I hate treating the scale as the sole measure of progress. Too many people use it to judge health, success, or self-worth. I’ve written about this before, so I won’t go off on a tangent here. If I did, I’d probably get fired up and end up resisting the urge to kick a wall in my apartment.
If you only skim, here’s the gist: look at the scale in your bathroom, and consider getting rid of it. Just be sure no one is standing underneath it.
WHY PERFORMANCE-BASED GOALS MATTER
When I start working with a client, I steer them toward performance-based goals rather than vague targets like:
– “I want to lose 10 pounds.”
– “I’d like to look like Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.”
– “I want to lose fat here (points to a body part).”
– “I want to mud wrestle Rhonda Rousey.” (That last one is a bit creepy.)
These kinds of goals don’t speak to something concrete or measurable. It’s common for the magic number to be 10 pounds, as if that number has special meaning. And does looking like a movie star really make you a better person? Probably not on its own.
That said, if these goals help you stay motivated, I’m all for them. But I believe concrete, measurable, performance-based goals are more meaningful. Examples include:
– Deadlifting a certain weight for reps (e.g., 1x bodyweight for reps, or 2x bodyweight for a given rep range).
– Bench pressing bodyweight for reps.
– Being able to perform a full range of motion on a chin-up/pull-up.
These are the true markers of progress in my book. They give people direction and purpose in their training, and from my coaching experience, they often help people hit their aesthetic goals as well. An added bonus: the more people focus on performance, the less they fixate on scale weight and the toxic mindsets that often accompany it. The sooner someone can say goodbye to the scale, the better.
SO, SPEAKING OF CHIN-UPS/PULL-UPS
Many of the women I coach express a desire to eventually do a chin-up or pull-up. Negative self-talk frequently follows—often fueled by magazines that push light dumbbells as the standard or by past trainers who fed bad information. The belief sounds like, “I’ll never be able to do that.”
With that mindset, you’re probably right. But with the right information, support, and plan, it can be done. I even wrote a six‑week chin-up challenge for Women’s Health back in 2013, and several participants succeeded.
Lately I’ve shifted my approach. Rather than starting at the bar, I begin with the floor. A big credit goes to Artemis Scantalides for shaping this strategy. The key takeaway is teaching people to generate and maintain full-body tension, then transferring that tension to the bar. Many struggle to grasp this, and until they do, they aren’t ready to hang from a bar.
This can be done with simple, practical steps—not anything elaborate:
1) PUSH-UPS
Plain, traditional push-ups. Improving push-up capability helps with bigger lifts like deadlifts, squats, and chin-ups/pull-ups because it builds better lumbo-pelvic-hip control and solid core tension. Don’t rely on “girl push-ups” with knees on the ground; people can and will do full push-ups, with appropriate progressions as needed. Variations include:
– Elevated push-ups
– Band-assisted push-ups
– A useful variant that resembles carry-over to chin-ups/pull-ups: push-up walkouts to a plank.
2) ROLLOUT VARIATIONS
Rollouts, like push-ups, help cue bodily tension (brace the abs, squeeze the glutes), improve anterior core activation, and enhance lumbo-pelvic-hip control. The rollout’s motion—from extended to upright—closely mirrors the pulling motion of a chin-up/pull-up. I often program one or the other in a session, depending on the trainee.
Another teaching tool I’ve used a lot lately (thanks to Artemis and coaches like Karen Smith) is the Hollow Position (with a stick). This has been a game changer.
HOLLOW POSITION (W/ STICK)
The hollow position helps build tension and body awareness. Key points:
– Press both ankles and hands together to create tension.
– Move the legs and upper torso together, keeping the spine neutral.
– Start by building time under tension; five seconds can be challenging. Aim for 3–5 repetitions of 5-second holds, with 5–10 seconds rest, gradually increasing. For some, a strict 30-second hold is the long-term goal.
Using a stick adds context and helps when transitioning to the bar. Once you hang from the bar, the hollow position remains crucial and can be used to train both the bottom and top portions of the chin-up/pull-up with hanging leg raises and flexed-arm hangs, while maintaining hollow position and pulling the shoulder blades into the sockets.
AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL…
After publishing this, there are days and days of anticipation that I won’t bore you with here. The point is: progress comes from consistent, focused work, not from obsessing over a numeric target. And yes, many male clients struggle with chin-ups too. This isn’t to imply they wouldn’t benefit from these drills.
In short, if you want to move toward chin-ups and pull-ups, start with foundational strength and tension, use simple progressions, and build from there. The results tend to speak for themselves.
