Why would anyone do 10,000 Pull Ups, or set a goal for 10,000 anything for that matter?!?!? I think it’s a really fair question and one I half-assed tried to answer the last two years.
You see in 2021 I initially set the goal. But derailed by some health swings, I honestly just lost momentum…and momentum is everything! So I gave up trying. My efforts netted me somewhere in the 4-5,000 range. Not bad, but nowhere near my target. But I was committed to get back on the horse.
2022 yielded better results, but no completion. I was north of the 5,000 number achieved the year before, but again just lost momentum and daily focus.
Easy to Do, Easy NOT to do
Below is a powerful image of the Slight Edge principle. Small efforts, magnified over large swaths of time = BIG RESULTS. But as with anything, it’s easy to do, easy NOT to do. In 2021, and in 2022, I fell the path of Easy NOT to do.
Just How Easy Is It?
Let us look at the 10,000 reps two ways. The first is proximity. I’ll label this one incredibly easy as I “work from home” most days and my pullup bar is in my basement storage. Easiest of Easy. The second is the math and here’s how I thought about it when I initially laid out the goal. In a 365 day year, I figured for a few days off as the calluses do build up. So I rounded to the easy math of pull ups for 300 days a year.
10,000 pull ups/300 days = 33.3 per day. Rounding up, could I do 34 per day?
A set of 10 was hard, but doable at the start of this journey. So completing 34 pull ups per day wasn’t a monumental struggle. Doing it for 300 days in a year, that’s different! The challenge isn’t completing the reps. The hardest part is sometimes remembering to do it because a day missed, meant the next day was owed 68, or 102, etc. Lose a week and lose 238. This really starts to add up and is such a microcosm for life.
Aristotle said: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
So Why Do It?
I’m not good at finishing things. I’m unreal at starting, ideas, concepting, strategizing and knowing exactly what it takes to get there. And then I get bored!!! I wanted to achieve the target to prove to myself I could push through the boredom and see it through to the end. I needed to FINISH.
Where are we now?
As of the time of publishing this it’s early December, and I’m past 13,000 reps headed to 14,000+ reps before the end of year hits. After I hit 10,000 back in September, I reset the challenge and started adding weight to the reps for added difficulty [Momentum building and harnessing at it’s finest]. By the way, lets do a quick check on the math noted from above. 14,000/300 days = 47 day. So only 13 more reps per day…but EVERY, DAMN, DAY!
What did I learn?
Big goals become achievable when broken down into manageable pieces and pursued with unwavering determination. Consistency is the key to success, as it leads to momentum. Like an object in motion, once you start, you keep going!
Just making the effort to show up is 90% of the battle. Even when I was traveling, I made it a point to find a few minutes in the hotel gym to get the job done for the day. Yes, I did this several times while traveling.
What will the pursuit be in 2024?
Great question and I’m working on that 😉
PS – If you’re the type that wants details, here is the pull up bar I used. My first bar cracked in mid-2023. So after some research, I purchased the link below on Amazon as I found the bar to be really sturdy (I’m 170-175 lbs.).
