How I went from 0 to 50 pull ups for my 50th birthday
Let's get your first (or 50th!) pull up in 2024. I've got you!
Hi frens!
(that’s how I spell it. No need for a hard “d” in my life. Haha. That’s just a joke. But true enough).
For many of you, it’s been a while and I hope this finds you healthy, happy and enjoying your holidays.
Deep Kimchi is my little corner of the world and a perpetual work in progress.
It’s a Substack website and newsletter about all the things that feed my soul and fire me up at 50! Welcome!
Also, it doesn’t require doom-scrolling on social media which makes it aces in my book.
I hope you’ll stick around.
There’s so much I can’t wait to share with you after wandering around the world (and still going) these past few years.
But you’re here for pull ups and pull ups you shall have (and be able to do by the bucketloads soon!)
Rewind to January 2023…
That’s 11 months ago for all of you already three knuckles deep into the egg nog.
Let me set the table for you.
This was me a year ago:
Twenty-five extra pounds from a dumpster fire divorce (still ongoing);
an Emergency Room cardiac event that convinced me I was kicking the bucket at 49 - much like my father;
cue spiral of the downward direction;
guzzling gin (when I didn’t even enjoy it);
Correction to the above. ↑ Guzzling everything that wasn’t already guzzled (gin being foremost).
My ex even dog-napped my three-legged rescue (hence, still in Swedish court) after announcing our divorce to me in AN EMAIL — when I was on my way to the airport with a one-way ticket home.
Yes, correct.
She ended our marriage, our life, in an email.
I was en route to San Francisco’s airport, headed back to Sweden, when I received it.
She was supposed to be picking me up at Arlanda (Stockholm’s airport) for one of those running-through-the fields-tampon-slash-douche-commercial reunions.
I was all butterfly belly to be reunited — and home — after a Covid visa situation separated us for nearly a year when I received THE EMAIL.
It was two sentences (1. she was keeping my dog and 2. my property) and no other explanation.
Then, radio silence.
Talk about a tired country song cliché… with a side of sad trombone.
Womp womp.
The result?
Alcohol wormed its way back into my life in a big way.
Ahhhh…. that late afternoon slide into sauvignon blanc….
Soothing, numbing instant gratification.
Forgotten woes and warm face flushies…
…followed by:
muscle wasting
sandpaper mouth
anger for slipping on the same banana peel I swore to myself I wouldn’t the day before
self-induced dopamine depletion digging me into a deeper rut of anxiety
isolation
disrupted shit sleep creating foggy days of doing nothing well
inner voice berating me in full blast stereo
cravings for anything super-sizable from a drive-thru
the “morning after” anxiety of what/who did I text
catastrophizing and even more peri-menopausal belly fat — talk about a fun dinner party guest!
If I keep going on about my sob story I’ll have to Venmo you a therapist fee, and I think I already mentioned I’m still in court, paying lawyers to fight for my dog-napped three-legged Romanian rescue, Romy.
Instead, let me show you how I pulled myself up with pull ups.
The things we can control vs. the things we can’t.
Thanks for listening to my pity party recap, by the way. You’re a good friend… with a hard D. That’s how much you mean to me.
Onward…
Five years ago, at age 45, my one-rep max (aka a personal best for one repetition) of a strict (unassisted, full range of motion) pull up included my own body weight plus 70lbs of kettlebells.
See for yourself. If the vid doesn’t play, here’s the link on YouTube.
In the vid above, you can see the patch on my left shoulder. I had a slap tear injury and opted for stem cell injection therapy vs. a massive shoulder surgery. I’m not helping my healing cause in this video by continuing to do heavy pull ups.
Don’t be this person.
Here’s what I learned that works for me now:
Train with flow, not force.
Live in flow, not force.
Create in flow, not force.
Laugh in flow, not force.
💪🏽🙏🏽 Let go in flow, not force (over and over)
Love in flow, not force.
Back then, my driving factors for achieving insane fitness sprouted from one seed:
Fear.
Fear of feeling unattractive which meant — to me — walking myself home alone in this life.
Fear of physical weakness and wrinkles which, to me, signaled the sun setting on all my “could be’s” sinking into “shoulda-beens.”
Fear of not fitting into clothes I found flattering.
Fear of that mid-life menopausal bone-, muscle-, hair-, libido-, joy loss and redistribution of midsection fat — especially around the organs— and the metabolic diseases that multiply their probability.
Followed by…
….fear of following in my father’s footsteps (and his side of the family) by dying in my early 50’s.
I’m not saying all these fears aren’t valid or natural or necessary.
But beating them back (or trying to outrun them) with force…
… instead of allowing and acknowledging them with flow…
... hijacked me into identifying with passing emotions and anxiety over things that may never occur (and mostly don’t).
Not to mention a low level flight-or-fight physiology and the stress hormones like cortisol that come with it.
Pushing that slap-tear injury five years ago so I could do a pull up with an additional 70lbs - when I was supposed to be healing - made my right arm 97% immobile.
