- My confidence definitely took a hit.
My arms are hurting.
- Yeah, I bet you feel it.
- I'm nowhere near a pull-up.
- I don't think I'm gonna be able to do it at the end.
It just seems impossible.
(upbeat music)
- So, Auri, Ellyse, and I accepted this challenge
because we're all relatively fit,
but we want to see if we're able to do
one pull-up with only 60 days of training.
I'm excited because I love fitness challenges,
but nervous because I've been athletic all my life
and never successfully done a pull-up.
(breathes deeply)
Okay, we'll see how this goes.
- We had a pull-up bar in our house.
My dad would, like, train me to do pull-ups
as a seven year old.
I can't even reach it.
Wow.
I can't.
- [Auri's Dad] Nothing?
- No, nothing.
- Twelve is your record.
I wrote it down.
- I don't think I can do twelve,
but I can do at least one.
- I'm getting my pull-up baby back.
Aww.
- I'm excited to dive back into my training as an adult.
(upbeat music)
- I boulda a lot, which is indoor rock climbing,
so that, I guess, does require some upper body strength.
I think pull-ups are an ultimate test
of agility and strength.
At the moment, I don't really have, like, a fitness goal.
So, being able to do a pull-up is a perfect one,
'cause you can either do it or you can't.
- So, to kick off the challenge,
we decided to see an expert to get some
background information of what goes into a pull-up.
All right, show me what you got.
(upbeat music)
- Ooh.
No, that's as far as I can go.
- Okay.
You're actually pulling back, and then up.
(upbeat music)
Arch it.
You want to stay into a hollow position.
So, now I can see you're not activating with your shoulders.
Yep.
- So, Mel was super attentive and she
assessed us individually so that
we can start off with good form.
- Solo position.
Think about, like, a banana shape.
Straight legs.
There you go, good.
For women, we are more heavy bottomed.
If our weight is more distributed on the bottom,
it's gonna be a lot harder to pull ourselves up.
- After meeting with Mel, I had, definitely,
a better idea of what things to look out for
when I'm practicing.
- As long as you train, then you will definitely get it.
- The first week was brutal, because my body
was not used to that much upper body training,
and my hands were not happy.
- I definitely feel inspired at home now with a pull-up bar
because every time I walk by it, I like to hold on to it
or do something with it.
- There's this park that I walk past
everyday on my way to work, and I would just, like,
go across the monkey bars and just do,
like, five, assisted pull-ups or hang for a bit.
(upbeat music)
- Uh.
(sighs)
- I think this is a blister.
I can't touch my head.
Everything is hurting.
- My upper body definitely feels more sore than usual
and it's in places that I didn't expect.
Like, the sides of my back and my armpits.
- Denny, my boyfriend, he never works out.
He was able to do, like, four.
I work out more than you.
- I've always been able to.
- Uh, so annoying.
- My confidence definitely took a hit.
Oh, god.
Even when I agreed to be in this video,
I was like, oh I can do one if I put my mind to it.
- I was working out every day and all I could do
where these weird shoulder shrugs,
and people seeing me would kindly suggest me to
use the assisted machine instead of the pull-up bar.
- All I can do is, like, one inch.
It's, like, pathetic.
How do I do it?
I'm three weeks in.
I'm not having much faith in myself right now.
- Uh.
It's harder than it looks.
I'm like a broken record just talking about
how frustrating this process is.
- That should be, like, an easy move,
because you're jumping and you're using momentum,
and I can barely hold myself.
I feel like I've done everything that I can,
and I'm still not where I want to be.
- That's it.
- [Auri's Dad] What?
- That's it.
- [Auri's Dad] No way, you can do more.
Try it.
- That's it.
I'm nervous.
I don't think I'm gonna be able to do it at the end.
- You want to do it, but you physically can't
and you're exerting energy, and physically
it looks like you're not going anywhere.
- I almost lost hope, but then I suddenly was able
to hold myself up in a jumping pull-up.
