One of the participants on my forum recently posted the following video of himself. It’s a classic video that is well worth a minute of your time.
There are so many great things about this clip that I’m not sure where to begin. For starters, this individual weighs over 200 pounds yet has some of the most impressive pull-up strength I’ve ever seen. It is much more common to see bar displays of this level from smaller athletes.
What is equally impressive is his ability to hold the upright position with relative ease. Drinking a glass of milk from this position may appear comical, but doing so is actually quite difficult. He is essentially holding an extremely challenging isometric position with the control necessary to calmly drink a glass of milk. He maintains this position for almost 20 seconds. He also gets bonus points for casually strolling through the snow with bare feet and a t-shirt. This is real man strength from a real man.
I also enjoyed the title of his video. He’s named it One Arm Towel Pull-up Certification. I’m assuming (and hopeful) that this title is a dig against the fitness industry. Never before have there been so many bogus certifications. We’ve literally reached the point where you can become a certified professional after a few hour course that is provided over the weekend. You could essentially leave your job on Friday evening with no experience and start a business on Monday with piece of paper that says your are a professional.
In the past year alone, I have had several people ask if I provide ab wheel certification courses. Yes, you read that right. An ab wheel certification?! I wish I was joking. We’ve reached a point that is beyond pathetic.
Contrary to what the fitness marketers would like you to believe, real knowledge and strength are not acquired over the weekend. It takes years of consistency and effort. If you wish to perform feats such as that seen above, prepare to invest several years of your life towards hard and consistent work. There are no shortcuts.
When recently asked on my forum about his training, the man above responded with the following:
“Pleased to manage new personal records after 18 years of training, somehow PRs feels better and better year after year.”
He went on to say that he has trained grip strength specifically for 4 and a half years. He also spent over 8 years working hard, manual labor.
Let me remind you again, there are no shortcuts. That’s not my opinion. It is a fact.
Knowing that achieving greats things in life takes years and years of hard work and consistency can be scary and demotivating – but at the same time these are exactly the kind of challenges that make a life unique and extraordinary.
WOW! That is some awesome strength this guy is displaying in the video!
I had been training my grip strength for the last 2 years, and I hardly can HOLD my 235lbs one handed on a towel. So this seems to be a great goal for me to achieve in the next years of training.
Thanks for sharing this on your blog!
Ab-Wheel-Certs? Sounds like they would like to buy themselves an incredible strong core instead of training for it and learning how to improve.
I saw this video and thought it was awesome. Yes the certifications are getting crazy. Since most of my training and videos are with sandbags I am waiting for that question to arise. I know someone has one on sandbags. Really is it hard to stuff and duffel bag and do basic exercises and lift correctly that you need at certification. This is why Ross rocks do the work and the results will follow.
I also loved his one finger pull up you posted a while back too the guy is a monster! Hey I hope that was raw milk he was drinking 😉 You know the greatest certification out there has to be “Life Coach” What a joke!
pretty funny…certification Nazi…as interesting is he is drinking out of a dirty cup. Powerful dude for sure, hey maybe that dirt is the strength secret :-). Ross Keep up the good work I thoroughly enjoy your site and all the effort you put into it!
What a fine display of grip strength. Hand & grip exercises are often neglected along with the exercises for the neck.
Incredible!When you look at him he does it so easily and nonchantly.I know from experience this is no easy feat.I can barely do a one hand pull up,while he just comes up and holds it for 20 seconds.Eventually I will reach there.
Also according to my research I saw that grip strength is important when doing pull ups.Before I never knew that.