The pull-up question

[batman527]

This post is more to get some discussion going in this forum for other FNG's like myself. So, I was wondering what people with more PFT experience than myself think is the best way to improve my pull-up count. I assume the answer will probably be something to the effect of "do pull-ups". Does anybody know if negatives are effective after you max pull-ups in a set?

 

[JZAB]

What the hell is a FNG? Besides that I don't know how to increase your pull-ups. But I increased mine by doing them every day and incorporating weight training (curls, lat pull downs, and other back and arm exercises. It just takes time to get them up, it won’t happen over night. Good luck maybe check out the Armstrong program I here it works.

 

[Fly Navy]

What the hell is a FNG?

Fucking New Guy

 

[xmid]

Yes I have had some excellent results in the past with doing negatives. Once you exhaust your arms to the point you cant do anymore pull ups do negatives. I think since pull ups are an exercise that requires more strength than anything else (push ups, sit ups, etc.) doing negatives allows you to exhaust those muscles more than just doing pull ups untill you burn out. There are some people on here that can give you much better advice on pull up work outs than me, but in my experience negatives were a godsend. I was able to add a 3-4 pull ups to my max in about weeks time.

 

[KBayDog]

This post is more to get some discussion going in this forum for other FNG's like myself. So, I was wondering what people with more PFT experience than myself think is the best way to improve my pull-up count. I assume the answer will probably be something to the effect of "do pull-ups". Does anybody know if negatives are effective after you max pull-ups in a set?

Hate to say it, but do a thorough search of the PFT, OCS, and TBS threads. There's plenty of good info on this site.

Best of luck.

 

[Navy91]

pull up helps

I had a serious pullup deficiency early on in my career. (21 years ago) Spent a lot of time lifting weights in HS, but all the "wrong" lifts. I quit lifting, and started focusing on doing 200 pushups a day. No matter how weak you are, you can get a pushup count in during a day. Maybe do sets of five, ten, twenty, thirty, I just committed myself to doing 200 a day, spread throughout the day. Within two weeks, my pullups were noticeably easier. Now I know some Kinesiology freak is going to say, the two exercises are totally different. They are. But buildilng a core upper body strength to work off of worked for me. I also did lots of two rep pullup workouts. I wouldn't go to failure - I would just to twenty five sets of two rep pullups, so I was doing fifty pullups a day. Do two pullups, drop off, rest a minute, do two more. In 25 minutes, I had my 50 pullups for the day. Anyway, try it out and see if it works....

 

[Navy91]

core strength

Also try working more situps into your routine. Again, not the same muscles as a pullup, but strengthening around the weakness may allow you to attack the weakness. the negatives are a good idea. Lots of reps. At the end of the day, it is just about the work ethic. Do 50 one rep pullup sets if you have to, but nothing will substitute for the reps....

 

[phrogdriver]

For a dedicated pullup program, try the Armstrong workout. If your weak spot is pullups, it will fix the problem, but it doesn't address the rest of the body--you will have to figure that out on your own.

http://www.4mcd.usmc.mil/AOP/OSOHyattsville/Armstrong%20Pullup%20Program.htm


For a balanced workout that will do both I recommend www.crossfit.com

I've been doing that one for a few months and have been extremely pleased with the results. I thought I was in shape, until I did the Crossfit workouts.

 

[chupacabra]

For a dedicated pullup program, try the Armstrong workout. If your weak spot is pullups, it will fix the problem, but it doesn't address the rest of the body--you will have to figure that out on your own.

http://www.4mcd.usmc.mil/AOP/OSOHyattsville/Armstrong%20Pullup%20Program.htm


For a balanced workout that will do both I recommend www.crossfit.com

I've been doing that one for a few months and have been extremely pleased with the results. I thought I was in shape, until I did the Crossfit workouts.