Changing clothes, carrying groceries, driving, showering, butt wiping, etc. became excruciating events.
Pull ups went by the wayside as my workouts and rehab revolved around preserving strength and muscle mass while waiting for my shoulder to heal. Over the next 5 years (Covid didn’t help) my pull ups went from:
1 rep max PR: my bodyweight + 70 lbs
Bodyweight only pull up PR: 20 strict reps
to
Zero
With all my might and straining I could no longer pull myself off the ground without assistance — a lot of assistance.
Just a lot of unseemly grunting against gravity and going nowhere.
So, January 2, 2023, I changed the record
I didn’t start Jan 1 because I was in a hair-of-the-dog situation with one of my besties watching Chelsea Handler’s Revolution Netflix special … highly recommend, btw, and no, I can’t share my Netflix password with you anymore.
2023 is the year I turned 50 and it was time to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
No one was going to do it for me.
I was sick of feeling sorry for myself.
Blame, anger, resentment, victimhood = boring.
Those emotions feel good to wallow in but are false friends whose only goal is to create a cesspool of slow suicide by drowning you in your own shit.
I saw how my lethargy and anxious, low energy affected my other Romanian rescue puppy, Lenny.
Lenny needed me to be present, positive and proactive to love and raise him given his horrific, multiple, near death experiences at the hands of humans.
Side note: We rescued his whole litter (including mom) and brought them to Save Our Paws in Romania at the beginning of the Ukraine war.
My doctor and bloodwork confirmed what I already felt emotionally and physically:
the vasomotor symptoms of menopause and swift exit of estrogen were making a hard time worse, especially after a cardiac event.
I was the only one who could come to my rescue if I wanted to recover myself.
My plan:
Muscle growth/regain and increase bone density with decrease of excess body fat. Improve biomarkers across the board.
Nothing like a full blood panel for your body to present the bill for a lot of bad choices. Biomarkers aren’t bullshitters, frens.
Resume intermittent psilocybin microdosing, meditation and across-the-board “F*&% No!” to things that don’t matter.
I’ll go deeper into the above topics in another post.
Here’s How I Achieved 50 Pull Ups on My 50th Birthday…
…and managed to drop 20lbs of excess adipose (aka body fat) along the way.
The vid below is me on the morning of my 50th birthday, Aug 2023, with Hurricane Hillary blowing in and Lenny cheering me on.
(By cheering me on I mean ignoring me and finding others dogs’ butts more inspiring.)
52 pull ups, done in sets of 3-4 in 45 mins.
First:
I began a new hypertrophy weight training program before throwing in pull up practice so I could acclimate to soreness and volume.
Second:
After two weeks of lifting, I began using the former Soviet Union pull up program introduced to the West by Pavel Tsatsouline.
I was using a Basebar (see below) at first because I was working out at a friend’s home gym.
Any pull up bar will do if you’re training at home.
In my first phase, as you can see in the vid, I had to use the heavy bands for assistance to get my chin over the bar (and, let’s face it, my ass off the ground).
Third: Here’s how it works:
The First Four Weeks
If you’re in the same position I was in this time last year (minus the divorce and dog-napping) — and you can barely get yourself off the ground (even with a rainbow of assistance bands) — then use as much assistance as you need to achieve at least three reps.
What to expect after 30 days: It is very common to perform 2.5-3x the amount of starting pull ups. If you begin with 3, you will probably be able to do ~9 at the end.
The numbers = repetitions of a pull up.
Day 1: 3,2,1,1
Day 2: 3,2,1,1
Day 3: 3,2,2,1
Day 4: 3,3,2,1
Day 5: 4,3,2,1
Day 6: Rest from Pull Ups
Day 7: 4,3,2,1,1
Day 8: 4,3,2,2,1
Day 9: 4,3,3,2,1
Day 10: 4,4,3,2,1
Day 11: 5,4,3,2,1
Day 12: Rest from Pull Ups
Day 13: 5,4,3,2,2
Day 14: 5,4,3,3,2
Day 15: 5,4,4,3,2
Day 16: 5,5,4,3,2
Day 17: 6,5,4,3,2
Day 18: Rest from Pull Ups
Day 19: 6,5,4,3,3
Day 20: 6,5,4,4,3
Day 21: 6,5,5,4,3
Day 22: 6,6,5,4,3
Day 23: 7,6,5,4,3
Day 24: Rest from Pull Ups
Day 25: 7,6,5,4,4
Day 26: 7,6,6,5,4
Day 27: 7,7,6,5,4
Day 28: 8,7,6,5,4
Day 29: 8,7,6,5,5
🥳Day 30: Congrats! Rest/recover 2-3 days then test yourself!
How to test your pull up prowess the smart way:
Always warm up to your working set. This allows you to pull more weight (the weight being you).
