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[Mechanism]

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[Dean Pomerleau]

Hi Mech,

 

You've obviously you've found my resistance routine, mostly involving body weight exercise and dumbbells. Regarding pullup (and chinups) - I do them hanging from a short section of wooden handrail I've screwed into the rafters of my basement man-cave. I recall Gordo recently posted a picture of a similar setup he'd just installed, but I couldn't find it easily. Gordo?

 

--Dean

[BrianA]

I do chinups and pullups on a $20 contraption I bought at Walmart several years back. Check their fitness section. It just sits on top of the trim board going across the top of a door. So if you have a doorway you don't mind leaving open all the time, and that has a trim board running across the top, this probably will work. It doesn't screw into the trim or anything, so no permanent attachment.

[mccoy]

My suggestions would be to go on with biking and walking as a lower body exercise. You might add some squats if you want to be a perfectionist, free body or with very light weights (up to 25 kg). More weight may compress the spine. This is to be avoided especially by the old geezers like myself. Leg press is an excellent substitute for squats and weight here may be more substantial (may be up to 100 kg if knees are good, I used to do 360 kg in my bodybuilding days).

 

Then I'd add upper body exercises. Pull-ups are very good for arms and laterals. Bench pressing is very good for arms and pectorals. Just add bicep curls and you have a complete set of upper body exercises, dips if you want to add some more free body exercise (lower pecs, triceps, deltoids). Abdominals if you wish, just a moderate amount or more if you wish a chiseled look.

 

Due to past injuries, for the upper body right now I'm only doing bench presses and bicep curls with dumbells. I have a bench and a few weight at home, so I train when I have time and not every day. Also, since I'm kind of in a prolonged rehab, so I am very careful to stop when I feel aches in muscles and bones and to resume just when aches have stopped.

 

I lift as much as I can with lots of warm-up with lighter weights. I maximize weights with 6-8 repetitions and up to 4 minutes of intervals. Longer intervals=heavier weights= more MPS= more muscle mass= sarcopenia avoidance AND strenghtening of bone structure=, osteoporosis avoidance but what really governs and should govern is to avoid injuries which might thwart training. My training sessions are not daily, frequency is 2 to 4 times a week, giving muscles time to recoup.

[Mechanism]

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[Gordo]

I recall Gordo recently posted a picture of a similar setup he'd just installed, but I couldn't find it easily. Gordo?

 

--Dean

 

Yes, I think a pullup bar is the single most effective workout equipment you can have.  Preferably you want it right next to your bed - this will not allow you to have any excuses not to use it ;)

My wife and kids (even a 4 year old with assist band shown) can use it too.  Mine also has enough clearance to do muscle ups, and it can be used to do hanging crunches.

 

You can buy various ready to install pull up bar kits on Amazon.com (check reviews).  But I did my own cheap install using galvanized pipe from the local big box store with some various fittings, elbows, and scrap wood.  Even though it looks like a simple project, this took many hours, I had to fabricate a somewhat elaborate set of supports (made from 2x10s and 4x4s) to bolt into the trusses in the attic, working in very cramped space up there (this is at the peak of a vaulted ceiling) with little to stand on while I worked. The bar itself is 3/4" galvanized plumbing pipe all pipe wrenched together with flanges up in the attic. It supports my weight without flexing, not sure what its capacity is but probably >500 pounds.  

 

There are a lot of things you can do with a pullup bar:

14 Awesome Chinup and Pullup Variations STRAIGHT UP BACK: PULLUP WORKOUT

 

If you can't do many pullups, you can try the pullup shrug.

I always work my abs simultaneously while doing pullups, but there are lots of ab specific things you can do as well:

https://youtu.be/zUUuH-okLkw

 

Another good way to start:

https://youtu.be/CdtrfXK7bcg

[Mechanism]

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