Armstrong Pullups

[CaseyL90]

Hey

I'm aiming to get a perfect 300 on the PFT. I have been working out at the gym for the past 3 years. I can only do 9 pull ups though. Not really sure why, I work out like a maniac at the gym. I think it's because I work out with free weights, and they don't simulate actually bodyweight exercises at all. Also, I'm 6'2 and that doesn't help when you have that additional 5-6 inches of motion range compared to the average male height

My workout plan for the gym looks like this:
Day 1: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Day 2: Back, Biceps
Day 3: Legs, Abs
Day 4: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Day 5: Back, Biceps
Day 6: Legs, Abs
Day 7: Rest

After every workout, I am sore for 2 days following it, so I need to rest for 2 days before starting it up back again.

The Armstrong program however, you work on your pullups 5 days consecutively. I can't do very many pull ups at all when my back is sore and I heard it wasn't healthy working out your muscles when they are sore because they need rest to repair the damaged fibers.

How would I integrate the Armstrong program, with my current workout regimen? Would I have to change my workout routine? Or are there better exercises to do in the gym instead of the Armstrong routine that could help me achieve similar results?

I want to do both, but physically, I don't think that is healthy. Maybe just force myself to do it all?

 

[usmarinemike]

I'm 6'4" and do just fine with my gangely ass arms.

Armstrong program works exclusively on principle of specificity and reps. I could do three when I shipped to boot camp so never fear.

DO A SEARCH:icon_rage

 

[Turkleton]

I'm like you, it takes me a solid two days to recover from soreness. I did the Armstrong workout for a solid 5 weeks and definitely saw some good results though. I didn't struggle much with soreness during, I did the recommended 3 sets of pushups every morning and that may have helped.

If you do the Armstrong workout, I suggest rearranging your workout a little. Maybe do the pullups at the beginning of the workout, and avoid any additional back exercises. While I was doing it I didn't do hardly any upperbody at all.

 

[phrogdriver]

Remember that you are training for a specific skill here--mid rep (20) bodyweight pull-ups. You need to work those fibers repeatedly in order to build up the muscular endurance needed to get 20 reps. The process of achieving this may indeed hurt the rest of your workout. Oh well.

Whenever someone has problems with moving their bodyweight and blending strength and endurance, I always recommend Crossfit. Check their site out. It will definitely make you work harder than you thought possible before, and give you better applied strength and conditioning, which is what you need in the military.

 

[HuggyU2]

Ha! Can't believe it!! If this is the same "Major Armstrong", I was an AFROTC cadet while he was a Marine ROTC instructor. I was the only AF guy that sometimes showed up to his morning workouts. The guy was an animal, and calling him "intense" was an understatement. Drove around in a Camero that he got painted up in tank camo. Pulled his .45 out one night in the Navy Frat house and cleared the place. About 20 of us went to New Orleans with him for Mardi Gras: down in the rougher parts of town, folks gave him a wide berth.

Yep, he sure liked to do pullups. All the time.

 

[xnvyflyer]

My workout plan for the gym looks like this:
Day 1: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Day 2: Back, Biceps
Day 3: Legs, Abs
Day 4: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Day 5: Back, Biceps
Day 6: Legs, Abs
Day 7: Rest

After every workout, I am sore for 2 days following it, so I need to rest for 2 days before starting it up back again.

Let me tell you a little secret. The way I am guessing you work your body now would be great for a chemically assisted athlete. Think steroids. Us normal folks have a normal recuperative ability meaning those routines you see in the magazines with all the muscle heads are a huge waste of your time and effort.

For example Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps on day 4... Do you really think you need another exercise for triceps after just working Chest and Shoulders which both stimulate triceps anyway? Agood set of dips will hit chest, shoulders and triceps all in one exercise. There's your upper-body (COMPOUND MOVEMENT) for the day. Let's say 4 sets of 15 with weight added if needed.

What's a good lower body COMPOUND MOVEMENT? Let's use squats (with proper form of course), one of the best. Maybe another 4 sets of 15.

You're done. Either take the next day off or do some cardio.

