Convict Conditioning

Yep. I incorporate some of the stuff from convict conditioning. Where are you on pull-ups?

Yeah ... pull-ups are the one thing that his progressions did not help me on. Here is what I started doing. Skip the inclined stuff. Go straight to regular chin-ups (palms facing you). Put a chair beneath you and slightly behind you. Prop your feet up on it with knees bent. Use your legs just enough for you to be able to complete a pull-up. Once you get the feel for it and can do some pull-ups with the help of your legs, start doing sets. You long-term goal is to get to 100 assisted pull-ups. But start with 50. Start with 2 - 3 reps per set and rest as little as possible between sets. Once you can get to fifty doing 2-3 rep sets, bump up to 5 reps per set. Once you can get to 100 with sets of 20, you should be able to start working in unassisted pull-ups. Stick with sets of 20 ... but start each set with as many unassisted pull-us as you can and finish with assisted. Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes. Pull-ups have been the bane of my existence as long as I have been exercising. Using this progression, I have finally started making progress!

CC was a good read, but nothing ground breaking - returned to You Are Your Own Gym as my main exercise regimes with a stronger focus on Pull-ups and Chin-ups.

I was very pleased to re-sell my CC for £40, so I got all my money back!

Not grndbreaking, but I did like the simple "6 bodyparts" approach that had me feeling that even I could gain significant strength and I am steadily doing just that, so not a complete waste of time reading CC.

YAYOG on the other hand is very in-depth, which is good value for money as a reference book, but the training scedules look daunting; very complex. Having said that, I prefer YAYOG and really feel like I have done some considerable work towards my strength. I certainly don't have strength over at the end of a session!

I did have to include conventional chin-ups and pull-ups into the session as I feel strong pulling movements are a bit lacking in YAYOG, presumably because it tries to address pulling movements without using a pull-up bar. But when you can buy doorframe sensitive pullup bars quote cheaply that you can easily transport and use anywhere, I feel YAYOG should include proper pullups, including assisted, negatives and eventually non-assisted.

You Are Your Own Gym is pretty good, also he does let me ins as a precursor to pull ups. All you need is a belt and a sturdy door (or pole, or staircase beam, etc.)

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPvK5FamZKY

The more bent your legs, the harder the exercise. Once you've gotten good at doing them with your knees 90 degrees and thighs parallel to the floor, then start doing them with one arm only.

THEN move on to horizontal pulls, and when you do, start with your legs bent and feet flat on the floor. Lift your waist up so that your thighs and torso make a straight line. This will be easier than doing them with straight legs.