and round. Tap tap tap.
And beer bottle caps: open with a key.
Wine corks in the absence of a corkscrew: ice pick. Sharp stabby stabby motion. Desperation helps.
Next?
For wine bottles, gently but firmly pushing the cork into the bottle with the handle of a wooden spoon is damn near foolproof. Slight tilt over the sink if you are worried about spillage.
70 is entirely correct. I used to do that all the time, until I realized 70.
Beer bottle caps now I mostly open with a lighter or equivalent.
65. come over here and take that tone, McGratten!
You might desire to distinguish between fat as in fleshy but strong, and fat as in genuinely lardy. But I've been in a few fights (more wrestling than punching, one genuine, others for funsies), and endurance was a real issue. Fights are hella tiring, even when you're in shape.
The word "pook" is identical in Mongolian and English. Amazing but true. Maybe in Russian and Japanese too.
I meant to specify those few fights as being with fat dudes.
I've found that lying on top of a smaller opponent can provide an excellent opportunity to catch your breath.
let's find the connection between opening bottles and fighting fat people. At high enough temperatures, there's a unifying law governing both of these behaviors.
between 10E-37 and 10E-35 seconds after the big bang, in fact, there was no distinction between the two
A fat dude told me that his secret was leaning on the other guy. He expended no energy and the other guy wore out.
He was a liar and a braggart, but what he said had its plausibility. It depended on getting close and latching on right at the beginning, and probably being able to take a few punches at the beginning.
Free kuzushi! That might work in boxing, where throws aren't allowed, but it seems like a very bad strategy in a real fight. But, I haven't been in a real fight since middle school, so I might be full of shit.
Weight used to be my strategy in newaza, where you're both crawling over each other anyway. Apply enough weight, and the clever methods to get out of locks get a lot harder.