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Small nit, 50 push-ups, 20 pull-ups, 50 sit-ups is a fairly punishing place to start, especially for women. It's easy to injure yourself doing sit-ups if you're

Small nit, 50 push-ups, 20 pull-ups, 50 sit-ups is a fairly punishing place to start, especially for women. It's easy to injure yourself doing sit-ups if you're pushing yourself too hard, and for some reason most women take a while longer than men to figure out the correct form for pull-ups. (Although once they have the correct form, women tend to outperform men due to lower bodyweight.)

dpark 5y ago
> for some reason most women take a while longer than men to figure out the correct form for pull-ups. Most women lack the upper body strength to do even a single pull up. Even fairly fit women often can’t do a single strict pull up. > Although once they have the correct form, women tend to outperform men due to lower bodyweight. Nope. Pull ups are largely limited by strength and not form. And men are stronger per pound than women. Especially in upper body strength. Novice men outperform intermediate women on pull ups. Unless you’re talking about CrossFit “butterfly” pull ups that are primarily about momentum control. Then maybe, but I still doubt it. https://strengthlevel.com/strength-standards/pull-ups/lb https://strengthlevel.com/strength-standards/pull-ups/lb But yeah, 50 push ups and 20 pull ups is absolutely not a starting point for most people. A male would be well past intermediate strength level to be cranking out 20 pull ups in one set. The average untrained individual can’t do 20 pull ups in an hour regardless of how they split them up.
- muffinman26 5y ago
  It's not a visible form difference, but women tend to naturally use smaller and weaker muscles than men for pull-ups. Men are more likely to naturally use the larger back muscles. Women's fitness magazines have articles about practicing engaging the right muscles. I've seen intermediate women (amateur gymnasts) do 10x the number of pull-ups as truly novice men (20+ vs. barely being able to do 2). We probably have different definitions of novice.
  - dpark 5y ago
    I think we have different definitions for intermediate. 20+ pull ups for a woman of any weight is elite or close to it.
    - muffinman26 5y ago
      My numbers do appear to be skewed a bit. I know a woman in CrossFit with an official record or 40+. It appears that's much closer to the world record (48) than I realized.
      - paulcole 5y ago
        40+ CrossFit (kipping) pull ups or traditional (static) pull ups?
grvdrm 5y ago
This is fair. But I'm not prescribing specific numbers, just using them as examples. The point is to pick something achievable. So, you can do this: 3 reps of each exercises (push-up, pull-up, sit-up). Perform this circuit 4 times for 2 weeks. Is it getting easier? If so, increase reps, or do the specific exercise slower (time under tension). Lots of ways to build.

dpark 5y ago

> for some reason most women take a while longer than men to figure out the correct form for pull-ups. Most women lack the upper body strength to do even a single pull up. Even fairly fit women often can’t do a single strict pull up. > Although once they have the correct form, women tend to outperform men due to lower bodyweight. Nope. Pull ups are largely limited by strength and not form. And men are stronger per pound than women. Especially in upper body strength. Novice men outperform intermediate women on pull ups. Unless you’re talking about CrossFit “butterfly” pull ups that are primarily about momentum control. Then maybe, but I still doubt it. https://strengthlevel.com/strength-standards/pull-ups/lb https://strengthlevel.com/strength-standards/pull-ups/lb But yeah, 50 push ups and 20 pull ups is absolutely not a starting point for most people. A male would be well past intermediate strength level to be cranking out 20 pull ups in one set. The average untrained individual can’t do 20 pull ups in an hour regardless of how they split them up.

muffinman26 5y ago
It's not a visible form difference, but women tend to naturally use smaller and weaker muscles than men for pull-ups. Men are more likely to naturally use the larger back muscles. Women's fitness magazines have articles about practicing engaging the right muscles. I've seen intermediate women (amateur gymnasts) do 10x the number of pull-ups as truly novice men (20+ vs. barely being able to do 2). We probably have different definitions of novice.
- dpark 5y ago
  I think we have different definitions for intermediate. 20+ pull ups for a woman of any weight is elite or close to it.
  - muffinman26 5y ago
    My numbers do appear to be skewed a bit. I know a woman in CrossFit with an official record or 40+. It appears that's much closer to the world record (48) than I realized.
    - paulcole 5y ago
      40+ CrossFit (kipping) pull ups or traditional (static) pull ups?

grvdrm 5y ago

This is fair. But I'm not prescribing specific numbers, just using them as examples. The point is to pick something achievable. So, you can do this: 3 reps of each exercises (push-up, pull-up, sit-up). Perform this circuit 4 times for 2 weeks. Is it getting easier? If so, increase reps, or do the specific exercise slower (time under tension). Lots of ways to build.