Pullups

[Chief Fox]

So I'm trying this new pullup routine. The idea is to increase your max reps of pullups over time by doing small managable sets. For example, my max reps of pullups is 6. I'd like for that to be 10 or better yet, 20. So here is a link to the article on increasing your reps: http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/220/

And here's my routine:
8/22/05 thru 9/4/05 - 2 sets of 3 pull ups a day
9/5/05 thru 9/18/05 - 2 sets of 4 pull ups a day
9/19/05 thru 10/2/05 - 2 sets of 5 pull ups a day
6 week max pull up test
10/3/05 thru 10/16/05 - 2 sets of 5 pull ups a day
10/17/05 thru 10/30/05 - 2 sets of 6 pull ups a day
10/31/05 thru 11/13/05 - 2 sets of 7 pull ups a day
6 week max pull up test
11/14/05 thru 11/27/05 - 2 sets of 7 pull ups a day
11/28/05 thru 12/11/05 - 2 sets of 8 pull ups a day
12/12/05 thru 12/25/05 - 2 sets of 9 pull ups a day
6 week max pull up test

So, hopefully by New Year I'll be at about 15 max reps.

[TonyM.]

Good plan. I did something like this in the service and got up to thirty five. (which is impressive for me because I have very long thin arms) I have a friend built more like a normal human that was able to reach fifty.

[YuanZhideDiZhen]

if you can figure out how to do a pull up that will help in the downward stroke of the elbow's extension would you let me know?

[TonyM.]

I think you have to go up way over the bar.

[YuanZhideDiZhen]

so...it's **** near impossible? i'll have to work on it... :cool:

[johnyk]

Try to place the pull up bar not too far from the wall. Pull yourself up real fast and try to use your feet to go even higher.
Or do pull ups to the stomach and than extend the elbows.
Rare, but can be done.

[Slade]

What is all this talk about pullups being hard, I must be superhumanly blessed or something, i can do just over 100 and I never really have to train in them ethier, I can just goto gym and use the bar and do over 100 in a single set.
:confused:

[Chief Fox]

Hey that's great. Why don't you start your own superhuman pullups thread? :rolleyes:

[Slade]

Im not gloating I just find it weird how easy I find them and always have without any practice and everyone else says they are hard. its like WTF!!

[Chief Fox]

I'm not calling you a liar but 100+ pullups in one set is pretty freakin' amazing.

Here's a link to an article about pullups. This guy says that if you can do 45+ pullups in one set you're a physical badass! So you're more than double that!

http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/7/

Have you tried one handed pullups or weighted pullups?

[Ka]

Yeah thats petty amazing,so humor us and post your age,weight, and style of Pull Up (like do you kip or swing,dead hang,grip:facing u/away /alternate).

After that I'd head to the nearest AIS and try out for a Sport.

Whooh I just read your profile so your early 20s at about 80kg and in a previous post you said you can run 6miles(9.6 km) in 20mins.
Head to the AIS now!

[wall]

Well ... it took me years and years of training (admittedly not just focusing on pull-ups, but nonetheless doing pull-ups seriously 2-3 times per week) to get to my current max, which is 35-40 (depends on the day :) ) in one set, full r.o.m.

I've seen a 25y.o. gymnast (olympic level) doing 60 in one set for a challenge, and the last few were a BIG effort ... and this is a guy that trains those muscle groups all day, every day, since childhood, and is under 70kg, all muscle.

So ... if you can really do 100 in one set at 20y.o. and 80kg, with any amount of training, let alone hardly any as you say, immediately head to the nearest institute of sport and choose a discipline, because you must have the genetics to become one of the greatest athletes of all time.

Wall

[Chief Fox]

Well I've been doing my pullup workout for the past 6 weeks and today I did my 6 week max pullup test. And I'm happy to say that my pullup max has increased from 6 to 8. So it's working. Slowly, but still working. In another 6 weeks I hope to be at a max of 10. I'll update this thread.

[wall]

Hi Chief ... honestly I think your progress is way too slow (2 reps gain in 6 weeks, starting at a 6 reps max) and IMO you should change program.

Try this for 4 weeks:

Monday: 5 sets of pullups - each set to failure and then 3-4 additional negative reps (jump up using your feet then go down as slowly as possible).

Thursday: same as monday.

The other days do anything else but nothing too strenuous involving lats and biceps, which will be recuperating.
Usual healthy eating with plenty of proteins applies.
Based on experience I say when you try your max in 4 weeks time it would have gone up to at least 10, maybe 12. In 6-8 months you should be around 18 reps, then it will gradually get slower (the gain) and depend more and more also on genetics, other training, nutrition, etc.

