What 30 Days Of 100 Pullups Did To This Guy's Arms And Back

Following the month-long workout regime where he trained like anime hero Saitama from One Punch Man, YouTuber Brandon William puts his physical endurance to the test with another popular 30-day fitness challenge: this time he aims to shred his back and arms by doing 100 pullup reps every single day.

"On the first three days, that was a little rough, OK, not gonna lie," he says, "both my biceps and my back were super sore. But surprisingly, the soreness has been going away and it's not really bothering me any more." However, by the time he reaches the halfway point of the challenge, he says he's getting some "interesting pains" in his elbows.

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To break up the repetition a little, William switches to hammer curl pullups on occasion, reasoning that "it's healthy to add some variation." It's true that mixing up your movement patterns can be a good way to keep challenging your muscles. However, it is also important to allow the muscle fibers time to grow back after being broken down in a workout; the month William has allotted himself to complete the 3,000 reps doesn't include a rest day, so it's unsurprising that he's feeling pain throughout the challenge.

At the end of the month, there's some noticeable change. "My shirts have started to feel smaller on me, like I'm filling them out more, so I'm pretty sure I gained a pretty decent amount of muscle," he says.

After completing 100 reps for 30 days, he has gained almost a pound of muscle, with visible gains in his back, which is, in his words, "way more dense and gorilla-like now." The challenge has also improved William's endurance; at the end of the month, he has increased his max rep count from 21 to 25.

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It's worth repeating that doing 100 reps of any bodyweight exercise every single day for a whole month without allowing time for rest and recovery is bound to create some wear and tear, and that you won't necessarily see major gains unless you're adding progression to your workouts.

Philip Ellis

Philip Ellis is Sex & Relationships Editor at Men's Health, and author of the novels We Could Be Heroes and Love & Other Scams. His other work has appeared in Teen Vogue, British GQ, and The Independent.