Smitty_604
Level 2 Valued Member
I've recently simplified my lifting endeavors and begun to focus solely on S&S. I achieved the simple standard with the 32 KG but want to be able to do it easily before moving on to a heavier bell.
Another huge goal of mine has always been to improve my chinups. I used to have a rep goal of 30 or 35 and try to accomplish that goal in as few sets as possible (which meant the last couple sets were real grinders and I wasn't really leaving anything in the tank). This would take a few days to recover from and usually taxed me for the rest of my workout as I'm not very good at bodyweight exercises. Also, I worked at chinups in this way for several months and did NOT feel like I was getting any better at them. Every set felt HARD.
Recently, I was considering how to apply the principal often discussed here of never going to failure and reducing the volume of one individual session in order to perform that several times a week (rather than doing 1 or 2 higher volume sessions per week which take a while to recover from). What I discovered was that reducing the rep goal to 20, using sets of 5, and doing it every time I warm up has worked better than what I used to do.
Initially I started doing chinups as their own exercise after the S&S warmup before swings. After experimenting with adding them in as their own dedicated exercise before swings, after swings, etc.
Then I started doing a set of 5 (which is really easy for me) before and in-between each set of the warmups of prying goblets, hip bridges, and halos. I have been doing this for a few weeks and my chins feel stronger than ever, it adds almost no time to my workout (which is hugely important for me with a newborn baby), is much easier to recover from than my other method, adds more overall weekly chinup volume, and does snot in any way interfere with the rest of my workout.
TL;DR: I started doing low-volume chinups as an exercise with the S&S warmup and it has been great.
Another huge goal of mine has always been to improve my chinups. I used to have a rep goal of 30 or 35 and try to accomplish that goal in as few sets as possible (which meant the last couple sets were real grinders and I wasn't really leaving anything in the tank). This would take a few days to recover from and usually taxed me for the rest of my workout as I'm not very good at bodyweight exercises. Also, I worked at chinups in this way for several months and did NOT feel like I was getting any better at them. Every set felt HARD.
Recently, I was considering how to apply the principal often discussed here of never going to failure and reducing the volume of one individual session in order to perform that several times a week (rather than doing 1 or 2 higher volume sessions per week which take a while to recover from). What I discovered was that reducing the rep goal to 20, using sets of 5, and doing it every time I warm up has worked better than what I used to do.
Initially I started doing chinups as their own exercise after the S&S warmup before swings. After experimenting with adding them in as their own dedicated exercise before swings, after swings, etc.
Then I started doing a set of 5 (which is really easy for me) before and in-between each set of the warmups of prying goblets, hip bridges, and halos. I have been doing this for a few weeks and my chins feel stronger than ever, it adds almost no time to my workout (which is hugely important for me with a newborn baby), is much easier to recover from than my other method, adds more overall weekly chinup volume, and does snot in any way interfere with the rest of my workout.
TL;DR: I started doing low-volume chinups as an exercise with the S&S warmup and it has been great.
