17,111 Pull-Ups for 2015

I started tracking my pull-ups progress in September, 2014. I recorded 4,672 pull-ups for the remainder of 2014. This year, I did 17,111 pull-ups, which I dutifully logged every day in a spreadsheet.

Monthly average was 1,425 pull-ups, with a high of 2,016 pull-ups in January and a low of 820 in October. I tried my best to stick to a three days on, one day off plan, though there were many instances where I took two or three days off in the latter half of the year.

This year, I was able to accomplish my goal of doing 25 strict pull-ups. My sets ended up being in the 10-15-20 range. My daily goal was to hit 100 pull-ups, whether it was accomplished with:

• 10 sets of 10
• 4 sets of 15 followed by 4 sets of 10
• 5 sets of 20

Four sets of 25 proved unattainable this year, as I was only able to do 2 sets of 25 before weakening in my subsequent sets. I also did weighted pull-ups with up to 24 pounds and pyramid pull-ups (sets of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) throughout the year.

Another highlight of the year was visiting Tompkins Square Park in New York City in September. That park is well-known among the bodyweight exercise community and has been featured in many YouTube videos. Here’s a short video of me doing 10 strict pull-ups at TSP.

I am still practicing the muscle-up but have yet to achieve a clean rep. I am hoping that 2016 will be the year that I can develop the proper form to accomplish that move.

Three more days remain in 2015, but I will be taking them off. I will be well rested when 2016 rolls around.