Happy training :)

Wall

[Hai_To]

Whooh I just read your profile so your early 20s at about 80kg and in a previous post you said you can run 6miles(9.6 km) in 20mins.
Head to the AIS now!

The world record for the mile is 3:43. 3:43 per mile for 6 miles equates to a time of 22:18. I think 6 miles in 20-21 minutes is an exaggeration. The world record for 10,000 meters (6.2 miles) is around 26 minutes.

[racerX]

Hello everyone
love pull ups have'nt done them in awhile.Just put my bar up between kitchen and hall.Try to do 3 ever time I pass.

[Ka]

The world record for the mile is 3:43. 3:43 per mile for 6 miles equates to a time of 22:18. I think 6 miles in 20-21 minutes is an exaggeration. The world record for 10,000 meters (6.2 miles) is around 26 minutes.
Ahh... Yeah, I guess you failed to understand the sarcasm in my post(hopefully identified by ,"Head to the AIS now!"
perhaps send your post to Slade.

[Hai_To]

Ka,

My post was not directed at you. It was simply a follow up to your post. I apologize for the confustion.

[IronFist]

Hello everyone
love pull ups have'nt done them in awhile.Just put my bar up between kitchen and hall.Try to do 3 ever time I pass.

Good way to grease the groove.

[racerX]

Starting to avoid going to the kitchen. Sore, going to start keeping track of passes.

[Scott R. Brown]

When i was age 20 i got up to 40 pullups either way, palms facing and palms away. with my legs in a straight "L" postion toes about eye level. And 10 sets of wide grip pullups with 50# weight. 5 sets to back of neck and the 5 sets to the front of the neck. These were at a moderate pace, no kipping and full range. Actually it was my grip that was my limit not the pullup.

I got up to 3 one arm pullups with either arm from a dead hang, full range. 5' 91/2" 165#

At age 46 now, I can still do 25 pullups and about 5-7 with 40# weight at a weight of 195# I am thinking about dropping 20# though so i can get the reps up higher a bit more easily.

[Scott R. Brown]

Hi racerx,

Yes!! you need to take a day or so off inbetween your pullup days!

When i was in high school i did so many pullups on day i couldn't lift my arms for about three days and i couldn't straighten them out without pain too. I learned not to over it do cuz it actually made me sick!

Try taking it a bit slower.

[Chief Fox]

Hi Chief ... honestly I think your progress is way too slow (2 reps gain in 6 weeks, starting at a 6 reps max) and IMO you should change program.

Try this for 4 weeks:

Monday: 5 sets of pullups - each set to failure and then 3-4 additional negative reps (jump up using your feet then go down as slowly as possible).

Thursday: same as monday.

The other days do anything else but nothing too strenuous involving lats and biceps, which will be recuperating.
Usual healthy eating with plenty of proteins applies.
Based on experience I say when you try your max in 4 weeks time it would have gone up to at least 10, maybe 12. In 6-8 months you should be around 18 reps, then it will gradually get slower (the gain) and depend more and more also on genetics, other training, nutrition, etc.

Happy training :)

Wall
Wall, you're right, my progress is disturbingly slow but I've never been any good at pullups. The most pullups I've ever done in one set is 13 and I did that in 10th grade 21 years ago! :eek: I'll give your program a try for the next 4 weeks and see where I'm at. Thanks for the suggestion.

[blake]

Hello everyone
love pull ups have'nt done them in awhile.Just put my bar up between kitchen and hall.Try to do 3 ever time I pass.

I did the same thing you did and went from doing 2 pullups to 25 in a little over 2 months. I ruined the frame of my door though

[racerX]

The bar I have is from champs.It moves easy from door to door.The weight is distibuted across the top of the door frame.It has a couple a ways to do the pull ups,cost about 25$.


Hey scott,Iam going slow today.About 10 passes today plus missed a few here and there.

[Scott R. Brown]

Hi racerX,

The thing is to give yourself some rest days. If you do pullups or any exercise everyday all you are doing is tearing down the muscle tissue. The healing process is where the improved strength and/or endurance occurs. The exercise strains the muscle, the rest period allows it to heal. While your muscle heals it over compensates and this is how the improvement occurs. You really need one to two days rest inbetween workout days. The rough guide is if you are too stiff or sore you need another day of rest. If you feel you must do something after waiting a day or so, but you are still stiff or sore, then do half the reps for the day. If you are doing 6 sets of 6 reps, do 3-6 sets of 3 reps. This will stimulate the muscles without over stressing them too soon.

