Increasing Pull-Ups

[Dylan in AZ]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

Whenever I do pullups to failure, I always keep my form as perfect as I can through the process. So in other words, I do dead hangs and never do any kippers

My question is: Am I cutting myself short by not including kippers when doing pullups to failure?

 

[Archer762]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

Kip pull-ups and dead-hang pull-ups are two different exercises with two different goals in mind. Doing fast kips, especially when mixed with other exercises, is more of a metabolic exercise- assuming you are able to do many of them. If your ultimate goal is to develop explosive strength and/or want to have the ability to quickly climb stuff, kipping will help.

 

[SeanRT]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

My pull-up regimen looks like this:

30, 20 ,18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2.

I have a 1 minute break in between the 30, 20 ,18, 16, 14, 12, and 10. And once I start on the 8, 6, 4, and 2, I drop my rest to 30 seconds between sets.

If I can't get my body up far enough for my chin to pass the bar, I'll place a bench close by so that my legs are able to lift me up. Then I do negatives for the remainder of that set.

 

[Dylan in AZ]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

Very interesting, thanks for clearing that up for me. Seeing that they are two different excercises, then I would benefit by continuing to do my dead hangs and including additional sets specifically for kippers?

 

[Starbelly]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

Clapping Pullups

 

[shaneinhisroom]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

I can do about 10 pullups when I'm fresh. Then I'll do 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, and 1. I always do pullups after I've had a good warmup run (at least 1 mile, 8 minute pace). I'm trying to "train" for the Warrior Dash and I hear this really helps in addition to some extra upper body training.

 

[palma]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

PB this morning for me of 17. Finished my back and bicep workout and managed sets of 10, 10, and 8 at the very end. I still think going heavy on lat pulldowns is the way to go. I weigh 165 and did 4 sets of 7 with 185.

 

[Chanonry]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: palma</div><div class="ubbcode-body">PB this morning for me of 17. Finished my back and bicep workout and managed sets of 10, 10, and 8 at the very end. I still think going heavy on lat pulldowns is the way to go. I weigh 165 and did 4 sets of 7 with 185. </div></div>

I am trying to get to a one arm pull up. No where near yet, but my pull ups are getting better. What i found was that the last couple of pull ups where I lose form tell me which part of the pull up I need to work on. It isn't necessarily the lat, but lots of lat work is not going to do you any harm!!

 

[Shooter21]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

I weigh 207 and did 19 pull ups this morning. As of Oct 2 2010, I could do 24, then I didn't work out again till 5 weeks ago when it was all I could do to manage 9. feels good to be able to tug it out again.

 

[_Shay_]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

I'm not the strongest kid out there... some say I'm scrawny.

But.....

This works. I can do over 20 deadhangs now, no leg flips. Plus, I've been on a routine where I bench/do bicep curls/other upper body workouts/ about 5-6 times a week for a while now, and it's working...

That is all...

 

[Austincqc]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Chanonry</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: palma</div><div class="ubbcode-body">PB this morning for me of 17. Finished my back and bicep workout and managed sets of 10, 10, and 8 at the very end. I still think going heavy on lat pulldowns is the way to go. I weigh 165 and did 4 sets of 7 with 185. </div></div>

I am trying to get to a one arm pull up. No where near yet, but my pull ups are getting better. What i found was that the last couple of pull ups where I lose form tell me which part of the pull up I need to work on. It isn't necessarily the lat, but lots of lat work is not going to do you any harm!!</div></div>

I can do a half pull-up with one arm. My arm can get to about a 100 degree angle, but I can't finish it out. What's started to help me out has been doing 1/4 pulldowns with just my shoulder blades. Doing sets of 12 with the entire stack of weight is fun but I hate asking for somebody to help pull me down.

 

[FunkBass2008]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

Right now I'm at 27 pullups. I had been at 20 for the longest time. Pullups are included into my back/bi day. When I started using a dipping belt and adding a 45lb and doing 10 then 6 then 4 reps, then moving to lat pull-downs, I was able to increase to 27 fast. I've also recently started having dedicated leg workout days, this has helped me gain about 10lbs of muscle in the last two months (and I do NOT gain lbs easy). Pullups are great, but staying on that bar for more than 20 can really cause your fingers to get sore fast. When I drop off that bar my fingers do not want to bend at ALL

 

[FunkBass2008]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

BTW, this is a bit off topic... Do any of you larger guys who train hard use glucosamine?

 

[Austincqc]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

I just take protein and multivitamins.

I lift heavy and hard almost everyday. I also take a long time to warm up and stretch before each workout.

I weigh 205lbs and stand right at 6ft. I think I'm a pretty small/average dude but I'm strong/dense. I do a warm-up set of 30 pull ups (15 wide, 15 reverse). Then strap 25lbs on and do another set of 15 wide. strap 45lbs on and do a set of 10. Up the weight to 55 for 7reps. Up it one more time to 65lbs for 4. Then I do 12 wide pullups again. After that, I'm ready for the rest of my back workout.

