Tag Archives: Pull Ups

Crushing 10,000 Pull Up Goal by +30%

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.). 

Lessons from 5,500+ PULL-UPS

I’m writing this having surpassed my 2021 pull up goal by over 150%. But that in itself isn’t the lesson I’m hopeful to share here.

Wrapping up 2020 I knew I needed to do something different. Something challenging with my body and something different with my mind.

Starting the year I filled out Tony Robbins’ Rapid Planning Method worksheet (Follow the Link – I encourage you to use it!). The Rapid Planning Method is one part goal setting, one part reason for having the goal in the first place. I listed three goals. One of my goals was to complete 3,650 pull ups. Pretty simple math behind this one. Ten per day, every day, for an entire year. But achieving my goal was going to take consistency and time.

Easy to do. Easy NOT to do.

Slight Edge Principles. The time required to complete 10 pull ups is about 15 seconds (Maybe less). Let that sink in. A total of 15 seconds of output per day was my target. But, that wasn’t going to be the real challenge…the EVERY DAY part was! This wasn’t a goal for my biceps and back. It was a goal to flex my discipline muscle.

I Struggle with Discipline

Short term discipline I’m ok with. But the staying power required to complete looooong tasks is not a talent of mine. I become bored and typically move on to something else. I experience this finishing a book I’m less than interested in or staying with diet/lifestyle choices for long periods of time. This behavior has not proven to be detrimental, but I had a feeling I could do so much better if I pushed through the boredom.

So What Happened in 2021?

  1. In 2020 I had the exact same pull up goal – But I quit shy of 1,500 (insert bummer emoji). Not sure why, other than what I mentioned in the paragraph above. I simply quit showing up to the bar. I got bored I guess because if you think about it, a pandemic is a PERFECT opportunity to knock out home workouts.
  2. 2021 HOT START – As with my addictive personality, I was off and running in January 2021 and feeling pretty good. Ahead of pace with few “missed days” in the process. The early goal was consistency and not try and overdo it.
  3. Feb/March/April – I fell off the face of the earth as my Ulcerative Colitis flared up and my energy level was entirely zapped with work and parenting duties. I’d fallen behind…well behind and I was weak to boot! Signal – – – – > quitting time!
  4. QUITTING TIME – Goal: 3,650. I’d done a little over 400. I had 3,250 left to complete and 7 months to do so. Given my situation I could’ve easily thrown in the towel. No one would fault me…except myself. Realistically all that changed was my 10/day target, moved north to 15+. Still 100% achievable if I’d commit.
  5. MAY 2021 – Sometime after another colonoscopy, some helpful steroids and my body beginning to heal itself, I got back on the bar. I had work to. I was nearly 1,000 reps behind pace for where I “should have been” if I’d stuck to my 10/day/everyday commitment.
  6. MOMENTUM – Sometime in the summer/fall I hit my stride and momentum kicked in. There were days I was completing 50, 70, or 100+ reps. I was chasing down my goal like a hungry dog chasing a meat truck and I had the calluses to prove it.
  7. 11/3/2021 – I hit target and damn it FELT GOOD!! This also meant I had nearly 60 days left in 2021 to create separation from my goal. I even started adding weight of 10-20 lbs. between my legs on sets.

Thus a new and good habit is born, for when an act becomes easy through constant repetition it becomes a pleasure to perform and if it is a pleasure to perform it is a man’s nature to perform it often. When I perform it often it becomes a habit and I become its slave and since it is a good habit this is my will

The Greatest Salesman in the World (The Scroll Marked I)

In reality, the annual pull up target isn’t really impressive. After all, David Goggins once did just over 4,000 pull ups in 24 hrs. One day! That said, my goal achievement did give me the momentum needed to see what’s possible. I’m thinking next year the target is 10,000 (after all…it isn’t even 30/day).

Like many others, I can be impatient in the pursuit of a BIG goal or target. Sprinting when I should be jogging and also resting when I should also be walking. This duel edged sword can be both good and prove incredibly challenging for someone like me when pursuing a lengthy goal. What helped me the most in 2021 was breaking the annual target into daily achievable numbers and staying the course. Small efforts magnified by time.

Don’t Eat the Whole Elephant

Those who work with me know I frequently use the saying, “Don’t eat the whole elephant, but instead…keep taking bites!” Small, intentional bites in pursuit of accomplishing the target!” Progress > Perfection.

As we step forward into another year the word RESOLUTION will be thrown around wildly in the coming days and weeks. My advice would be, RESOLVE to set daily or weekly targets and PUNT the New Year’s Resolution nonsense. Let the daily work and accumulation take care of itself. You can accomplish a WHOLE LOT of anything x 365!

I’ll leave you with the image on the right. Every rep accounted for on the backside of the drywall in my basement (sorry honey!).

It’s Up to You

This year. This resolution. This habit. Whatever it is that’s hot in your mind right now…is up to you!

I chose to not wait for the new year to start my first habit/quest of 2019. I just finished listening to the book Mini Habits by Stephen Guise. It was recommended by the CEO of Traeger Grills Jeremy Andrus. (Thanks Scott Empringham for the recommendation!)

Starting on Dec. 26th, I began on a mission to complete 1,000 pull ups. As fast as possible, but with the minimum of 10 per day. The bar is in my basement. There is no real excuse standing in my way. Sooner I get to 1,000 the better. Every pull up completed gets a mark on the wall. I’m already past 150!

I often reflect back to Slight Edge principles when setting a target like this.

Easy to Do. Easy NOT to do.

Broken down into a daily mini-habit it is merely 10 a day, and that’s the bitch of it. It’s only 10 a day until I establish enough momentum to do 20, then 30, then who knows. But even at 10 a day I’ll be done by the end of February, and 1,000 pull ups into 2019. Nice little start to the year.

Do you know how long it takes me to do 10 pull ups? Probably 20 seconds. Maybe 30. It’s a joke if I don’t complete this by the end of January and yet that’s the funny thing about resolutions.

I’ll try and find reasons or days NOT to do it. It will be up to me!

Oddly enough, a friend of mine sent me a snap yesterday on New Year’s day sweating on his treadmill. Said he’s on a mission to run 1,000 miles this year…asked if I wanted in. I let him in on my 1,000 pull up challenge and here we are, already pushing each other along.

But here is the punch line. He’s not going to get my job done for me and I’m not going to run the miles for Josh. It’s up to me. It’s up to him.

Whatever stands in front of you in 2019 is going to be up to you. It’s not on your boss, or your spouse, or your team, or your kids, or your clients, or anyone other than you. If you get help along the way, fantastic!  But don’t count on it. Get there anyway.

ACTION ITEM: It’s up to me…so its up to me. Write it down, and go for it!

Ask me how I’m progressing toward my 1,000 goal. I can’t wait to tell you.