Pull ups changed my life

november 2020 i quit smoking after 25 years.. stopped drinking 2L of pepsi each day, was hoping heartburn will improve... started exercising at home. at first was 50-60 squats cause felt this restlessness in my legs, 5-7 pushups, 10-15 sit-ups, also stair-ladder exercise maybe 50 steps...

so i committed doing this every 2 days, and went until april 2021. almost 5 months.

eventually i've build up to 5+ sets of the following - 20 squats, 50 ladder steps with arms doing weights, 20 more squats, 20 pushups, 30 sit ups, 15 more pushups, and repeat, so all together i would do over 200 squats, 250 ladder steps, 175 pushups, 150 sit ups..

and then i found a cat, she was pregnant, and i have little space in the house, cause my wife is a hoarder. anyway we got now momma cat and 5 kittens. I had to stop exercising, being worried i'd smash them or something.. kittens finally are our of my room cause it's too cold here form the AC. i guess, so i decided to resume my workouts 3 days ago... hehe... did 3 sets of what i used to do... next day CHEST HURT SO MUCH, FUCK..... during months of workouts I would hurt a bit next day, then 2nd day next workout - by the middle pain would go away, i would finally stretch... but then again next day hurt... so i was always like "no pain - no gain", right? but now I also stretched my hip or something, so pain is all the way to my cav and to my shoulder... it was soo bad I had to beg my sister to drop off her pain meds leftover from some surgery she had...

and yes, that GODDAM SUPERMAN WITCHER BASTERD is what really inspired me...

one thing is that i lost about 15Kg during this, i think mostly from less sugar intake, I now weight as much as I did back when I was 20... LOL.. but I also don't have restless leg syndrome anymore. before i would just have to jump up and down or squat for a while until it stopped.. now thinking., shit, if i started exercising 10-15 years ago.... omg... probably would be like the Witcher.. =)

Leg raises on those pull-up bars I really like. That along with any other abs exercise had a big impact for me. I never realised how much impact core strength has on kicking ability.

Good luck with the pull-ups op and hope you get back into the MMA as well. I’ve just got back to my training in the past few weeks - back at kungfu classes.

Before lockdown I was doing a lot of kickboxing but I’ve not got back to that yet because of the contact restrictions and also because too much work on at the moment.

What sort of training were you doing?

macdonjo3 said:

Deadlift for me. A stronger lower back fixed a lot of back pain. Who knew a strong back would help with sitting at a desk all day?

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Ah yes, romanian deadlifts with heavy dumbells are also high on my list! Sadly my crappy leverages don't allow conventional and my trashy hips (scoliosis) don't allow sumo. Trap bar is boring, wish I could still do some heavy sumo!

dreadpixel said:

Which exercises changed your life?

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Good old push ups

They weren’t a life changer but a mental battle each week. I would already be thinking about them a couple of days before.

20 rep deadlifts at, it’s been a while so I can’t remember but a high percentage of one rep max. 3 breaths between each rep.

They were collapsing on the floor and sometimes vomiting bad. I couldn’t keep them up weekly for too long before needing to change routine.

Squats and deadlines. Naturally the hormone released during and after these two exercises is on another league entirely. GH. Try it.

clock said:

They weren’t a life changer but a mental battle each week. I would already be thinking about them a couple of days before.

20 rep deadlifts at, it’s been a while so I can’t remember but a high percentage of one rep max. 3 breaths between each rep.

They were collapsing on the floor and sometimes vomiting bad. I couldn’t keep them up weekly for too long before needing to change routine.

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Love it. Train until you break down your nervous system (shakes/sickness) it'll yield 10 fold of what you would have achieved at 70%. Make those last ones count!

Blackhat Lifter said:

Also face pulls as they've done a crazy job at fixing my posture and shoulder health which now finally enables me to bench press pain free again after years.

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Talk, how can I fix this fucking thing? I need to fix my posture asap bcs its bad

crnack said:

I recommend doing pushups and squats for those who are working at home. It's fucking killer exercise and revolution because all you do is lift your body weight.
And if you don't let someone close you in the cubic space, you will feel like the man because you will be able to do pushups during breaks in your work.

And I've been wondering how much weight I will be able to lift in the gym if I reach the point of 100 pushups without breaks.
I believe this is a perfect preparation for weightlifting because you develop strength without help of external weights and the only enemy is your weak body.

I could start a blog on that... I genuinely believe my back pain experiences would help 1000s of people.
As a kid I've had the dream of having a popular blog network. Now I can plant a tree and see the dream come true in the next 10 years...
And I'm grateful there is no time machine in the universe. This makes it feel like an adventure.

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Looking forward on this man! been experiencing backpains due to working at home..

muumuusheldrake said:

Looking forward on this man! been experiencing backpains due to working at home..

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Just apply techniques in this post https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/pull-ups-changed-my-life.1334182/#post-14412524

Maybe it will work. Try 10 different seats.

Sardi said:

Talk, how can I fix this fucking thing? I need to fix my posture asap bcs its bad

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Sleep on your back
Take more breaks while working (or get a standing desk)
Thoracic extensions, band over and backs
A shit ton of (upper) back volume in the gym

Just don't put more weight, do it moderately.

VSYNC said:

Dips brother, favourite compound exercise hands down.

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Highly agree!!!

your story inspire me a lot.. seems I wanna start working out too and have a balance diet..

To exercise consistently, change what “exercise” means by aiming for a small target you can’t possibly miss. If you’re truly not satisfied with that small amount, you can do more. I rarely only did one push-up. Aim for the sure win first, and then go to war. And just like that, you’ll convince your stubborn brain to exercise.

What exercises changed my life?

I used to be overweight because I sit in front of the computer 16 hours a day, six days a week.

It wasn’t bad fat, mind you. It was not jiggly and all over the place. I also didn’t have the annoying onion smell that a lot of overweight people have.


But I had a lot of extra pounds if you know what I mean. I didn’t get a fancy machine although my wife didn’t like it when I bought a treadmill and exercise pads.


I padded up some rooms in my house and made a home gym. It was a pretty decent setup. I had a benchpress and a nice collection of free weights.


But the thing is I never used any of that stuff. It was a complete waste of money. The guard that I asked to haul my stuff from my home gym to the common room of our subdivision’s clubhouse was astonished that I was giving all that stuff away because I didn’t need it.


It turned out that the homeowner’s association had other plans so I just gave it all to the guard. It probably made his year. He was so happy he couldn’t thank me enough.


He could’ve easily spent a couple of thousands of dollars or more for that setup. That’s how unmotivated I was.


Things began to change when I decided to walk. At first, I barely walked around the block. When I got used to that I walked half the perimeter of the subdivision I live in.


Then I walked the whole perimeter, got used to that, then doubled it, and then I would walk from where I live to several kilometers to another subdivision by the same developer and walked that place’s perimeter.


All told I’m clocking about 12 kilometers of walking every day. Let me tell you, walking doesn’t seem all that sexy and hot in terms of workout exercises but I slimmed down quite a bit.


Best of all I’ve come up with some of my best business ideas during my walks. An idea would hit me while I was checking out the scenery.


One of my most profitable business ideas came to me while I was sniffing the base of a patch my neighbor planted at the edge of his property.


So don’t underestimate simple exercises like walking. Not only do you get to enjoy the sunshine and clean air but ideas come at you.


That’s one thing I notice about exercising or even showering for that matter. When you are focused on the moment, that's when solutions come to you.


I know it’s funny how that works because you spend a lot of time in your home office trying to crank out solutions to business problems but the best ones happen when you’re not looking for them.


That’s the story of my life. I hope my answer helps you on some level.