Actor Jyotika is just getting started with pull-ups after three years of weightlifting and strength training, revealed feeling “amazing” about doing the exercise at 47. “The best advice I received is from my trainer, Mahesh Ghanekar. It’s all about strength, not looks. You will lose weight as a repercussion. At 47, which I am today, I have done my first two pull-ups. It’s amazing because I started the journey at 44 with him, and he has just proved to me that age is just a number and nothing is impossible,” she said.

During the conversation, the System actor mentioned that she is a “morning person” who loves to work out 4-5 times a week. “I am a morning person. I wake up, I have an apple, and rush to the gym. I do a weightlifting physical strength training workout. That should finish by 10.30 am, and I am set for the day. I work out two days, and then there is a one-day break. So, it’s 4-5 times a week.”

During the rapid fire with The Hollywood Reporter India, Jyotika also detailed that her gym bag essentials include gloves “because I get corns in my hands”, deo spray, and a water bottle.

Consultant dietitian and fitness expert Garima Goyal called doing pull-ups a “significant” achievement.

A pull-up is a bodyweight strength exercise in which you hang from a bar with an overhand grip and pull your entire body upward until your chin reaches above the bar, then lower yourself back down with control. “It primarily works the latissimus dorsi (lats), upper back, biceps, forearms and core, while also requiring considerable grip strength and shoulder stability,” Goyal told indianexpress.com.

Can you do pull-ups?

What makes pull-ups challenging is that you are essentially lifting your own body weight. “Unlike a dumbbell exercise where you can start with a very light weight and gradually increase it, a pull-up requires you to move a large percentage of your body weight from the beginning. You need a combination of relative strength, grip strength, back and arm strength, core control, and technique. This is why someone can be quite fit and still struggle to perform their first pull-up,” said Goyal.

Story continues below this ad

And mastering them can genuinely take time. “For someone starting from scratch, the progression may involve dead hangs, scapular pull-ups, assisted pull-ups, resistance-band pull-ups and slow eccentric or negative pull-ups before they can perform a full repetition. With consistent training, some people may achieve their first pull-up within a few months, while for others it can take considerably longer depending on starting strength, body weight, training frequency, age, previous exercise experience and recovery,” said Goyal.

Goyal noted that one can develop new physical skills well into your 40s and beyond. “Starting strength training at 44 doesn’t mean you’re too late to build impressive functional strength. In fact, maintaining and building muscle becomes increasingly important with age because it supports bone health, metabolic health, balance, mobility and independence,” said Goyal.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by The Hollywood Reporter India (@hollywoodreporterindia)

So, those two pull-ups at 47 aren’t “just two reps”.

“They represent years of developing relative strength, grip, coordination and consistency. And for someone who has never done a pull-up, the goal shouldn’t be to immediately copy someone else’s number. Progressing from a dead hang to an assisted pull-up and eventually to one clean pull-up is already a meaningful fitness milestone,” reiterated Goyal.