exercises 1:20 [5]
40 semipullups, 2 x 20 pushups. I've been wanting to start doing pullups for a while now, but I took the old chinning bar out of my garage a while back because I needed the wooden supports for something else (and it was a pretty sketchy setup anyway), and at this point I don't really have anyplace in the garage to set up a new one until I can move some of the stuff that's out there. But I've also been thinking that pullups are a kind of tough exercise anyway, since the loading is so high that I can't really do a lot of reps. Lacking equipment for band-assist, I figured maybe I could set something up to do half-pullups, kind of like upside-down pushups, using a bar that's arm's-length from the ground, and keeping my heels on the floor. The 40 or so that I did involved a bunch of experimentation. I started with a spare hang glider control bar spanning a couple of stools, then added hard foam blocks on top of the stools to get more height. That was unsatisfying rickety. Then I noticed a stand for an electric piano keyboard that worked pretty well but was also a bit too low, and the last batch were using the stand on top of foam blocks. If I substitute something more solid for the foam, I think I may have something that will work. Not quite the same motion as pullups, but I think it's probably useful. I'll have to develop some discipline in order to avoid the temptation to slip into starting each one with part of a situp, which is cheating.