WHAT is THE IDEAL

PUSH/PULL RATIO?

A couple of weeks ago my friend Ryan asked me if there was an ideal ratio regarding pushing and pulling for a well balanced athlete. A pullup / pushup standard makes the most sense for evaluation purposes. Ryan's concern was that several of the athletes that he works with may be emphasizing one over the other. He did not specify which way they were skewed, however my guess would be pushing over pulling. Most guys in their 20's emphasize the bench press, as this is still the most commonly used strength gauge. The bench press is a measure of one aspect of strength. However, is it really a good way to evaluate one's overall strength? A compound pressing movement for chest / shoulders done in a completely stable environment? Plus it is not terribly functional. I have never been a huge fan, probably because I am not very good at it, and we like to train our strengths right? However, we know a bench focused training plan creates imbalances.

Anyway, I am sure Ryan was rather diligent in his research and he could not find a ratio anywhere. He sent this to several other fitness professionals, and I did not like their responses. They either said that there isn't one and that pullups are too hard, or lots of fancy rhetoric without answering the question. I really like the question, and there has got to be an answer, but as you can imagine there are a ton of variables.

First of all we have to establish a quality standard for both the pullup and the pushup:

 Pullups, grip of choice, full lock out at the bottom (this is a game changer), one's entire head must clear the bar at the top and no kipping.

Pushup, chest hits the floor, (load the hands and lead with chest, not quads or legs hitting the floor first) and full lock out at the top.

Brad and I took a shot at pullups with the new standard on Saturday. We have both done sets of 30 in the past and were thinking 20 would be very doable, even with the tough standard. He went first and 15 was failure. I really thought he would get at least 20. I went next feeling way confident that I would get more than 15 regardless of the standard. I felt like I had tons left at 11, but the wheels fell of at 15. If my life depended on me getting sixteen I would be dead right now. So 15 reps for us both. Huge difference done this way, but now we have a standard.

My initial thought when Ryan asked me was 3 to 1. 60 and 20 sounded about right for me. Three pushups to one pullup. We know that pulling muscles are stronger than pushing muscles. However, since one's feet are on the floor for a pushup, one does not have all of one's body weight. I am not nearly smart enough to figure out what percentage one has, but let's just call it sub 100. Whereas the pullup is obviously 100%

Marisol was my next guinea pig, and she got 9.75 pullups, and 32 pushups. 3 to 1 is still in play. However, I think this is a bit of a statistical anomaly regarding women, will revisit this point.

I did pushups today, crazy clean and maxed out at 47, so still pretty much dead on at 3:1. I do feel I am rather balanced when it comes to bodyweight movements. Obviously the quality standard has changed my numbers, but the ratio is intact. Throw a dumbbell row and bench press in there, and I will be skewed towards the pulling. However, for the purposes of this little study 3 to 1 is holding up and I feel good about it. We still need Brad's pushup number. I am guessing it will be higher than mine, but not 4 to 1.

However, we may need a different ratio for a balanced woman. We know body composition is a big part of the pullup / pushup equation. And a guy at 6% bodyfat is probably the equivalent of a woman at 14%. So obviously, even a really lean woman will have more weight on her body that will work against her on a pullup.

I did Fran last week with Anne Michele and she did 21 pullups in a row on the first round. Not locked out at the bottom, but respectable range of motion. I do consider her to be way balanced, and her body composition is very conducive to success. Having not done this yet, I am guessing that her pullup number will be slashed by a full lock out. 3 or 4 pullups is what I would predict. However, I know she will get 20 pushups, even with the tough standard. So 3 to 1 may not hold up here.

It would stand to reason that the pushup number would be higher in the ratio for women, given that they must move 100% of a body that has inherently less muscle in the pullup. Many would say that women can't do enough pullups to matter. However, we have at least 10 women here that are either getting or flirting with double digit sets. I think that is very exciting. I am curious what happens when we apply these same standards to our many talented women.

Food for thought. I wanted to pass this one along. Please feel free to report back with any results. I feel good about our ideal push / pull ratio for men. The women's still needs some work however. Lots more testing to be done!

Have a great day,

Paul

 Super Bowl Row-Off 

Held on 2/01/09, members came together in a friendly competition to set personal bests and establish The Firm House Records for a 500meter row on the Concept 2. Results were as follows.

Competitor        Time

1.) Blair              1:29.0 Men's House Record

2.) Tyler             1:33.3

3.) Paul              1:37.8

4.) Dana             1:47.8 Women's House Record

5.) Jenn              1:56.0

6.) Erika              1:51.0