Warm Up Set 1: 10-15 reps using more assistance than you trained with. If you used all your bands the past month, have someone who doesn’t mind your butt in their face to spot you for this set. Have them support you above your waist, thumbs in the middle of your back, hands around your lower ribs. So, assistance bands and non-perv spotter. Rest 3 mins.
Warm Up Set 2: 8 reps with extra assistance or person spotting (or both). Rest 3 mins. During rest time, tell your spotter to take their hands off you. Stay focused. You’re not in the mood. Maybe later if this all goes well. If they won’t, call the police. When the police get there, ask them to spot you since you’re a taxpayer.
Warm Up Set 3: Remove your heaviest assistance band and use what remains. If you were only using one band, switch it out for a relatively lighter one. Do 1 to 3 reps at this more challenging resistance. Don’t go over three, okay? Rest 5-7 minutes. BTW, this is called “potentiating” and I think we all need more of it in our lives, thy will be done, amen.
PULL UP MAX TEST TIME! 🔥💪🏾
You’ve got this! I’m super pumped for you and proud of you!
First, turn on your favorite jam… LOUD. But not so loud the police come back because of your uncool neighbors.
If you’re in need of a good jam, might I suggest ‘Gaslighter’ by The Chicks? If you want to know why, please re-read the beginning of this article for comprehension.
Now, remove the lightest band from the amount of assistance you used all month. If you used only one band, use one a bit lighter.
How many full-range-of-motion reps can you do with less assistance and stellar form?
If possible, keep reducing the assistance and resting 7-10 mins between sets/attempts. Rest up to 15 mins if you need it but don’t get too ‘cold.’
Keep going until you hit the wall on reps and assistance.
When you can no longer get a full rep with good form, you’ve hit your max. What is it? I’m so stoked for you! Awesome work!
If you put in the reps, you will absolutely get there. Accounts grow with consistent deposits. That’s all it takes.
Remember to keep a training log. What gets measured gets managed!
More Tips…
If you can’t finish that day’s reps, it’s okay. Keep repeating ‘til you do. It’s expected. Keep depositing the reps and you will see returns!
What if I can do X many strict pull ups as my max reps? You can cut back your reps and begin doing weighted pull ups. Regardless, you start with your max reps as set one (whether weighted or not). Then cut a rep in each consecutive set for a total of five sets. The next day add a rep to the last set. Then a rep to the set before that, etc.
What if I use a pull up tower at the gym? Find which weight in the stack is your five rep max and use that weight for the month.
How do I keep progressing? If using any type of assistance, repeat the program with less assistance than you used the first time. I began month one using A LOT of bands, by the end of my second month (see pic above), I was only using one thin band. At the end of the second month I was back to doing strict pull ups again. I also had about 20 lbs less of me to pull up at that point. I had dialed in my nutrition and was doing my 12 Week Complete Physique Program that complemented my strength/muscle gains.
After I was able to do a few strict pull ups again after month two, I created a mesocycle phase of training in my lifting program with a focus on back muscles, so pull up variations were prominent in the workout itself.
What are the wrist wraps and grip hooks you’re using in the 50 reps video?
VersaGripps. I ♥️ them for any pulling exercise. Too often, our grips give it out before the muscles we’re actually trying to train do. There’s a time and place for grip training but using the VersaGripps allows me to focus on/connect with my lats when deadlifting or doing pull ups. Remember that pull ups are mainly a back exercise. That’s where you want the mind-muscle connection to be. Too many folks try to turn them into an arm exercise.
Pull Up Hooks. I love these because, besides being versatile for multiple exercises, I can pretty much do pull ups anywhere (like at the park in the 50 pull ups vid above). The hooks were heavier than I expected but they get the job done. I also like that they allow me to do pull ups with a neutral grip which is easier on my shoulders when doing high volume.
I’m joining the 12 Week Complete Physique workout in January. How do I incorporate the pull ups? If you’re getting back into lifting, give yourself about two weeks to acclimate to the training program before adding these. Or, vice versa. Start these now and then begin the 12 Week Physique program on January 8. I wouldn’t start both at once if you’re getting back into the swing of things. You need to be able to recover fully for best results and to avoid injury. I suggest doing these after your mobility warm up; before you begin lifting. Another option is to do it a few hours after lifting. I don’t recommend doing these immediately after your workout.
You’ve got this, fren!
Remember: train with flow, not force. Simply show up for yourself and make the deposit (big or small) every day. You've got this!
You are not a damsel in distress. Be the hero of your story.
Awesomeness awaits,
Michelle
By the way…
I hope you’ll join the Deep Kimchi community!
For those of you familiar with the No Fail books and programs, it’s not the same, but we will be focusing on health, fitness and muscle + bone density growth from peri-menopause and beyond.
We’re in the “use it or massively lose it” phase and the approach must meet the moment (which is mid-life or mid-life-adjacent for most of us).
But there’s so many other passions that fire me up…
I can’t wait to share with them with you should you choose to join the Deep Kimchi community.
99% of what I make available is free but some things like the workouts, Q&A’s, etc are for paying supporters.