Ultimate pull-up routine : "Rambo Lats"

I am a big boy.
At 6'2" and 220 pounds, I have alot of mass to move around and yes, you can find me shopping at the big and tall outlets. I have been lighter than I am now, my lightest weight as an adult was about 204 lbs. This was just at the end of my first deployment overseas (okinawa) in 2000. My heaviest weight was about 260, and it was a nasty nasty 260 at that. That was about 2 and a half years ok.
At both these opposite ends of the spectrum my physical abilities tend to shift. At one time I'm quite the runner and swimmer then on the other end I am squatting just at 500lbs but unable to scratch my back or gracefully get out of a recliner. Despite any other factor though, at any weight I have always been able to do one thing : PULLUPS.

I mean full on, clean, Marine Corps dead hang pullups.
Right now I have 18 really solid, clean dead hang pullups, without jerking, flailing, grunting or kipping.
A good DEAD HANG PULL-UP is your hands on the bar a little more than shoulder width apart and the palms facing away from you. You hang with your arms FULLY extended then you use your body to pull your chin up and over the bar and then in a CONTROLED manner lower yourself back to the starting position.
Thats one.
Obviously if you kip or move fast, getting more reps is easy. So, if you can perform 15 very clean dead hang pullups, you can probably get between 20-25 at speed more if you know how to Kip, I do about 28 kipping.

The Marine Corps puts a high premium on pullups. Much more than other services do. And being an infantry Marine means even more pullups and being a Scout Sniper....anyway one has to do alot of pullups.

Now I have seen alot of pull-up workouts and different ideas and concepts about how to improve your pull ups, but the absolutely most effective and tortorous plan I ever encountered, I learned from my Lt. in Scout/Snipers and he called it "Rambo Lats", and lemme tell ya, he had em. We had just done a PFT (physical fitness test) and although I remember smoking both my LT. and my Staff Sergeant on the 3 mile run (I was running a 1930 3 mile back then) I only managed 9 pull ups. So Lt. being Lt. bestowed some Rambo wisdom on me.

The workout is as follows...

Start with the basic pull up grip. slightly wider than your shoulders.
Perform two sets of 7 reps.

Next, widen your grip out to about double your shoulder width.
Perform two sets of 7 reps.

Next, bring your grip in very close, the sides of your hands touching, palms still facing away.
Perform two ssets of 7 reps.

Next reverse your grip so your palms face you.
Perform two sets of 7 reps.

Next your palms should oppose one another, one facing you, one facing away and you pull up with your chest coming up to meet the bar, your head moving to either side.
Perform two sets of 7 reps.

Notes-
- Do DEAD HANG PULLUPS. Dont Kip, that is another exercise all together.
- If you cant do all the reps than do what you can. The other reps will come over a month or two.
- Do this routine 3 times a week. You can do sets of pushups in between the pull up sets of you are getting bored.
- Every so often, once every couple months, skip the workout and just do a PT test, max pullups in 2 minutes so you know your actually improving.
- Little athletic tape on the bar helps your grip on rainy days, cold days etc.
- I recommend doing this along with your other PT before your runs in the morning. I wouldnt mix it with weight training but you know your body better than I do....I hope.


In my experience you will notice your back and biceps toning up and getting tight and defined in just a couple weeks. This also translates into strength integrated body movement in sports, particularly boxing, wrestling, football, Judo and swimming.

PUMPED

Last night was Magnum 20 at Korakuen hall. I attended with friends to support some fellas from my gym, Ihara Dojo.
The event was a success and sold out to boot. Kitamura Mokoto won his fight again through supreme fitness and an almost non-stop assault. I heard several people comment that it was the fight of the night.
The last fight of the night however was Ikeda, and he won the Title via judges decision.
Although these warriors are not associated with Plan-B, they are doing what needs to be done and that gets me pumped.

So I had these events on my mind when I got on my bike and cycled to the park for my thrice weekly AM highend cardio pain festival. It was sunny and hot this morning but the humidity wasnt so bad. finally...the rainy season seems to be going away.
Although my legs were heavy today and I was clearly missing the spring in my step I had Saturday I powered through the steps, the plyos, the pushups, the suicides....more plyos and then cooled down with 15 minutes of shadow boxing.

After ward I took a moment and looked around the park...I was covered in sweat, hot, and was jugging my post workout Carbo pro when I had to stop and take notice of the trees, the sun and just the relaxed feeling. Its rare to get a slow moment in a city like Tokyo but with my body battered and bike ride home waiting for me I really felt again that only after really thrashing myself physically does anything seem to be worth a shit at all.


Im addicted not only to exercise but to just being out THERE. I cant find myself sitting inside or just going to an office. Looking at the numbers in a bank account or shopping for electronics doesnt tell me anything about who ERIC BARNES is. So thats how I have to live my life. Outside doing it.

Having such an amazing place to train doesnt hurt either....



Now its 1730. My legs are wore out and my knees are stiff but I have to wrap this up because my coach will be looking for me at the gym in 30 minutes. At least mentally, Im Pumped.

Stairs and pain

The Dash and sprint workout that I follow when I need to turn on the heat and get my heart rate up in the stratosphere is something I learned a few years ago.

