Fitness Blog

If you haven't heard the name "Steven Proto" before then flick through the latest edition of The Guinness Book Of World Records and you'll find it next to the Official World Record Holder for performing the "Heaviest Weighted Pull Up" which he achieved with an extra 206.2lbs / 93.53kg strapped to his body!

Steven is in phenomenal physical shape, standing at 6" tall and weighing a hefty 200 lbs, he is a member of the Extreme Pull Ups Crew - a group of guys in the US who dedicate their training around the mighty pull-up and regularly hold competitions on their website with the aim of finding the best athletes from around the world who all share the same common interest -"Pull Ups!"

Here we catch-up with Steven where we talk about training, competitions & that monumental world record that he set earlier this year:

Fitstream - Ok Steven, we're thrilled to be interviewing you. Can you start us off with letting everybody know a little bit about yourself?

Steven - I am 30 years old and from Long Island, NY. I now live in Edmond, OK with my wife and son.

I first got into pull ups when I joined the Marines. When I arrived at boot camp I only managed 14 pull ups, three months later I was doing 20. Then I realized I could take it much further. At that time my goal was to do 20 reps fast and easy for the PFT.

Since I’ve been out my goal has to add more-and-more weight to myself.

Fitstream - So, tell us about the Extreme Pull Ups Crew - Did you set it up? How did the crew all get involved with each other?

Steven - The Extreme Pull up Crew was started by Damien Longley A.K.A. (E_P_C) on Bodybuilding.com. Once he created the website Extremepullups.com he asked me if I would be one of his sponsored athletes. Most of the crew are current and former service members who naturally trained pull-ups for years. The site is used to offer training advice and hold contests bringing the pull-up community together. Most of us were fortunate enough to meet one another at the 2011 Mr. Olympia Expo in Las Vegas.

Fitstream - It's been a very successful year for you, not only have you set an incredible world record but you've been involved in some very hard fought out pull-up competitions hosted by the Extreme Pull Ups Crew, let us know about how you got on in these & any future competitions you guys have coming up in the new year...

Steven - The crew came along before the competitions. 

The first comp was "2011 Body-Weight Max Reps Pull Up Competition" which I won in the 200lbs and over category with 34 reps. Then the second was "reps with a 45 lb plate. where I won with 22 reps in the 200lbs and over category". Finally "Percentage of body-weight added", in the under 200lbs category, and I won with 97%.

In the future there might be a 100 lbs for reps competition ... Keep checking the site for upcoming news.

Fitstream - Here at Fitstream we know just how beneficial the pull-up is as part of any training regime but you guys take it to a whole new level - Do you include pull-ups every time you workout? ... Do you only do pull ups or do you mix up your workouts with different exercises? ... Let us know what your weekly workout regime looks like ...

Steven - When I’m not doing a contest I’ll do a push / pull / legs routine. 

• On back day: I’ll do weighted pull ups, a row variation, shrugs, curls. 
• Chest day: I’ll do bench / incline or both, standing press, fly’s, pushdowns / skull crushers. 
• Leg Day: Squats / Deadlift or both, leg curls & extensions, calf raises, leg press. 
• Reps and sets usually vary on each workout. 

Now when I train for a world record or a contest I’ll spend the whole time doing pull-ups. I am starting to believe I shouldn’t cut out the other workouts completely except for a couple of days before the record or contest. It’s all trial and error to see what works.

We have promoted several pull up training methods. Pull ups for time has been a good way for us to increase the number of pull ups we can do. This is where we perform 100 strict pull ups in the shortest amount of time mixing up sets and rest time. This has helped with the muscular endurance required for strict pull-ups, also 100 pull ups in the fewest sets.

Let’s say you’re a beginner and you wouldn’t get 100 even if you were given 100 minutes. You can still fit this routine into your training. Take your max reps in one set and multiply that by four . That’s your goal to hit in the shortest time. For your sets do ½ or ¾ the number of your max reps. So if you can do 10 pull-ups do sets of 5-8 keeping your rest time short around 5-15 seconds. Do the reps steady don’t hang or struggle save the energy for the next set.

Fitstream - Ok, so go on then ... "The Big One!" ... How did you come about becoming the Guinness World Record Holder for "Heaviest Weighted Pull-Up" - What did you have to do in order to achieve this remarkable feat? ... Did you break a previous record or set this one?

Steven - I first contacted GWR to see if the category existed. Since I knew this was a long process I started training early. A couple of months later they let me know there wasn’t a category but they were interested in adding it. They set the minimum at 200 lbs and gave me a very strict criteria to follow. Once I read the official rules I had to make a few changes to how I was performing them. My legs needed to be straight, only a slight bend at the knees would be allowed. First I installed a homemade pull up bar that was high enough to accommodate leg room. Second I had to start practicing with my legs straight which changed my center of gravity which made it more challenging. On July 9th 2011 I performed a Pull up with 206.2 lbs attached to myself.

