Do I need pull-ups?

Dear reader,

This is a question oft-asked by those that come to my website, make a purchase, etc etc.

“Your book mentions pushups repeatedly, and a LOT of different types of pushups”.

“You extol the virtues of pushups – but though you’ve got a Chapter devoted to pull-ups in the book – you don’t particularly “push” (no pun intended) pull-ups as much as you do the good old pushup”.

And so forth.  I’m paraphrasing there, but I’ve received plenty of comments along those lines in the past, and I’m pretty sure I’ll continue to receive them in the future.

And my response?

Well first off, do you NEED pull -ups to “hammer the upper body until it can’t take it any more”?

My answer would be a NO, and my own results bear testament to this. ALL you need is pushups and done correctly – they’ll give you a FAR FAR better workout than pull-ups every would.

Does this mean pull-ups are a bad exercise, though?

Absolutely not! Pull-ups are great, and I used to do a LOT of them in the past (I worked up to doing 100 daily at one point in time, along with other supplementary grip work).

But, I found out that it wasn’t NECESSARY – and that I could get BETTER results by doing pushups – and get this – in LESS time.

The key though, is the type of pushups you do, and HOW MANY you knock off – and – perhaps most importantly, KEEPING AT IT.

I haven’t done a single grip exercise in MONTHS now. My forearms are NOT, I repeat, NOT huge by any stretch of the imagination – and yet – I have a level of grip strength that most gym goes, and even a lot of athletes (and NO – that is NOT an exaggeration) would be hard pressed to match.

None of that means pull-ups aren’t great though. They’re great – and if your goal is to knock off, say, 100 pull-ups daily – well – go for it!

All I’m saying is you don’t NEED them.

Last, but not least, NO, although pull-ups and some other supplementary exercises I’ve used in the past WILL build a grip along the lines I’ve mentioned above – again – you don’t NEED them.

The good ole pushup is ALL you need.

Let me repeat that – the PUSHUP is ALL you need!

With all that being said, there are plenty of folks out there that want to improve their pull-ups as a “goal” – and I’ve put out a course dedicated especially to this in the past. I may re-publish this in the future HERE – stay tuned!

Or, just rifle through 0 Excuses Fitness until you get to the section on pull-ups. That’s really all the info you need in that regard.

For now though – bear in mind that the main exercises I mention in 0 Excuses Fitness are ALL you need. Work on those for a while, and THEN go test yourself on pull-ups.

I think you’ll be amazed.

All for now – back later.

Best,

Rahul

P.S.: – 0 Excuses Fitness is available right HERE: – The Book

Sign up for the 0 Excuses Fitness newsletter. 

Thanks for signing up. Remember to confirm your subscription via the link you get in your email.