I first experienced this special brand of HURT courtesy of Gosuke Kikkuchi the former Shin Nihon kickboxing champion. Thats a picture of him below....

The workout he taught me is done at NakaMeguro Park at the steps and hills in the back. I come back to this training occasionally when I am turning up the heat and recently thats exactly what Im doing so I felt I had no choice....back to the steps....back to Kikkuchis lessons in pain and sweat.

The steps Im talking about total only 96. 3 flights lead to the "first tier" you can see below.
That is 41 steps.
The next group of steps leading up to the main park area totals 55.
There is also a winding path that does switch backs 3 times total leading in a round about way up to the main park area...see that below...



The workout is as follows.

WARM UP
-skipping high leg and hands up to the 1st tier via the path, walk down stairs X2
-lateral runing and cross cross foot work to the 1st tier via the path, walk down stairs X2

STAIRS
sprint up to the 1st tier hitting every step then run back down THEN bound up in doubles to the top covering all 96 steps. Then run back down. Thats 1 repetition. X10

• This takes about 17:00 (for me anyway, Im a heavy weight, Kikkuchi and Ishihara did it MUCH faster. Like trying to do sprints with Carl Lewis.)
• The point is toal fatigue and a MAX HEART RATE. I Check mine after rep 5 and 10. I get it up around 186 when I push it.

PUSH UPS
I do about 5 sets. I start flat and push for a max. burn out.
The second set I elevate my feet on one step and burn out.
3rd set I use the second step, and so on for 5 sets.

(Take this oppurtunity to water up at the -thank god- public water fountain.)

SUICIDE HILL SPRINTS
This next piece of hurt magic is done on the street just behind the steps. I dont have any idea what the grade of the hill is but as you near the top it gets steeper.
-Suicides with 4 stop points totally about 100 meters at the furthest point. X3
-Flat out long sprint to the top of the hill. X2

(At this point ones legs are fried. Burnt. Crispy.)

STAIRS LUNGES With single leg depth drops
-We take the stairs in 3s. Slow lunges with a focus on the lead leg and a stretch in the back leg. Do this alternating legs up to the first tier. X2
-Instead of walking down the path Kikkuchi must have thought that doing bounding depth drops onto alternating legs would be fun....and he was right. So much fun. I cant really explain this other than to say you look like a speed skater when you leap onto the supporting leg and pause for a second before bounding onto the opposite leg.. X2

(Might want to water up again.)

DOULBE LEG HOPS
-This is Kukkuchis finale here. It sounds straight forward enough....just use both legs and hop up the meandering path to the top and the park. No problem right? Wrong.

At the end of this workout in the summer here in Tokyo, its fair to say you have had your ass spanked. I feel like that every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday when I do this in the morning. In the evening I am in the gym and I jog afterwards.

Define fun.
Kikkuchi thinks its funny:



I have done the "1000 steps" at Laguna beach California, the workout that was on the NEXT GENERATION FIGHT TEAM website several times years ago when I was back in california and although that was no joke, particularly with the time limit they proposed, I have to say this is a much more hell on wheels type of thing all together.

In addition, since I cycle the 36 minutes from my place to the park I added shadow boxing there instead of at the gym, which is near by...so I cool down with 20 minutes of shadow boxing before I cycle home.
All I can say is that

1. This workout blows.
2. It hurts.
3. After 4 or 5 weeks you don't get winded even doing tough pad work.
4. You can feel this translate into gains on the bike almost overnight.
5. Bring a sports drink and something to eat for right after the workout, especially if you think your gonna train again later that evening.
   
6. stretch out decent AFTER the workout and if you don't cycle to the point of impact then jog a little to get a sweat started before jumping into the fire.
7. expect to be sore after your first go around, but if your an athlete, one time should be enough tobreak you in and after that its all gravy and ....pain.
8. PUSH IT HARD. don't JOG this workout or your missing the point. 100%. Max it out. HEART RATE. If your a big guy, do it with smaller lighter fighters or fit runners etc. Eating shame pills always motivates me because losing makes me feel ill.

LASTLY- The only easy day was YESTERDAY. Cowboy up.

July and whats coming

Any day now...any day now the "rainy season" here in Japan will be finishing up and the sun will be coming out to play. Its not so much the running and cycling in the rain that irritates and annoys so much as its the constant soggyness of everything. My shoes are always wet. My clothes wont dry out totally. My gloves are a little heavy still from the workout the night before and even in my room there is a bit of a dampness that generally sucks. That is June in Tokyo. July however brings a weather change and with it alot of good opportunities to be outside putting myself through painful endeavors of all sorts. So although there are no events planned for july, the training goals are all very real. I will probably (if they find someone for me) have a fight in august, in Tokyo. So this means what? I have to work on my combinations and my head kick with my coach Noi. I need to drop a few more kilos and I have to keep on keeping on with the high intensity cardio (the stairs). September however is the Kyoto 100 K so I also need to put some serious mileage down in prep for that little tea party. It should be something like this.... Weekly average on the road - about 60 miles. Mornings flying up and down stairs per week- 3 days in the gym practicing to bring the pain per week- 5 cross training per week- basically everyday cycling or swimming 2 or 3 times a week. I will also be heading to Mount Fuji once again with Keith for a quick up and down, its a decent quad workout. July should be good. Good meaning painful.