Before my Guinness record I read an article in REPS! magazine about Tim Ferguson, an Australian who performed a chin up with a combined weight of 386 lbs. I knew if I trained hard enough I could beat it with a over-hand grip. Shortly after the crew got started Damien got me in touch with Dale Harder who keeps these kinds of records and Dale gave me the rules I needed to follow to make it official.

I also contacted Ralf Laue of recordholders.org to verify this existing record. On April 29th I performed a pull-up for a total weight of 402 lbs - a new world record. Although I did weigh 199.8 lbs when I did my GWR; since I didn’t weigh myself on camera I failed to make a new world record of 406 lbs total weight. Once my bicep heals I will train to make another GWR attempt with 225 lbs / 102 kg added and I’ll definitely remember to weight myself this time.

Fitstream - To be able to pull that much weight is incredible! ... How did you work your way up to that?

Steven - I have spent the last 7 years training weighted pull-ups on and off. I started adding 25 lbs at 186 lbs and worked my way up via pates size 35,45,50,70,90,100,110,115…. For the longest time I was able to add 186 lbs with decent form. Once I hit a personal best I would stop training. I knew if started up again I would get back to where I left off in no time.

For GWR I changed my routine a little. My old routine 4 sets of 5 wouldn’t help me with a 1 rep max so I broke my training sessions into days of 1-2 reps, 2-3 reps, 4-6 reps pyramiding my way up and down for 6-8 sets changing the weight around; no workout was the same.

Fitstream - To be honest after watching the video, you looked like you were pretty comfortable lifting all that weight - How did it feel? ... Do you think that there is more left in the tank and you could possibly lift more weight?

Steven - Well I might have done more but I went with a safe number that I’ve done previously with no one watching. Good thing because I had to make a second attempt since my legs were bent too much. So really I did two sets of one. My adrenaline kicked in witnesses were taking time out of their day I couldn’t let anyone down. The only thing holding me back was a injured bicep from when I performed a rep/hold with a slow negative with 206.2 lbs. a few weeks before.

Fitstream - Most of us start out doing pull ups whilst being back at school attending P.E. lessons but normally starting out with the "chin-up grip" or "pronated grip" (palm of the hand facing towards the face) but after a while most advance to the harder "pull up grip" (palms facing outwards) and the chin up becomes somewhat neglected. Has this happened to you or do you still train the chin up as well as the pull up? ... After-all it is an extremely effective exercise!

Steven - I am definitely not as strong with chin ups as I am with pull ups. I can do them but for me chin ups aren’t natural and puts my wrist and elbow in a awkward position if I lock out or come to a dead hang. I’m sure I will always stick to pull ups.

Fitstream - Are you aware of the big freestyle bar movement that is going on right now with very strong athletes from around the globe who showcase their extraordinary skills through web-sites such as You-Tube and Vimeo? ... Guys like LittleBeastM or crews such as Bar-barians & Barstarzz? ... What do you think of the way these guys mix up basic body-weight exercises & combine them with gymnastic skills on the bars in the parks around the world & have you given it a go?

Steven - I have seen more and more of this over time. I haven’t tried it, I would definitely need to build up my endurance. At 200 lbs I really don’t see myself competitive with these athletes.

Anything that draws attention to pull ups, outdoor bodyweight activities; with minimal risk of injury is a good thing. I hope it becomes more popular over time, for right now I’ll just enjoy watching it.

Fitstream - Thanks for your time Steven, it's been a pleasure to chat with you. Once again congratulations on your World Record and we look forward to seeing you competing in more up-coming pull up competitions in the new year.

Steven - Thank you, I wish Fitstream the best of luck educating and supplying today’s everyday athletes.

Welcome to the first Fitstream competition ever!

This is going to be the first of many, where we'll be dishing out top equipment to winners taking part in our strength and fitness challenges and posting the results on our blog and Fitstream Facebook page.

... and which better exercise to start with for our first comp than the mighty pull-up! Here are the rules and the prizes up for grabs -

Participants will be competing to perform the most deadhang pull-ups. There are three classes available - Men's, Women's, and 18's and Under.

We've partnered with Astone Fitness to bring you our first place prize for the men's competition - The Human Trainer, providing you with the ultimate bodyweight training system. Urban sportswear brand fizzYcaL is contributing the prizes for the women's and 18's and Under classes. 

