Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Shock Your Body with the Perfect Pullup

Guest blogger: Coach Marty Heilman

Hey fellow trainers, let me tell you about 3 of my older warriors that I am training. On Tuesdays and Fridays I have a "mini" group of 3 funny and sexy warriors -- 2 are female and "Conan" is a 60 yr old retired barbarian.

1) Julie was a frustrated gym member for 20 yrs. She would come in and do her "robotic workout" day after day and then go home and drop right back to her sedentary lifestyle. One day about 10 months ago Julie and her friend Corine, whom I'll call "Dreamy", overheard a conversation I was having with a fellow trainer. The next day they asked me if I would "train them" and the rest is history. Within 30 days both had made significant improvements in their physical and mental well-being. They would come in glowing, with giant smiles on their faces, eager to see what surprises I had in store for them. After introducing Julie to the Perfect Pullup lifestyle she dropped 4 DRESS SIZES and hasn't been this invigorated and full of energy since her early twenties.She says that for the first time in her life she looks forward to SHOPPING.

2) Corine, ( Dreamy), is the same way and is in constant motion and a ball of energy. Her posture has improved 100 fold. Both Corine and Julie say they owe it to the PPU and the way it has changed their lives.

3) Bill, aka Conan, joined our little group a couple of months ago. He showed up with just about every type of pain a person of his stature and age could complain about -- but not any more. He is extremely active now and the majority of his "pain complaints" have disappeared! His initial response to the Perfect Pullup was NO WAY but that only lasted for about 30 seconds. After he did his first "jumping pullup" he was amazed at what he could with the PPU approach.

By using Perfect products I am able to introduce a new form of body weight training that SHOCKS YOUR BODY in a way that is user friendly and non-intimidating and most importantly, it is FUN FUN FUN.

See you all real soon and keep the questions coming!

Coach Marty

5 comments:

Joe G. said...

Keep up the great work, Coach, and thanks for your commitment to making the world a place more full of fit people. I too have been SHOCKED by the Perfect Products. Throughout our nation’s history, inventors have changed our habits by bringing various and sundry gadgets into the marketplace – some good, some not so good. The Perfect Products are beyond good. They’re Grrrrrrreat!! (Frosted Flakes would fall into the Not-so-good category of inventions, IMHO.)

This concept of using the body’s own weight – FUNCTIONAL EXERCISE – taking advantage of the way the body naturally moves, is so ingenious, there must be a thousand inventors out there kicking themselves and cursing Alden Mills out of jealousy. These two things, the pushup and pullup devices, have changed my life so much for the better. I talk and write about them constantly.

Here’s a question. I’m still sort of at the beginner stage with the pullup, so let’s forget that for now, but I’m getting pretty advanced with the Perfect Pushup. Stew Smith was kind enough to send me a personal message when I wrote and told him I was struggling with the 8-count Body Builder, which is one of the exercises recommended on Alden’s DVD. Stew called it a “hardcore exercise.” That was enough for me: I totally quit doing it. I went back to the poster included in the pushup package and religiously followed the well-explained three week schedule of pushups. I have used this 21-day program diligently for about eight months, deviating only when I did Operation Sierra Oscar, which was hard as heck, but it was effective and a fun 10-day break from the routine.

So the question: Aside from chair pushups and close and wide pushups, what other pushup can I START with as an advanced push upper? I’m getting pretty good with the chair. Wide pushups are fairly easy. Close ones are AGONY – I mean AGONY, Coach!. Does that explain where I need to work? I guess I need some variety – that’s what I’m trying to say.

I saw Mark Colburn standing on his head pushing ‘em out – and then I saw you too – and I thought I WANNA BE LIKE THOSE GUYS!

Thanks again for your outstanding work.

Quick stats:
Age – 49
Perfect Pushup Max – 35
Perfect Pullup Max – 9
Height – 6’4”
Weight – 190
1.5 mile run time – 10:20
Diet – Better than the average American, but definitely needs improvement

coach marty said...

Joe,

I love push-ups. If it was easy it would be called a bench press. Just kidding(kinda of). There are hundreds of pushups you can do. Slow count down(4 sec).....Explode up!
Spider pushup....bring knee to elbow on way down, kick leg out on way up.
Mountain climber pushup....drive knee to chest on way up. Alt. knees.
Dive Bombers..... My favorite! Start with feet wide, hips up. Chin to your chest, dive down. Think forehead, nose, chin as you dive down and forward. Finish in a cobra type stretch, then reverse out in the same plane. Finish with a shoulder press. Should be back to the start. Rotate those handles!
T-pushups....Feet wide, lower slow, come up and rotate hand to sky forming a T with your body. track your hand, feel your core engage on the rotation.
Few of my favorites. Always rotate those handles. Lift out of your pushups with your core. Visulize a string connected to your center lifting you up as you power rotate into the handles. Think strong thoughts. The last couple are the ones that make a differance. Believe! Thanks for the question. Let me know if you want to master pullups. We can do pullups. I believe.

Joe G. said...

Thanks for the inspiration, Coach. Now I think I just need to put in the perspiration part of the puzzle. It's just honest hard work. I don't know why we're so afraid to GO FOR IT. I could not do a single pullup - not even CLOSE - NOT A SINGLE ONE several years ago when I realized I had ZERO upper-body strength, and now I can do a bunch from a dead hang, absolutely no problem, thanks to the dude who started this blog. I am definitely going to buy him a beverage of choice one day.

Thanks again, Coach Marty! And post some more pictures so we can get fired up.

coach marty said...

Joe,

There are pictures posted. Go back to past posts and look for pics of some pullups and pushups. I will post more soon.
I know its hard, but think how fun it is to be strong! It feels great to be able to jump up to a pullup bar and crank out a quick 10. I could not do pullups until I forced myself to do a few more each time. Know that when you think you can not do another pullup, another pushup, it is in your head. Your mind is telling you to stop when your body CAN do more. "What the mind believes the body will follow". Believe you are strong!

Unknown said...

hey marty ive been workin alot on my pull ups im maxing 38-40 stationary non swinging pull ups ive tried core strengthenig using 90 degree angles with my legs, explosive fast pull ups and goin as slow as i can both ways and one way explodeing up or down.
just would like some more ideas to boost my numbers and the intensity of my pull up workouts. my diet couldnt be better no fast food in years now and unbelievable cardio just hitting walls or platoing out just cant seem to push myself to improve in areas.
thanks any help or advice would be very motivational comming from you.