• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

Pull up Improvement

N

NavySeabee26

New Member
Although I've only been following the Armstrong program for around two weeks, I'm kind of concerned as I appear to be stuck on my 15th pull up. Does anyone know how quickly or how long it will take for the amount of pull ups I am able to do to increase.


If any can share their experiences in this matter it would be greatly appreciated.
 
2 weeks isnt that long. Stick with it. I could do about 10-12 good ones before armstrong. I got stuck on 14 for about a week and then on 17 for about a month. I got off of it shortly after that but you will hit spots where you dont seem to improve. What number did you start with 2 weeks ago? How fast did you gain up to 15?
 
I know a guy who is stuck around 14 or 15, but he made it through OCS just fine. Pullups are great to beef up your numerical score, but at OCS, what will really matter, make or break, is your running. I'd trade 5 or 6 of my 20 pullups for a couple of minutes off of my run time in a heartbeat. For reals.
 
When I thought I was going to Marine OCS I did Armstrong for about 8 weeks. I got to 15 on the third week and it took about four more to get the last 5. I wouldn't worry...keep on pressing on...

I'd trade 5 or 6 of my 20 pullups for a couple of minutes off of my run time in a heartbeat. For reals.
Click to expand...
Why? Just for the sake of going faster? I just ask cause each pullup is worth almost a minute...
 
Try doing some weighted pull-ups at the gym. Its given me great results. I started with a 25lb plate; eventually moving to up to a 45lb plate and can subsequently do >30 unweighted pull-ups.

Like Zilch said however, I'd gladly trade 5 or 10 of my pullups to get my 19:20 to an 18:00...
 
I started off at 14 perfect pull ups with my whole head over the bar, and locking my arms on the way down. Two weeks is not long at all, I was just curious on how long it takes to see improvement.
 
if you can lose weight, do that too partially by upping the cardio...makes pulling yourself up that much easier AND you'll be a better runner..
 
Ryan_Cunningham said:
Try doing some weighted pull-ups at the gym. Its given me great results. I started with a 25lb plate; eventually moving to up to a 45lb plate and can subsequently do >30 unweighted pull-ups.

Like Zilch said however, I'd gladly trade 5 or 10 of my pullups to get my 19:20 to an 18:00...
Click to expand...
I did that as well and got great results. Its one of those workouts I wish I would have known about sooner. You can really feel the rip in your back when you do those.

Unlike you guys above, Ill keep my 20 pullups and the extra min on my run... :D
 
scoober78 said:
Why? Just for the sake of going faster? I just ask cause each pullup is worth almost a minute...
Click to expand...

E-Course; 3, 4, and 5 mile timed runs; Every single squad run.

If you get 20 pullups but fall out of squad runs or fail timed runs you will get A LOT of crap coming your way.

If you (like me) got 15-18 pullups or so (didn't get my 20 until after OCS) but get great times on E-Course and timed runs, and can call cadence for most of the squad runs without even breaking a sweat, you will not have any problems what-so-ever.

There is a difference between PFT scoring, and practical application.
 
scoober78 said:
When I thought I was going to Marine OCS I did Armstrong for about 8 weeks. I got to 15 on the third week and it took about four more to get the last 5. I wouldn't worry...keep on pressing on...



Why? Just for the sake of going faster? I just ask cause each pullup is worth almost a minute...
Click to expand...

Because overall PFT score does not matter as much as being a strong runner and being able to keep up with your platoon at OCS. In fact, they flat out told us at our initial PFT that those of us who got good PFT scores by getting 100's on crunches and pullups would stick out like sore thumbs, and that they knew who we were and would be watching us to fall out on runs. At the time, I thought, "Don't listen, just push hard in the runs and you'll make it," but sure as sh!t, a few rough days later, with a couple of chits for falling out in runs and x-rays with black lines on them, I was packing for home.

Your legs and feet are your vehicles, you depend on them for everything. For example, on a fartlek, you can suck at one of those events and get by ok, probably. If you suck at running, you're screwed the whole way.

I guess I could have put it better by saying that cardio fitness, endurance, and having stong legs that will carry you and your gear wherever you need to go in a decent timeframe is more valuable than having good upper body strength for the PFT or whatnot.

Both are important, though, or they probably wouldn't test them both, right? :)
 
Pullups are your money-makers... however you may not be giving yourself enough recovery time. Make sure you are doing pullups every other day or so, and not integrating other workouts that use your upper body. If you do you'll simply get too fatigued to move past your 15 pullups... in fact it might start going down. Doing pyramids and push-pull is as good as it gets... swimming and some other weight lifting will also help. Ross-Training has some good routines that will help you build endurance... which you'll need more than anything else. If you do decide to lift... go with moderate weight, high repititions. Build endurance, don't focus on bulking up.
 
Oh yeah, FWIW my pullups sat at 15-18 for a long time, and I finally got to 20 by just weight lifting. I do seated pulldowns, barbell rows, dumbell rows, hammer pulldowns, and deadlifts for my back, and it helped a lot.
 
Zilch said:
At the time, I thought, "Don't listen, just push hard in the runs and you'll make it," but sure as sh!t, a few rough days later, with a couple of chits for falling out in runs and x-rays with black lines on them, I was packing for home.
Click to expand...

Do you mind me asking what times you were putting up for the 3-mile run prior to leaving for OCS? Also, once there did they put you in groups according to your run times, or were you running as a platoon?

I leave in Oct. for 196 and am just trying to gauge what to expect.
 
Zilch said:
In fact, they flat out told us at our initial PFT that those of us who got good PFT scores by getting 100's on crunches and pullups would stick out like sore thumbs, and that they knew who we were and would be watching us to fall out on runs. At the time, I thought, "Don't listen, just push hard in the runs and you'll make it," but sure as sh!t, a few rough days later, with a couple of chits for falling out in runs and x-rays with black lines on them, I was packing for home.
Click to expand...

I don't understand this part.. You got 20 pullups, 100 crunches, and your staff expected you to fall out of runs? Then you got stress fractures?

I don't think your stress fractures had anything to do with you being able to do 20 pullups, but rather that you weren't prepared enough for OCS. I knew plenty of guys who got 100 crunches (everyone should be getting 100 crunches, they are cake) and 20 pullups and never fell out of any runs (myself included).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top