Competition sponsors:

Men's Prizes

Women's Prizes

18's and Under Prizes

Competition rules:

Entries and judging:

* In the event of any winners residing in Outer Mongolia or other such regions outside of Europe, Fitstream reserve the right to pay you the monetary equivalent of the prize via PayPal.

Fitstream Athlete Lee Wade Turner demonstrates the Dead-Hang Pull-up permitted for the competition below:

...and here's the top prize The Human Trainer in action -

Fitstream Athletes and competition judges Lee Wade Turner and Jay 'KillingGravity' pictured below - 

Check out our new article on how to build your own outdoor body weight training gym.

Needing nothing other than a small materials budget and a bit of elbow grease, we give you a step-by-step guide to create a space that will allow you to develop an insane level of strength and muscular definition.

This is the perfect solution for perfecting your basic strength moves like pull-ups, dips and muscle-ups, and ultimately progressing on to some freestyle bar work like the Bar-barians enviably put on show.

The article comes courtesy of Anton Guidera who recently built his own pull-up facility in his bodyweight training gym in Kettering, UK, whose fitness event we recently attended.

It would be great to see more of these gyms springing up around the country so please help us spread the word and like our article.

As the bodyweight training revolution continues to gain momentum on the world stage, spearheaded by the likes of the Bar-barians, Calisthenics Kingz and Beastmode, to name but a few, the biggest body-weight event of it's kind recently took place on 27th and 28th August 2011.

The Street Workout World Championship 2011 (SWWC2011) was held in Riga, Latvia and the first world champions were crowned in both the Freestyle and Strength categories. For those in the know, it wasn't a huge shock when Ievgen Ether Kozyr of the Barstylers was crowned 'Freestyle Bar World Champion' - Ether from Ukraine, has been on the circuit for a good few years now and those who've seen some of his YouTube videos know what he is capable of... Here's a clip of Ether performing at the SWWC - 

... and here's our exclusive interview with the champ himself, where we talk about the SWWC2011, training and the future of the body-weight movement:

Fitstream - Ok Ether, let's get started. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Ether - Hi everybody! About me.. I'm Ukrainian, I'm 25 now. Working out is my hobby which brings me a lot of pleasure. I started to work out about 2 years ago or a little bit more. My first inspirations were Bar-barians and Hannibal from NY, but I was attracted to pull-ups since my childhood so I always had a good base and was in a good shape.

My first big success was when I won the Ukrainian freestyle bar contest in Dnepropetrovsk last year (big thanks to Denis Minin for the organization). Nowadays I've become an inspiration for thousands of young people and it's a big responsibility. I'm trying to help everyone giving advice or answering questions, holding regular competitions in Kharkov (my native city) and visiting different events in other cities to judge, to compete, to communicate and to discuss further development.

I'd like to present my apologies to you for being so slow with this interview and to all those who didn't receive answers from me. Guys it's physically impossible to answer thousands of questions, so I'm trying to choose the most interesting and non-typical ones. Anyway when I have free time I'll try to help everyone. I hope this interview will clarify some questions and will be useful for all who interested.

Now my hobby started to develop extremely fast and is becoming a new 'sport'.

This year was full of different events and the next one will be much more lively - we have big plans!

Fitstream - Congratulations on your historic victory at the SWWC2011 freestyle category last month! Can you tell us what you had to do in the competition in order to be crowned 'world champion' and how the competition was judged?

Ether - Thanks! When I was going to Riga I didn't think at all about how to win the first place, I was going just to work out, to meet friends who I had seen only on videos, to get acquainted with new people and to get experience.

People always ask me what the prize was. I can say that none of the participants knew, didn't ask about prizes and didn't talk about what he will do to win etc. From the first day there was A LOT of crazy fun and only a friendly atmosphere. Each participant came to Riga because it was a big honor to take part in the first World Championship and altogether we all shared a really good time which we will remember for our lifetime.

So I did what I always do, I can't say that I was the best or most original. I saw many talented people there, many extremely powerful and artistic moves and each one had his own style.

There were several experienced judges who had to determine the first 3 places. Also each participant had one vote which he could give to any sportsman except himself. So I have to thank all of them for this title.

Fitstream - Besides the Freestyle category there was also a 'Strength' category at the competition. Can you tell us a bit about this and were you and the other competitors entered into both competitions? ... If so, how did you get on with it?

Ether - I didn't get prize on basics. The "Strength" part was on the second day of the competition. Almost all competitors took part in this challenge. The organizers made interesting as possible.

The participant had to do max muscle-ups, push-ups and dips. As for me, I took part in this contest to support the organizers and the other participants. I focused on the quality and reps without any stops.

I can say that I never liked pushups and dips, this is my weak point. I can also say that the rules were not excellent and participants were not in the same conditions. The quality and styles were different and it's too hard to judge fair. Next year there will be some changes which will make judging easier and put everybody in the same conditions.

