We have a younger female relative in her teens.
She has been a competitive dancer since she was 6.
At an early age, she realized that she had to really do some tough and regular workouts besides dancing. So, she got herself in incredible shape at age 6 and has gotten better each year.
She can do 50 military push ups and a few one handed push ups.
She can kick a soccer ball accurately 70 yards in the air while on the run.
She could out run the boys in her class until her 6th grade, and up to last year only a few boys could out run her in the dashes and distance runs.
We joke that she has an 8 pack instead of a 6 pack ab.
She is an excellent markswoman with a shotgun or rifle and has shot wild turkeys and a deer. The deer was dropped at about 150 yards with one head shot.
She is in credible shape, but she can’t do a single pull up.
Nor can she pull herself up over a solid wall.
I doubt if she can do a hand over hand pull up a hanging rope.
A couple years ago, we took her her younger brother to an indoor climbing facility. She never made it to the top, and her younger brother had no problem pulling himself up the various foot/hand hold and did it several times.
Her Dad is an outstanding archer with targets and critters from wild hogs, deer, antelope and elk. She can’t pull a bow over 40# in pull weight. Her younger and smaller brother can load and pull a 70# bow and shoot arrows very accurately. Their Dad uses an even heavier pull weight compound bow.
By the time she is in her early 20’s, she will probably be in better shape and a better markswoman than 95% of any male population.
She is probably in the top 1 or 2% of women re strength, conditioning and other physical abilities.
Yet, she will probably never be able to do a pull up, go hand over hand on a hanging rope or scale a wall higher than her head.
There are probably dozens of other critical physical challenges a combat US Marine can do, that she will never be able to do.
Putting this exceptional physical conditioned woman in a platoon of Marines or in charge of a Marine Platoon would not be fair to her or the platoon.
I have seen women do plenty of pullups, but they have to focus on doing it. They must do exercises that focus on this movement. And it is a very important movement indeed because when you need to get over a wall, its not a pushup movement that gets you up and over, its a pullup.
Great post. Facts can be so inconvenient to the agenda driven.