I think I just needed time in the beginning
to build muscle strength and muscle memory
to understand how to pull myself up
and engage the specific muscles needed.
- I haven't made any progress.
Maybe I can channel that anger into my pull-up.
(upbeat music)
(groans)
Oh, (beep).
I have the strength from, like, here up,
but I just don't have the strength from hanging.
(upbeat music)
I'm still impressed with myself
because I could not do that before.
- Just this morning, we went to the gym
and I tried to do a pull-up.
I got my arms to 90 degrees, which is, like,
more than I ever thought I would be able to do.
Now, I'm back confident again and I'm going to tell myself
I can definitely do one.
(upbeat music)
- We're very close to the end of this,
and I'm still worried I won't be able to do the pull-up,
but no matter what, I do feel stronger,
and I like that, and I feel like I got
some little bit of muscles happening.
Mmm.
- After realizing that I was able to hold myself
in a jumping pull-up, things got way easier.
So, I just kept weight training.
I kept practicing my holds, and week seven,
I was able to do one pull-up without jumping.
It's just crazy.
Never in my life have I imagined I could do one.
I noticed in the footage that I'm not, like,
fully chin above bar, but since I have this extra time,
I'm still gonna continue doing my workouts,
and really get that clean straight pull-up.
- I'm definitely more motivated to keep going.
I feel like I look stronger, too.
Like, I'm noticing, like, my shoulders more.
I've actually, like, started approaching people
and, like, asking them for advice.
I even, like, had my yoga teacher
help me out with some stuff and I feel really close,
so what I'm going to do is I'm going to
go to the bar everyday, whether it's at the gym
or the bar on my way to work,
and I really want to just, like, commit to giving it my all.
(upbeat music)
- There is, like, no time left before this challenge ends,
so I'm really gonna start pushing myself more.
I'm really close.
I can do the pull-up from standing on a pillow,
and I think I'm gonna get it.
- I didn't do any arms for this workout,
so I just want to see if I can manage to
do my pull-up today.
(upbeat music)
(loud beep)
I really got a clean, straight pull-up.
I'm super happy.
- Maybe I won't get a perfect pull-up, yet,
but I definitely feel stronger,
so that's kind of all that really matters.
- It's been 60 days, and I can do a pull-up.
(upbeat music)
- [Auri's Dad] Yeah.
- I did it.
- [Auri's Dad] Yeah.
Whooo.
- I can do it now.
It's amazing.
- I am so impressed with myself
to be able to commit to 60 days of training.
I feel like a badass to be able to do a pull-up
and just have these awesome biceps right here.
Like, if you look at my lats where the V is,
that is very apparent.
- On the 60th day, I did it.
Last night I was outside, and, like, at a taco truck
and there was, like, some scaffolding,
and I was like (beep) it, I'm just gonna, like,
try and do one.
I, like, did not think I would be able to.
(beep)
And I did it.
Just at the nick of time.
Yeah.
I thought I was gonna be the only one in the video
who wasn't gonna be able to do it, but I did it.
Seeing that footage I just, like, want to keep watching it
over and over again.
It's something that I never thought I'd be able to do.
I definitely feel like my shoulders
are a little more defined, and the area, like,
around my armpits feels, like, stronger.
Now everytime I walk past or see any type of bar,
I just, like, have to jump on it and try,
and I'm gonna perfect it.
- I have loved doing this,
because I've never weight lifted before,
and I feel like really strong,
and this is definitely something
I want to continue in my life.
My biceps definitely look more defined,
and that's really cool.
I feel like I look super strong,
and I'm like hell yeah.
- Everybody's fitness journey is different.
As long as you put in the hard work,
the dedication, and just be patient with yourself,
I think that is the key.
That is what I've learned.
- So now, my dad will be happy,
because he's always been worried
if I'm, like, hanging off a cliff,
I won't be able to save my own life
because I can't do a pull-up.
But now I can, so thanks dad.
(laughs)
(upbeat music)