Fitstream - Besides your own incredible sets, were there any others from the other competitors that really stood out and made you think that you might not have won the championship?

Ether - I tried to do my best on the bar, but as I said I didn't think about winning and yes, I was really amazed by all the participants.

Here in CIS countries, workout develops very fast and every day I see many new videos in our social network vk.com so it's very hard to impress me, but in Riga I was REALLY impressed!

Fitstream - The main reason the SWWC2011 was set up was to push the body-weight movement into the mainstream and hopefully attract the attention of the X-Games where Skateboarding, Motorcross, BMX, and Rally car racing are attracting around 37 million viewers worldwide! Do you think this is the right direction for the 'sport' or do you think it can eventually grow on it's own similar to the way CrossFit and the CrossFit Games has done over the last couple of years, or would you rather it be kept on a smaller/more underground level?

Ether - It's a difficult question. The main thing is that no one imposes on anybody. Each person has a choice to workout just to keep the body fit or to achieve something more . And I think that it's really great that somebody is trying to give this choice to everybody. Everything depends on your attitude to this sport and on your aims. Some think that this is the right direction of development and some think that this is nonsense. The question is - are YOU interested in it or are you not interested in it?

I don't know how far our 'sport' can be developed but I'm not opposed to give it a chance to show skills for those who want it because this may be one of the strongest motivations when training and working on your body and your mind ... besides I think that talented people have to show their skills to everybody because by doing so people can see and realize what a strength, what progress they can reach just working out in the street! Somebody watches a barz-vid and says to himself "Shit! I also can do it! I'm no worse than they are! It doesn't need some extra talent or money! That's what I need!" and in the next moment he or she is one of us.

Last Saturday I held a little competition in my city on L-sit pull-ups with additional weight ... There were many people who came from other cities and who I saw for the first time. They told me that they gave up smoking and started to work out because of me, because of my videos. Isn't that great?

Fitstream - Tell us about your weekly workouts? ... How many times a week do you train? ... Do you have a set routine or do you prefer to keep mixing things up and varying things?

Ether - I don't have any program, any diet. I train when my body needs it. For now, when I don't have specific goals, I train twice a week.

At the beginning I do a warm-up then some hard stuff, static holds, some combinations and by the end I do some basics in order to load my muscles for max. During each training session I meet a lot of people and my workout turns in to a good, active and effective pastime.

Fitstream - When did you last workout and what did you do exactly?

Ether - My last workout was last Saturday. As I said earlier, it was a little bar meeting. There were 70 or 80 people and 37 took part in the competition (weighted L-sit pull-ups). We even managed to bring to the contest some people from the audience who didn't know anything about calisthenics before and of course kids (pull-ups without weight). Oh, on my last holiday I visited quite a big event in Dnepropetrovsk and a little 10 year old kid made 200 muscle-ups without getting off the bar!! Yes, they weren't great but still - WTF!!

Fitstream - During one of your sets at the SWWC2011 you performed 11 consecutive one armed pull ups (OAP's.) To do just one of these takes an incredible amount of strength but to do 11 left us totally speechless! ... Can you tell us how you trained for such a truly remarkable feat of strength?

Ether - Actually I love simple pull-ups since my childhood and even before I started working out regularly I already was able to do one-arm pull-ups.

A month before my trip to Riga I started to train only OAPs and made progress from 5-6 to 10-11 reps. I trained it every day. First week I was warming up doing them every evening, 1 OAP each hand with 5 min rest. In total 20-25 reps per day for each hand ... in the next few weeks I started to add OAPs in a set one by one utill I was doing 4-5 reps per set. I didn't have a strict program, I listened to my body. I went from 5 to 55 OAPs each hand per day. That was quite enough.

Fitstream - Well Ether, that's a wrap! ... Congratulations again on your victory at the SWWC2011 and we look forward to seeing you in action again very soon. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today. 

Ether - Thank you so much guys!

Now I have so much to do, we have so many plans ... Thanks to SWWC2011, where we got so much experience. Special thanks to Maris Slezins, who continues to help us. I can say that one of these days the Ukrainian Public Organization "Street Workout Ukraine" will be founded and the big game will start!

Fitstream - Remember to checkout Ether's YouTube channel out to keep up to date with his training.

For those of you that missed the CrossFit Games this year on ESPN you can now check out the videos on YouTube.

It's inspiring stuff and there's plenty of blood, sweat and tears as athletes battle for the title of "Fittest on Earth". This year Rich Froning Jr. and Annie Thorisdottir were crowned the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games champions.

It's well worth watching and amazing to see just how far CrossFit has come...