Chin-up program?

[Sardinkahnikov]

Hello
I'd like to improve my upper body strenght and since I have no acess to a gym, I'm just using the public chin/pull up bars in the local park. I've been going through with a regimen of 6 sets of as many repetitions as I can pull off, with a day rest between sessions. It seems to be working, since I'm able to pull off more repetitions in the next sessions than I did in the previous ones.

Here's the question: most programs I've seen say that a day rest between sessions is the way to go, but there is also some people who claim that a 5 day rest is better for increasing strenght. What's your take on this?

[wenshu]

It depends on individual recovery ability. You could probably make either interval work.

For insane upper body strength with the tools you have available try some static disadvantaged leverage positions: Front Lever, Back Lever and Planche.

http://www.gymnasticbodies.com/index...icles&Itemid=3

[bodhitree]

Push ups may make a wonderful addition!

[Sardinkahnikov]

Thanks for the link, it's very interesting. I'll definitely look into those positions. Funny thing is that my sifu made us practice those, but I didn't include them in my daily exercises for some reason...

Bodhitree: agreed, pushups are a great exercise and should not be neglected...

I'll mess around with the intervals and see what works best. Another thing that one should be concerned, I think, is grip strenght....I used to do alot of han sword stuff with a heavy practice sword so my grip is still good, but could definitely improve...

[teetsao]

make sure you are getting at least 1g of protien per lb. of bodyweight and alot of good clean(distilled) water everyday and you can do pull ups 4 or 5 days a week with no ill efffects. you will recover extremely quick. the guys i know who can do tons of pull ups, do them 5 days a week.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Hello
I'd like to improve my upper body strenght and since I have no acess to a gym, I'm just using the public chin/pull up bars in the local park. I've been going through with a regimen of 6 sets of as many repetitions as I can pull off, with a day rest between sessions. It seems to be working, since I'm able to pull off more repetitions in the next sessions than I did in the previous ones.

Here's the question: most programs I've seen say that a day rest between sessions is the way to go, but there is also some people who claim that a 5 day rest is better for increasing strenght. What's your take on this?

Depends on what you are working on and if you are going to failure.
Typically when you put your CNS though a lot, liek a set of squats to failure, you need 3-4 days, and even less stressful exercises like pull-ups you probably need 2 days in between workouts, especialy if you are doing MA too.
For some they need a whole rest day between ST days.
So you would to MA on Mon, ST on tuesday, rest Wed, MA thurs, St friday, etc.

The key is progression, as long as you are progressing then keep at it, the moment you stop, take a break, maybe a week off.

If you are working on muscular endurance then keep the reps high, if you are working on buidling "pure strenght" keep them low ( 5 at the max, you may need to add weight via a weight belt) for mass keep them in the 8-10 range.

[Scott R. Brown]

make sure you are getting at least 1g of protien per lb. of bodyweight and alot of good clean(distilled) water everyday and you can do pull ups 4 or 5 days a week with no ill efffects. you will recover extremely quick. the guys i know who can do tons of pull ups, do them 5 days a week.

Drinking too much distilled water is NOT a good thing. You need the minerals in regular water!

Early Death Comes from Drinking Distilled Water

by Zoltan P. Rona, MD, MSc

"Distilled water is an active absorber and when it comes into contact with air, it absorbs carbon dioxide, making it acidic. The more distilled water a person drinks, the higher the body acidity becomes. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Distilled water, being essentially mineral-free, is very aggressive, in that it tends to dissolve substances with which it is in contact. Notably, carbon dioxide from the air is rapidly absorbed, making the water acidic and even more aggressive. Many metals are dissolved by distilled water."

The longer one drinks distilled water, the more likely the development of mineral deficiencies and an acid state. I have done well over 3000 mineral evaluations using a combination of blood, urine and hair tests in my practice. Almost without exception, people who consume distilled water exclusively, eventually develop multiple mineral deficiencies.

Those who supplement their distilled water intake with trace minerals are not as deficient but still not as adequately nourished in minerals as their non-distilled water drinking counterparts even after several years of mineral supplementation.

The ideal water for the human body should be slightly alkaline and this requires the presence of minerals like calcium and magnesium.

Distilled water tends to be acidic and can only be recommended as a way of drawing poisons out of the body. Once this is accomplished, the continued drinking of distilled water is a bad idea.

Water filtered through a solid charcoal filter is slightly alkaline. Ozonation of this charcoal filtered water is ideal for daily drinking. Longevity is associated with the regular consumption of hard water (high in minerals). Disease and early death is more likely to be seen with the long term drinking of distilled water. Avoid it except in special circumstances."

