In my bodyweight exercise
training journey, like others, I’ve been seduced into volume training for reps
and sets of an exercise. For pull-ups and bar dips, for example, I’ve had a
fascination with 100-rep workouts. Many of these workouts were timed; how fast
could I complete 100 reps. I’ve always liked the game “Beat the Clock” but,
truth be told, often it was the clock beating me. But I’ve always had fun trying.
Another variation of
training with these two exercises has been adding weight and seeing how heavy
of an added weight I could use to perform a single rep. Or how many reps of,
for example a five-set effort, I could complete with a given weight, with
progress measured by adding weight or trying to complete more reps with a given
weight. Progressive resistance has always been the name of the game in my
fitness training department.
Lately, I’ve been toning
done the volume and doing something different that is currently a joyful change
from my past training efforts. I’m doing a single set workout when doing
pull-ups and bar dips. Yes, a single set for the day, no more and no less. To
make it a beneficial single set, I’ve incorporated pause holds during the reps.
My current variety of this is to hold a three-count at the top and bottom range
of the exercise. Here are two recent videos of me doing this for pull-ups and
bar dips:
Pull-ups with 3-count pauses
Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum
