As I noted in my last blog, I finished week six and was going to take two days off before seeing if I could do twenty pullups.

I actually really nervous prior to trying my set. I dedicated six weeks to this, and I have to admit, although I felt I improved, I didn't think I would be able to make twenty.

I just finished week six. Now I'll wait two days and see if I can knock out twenty.

This week didn't go well either. As I mentioned, the program became unrealistic for me in week five, when the reps seemed to jump way too high, way too fast. Therefore, I had to do assisted pullups in order to achieve the desired number of reps (for some of them). I had to do the same thing this week.

I'll post back again when I challenge myself to twenty in two days.

Okay, I just finished the second workout of week 5, and there is no way I could complete all the reps. Starting on the 3rd set, I needed to do assisted pullups on the last few reps. To me, the program just took an unrealistic jump in intensity. Day 3 of this week looks even more impossible.

I'll continue doing the program using assisted reps when necessary. If I can do twenty at the end of week six, then great! If not, oh well. I'll be disappointed, but it's time for me to get back to my normal workouts.

I'm was on the second workout of Week 4, and I couldn't complete all the reps. It was supposed to be 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. On my 5th set, I was only able to do 10. My pullup bar is in my garage and is in front of my car. So, I used the bumber of the car to assist me on the 11th rep,and then I did the negative on my own. I did the workout using the recommended 90 seconds rest.

I rested two days after my Week 3 Workouts so I could figure out my new maximum number of reps.

First I went outside and did a little shoveling. Then I came inside and did 3 3-minute rounds of jumping rope to warm up. Then I went to the pullup bar and did 2 sets of 6 reps of pullups to warmup on the bar. These sets were separated by 2 minutes of rest.

Then I went for it. I was able to do 17 (not all of them were pretty) pullups. That's one less than my all-time record of 18, but I've only done 18 once or twice and that was years ago.

I just finished my Week Three Workouts. This
"week" was slightly extended because I was busy and preoccupied during the week of Christmas. Merry Christmas by the way!!

My workouts went well, and I was able to achieve the recommended number of reps and rest times for all of the workouts.

I'm going to say the max number of reps for the last set of the week's last workout was 14. It was borderline though. My chin made it to the bar on that last rep, but I don't think it made it over. I'll make that note on my workout sheet. At the very least it was a solid 13.

I just finished the second week of the program and I feel pretty good about it. I can see how my volume is increasing. My total volume of pullups during the first week of workouts was 32, 36, 41. This week it was 36, 38, 43.

I was a little nervous before the last set of my third workout. This is the set where you do your max. The previous week I was able to do 11 (making my total volume for that week 41). I didn't think I had even 11 in me for that last set, but I surprised myself and did 13, making my total volume 43 for this week.

I started the challenge last week. I think I'm starting in good shape because I can typically count on doing 15 pullups. My all-time max was 17, but I haven't been able to do that in a while. I'm hoping it's because I've been doing weighted pullups and haven't focused on endurance.

Normally I'll scale back my workouts during the holidays anyway, so this program fits right into my schedule. I'll continue to do other strength training workouts too, but my focus will be this challenge.