[Scott R. Brown]

As far as Chins go....the more you can do the more often you can do them. So if you are cranking out 30 per set, then you could probably get by with chinning 5 days a week.

When I was about 20-21 I chinned 4 days a week, Tues, Thurs, Sat and Sun. I did 10 sets to failure. When I cut back to 3 days a week, that is, basically a two day rest, my max number shot up by 10-20 reps or so!

Your body will tell you when you need a rest. If you have increased fatigue, muscle soreness and your rep numbers are going down, take a few days off. The thing about high reps is that if you take more than two or three days off in a row you will find your max numbers decline almost immediately! But even that depends upon how over trained you are. It is the resting in between training days that increases your numbers. So, you will need to change your rest frequency based upon what your body is telling you.

[David Jamieson]

There are a lot of ways to do chins and pull ups as well.
They make up the bulk of the upper body workouts that you do in Tony Horton's P90x program.

The rule is this:

exercise is the architect and rest is the builder.

too much work = not optimum
too much rest = gains will be lost

45-1hr a day of constant sets with 30 sec breaks in between sets or cycles depending what you are doing.

your rest day in a 7 day week on a time schedule like this can be used to do stretching or yoga, but you should have at least one day of rest per week.

Also, if you are going to work abs, that should be every 2nd day as well and not on the rest day.

[Drake]

Knew a guy during my first tour in Germany who swore by pull-ups. Said they should be mandatory for the Army.

He maxed his pushups every time, so I'm guessing he's right.

[Sardinkahnikov]

Depends on what you are working on and if you are going to failure.
Typically when you put your CNS though a lot, liek a set of squats to failure, you need 3-4 days, and even less stressful exercises like pull-ups you probably need 2 days in between workouts, especialy if you are doing MA too.
For some they need a whole rest day between ST days.
So you would to MA on Mon, ST on tuesday, rest Wed, MA thurs, St friday, etc.

The key is progression, as long as you are progressing then keep at it, the moment you stop, take a break, maybe a week off.

If you are working on muscular endurance then keep the reps high, if you are working on buidling "pure strenght" keep them low ( 5 at the max, you may need to add weight via a weight belt) for mass keep them in the 8-10 range.

just let me get the terminology correctly
"pure strenght" = power of your muscular contraction
"endurance" = for how long your muscle can repeat a certain effort
right?

[sanjuro_ronin]

just let me get the terminology correctly
"pure strenght" = power of your muscular contraction
"endurance" = for how long your muscle can repeat a certain effort
right?

In a nutshell, yes.
Doing 20 body weight push-ups at 170lbs is NOT the same as doing 3 with 170lbs BW + 50lbs attached, know what I mean?
Two different goals so two different training methods need to be used.

[Scott R. Brown]

just let me get the terminology correctly
"pure strenght" = power of your muscular contraction
"endurance" = for how long your muscle can repeat a certain effort
right?

Not quite:

Power is your ability to move a fixed weight as fast as possible, usually NOT a maximum weight. It is the maximum for a given speed, but NOT a measure of strength.

Strength is your ability to move a maximum weight. It doesn't matter how fast you move it and it is usually significantly slower than your fastest speed of movement.

Endurance is your ability to perform a specific movement continuously over a longer period of time.

One set of power is usually 3-5 reps.

One set of strength is usually 1-3 reps.

One set of endurance is usually 15 up to as high as you wish to go with the higher the number the better the endurance for that movement.

[teetsao]

water is not a good source of minerals. food is. water that comes from the faucet is filterd so there is very few minerals in it ay all(hard water) but lots of checmicals like clorine, and flouride(which is actuall 10 different types of chemicals.
saying that distilled water will hurt you is like saying "improper" iron palm training will maske oyu blind, impotent or kill you. it is just plain rubbish.

[Hardwork108]

Hello
I'd like to improve my upper body strenght and since I have no acess to a gym, I'm just using the public chin/pull up bars in the local park. I've been going through with a regimen of 6 sets of as many repetitions as I can pull off, with a day rest between sessions. It seems to be working, since I'm able to pull off more repetitions in the next sessions than I did in the previous ones.

Here's the question: most programs I've seen say that a day rest between sessions is the way to go, but there is also some people who claim that a 5 day rest is better for increasing strenght. What's your take on this?

Just to say that Chin ups are a great way to enhance your upper body kung fu power. This was essential training in my WC training. I have a chin up bar on my balcony, and I do chin ups with my body totally straight, with relaxed dantien breathing, as taught by my Wing Chun sifu. Whenever you have no access to a chin up bar, then "animal walking" can be what the doctor ordered.

Best part of all, chin ups, if done correctly, do not contradict my Chow Gar development forms.