Guest Article today from Jacob Eggleton-Increasing the Press, Pistol, and Pull Up

(This article comes as a guest writing from Jacob Eggleton. He and I have been writing back and forth for the last few months, and he has some really great ideas on increasing power and endurance. He currently strictly one arm presses 97lbs at a body weight of 148, proving his writings are more than words on paper. I predicate Jacob will go on to become one of the lightest men to complete the 48Kg challenge in the near future-ATG)

I’ve been experimenting with other methods for ratchet ladders and was thinking something like this performed for three series for someone who press the 32kg for 5-8 reps.
1. 32kgx1,2,3; 24kgx1,2,3; 16kgx1,2,3
2. 32kgx1,2,3; 24kgx1,2,3; 16kgx2,3,4
3. 32kgx1,2,3; 24kgx2,3,4; 16kgx2,3,4
4. 32kgx1,2,3,; 24kgx2,3,4; 16kgx3,4,5
5. 32kgx2,3,4; 24kgx2,3,4; 16kgx3,4,5
6. 32kgx2,3,4; 24kgx3,4,5; 16kgx3,4,5
7. 32kgx3,4,5; 24kgx3,4,5; 16kgx3,4,5
8. 32kgx3,4,5; 24kgx3,4,5; 24kgx3,4,5
9. 32kgx3,4,5; 32kgx3,4,5; 24kgx3,4,5
10. 32kgx3,4,5; 32kgx3,4,5; 32kgx3,4,5

These progressions are performed in an ETK fashion of progression. By that, I mean how Pavel said that once could perform five series of 1,2,3 to start trying to complete five series of 1,2,3,4. You only be able to perform 1,2,3,4 for three series, just finish the last two series with 1,2,3 or whatever you could. Then you try for, in this example, 1,2,3,4 for four series and 1,2,3 for the fifth series if you had to. In the above progressions, once you can go though progression 1 for five series, move on to progression 2. Build up to three series, move on to progression 3.

Because I have a busy schedule, I like to time my workouts. Not rushing through, which could lead to the fight the clock mentality and making mistakes. But, for example, say I’m performing progression 7. I would perform my reps at the top of every minute. 00:00=32kgx1. 1:00=32kgx2. 02:00=32kgx3. And so on. At the end of every series, take an extra minute of rest. This means that a nine rung ratchet sequence (1,2,3,2,3,4,3,4,5) would be performed in ten minutes and, as of progression 7, 108 total reps performed.

I was E-Mailing Kenneth Jay about an idea on modifying the workout from that article of his I sent you. He thought it would be a good way to increase strength gains in a way kind of like GTG while decreasing hypertrophy and fatigue. You saw how he had one perform the given lifts two days per week, one high volume, the other high intensity. My idea was to perform the lifts six days per week. This would be the fast track to overtraining if you don’t rethink the way you structure his program. Remember, GTG is not strictly performing a thousand reps throughout the day but a decrease in density. 5×5 one day per week, can be turned into 1×5 five days per week, then broken down to 5×1 throughout the day, five days per week. But it can still remain 1×5 and be performed in one session a day for those who don’t live in the gym.

So my idea was to his progression and applying it to the new routine I posted above, it would look like this: 32kgx1 pistol,2 press,3 pullup; 24kgx1 pistol,2 press,3 pullup;16kgx1 pistol,2 press,3 pullup. You’ll see how, in this example, it is a light day for the pistol, medium press, and heavy pullup. The next day would be 5-15 singles for the press ramping up in 4kg increments starting with the Sots press with 8kg, 12kg, 16kg, 20kg, 24kg. Next one goes to 28kg (16kg+12kg), 32kg, 36kg with the two-kettlebell, one-hand press. Next I perform a single with the 40kg bell, a couple of heavy partials and a controlled negative with the 48kg. I precede every single with a loaded stretch and chase it with a band press (I’ll be trying your method as of this week). I rest a great deal on these days. Wednesday would have you perform the same workout, except performing light presses, medium pullups, and heavy pistols. It continues in this cycle throughout the week so that, if you’ll look at the weekly numbers, everything is performed in a heavy-light-medium fashion.

This method not only implements GTG, but also the following ideas you can read more about in Beyond Bodybuilding.

Neurological carryover training: performing heavy partials (Most carryover of strength takes place in the range of plus-minus twenty degrees of the exercised angle)

Complex training (Canadian researcher Digby Sale discovered that individual muscles within muscle groups and even motor units within individual muscles have activation patterns that are highly movement specific. But the neurons which regularly fire close together tend to get crosswired and become part of a single neural network.)

What do you think?

For pistols, I work up to a heavy single with the kettlebells racked, going up in 4kg increments. I then change over to airborne lunges for a few more increases in weight, finishing off with a rep assisting with the rear foot. The airborne lunge will allow you to perform a heavy partial rep. Before every single, I perform loaded stretches for the hips and quadriceps. After each rep, I perform a set of plyometric pistols. Think along the lines of a box jump, except this is a LITTLE harder. So I prefer to perform them standing in front of a door end on. I have my foot right in front of it and assist myself with the knobs on either side. Start shallow and, over time, work your way down.

You hold the bells in the rack to increase difficulty for a number of reasons.
• Increased difficulty because the bell is closer to the body, taking away the “counter-weight” advantage.
• Increased difficulty because of greater demands on strictness of form and flexibility.
Despite the increase in difficulty, it also makes it easier to go heavy. I can perform an airborne lunge with 52kg but can’t find a 52kg bell. I’m so small that I find a greater challenge in holding the bell by the horns because I spend most of my energy trying to not be pulled over. No need to buy monster kettlebells in the distant future. If you have the 8-48kg bells in 4kg jumps, you can go as heavy as 92kg. Good luck with that.

For pullups, I work up to a heavy single, going up in 4kg increments. When I have reached a heavy single, I change my grip from overhand thumb grip to overhand thumbless to underhand thumbless to underhand thumb. When I have gone heavy enough, I change over to ring pullups. I finish up with a controlled negative. Before every single, I perform loaded stretches for the lats and biceps. After every single, I perform some assisted plyometric pullups. What’s the easiest way to assist a pullup? Simply take a chair, ladder, partner, etc. and unload as much weight onto your feet as you need to emphasize speed. Again, start shallow and work your way down.

This change in grip and whether or not to wrap the thumb around the bar will improve leverage, change muscle emphasis and activation and reduce flexibility demands. Removing the thumb from around the bar weakens the biceps and shifts the focus to the lats. An underhand grip places the bar further in front of you. Compare a bench press to the military press. You can bench more than you can military press for this same lesson in leverage.

The switch to the rings has a similar effect. Compare the Sots press with a bar to a kettlebell. The rings will allow your hands to rotate without the restriction of the bar. The emphasis is shifted between biceps and lats seamlessly. You are not restricted in one position and can move your hands forward and back, inward and outward. Why not stick with the rings completely? Because you can’t officially tame the Beast on rings. You MUST specifically practice as you will compete, but there’s always room for specific variety.