Counting Pullups

Looks like a fun app, but the description makes my head hurt:

"This is a paradigm shift in fitness apps utilizing the best features in mobile technology moving one step closer to wearable computing to determine the physical conditioning level of athletes who want to test their mettle to see if they have what it takes physically to just get their foot in the door as a potential candidate to become a Navy SEAL, EOD, Diver, Special Warfare Combatant Crewmember, or AIR Rescue Swimmer? SEALReady guides you through a simulated physical screening test and lets you know how you stack up. It’s an intense mini triathlon without the bike but throws in a 500 yard swim using only a side, combat swimmer, or breast stroke, a minimum number of calisthenics, but you want more to score, and a timed GPS run."

Something like this might be clearer - it outlines what the app is actually for in the first couple of lines, and misses out all the empty buzzwords (paradigm shift? really?):

"Do you have what it takes to become a potential Navy SEAL, EOD, Diver, Special Warfare Combatant Crewmember, or AIR Rescue Swimmer? Check your physical conditioning level and test your mettle with SEALReady. SEALReady guides you through a simulated physical screening test - a 500 yard swim, calisthenics, and a timed run - and lets you know how you stack up."

A good copywriter could probably get that even snappier.

Oh, also, having your customer review be made from the same account name as your HN account doesn't make it look very convincing ;)

The article mentions having "no room for a weight set". Why not just get adjustable dumbbells like the ones Bowflex makes? They take up very little room and you can certainly figure out lifting routines that hit all the key muscle groups within your equipment/space constraints.

My first thought is that this should absolutely be sold along with every pullup bar. I wonder if the author has tried to contact them.

To take this to the next level I would want geofenced app integration so that if I started to slack off, and I was home, I would get a reminder to go do some pullups.

My first thought was that this could be done (with less work) using a smartphone's accelerometer. That said, I definitely dig the setup. Thanks for the mention of Phidgets.

This is a very good example of a geek's solution to the wrong problem.

The point of pullups is to improve upper body strength and muscularity. Once one is able to do 10-15 pullups in one set with bodyweight the stress of this unweighted movement is insufficient to cause much further adaptation.

At this point the trainee should start doing pullups with added weight and/or do pullups on ropes, a fat bar or a vertical pipe.

So, instead of actually making real progress in improving his grip, upper body and back strength, the OP has managed to spend a lot of money quantifying something almost worthless. That money and time could have been productively invested in buying some sand, putting it in heavy garbage bags and then loading a backpack to add weight to his pullups.

Note: For a cheap(possibly free) pullup training tool simply get a regular claw hammer, use the claw on top of the doorjam(or tree limb) and grab the handle with both hands and do pullups. Chalking your hands will almost certainly be required otherwise they will slip off.