Big Back, Big Chest, Real Fast (Jan 2019)

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Another challenge to take me into 2019. This one is called Big Back, Big Chest, Real Fast.

Quite simply, do 50 pull ups and 100 push ups 6 days per week for three weeks, then see how much you’ve grown. Check the article for form tips, but this is pretty simple. This is in place of all other upper body work, so don’t even bother doing bicep curls.

Starting measurements (28 Dec 7am):

Weight: 71.3kg
Waist: 32 inch (no point getting a bigger chest if you just get fatter)
Chest: 40.25 inch
Biceps (tensed): Left 14.75 inch, Right 14.5 inch

28 Dec

Pull ups – 9,7,6,6,8,5,5,4
Push ups – 20,14,12,10,11,11,9,10,3

29 Dec

Pull ups – 9,8,7,6,5,4,5,4,2
Push ups – 10,10,18,12,12,15,11,12

30 Dec

Pull ups – 6,6,7,6,6,5,5,5,4
Push ups – 10,10,10,15,15,10,12,9,9

31 Dec

Pull ups – 8,8,6,6,7,7,5,3
Push ups – 10,10,10,10,15,15,15,15

There’s quite a few sets but I was surprised how little soreness I experienced. “During the first week your chest, lats, and serratus anterior muscles will be screaming in agony”. I barely feel anything and I felt I could do more push ups in a row by day 2. Day 1 was the only time I did all pull ups then all push ups, since then I’ve alternated and also cranked out a few sets of 10 push ups as my warm up and counted that in the final tally.

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1 Jan 2019

Push ups – 15,15,15,15,15,15,10
Pull ups – 10,7,7,6,5,5,5,5

2 Jan

Push ups – 10 x 10
Pull ups – 8,7,5,7,6,6,6,5

End of week one. My left forearm is sore near the elbow and I felt it in the final two sets of pull ups. I haven’t done any forearm stretching and will start now given the pull ups are working grip strength too. I feel really strong doing push ups now, it will be interesting to see if my bench press is the same or better once this is over.

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4 Jan

Pull ups – 9,7,7,7,6,6,5,3
Push ups – 10,10,10,12,14,12,10,12,10

5 Jan

Pull ups – 8,7,7,6,6,9,7
Push ups – 10,15,15,15,10,10,12,13

6 Jan

Pull ups – 10,7,6,6,6,5,5,5
Push ups – 10,10,10,15,15,10,10,10,10

7 Jan

Pull ups – 10,10,7,7,7,7,2
Push ups – 15,15,15,12,17,16,10

8 Jan

Pull ups – 10 x 5
Push ups – 10 x 10

9 Jan

Pull ups – 8,7,7,6,7,5,5,5
Push ups – 10,15,15,15,15,10,10,10

Very much welcome the day off, it’s not the physical difficulty more than it is mentally annoying having to drag myself out to the garage and do pull ups every day. My lats feel stronger and my chest is a little bigger, though I doubt I’ll see a 2 inch gain when this is over.

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11 Jan

Pull ups – 5,7,7,5,4,4,5,4,5
Push ups – 10,10,10,15,15,10,10,10,10

12 Jan

Pull ups – 10 x 5
Push ups – 10,15,15,10,10,10,10,10,10

13 Jan

Pull ups – 8,7,7,6,6,6,6,4
Push ups – 10 x 10

14 Jan

Pull ups – 8,8,8,8,6,7,5
Push ups – 15,15,12,12,12,12,11,11

15 Jan

Pull ups – 10 x 5
Push ups – 10 x 10

16 Jan

Pull ups – 11,8,8,7,6,5,5
Push ups – 20,15,15,10,10,10,10,10

Done! The worst thing about this for me was the cold January pull up bar in my garage gym, fixed by wearing sissy mittens (weightlifting gloves). If I did this again I would do more days of 10 x 5 pull ups and 10 x 10 push ups as both are numbers that don’t fatigue me to do. By the end my tactic was to time 2 minutes rest between sets of pull ups, and in that time I’d crack out a set of push ups. The workouts were generally 20-25 mins in total which was a pain on some days but overall this was worth doing.

The article suggested waiting 4-5 days to let the body repair and adapt to the stimulus before measuring again, so I’ll do just that. YouTube video will be uploaded 21/22nd Jan.

Here’s my opening set of pull ups on the final day

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 9to5 Strength (@9to5strength) on Jan 16, 2019 at 3:53am PST

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Results can be seen in this article

100 Push Ups & 50 Pull ups – 21 Day Results

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