I get a good view of all the ladies around the gym from the top of the pull up bar.

A little extra motivation...

 

[Former0302]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Lonely_Wolf</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I can sympathize. I gave myself a pretty stubborn dose of medial e. tendinitis in both my elbows by getting over zealous. I was making great progress performing ring work and finally hitting my goal to pull my bodyweight (165lbs+165lbs), When I decided to try climbing. I started climbing twice a week and developed an ache that I should not have ignored. My tendinitis was so bad carrying grocery bags home inflamed it. Good news is given rest, patience, and intelligent strength rehab it's a year later and I'm one hundred percent. Almost have a front lever. Keep your chin up mate, you will heal.
</div></div>

Lonely Wolf, any tips on rehab? I've been struggling with annoying bicep tendinitis for about 6 months now. I ice it a couple of times a day (most days) and that helps. I keep working out on it, but I've dropped the weight I'm curling. My pull-ups used to be around 18 - 20 dead hangs, but now I'm limited to about 7-9 before my elbow joint starts telling me to stop. Maybe I'm not being patient enough and just need to stop doing pull ups for a while...

 

[lonely_wolf]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

Former0302,

If you are having issues at seven to nine pull ups when you used to hit twenty then you need to rest. I know it is difficult, but you need to take a few months off minimum. Let those tendons heal. It ain't fun but its gotta be done. In all honesty my wife near divorced me because I was so miserable during recovery.

My advice is to quite all pulling movements and anything that involves intense gripping (ex. deadlifts, farmer walks). I even stopped doing dips because I found they aggravated my elbows.

Recovery consisted of ice packs anytime I was sitting around. I used a lot of Tiger Balm when I wasn't icing. I did contrast dips twice a day: dunking arms in ice water, then boiling water, repeat. A dual sink makes this easy. I also drank a lot of fish oil.

I used these stretches morning, lunch, and evening:

1) Bend your wrist forward and backward as far as you can with elbow straight and arm in front of you. When stretching wrist flexion (palm towards body)- keep fingers bent. When stretching extension (palm away from body)- keep fingers straight. Hold 30 seconds in each position.

2) Pronation and supination of the forearm: With your elbow bent 90° (at your side), turn your palm upward and hold for 30 seconds. Slowly turn your palm downward and hold for 30 seconds. Make sure you keep your elbow at your side and bent 90° throughout this exercise.

I'm stubborn so I had a lot of relapses before I got it though my head that I had to <span style="font-style: italic">rest</span>. For about three months I did all of the above religiously. After that I got back into things <span style="font-style: italic">slowly</span>. Three sets of five slow. It was torture, but now I'm back climbing and pulling like mad and totally injury free.

I am also more careful now. It is an over use injury after all. When you climb two to three times a week doing a workout that consists of fifty or more pullups on top of that is pretty ridiculous. What can I say, I was young....

 

[Former0302]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

Lonely Wolf,

Thanks for the advice. I'll give the stretching routine a go, and take a rest from the weight room. I was afraid it was coming down to not giving it enough time.

I guess this will give me some time to log in some miles and wear out my running shoes.

Getting old sucks. Annoying injuries like this are new to me.

Thanks again,

 

[lonely_wolf]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

No kidding about getting old and injuries....

Finding something else to focus on is the key. I became very proficient at handstand pushups and general balancing while I was recovering. They're challenging and do a fine job of rounding the shoulders.

 

[Arkast]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

A lot of great info here.

At my last PFT before graduating bootcamp I did 9 pullups.
After finishing SOI, I was able to do 25 consistently but my max would be 28. I didn't do any training for it other than carrying all the gear back and forth from the barracks to class. I was an 0352 (Tow Gunner) and we had to carry a full system between 4 of us everyday. I made sure I carried equal weight on both arms everyday, which was around 40lbs. This is the only thing I can attribute for the added strength. I PT'd but that mostly consisted of running and a few pullups and situps. Thought I would share and see if you guys thought that would be enough to get me strong enough to go from 9 pullups to 28 in a couple of months. We did do pullups before we entered the chow hall everyday also, so that could have helped but no one else jumped in strength as much as I did. If only I could do better than a 19 minute 3 mile, I could have gotten a perfect 300.
I really like all comments and tips, will be helpful whenever I can get back to working out again. I want to get strong again before my arthritis full develops.

 

[dpairborneranger]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

I don't know where I got it but I had this metal bar I found. It was about perfect size for the space in between my kitchen and living room. I bolted it up there and every time I walked through I would do 3 pullups, in and out of the kitchen. Then it went to 5 then 7, then 10 etc etc It worked great

 

[lonely_wolf]

Re: Increasing Pull-Ups

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Mondo</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> I made sure I carried equal weight on both arms everyday, which was around 40lbs. </div></div>

Not sure how you were carrying the gear, but grip work is key to maxing pullups. If you were 'farmer walking' it would definitly be beneficial. More often than not the grip fails before the back. The longer a person can stay on the bar, the more pulls can be grinded out. Generally speaking of course.