Thread: Chin ups and saunas

Originally Posted by BC Lifter

Well Im out of town and at my parents house for a week and I didnt want to take the week off from training so I went to some shitty community gym to train... cause thats all thats here. Anyway you cant do chin ups/pull ups at this gym because there is 1 station for it and its right against the roof. So I could do chin ups to the roof and stop I guess but I wouldnt be getting full ROM cause id be putting my skull through the fucking roof. Im looking for a substitute for the week and all Im thinkin you can do is lat pulldowns?

Also my parents have a sweet wet sauna at their house and I like to sit in it and drip sweat for an hour or so each night. Im bulking though and Im wondering if its an alright thing to do, I know boxers and MMA guys use it to cut and I dont want to be doing that right now. So should I avoid it?

They don't use heat and sweat to cut. They use it to very quickly and temporarily drop water weight so that at weigh-in they can fall into the weight class lower than what they would/will be in competition. It's a stupid loophole. You won't lose any BF from using a sauna. Just drink plenty of water to replenish your lost fluids and then you're fine.

Originally Posted by Phineas

They don't use heat and sweat to cut. They use it to very quickly and temporarily drop water weight so that at weigh-in they can fall into the weight class lower than what they would/will be in competition. It's a stupid loophole. You won't lose any BF from using a sauna. Just drink plenty of water to replenish your lost fluids and then you're fine.

Thanks, I kinda knew that but wasnt 100% sure. It is a stupid loophole totally agree, I wonder if its even healthy to do. If you cut all that water weight how long does it take to replenish? Some of those guys have to fight a couple of days after the weigh in, putting your body through that type of change in such a short period must effect your performance in the fight.

If you still wanted to do chin / pull ups you could buy one of these doorway pull up bars. I have one for back / bicep day and it works great and I even have a very low ceiling and it still works. Its about $30.00.

They don't have a lat pulldown? Or if you've got resistance bands you can rig up something w/ a bar and a high loop or beam. I'm not sure anyone dies if you don't do chinups for a week...? You can also do reverse pushups on bar if they have a smith or a squat rack. Its not the same, but you could certainly look at it as exercising a different angle of the pull motion.

RE: the sauna - I don't know that anyone recommends an HOUR in a sauna? How hot is it? Maybe 20 minutes, 30 tops. IMO saunas are great for clearing pores. They arent' a bad thing, but its not a bodyfat loss strategy. As mentioned above, boxers use them to make weight and BB competitors use them to dump water as well. But this is all for short term water manipulation.

Thx for replies.

No it wont kill me not to do chin ups this week but I was looking for some good alternatives. All I really know of are Lat Pulldowns (Im new to BB).

As to saunas I just like them so I sit in them for a while, I rarely get to have a wet sauna so I crank up the heat and bask in my sweat and nastiness, Ill get too hot then go out and walk around maybe have a bit of a cold shower then pour on the heat again until I feel like cleaning myself up. You feel like a million bucks after, so fresh and so clean clean.

I think even partial motion chins are not a bad idea for more reps or heavier weight on your belt/between your legs. Doing 1 week of lat pulldowns is not a bad idea either, it's not like you're going to be away for a month or two, then I'd be concerned.

As far as the cutting in the sauna goes, you're mistaken if you think you will cut by sweating in the sauna or anywhere else for that matter. You will just shed water which your body will absorb more of later anyway to make up for the temporary bodily dehydration. MMA fighters don't use the sauna to "cut" they use it to drop quick TEMPORARY water weight so they can make the weigh in. And it doesn't just involve sweating in the sauna but at the same time not taking in any fluids, which I hope you intend to do. It's not uncommon for a fighter to make a weight of 185lbs and come in the night of the fight soon after weighing a solid 200 lbs or even more. Regardless, as most fighters and trainers will tell you, this is not called a cut and is certainly not healthy for the fighter, it's simply a desparate attempt to make weight when it didn't properly come off during the months of preparation for the fight.

I sweat a lot naturally and I also visit Miami Florida at least once a year for a couple of weeks in June/July where temperatures sky rocket to feeling like nearly 50 deg celsius with the humidity. During my stay there I'm outside majority of the time and literally sweat buckets of water constantly, while drinking lots also and when I come back to Toronto I don't manage to loose any weight for the two weeks of sweating there. So I can even tell you from personal experience that this won't get you cut.

while sauna wont shed fat per se, it is a great detox, which is an important part of dropping BF . . alternate 15min sessions with cold showers (as long as you can stand it) flush with plenty of water and drink green tea . . you will feel $m guarenteed.

Take a week off, it does the body wonders. Especially when bulking

just drink plenty of water. I agree..