If you have a swimming pool handy some light swimming or paddling around will assist in the recovery time as well.

When I did my intense pullup routine in my twenties I started out doing pullups Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, but i discoverd that I actually improved quicker on the weeks I didn't train on Sunday.

Give it a thought and good luck!

[dougadam]

Sounds like good advice.

:)

[wall]

Hi Chief, it's been almost a month since your last post on this, what's your max now?

[Chief Fox]

Thanks for checking in on me. I did 10 the other day.

Once again my workout has changed. I've been doing the Crossfit workout. Not sure if you're familiar with it but you do a lot of pullups. When you can't do pullups anymore, you do jumping negatives. So I've been doing this and my numbers have increased.

[SevenStar]

How many can you do now?

[Chief Fox]

right now I've got tendonitis in my right shoulder and a tweaked back so I just went out to the garage and was able to do three. Man I suck at pullups.

Thanks for calling me out on this one. I need more practice.

[viper]

On the whole taking the rest thing I found that when im training like 25 hours a week inc gym etc that I wouldn see hude gains but what i did is stop training for like two weeks at such a intense rate and drop back to 15 10 hours my body would just change it becomes more defined faster stonger etc it just leaps ahead as if it catches up with the training id been doing just thought id put it out there. With pullups I think reps till failure is the best way to see improvement just have good rest time. And slade sounds like a lil way to good to be tru im more prove it then say it. Also there is no mention on whether there is any counter balance equip for his pullup or someone holding his feet to help him up lol. Not saying his a liar but im skeptical.

[Chief Fox]

On the whole taking the rest thing I found that when im training like 25 hours a week inc gym etc that I wouldn see hude gains but what i did is stop training for like two weeks at such a intense rate and drop back to 15 10 hours my body would just change it becomes more defined faster stonger etc it just leaps ahead as if it catches up with the training id been doing just thought id put it out there. With pullups I think reps till failure is the best way to see improvement just have good rest time. And slade sounds like a lil way to good to be tru im more prove it then say it. Also there is no mention on whether there is any counter balance equip for his pullup or someone holding his feet to help him up lol. Not saying his a liar but im skeptical.
I'm not lying, I honestly did 3 unassisted pullups last night. What, do you want video so i can prove that I did 3 pullups? :D

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

i do pullups the same days i do back and shoulders. i did 10 last night just to warm up before lifting without too much effort so i think my max is currently around 15. give or take a little.

im also 5'4'' and weigh 138lbs though hehe.

[edit] oh and the reason why i posted to begin with ... do you guys think i could start doing pullups 3 times a week in addition to lifting 3 - 5 times. im sure it wouldnt hurt to do them on the day or two of lower body work, but i also want to make sure my upper half is getting propper healing time.

[Scott R. Brown]

You should be ok with 3 days a week. I was doing pullups 4 days a week when I got up to 40 "perfect form", legs in an "L" (actually closer to a lazy V!) pullups! I weighed 165# at the time.

I did Tues. Thurs, Sat, Sun. Each day was 10 sets to failure of two different pullup exercsies. I wouldn't recommend the 4 days though. You will really need the extra day of rest!

[viper]

cheif fox please include a running commentary of ur 3 pullups i would very much like to hear ur journey from pullup mino to pullup superhero. U inspire us all the keep reaching for the stars ahahahaha. (when i first read ur post i was like wat i didnt say nething bout ur pullup then i saw the smily face.)

[TaiChiStorm]

Hey guys,
very interesting thread !!! I really love Pull-Ups, because it's a very good excercise you can do without any equipment or studio...
I will definitly start a new training routine. Until now, I did pull-ups just once a week within my back-training. (always in the beginning, 3 sets) I can do about 12 clean pull-ups with overhand. But the problem is still, that after my first set of 12 reps, I am not able to do even 6 reps.
So I hope this problem will be solved by doing them more often per week !!
Greets
TaiChiStorm

[Scott R. Brown]

Hi TaiChiStorm,

How long are you resting between your sets? You should rest a minimum of 1 minute, but not more that 4 or 5 minutes. There are many ways to improve. If numbers per set are important to you then rest longer, otherwise 1-2 minutes will be fine. It is good that you are doing your pull-ups first. Be sure you haven’t done biceps the day before too.