When it comes time for back day, chin ups are probably one of the best back exercises there is and they are a compound movement hitting your back, biceps, shoulders, forearms and gripping muscles. Do you think your biceps need additional stimulation after this? They would surely benefit from more if you were on the juice but remember this. For non-assisted guys (drug free), less is more. Stimulate the muscle, don't destroy it and get enough rest. A good training session not only works the muscle you are directly targeting but also the entire nervous system which needs a break. You grow during the resting phase with proper nutrition and a good night's rest.

That was a lot to digest I'm sure but really the readers digest version of a much bigger picture and only one mans opinion based in real life results and much research.

PM me if you think I can be of further assistance.

 

[Recidivist]

^ Truf.
Forget the vanity muscles dude. Go for crossfit as recommended by the driver of Phrogs, or make up your own routine (something like suggested above) and get functional muscles stronger.

Besides, if you do enough pushups, your chesticles will grow a cup size anyway. Mine have.

 

[MattWSU]

I did most of the Armstrong workout for a month and went from 6 to 16 pullups. The only difference is that I put up a pull-up bar in the door about four feet from my desk and would do a max set several times throughout the day.

I was still in AFROTC at the time so I didn't have as much time to do a gym workout either. Armstrong alone was enough for me.

 

[HueyCobra8151]

A better approach to lifting would be something like:

M-Back
Tu-Chest
We-Legs
Th-Arms
F-Shoulders
Sat/Sun-Rest

You build strength/muscle in your recovery stage, so you need to maximize the time spent resting muscle groups.

Crossfit is the best though. Big muscles are not all that functional. Also, you do so much running and other cardio type stuff that it is hard to get super-huge anyway, bodybuilders cardio usually consists of walking for an hour or something, obviously you cannot take this approach if you are a Marine.

 

[BarrettRC8]

Do weighted pull-ups. When I was able to do 12 with a 45lb plate I could do 32 bodyweight pull-ups. Its all about additional resistance.

And I'd disagree with most of the other posters, provided you have your diet tuned in properly, your workout regime is fine - even by adding the Armstrong routine. Before shipping to OCC-196 I was doing 150-250 pull-ups/sit-ups for my AM workout and hitting the weights in the PM.

 

[HuggyU2]

Michael Colgan has a book called "The New Power Program". A great read. Some of the guys started up on his program, and got me into it. He doesn't have much nice to say about using machines, with a few exceptions. Through his website, the book is $50, but I got it at Amazon for cheap. http://www.colganinstitute.com/

 

[utak]

I found this to be very helpful. This workout was written by a Team guy, explaining what he does over in Iraq. I've done some of it so far, and it's quite an experience.

http://www.extremesealexperience.com/2410.h.NAVY_SEAL_PHYSICAL_TRAINING_FROM_IRAQ

 

[theblakeness]

back when i was doing heavy lifting, I would do as follow:

M:Legs
T:Chest
W:Back
Th:Shoulders
F:Arms

I have since changed my workout completely to be more for endurance. Lots of running, swimming, calithenics, hikes, etc...I do Stew Smith workouts.

I have done Armstrong a few times and everytime it improved my pullups.

 

[othromas]

One of the things they recommend via Crossfit is something called "grease the groove," which is simply doing a large volume of work over a long period of time by breaking the number of reps in any given set down to a manageable number. If you max out at nine pullups, where do you feel like you could keep going all day long if you had to do a set every hour or so? Even if it's only one, that's fine; when I broke my leg in P'cola, I started doing sets on two or three at first, and within two to three weeks I was up to sets of five or six. Once I was out of my cast, I decided to try some on a real bar at the base gym (was using homemade rings at home) and knocked out fifteen no problem, which surprised the hell out of me.

 

[mrkoje]

Whenever someone has problems with moving their bodyweight and blending strength and endurance, I always recommend Crossfit. Check their site out. It will definitely make you work harder than you thought possible before, and give you better applied strength and conditioning, which is what you need in the military.

Crossfit is a very good program for building core strength while improving endurance. Crossfit is pretty much all I do.