Most people these days rely solely on bench press and machines to build their chest and back, and have completely forgotten about two of the most effective chest and back exercises out there, and that’s push-ups and pull-ups! There is a reason why the military uses these traditional exercises, and that’s because they work!
I hate to admit it, but I was one of those gym junkies who used only bench press to develop my chest and the lateral pull-down machine for my back. Of course I thought this was enough, until about a year into going to the gym ever day, and then I asked myself, “Why does it seem that I haven’t seen any more definition in either my chest or back in about 8 months?” It was official, I had hit a plateau, and I’m sure many of you reading this have experienced the same thing. However, I didn’t do anything about it until I reached a point after college when I wasn’t happy with the way I looked. I really fell out of shape, and it wasn’t until I discovered a basic workout program that relies mostly on push-ups and pull-ups to develop the chest and back muscle groups, and I was a skeptic until I tried it out myself. After 90 days, my chest and back had more definition than ever before!
Like I mentioned above, pull-ups are the main exercises to develop the back. During the first week of doing all the unique pull-ups, I was able to do only 4-5 for each set, but noticed that my muscles were the most sore they have ever been in that area. As each week passed by, I noticed that I was able to do more and more pull-ups until I got to the point where I was busting out 15-20 pull-ups for each set! Remember, the most I could ever do was 8, and I just blew that number out of the water after just a month! I learned, though, that it’s very important to focus on proper form. This includes pulling up as far as possible and then lowering until you can’t lower anymore!
Like I mentioned above, the boot camp program I use now relies mostly on pull-ups to develop the back. There are some pull-up exercises that were familiar to me, but there were many that were very unique. As much as I hated doing them, I knew that if I followed the program like it’s set up that I would get results, so of course I made sure I completed all the exercises. The first week was tough, and I could only do about 4 to 5 pull-ups for each set, but as each week passed by, I noticed my rep count increased! When I reached day 90, I was able to do 15-20 pull-ups for each exercise!
Then there are the push-ups. Oh boy, that first workout, Chest … Back, nearly put an end to me! It involves doing nothing but non-stop push-ups and pull-ups for about 45 minutes. After I got through the half-way mark, I seriously thought I was going to pass out. My arms felt like jello from doing all those push-ups, and I could only do 2-3 push-ups for each remaining exercise. After a few weeks of doing that workout, I was already seeing changes in my chest that I have never noticed before! At the end of my 90 days, my chest was more developed than it has ever been.
Please join me in getting into the best shape of your life. I’m a big believer in a traditional pull up and push up program. Also I’m looking to try out a new super high boot camp program and will report on that once I get through it.
With any workout program you want to keep healthy. Activit Metabolism Formula can help do that for you. Also try the P90X Recovery Drink for top performance.
