Monkey makers

Yesterday morning at the gym I tried something new - a bodyweight-only combination exercise of the standard grip pullup immediately followed by the hanging knees-to-elbow exercise for one repetition. I call this exercise "monkey makers".

The standard grip pullup grips the bar about shoulder width with palms facing away as you pull yourself over the bar and back down to the bottom hang starting position. The hanging knees-to-elbow exercise starts at the pullup bottom hang starting and ending position, then you lift your knees upward until they touch your elbows and return to the starting hang position.

Here's a video of me performing 6 repetitions:




My strength endurance is less than what it use to be because I am concentrating on the Olympic lifts. Currently, I'm guessing I could complete 7 repetitions of this combo exercise or about 50 percent of my current standard grip pullup set maximum of 14 repetitions.

My short-term goal is to perform 10 repetitions of this combo exercise, expecting that it will improve my standard grip pullup single set rep max.

If you can perform at least 10 repetitions of pullups, you are a candidate for this exercise. Give it a try and tell me what you think. Have fun doing monkey makers.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum