Steph Davis: Twitter’s Team #Tpup
When I first started tweeting, I wasn’t really sure what it was or why I would be doing it. As time went by, I made friends and learned a lot of interesting things. And if I had any doubts about the value of social media and twitter, they were put to rest once and for all this month when a group of “tweeps” spontaneously started a pullup team.
Just for no reason one day, I asked if anyone else was doing pull-ups on twitter.
There was an instant wave of answers….some people were doing pull-ups, some people wanted to be doing pull-ups, some people weren’t sure if they could do a pullup, some people wanted to know a good way to do pullup workouts.
Within an hour, tweeting back and forth, a small group of us decided to start a twitter pullup team, called “Team Tpup.” 
And people got really excited….
http://everyfrog.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/twittercited-to-be-a-tpup
Almost immediately, someone (not even me!) opened a new twitter account called @teampup, to be the go-to place for everyone who wanted to join the pullup group. 
It was quickly decided how this team would work. People would do pullup pyramids (starting with one, doing each set with an extra pullup, up to the highest amount you can do in good style, and then reversing the sets back down to one), and add up how many pull-ups they did. Then they would send a tweet to @teampup, with the number of pull-ups, tagging the tweet with our tag: #tpup, so people could look at all the teampup related tweets easily. Then someone (luckily not me!) would count them all up every day, and report a running total of how many pull-ups the team did as a group. We all thought this would be very motivating, and fun!
I wondered how long Team #Tpup would last, whether people would stick with the pullup program, and doing the tweet reports. After a couple of weeks, the tpup team had grown to over a hundred people, around the world, and people were posting pictures and writing more blogs about it.
http://cremnomaniac.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/craze-or-cult-a-look-into-the-tpup-phenomenon/ 
A #tpup member (again, not me!) even made t shirts…
A few computer genius pups got together and wrote some kind of “python” “bot” or program (definitely, not me!) that would automatically find and tally up any pullup totals that team #tpup posted on twitter.
A few days ago, Team #Tpup broke 10,000 pullups! 
The great thing about Team Tpup is that it’s totally community based, and everyone seems to find something fun to do with it, from doing pull-ups, to meeting friends, to designing logos, to writing software…… Now, it is an international group, self-created and group-run, motivating each other for winter pullup training through the internet! This really is the 21st century, in the best possible way.
xxSteph
Tags: #Tpup, @teampup, Community, hashtag, pull-ups, Steph Davis, Team Tpup, tweeps, Twitter, twitter pullup team
February 8th, 2010 at 10:32 am
Hooray #tpup!
February 8th, 2010 at 11:01 am
I feel so excited to be a part of this! And despite the fact that my #tpup count is never super high, it all adds up, and this phenomenon proves it! Go Team Pup!
February 8th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Twitter phenonmenon strikes again!
And hey! Glad you liked the pic of one of my nieces doing the pull up on the jungle gym, she was determined!
February 8th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Happy and proud to be a part of the tpup revolution, cant wait til we have a global celebration when we break 100,000
February 8th, 2010 at 11:10 am
as of today, we are almost up to 15,000 pullups! wow team #tpup!
we must definitely have a global celebration for 100,000….
February 8th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Tpup team is great motivation for me. When I see tweet about another hundreds of pull-ups by tpup members it somehow makes me stop being lazy and do some pull-ups. I can’t thank you enough for this awesome idea.
February 8th, 2010 at 11:15 am
This is magnificent … Taking a so booooring exercise alone in your basement and making it a goup activity with people all aurond the world. From Montréal, doing #tpups with Tweeps from all over is really motivating.
A great initiative … I could say “adictive”
February 8th, 2010 at 11:15 am
Woof! The tpupalypse is coming!
February 8th, 2010 at 11:19 am
I love what Katie said. I may not break any records but it all adds up and it’s fun to be a part of something like this.
February 8th, 2010 at 11:37 am
I may not do them daily but it’s great to be part of the group!
February 8th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
i love my #tpup team. even without a home solution, i was able to search the neighborhood we’re currently in and found a park with a sweet pull-up bar (that’s actually part of a circuit). and i’m really loving the motivation and creativity. yay @teampup
February 8th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
not just winter training! i’m in Australia pulling some #tpup action when I can’t get to the crag.
i’m a good bit sore after 100 yesterday!
February 9th, 2010 at 9:16 am
YAY! I now look for pull-up bars (or, makeshift pull-up bars) everywhere I go!
This really is another fun way to connect, and it’s been great to have encouragement and see folks progress. HUGS, Steph and #tpup folk!
-Sara.
February 9th, 2010 at 10:10 am
Thanks for @KatieBeth for actually showing me what the heck #tpup was all about! I’ve been climbing the pyramid and it’s been great! Now I’m working towards the infamous 1-10-1 pyramid! Watch out, Steph!
February 9th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
having fun and getting strong…what more could we ask for?
yay pups!
February 10th, 2010 at 12:52 am
I’ve been loving the #tpup athon since Jan 4….. it has been a really cool experience all around and the caliber of the #pups involved has been eye opening for me….seriously, these are some extremely neat people that comprise our little #tpup group. Occupations alone run the gamut: Scientists, Writers, Artists, Teachers, Lawyers, Students, Software Engineers, Sponsored Base Jumpers (ahem), Independent Business owners, Marketing Gurus, CFO Consultants, Firemen/Optical Engineers, Entrepreneurs, Professional Guides….and more, across 7 countries and 60 cities. I’m looking forward to the 100,000 mark. By that time, we could have a simultaneous virtual tweetup, with webcams, and we could do a “for real” #tpup workout, worldwide, together.
Some notes:
1. We’ve had one pup who hadn’t done a pullup in 2 years decide to try again, because of #tpup
2. We’ve had at least one photo sent of a #tpup er doing a shot of tequila while doing a one-armed-lockoff.
3. We’ve had several #tpup ers get stronger over the course of @Teampup, and increase their pyramid levels
4. We haven’t had any #tpup er give birth while #tpup ing…but there is still time.
GO PUPS!
April 21st, 2010 at 7:22 am
[...] The recovery months flew by, and the time I spent in the gym rehabbing my leg also allowed me to do lots of pullups and upper body training. I started climbing on my wall about 2 months ago and then at the crags in [...]