Pullup Bars and consistency

[_Shay_]

Here is the deal, I'm getting ready to leave for MCRD here soon, and my pullups have been great, 20-23 pullups easily. I have one of those iron gym pullup bars, and the strange thing is, I have a hard time doing as many on that thing as I do on my recruiters bar, which is directly mounted to the wall.

This is quite a confidence depleter when you're gassing to get 20. I haven't let myself get lazy, I'm doing more than what I need to do, but the question is, is it the bar? The one I have flexes whenever I do them, and my recruiters is rock solid. Would this be the case, or is it a mental thing?

Another thing I might add is that my bar has a smaller diameter bar, if that would make a difference. I cant seem to get as solid of grip on mine.

 

[JJones75]

Re: Pullup Bars and consistency

the diameter of the bar has alot to do with it , I don't think the flexing would unless you are swinging alot.
more than anything is the grip width , just a couple inches can make a huge difference , the farther out you go the more you take your arms out of the lift forcing the back to do all the work

it would be a good idea to vary your grip a bit from close about shoulder width then slide each hand out 3" and do some then next set 3 more inches , this will work all the muscles involved in the movement a little more independently
another trick is that once you get to 15 reps add weight by holding a 15-20 pound weight between your feet , this with build strength then finish with a high rep set .

after a certain point in reps your muscles could be fatiguing and causing you to hit a sticking point

 

[cavemanmoore]

Re: Pullup Bars and consistency

This is very common. Ive been on bars that literally double the amount of pull ups I can do. Try this: wrap your bar at home with a towel. Bet the increase is noticeable on the very first set.

 

[_Shay_]

Re: Pullup Bars and consistency

10-4, thanks guys.

 

[dogman]

Re: Pullup Bars and consistency

It probably makes a difference when your recruiter is standing right there watching you.

 

[Former0302]

Re: Pullup Bars and consistency

Better to use the bar that makes you work harder at home and excel when it counts than the other way around.

+ 1 on the weighted pullups.

Good luck at MCRD! Given where you are with your pullups, I'm guessing the physical part won't be too tough for you. Just keep your sense of humor and stay motivated. How's your running?

And thank you for serving our country. God bless.

 

[_Shay_]

Re: Pullup Bars and consistency

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dogman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It probably makes a difference when your recruiter is standing right there watching you.</div></div>
Very true. DI's may have the same effect.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: former0302</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Better to use the bar that makes you work harder at home and excel when it counts than the other way around.

+ 1 on the weighted pullups.

Good luck at MCRD! Given where you are with your pullups, I'm guessing the physical part won't be too tough for you. Just keep your sense of humor and stay motivated. How's your running?

And thank you for serving our country. God bless.</div></div>

I've been working on weighted pullups, that helped a lot in the past few months.

The physical part will still be challenging, I'm not the strongest of guys.

Running has been good, doing around 3-5 miles a day with a day off every 3-4 days.

 

[JJones75]

Re: Pullup Bars and consistency

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: _Shay_ ©</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dogman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It probably makes a difference when your recruiter is standing right there watching you.</div></div>
Very true. DI's may have the same effect.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: former0302</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Better to use the bar that makes you work harder at home and excel when it counts than the other way around.

+ 1 on the weighted pullups.

Good luck at MCRD! Given where you are with your pullups, I'm guessing the physical part won't be too tough for you. Just keep your sense of humor and stay motivated. How's your running?

And thank you for serving our country. God bless.</div></div>

I've been working on weighted pullups, that helped a lot in the past few months.

The physical part will still be challenging, I'm not the strongest of guys.

Running has been good, doing around 3-5 miles a day with a day off every 3-4 days. </div></div>

Get a deck of cards , give each suit a hand position for pushups ,
say Diamonds has your thumb and index finger on each hand touching maing a diamond shape
Clubs has your hands chest width appart , make a fist and point your thumbs toward your head , have your hands even with your nipples
Spades is normal push up position
Hearts has each hand 3" wider than normal

Now on your face ready to do pushups , have somebody go thoguh a deck of cars calling out the number and suit , you move to that suit position and hit the number called for reps , 5 second break , next card and so on. This will work your whole chest , front delts and triceps

Do the same thing with pullups , vary the grip from overhand normal to underhand normal , wide to to hands on top of one another doing the pullup sideways and bringing your head up to each side of the bar. This will work your upper and lower lats and your biceps. Make sure to come all the way down to a full hang then squeeze hard at the top , this will drop your reps alot but come time for a test you will be over all stronger.

If you have access to weights focus on things like power cleans and deadlifts , these will strengthen your core.

Make sure you dont rest any more than 15-20 second between sets this will help build your cardio some

If the runs you are making are getting easier , plug your nose and do it then get a snorkel and breath through that , this will train your body to function on restricted oxygen which is very important if you live and train at sea level and go PT at higher elevation otherwise you will be sucking wind bad

 

[Photon]

Re: Pullup Bars and consistency

Congrats on choosing USMC Shay... I've been off the site for a while and remember a lot of SEAL talk a long while ago. I did the same exact thing, thought SEALs since I was 12, then when the time came to get some, Marines got me with those beautiful dress blues.

I've been keeping my pullups solid by using the in-home pullup bar as well, but nothing can beat variety in your pullups. I usually do the Recon Ron (which I know you're familiar with) 5 days a week, and if I can quite get the last rep i'll switch grips for the next set. I also vary whether I go to a playground around town, in-home, or gym to get different grips down. The bigger the bar, the stronger your hands will get from wrapping your fingers around it (helping you in the long run).

The big thing for the PFT pullup portion is speed and pace. I usually hop up, hit 12 as fast as possible (fairly wide grip), take two breaths, and focus on dropping quickly (not easing down) on the last 9. (If you do your math right there, I shoot for 21 so as to not psyche myself out on the last one)

As you know, DOING pullups is how you get better at them. Sometimes you won't have the nicest bar to test on (no tape) or adequate space (I hate wall mounted ones, ha). Marines make do.

Semper Fi, and good luck.

 

[BERTMAN77MK2]

Re: Pullup Bars and consistency

weighted pullups helped me the most after I had plateaued---using varied grip widths and different speeds already---using a weight belt with a chain to hang up to 45lb plate between the knees---now w/o body weight only (200lb) I have been able to in crease reps from 25 to 35+. Using the same method for dips my reps went from 25 to 45.

another method that has helped on pullups is to pull up with a WIDE grip in a straight line with spine to the back of neck---difficult but worth the dividends

 

[HajjWhisperer]

Re: Pullup Bars and consistency

Yeah weighted pullups or ladders and pyramids, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...to 10 or whatever and then back down and limit your rests so it's as close to failure as possible when you're at the higher rep numbers. I wouldn't stress too much about it. You'll probably lose some weight at MCRD anyway which usually makes pull-ups easier, for me at least. Just make sure you practice from a complete dead hang and go all the way down. I got nailed a few times on that and lost as many as 3 or 4 pull-ups. If I remember correctly the final one you take is the one that counts and after three months you'll be in good shape.

 

[YTALER]

Re: Pullup Bars and consistency

If you're doing 20+ pullups now then you are going to be way ahead of the pack in bootcamp. Good luck and make sure you keep your rotator cuff muscles in shape.