You could also try doing just 2 sets instead of 3. Do your first set of 12 then rest 2-4 minutes then do your second set for as many as you can. Then rest 15 seconds and do as many as you can, then rest 15 seconds and keep going like that until you get up to 12 again. Be sure you have your two days off in a row at least once a week. If this is too much for you then only do pull-ups two days a week with the second day lighter. That means about ½ to 3/4 the number of pull-ups on the hard day. Or you can do your pull-ups then rest 2 days, do pull-ups, rest 2 days etc. or rest 3 days. As I said there are many ways to do them. Learn to listen to your muscles, with experience you will know when you can go hard again or if you need an extra day of rest.

Everyone’s body reacts differently to exercise because of their genetics and basic conditioning. So 3 per week may be too much for you right now.

[Chief Fox]

So I've started this new pullup program. It's called Recon Ron's.

It's designed to train marines to reach the max on the physical fitness test.

Here it is:

Step 1: 1,1,1,1,1 Step 16: 9,7,6,5,5
Step 2: 2,2,1,1,1 Step 17: 10,7,6,6,5
Step 3: 3,2,2,1,1 Step 18: 10,8,6,6,6
Step 4: 3,2,2,2,1 Step 19: 10,8,7,6,6
Step 5: 4,2,2,2,2 Step 20: 11,8,7,7,6
Step 6: 4,3,2,2,2 Step 21: 12,9,7,7,7
Step 7: 4,4,2,2,2 Step 22: 13,9,8,7,7
Step 8: 5,4,3,2,2 Step 23: 14,9,8,8,7
Step 9: 5,4,3,3,3 Step 24: 14,10,8,8,8
Step 10: 6,4,4,3,3 Step 25: 15,10,9,8,8
Step 11: 6,5,4,4,3 Step 26: 16,10,9,9,8
Step 12: 7,5,4,4,4 Step 27: 16,11,9,9,9
Step 13: 7,6,5,4,4 Step 28: 17,11,10,9,9
Step 14: 8,6,5,5,4 Step 29: 18,11,10,10,9
Step 15: 8,7,5,5,5 Step 30: 18,12,10,10,10


Each step is done two weeks before advancing. You do 5 sets of pullups everyday starting at step 1 you do 5 sets of 1 pullup. You then move up through the steps.

I'm just finishing up step one this week and will be moving on to step 2 in a couple of days. I can already feel my grip getting stronger and I can pull higher. More to my chest than just my chin.

30 steps at two weeks a step is 60 weeks. That puts me completing this routine sometime next fall. I hope I can keep it going for that long.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

should you start at a slightly higher step if your ready for it or no?

[Chief Fox]

I've seen another version of the same program but it started at about Step 10 of this program. So I think if you can do more then start higher.

I think the idea is that you are not maxing out on any of the sets but taking a slow steady approach.

I've also heard of a variation where you add in a pullup max day once a week where you just go for your max in one set and no more.

[Ford Prefect]

That program is a good one. I had my best results when only doing sets of 5 pull-ups. I went from being about to 10-12 pull-ups to being able to do nearly 40. It was part of a larger workout where you do:

Pyramid push-ups 10-20 by 2's (10-12-14...20)
Do a set of 20 squats in between each set of push-ups

Pyramid sprint (total distance back and forth) 20 yards, 30 yards, 40 yards, 50 yards, 60 yards, 70, 75 yards
Do a set of 5 pull-ups in between each sprint and rest 20 seconds

Reverse the push-up pyramid 20-10
20 Squats in between...

Reverse the Sprint pyramid 75-20 yards
5 pull-ups in between w/20 seconds rest...

This workout would only last about 15-20 minutes, so in that time you do 180 push-ups, 240 squats, 70 pull-ups, and boat load of sprinting in that time. Not bad at all. Don't be ashamed to pace yourself on the sprints. I've had a few people lose their lunches on that portion.

If you don't have a place to do the sprinting, I'd do either (a) Canadian Wind Sprints from escalating time (b) Jump Rope Sprints for escalating time (c) KB/DB swings (although this can fry your grip for the pull-ups)

I've also seen good results pyramiding pull-ups with a weighted vest.

[IronFist]

Shouldn't there by some volume reduction in there? I didn't think you could make progress for 60 straight weeks.

[cheesedog]

Hey Ford, what are Canadian wind sprints?

[Chief Fox]

I just moved on to step 2 of Recon Ron's pullup program.

Things I've noticed so far:
1. I can pull higher.
2. My grip is better.
3. I need less rest between sets.

After I complete Step 2 I think I'll try a max pullup day to see where I'm at.