The Armstrong program helped me greatly, though it is easy to get discouraged at first. It overworks your pull-up muscles so much that you may even see a decrease in your max pull-ups at first, but after a good rest you will see the results. In my case, I kept up with the program for a little over a month, and did not immediately see an improvement over my original max of around 13. I took 2 or 3 weeks off, only working those muscles occasionally and then got 20 on a PFT, and I have since gotten 18-20 pull-ups consistently, doing arm/back exercises every couple of days.

I've taken up Crossfit as well recently, the workouts only take ~20 minutes, but they really kick my ass. I'd reccomend anyone to check it out.

 

[JZAB]

Whats they best method for doing negitives.

 

[phrogdriver]

Two methods I recommend for negatives.

1) Pullup, then let yourself down very slowly. As you get more fatigued, you will not be able to pull up anymore, so start kipping and letting down slowing, then jumping up and letting down.

2) If you have a partner, pull up on the bar, with or without assistance, then have your workout partner try to pull you down as you try to stay on the bar.

 

[xmid]

Phrog hit the nail on the head. Also, if you have someone to help you, you can have them hold your body up just enough to crank out a few more reps. Think of it as dropping some weight on the bench press, you are still doing the exercise, just with a little less weight. I thought this worked pretty well for me because your partner can give you just enough help so that you can do the reps and you are still giving max available effort.

 

[mkoch]

Another good reason to work with a partner spotting you. For someone like myself, who was a runner for years and years, but never did upper body strength workouts, a set of 8 pullups is something to be excited about. I was working on pullups every day, had been doing armstrong for 4 weeks etc. When I was up here at school, I'd always workout with a partner, and by the time we got to later sets, we'd spot each other in case we needed assistance for those last few reps. In one particular set where I should have had a spotter, but didnt, I burned out right near the top of the rep and dropped HARD. Wound up jarring my rotator cuff and developing some nasty tendinitis. Doc ordered me to avoid any kind of arm excercise for 6 weeks, and I had to provide another folder full of paperwork to MEPS as a result.

While I'm sure most if not all of you have more experience in the gym than I do, and don't need to be told any of this, for the few people who are just starting out like I was: push yourself, but don't kill yourself. Going to your limit is great, going beyond and ignoring basic safety rules (like always have a spotter....) will just wind up setting you back further than you started. Not to mention, it hurts like a mother!@#$er.....

 

[theduke]

i went from doing 13-14 pulls up to 26-27 pull-ups largely by doing them with weight.

oh, and do them with palms facing outward. some people find this more difficult at first, but i will almost guarantee that it will pay dividends in the long run. you almost never see a pull up monster who does them with palms facing in. i think i've seen maybe one person.

I train back one day per week, and I always start with pull ups. Sometimes I do a pyramid, sometimes I just do a bunch of sets of 10, and sometimes I do them with added weight (when I was really training to increase my pull ups, I almost always did some with added weight. At one time, I could do 10 with a 45 lb weight chained to my waist. doubt i could do that right now, though.)


Also, do lat pulldowns (concentrate on pulling your ELBOWS down, not your HANDS down. if you concentrate on pulling your elbows down, your hands and the bar will follow, and it will help you target your lats instead of your biceps) and T-bar rows.

Low cable rows, seated rows, bent-over dumbell rows, or any other back exercise is also good. Do just as much for back as you do for chest...I do about 15 sets (3-4 sets of 4 different exercises, or occasionally 5 sets of 3 exercises) for either of those workouts, and I hit them both once per week.


oh, and you need to get down in the 6-10 rep range to build strength when you're doing the weighted pull ups. if you get so strong that you really aren't straining at all to do pull ups, you won't really fatigue until you're almost done (when i do them, it starts to burn around the high-teens, and i don't stop until i hit 20. then i hang there for a few seconds and do some more).

however, you should also do some max sets sometimes to work on muscular endurance (although i've found it to be easier to just get so strong that you aren't really straining than to build up lots of muscular endurance so that you can strain for a lot of reps, if that makes any sense)

 

[JZAB]

Hey thanks TheDuke. I am going to try out the work outs you listed. Hopefully I'll be at 20 in no time.