The Cornerstone of Upper Body Strength: The Pullup

ster81

Great post! Pull ups, chin ups,weighted, muscle ups... Any kind of ups is good as long as you're doing em lol.

veganbaum

I really want to work on pullups, but do not currently have access to a gym. Are there any reasonably priced at-home bars that someone could recommend? Those door-frame ones kind of worry me, but I'd get one if someone (or several someones) highly recommends a specific one.

$20 in any sporting goods store. Goes on a door frame with no screws. There's a slight rubbing of the paint, but no damage.

wall mart has the "perfect multi gym" bar ...it goes wider than the door frame and has multiple grips for a variety and the best thing is it "hangs" in the door frame and can be taken off in put back up in 2 seconds literally...a great bar

After finding a video to see how these install I realize that I won't be able to use one. My house doesn't have molding around the doors. When I've looked at them before I didn't realize that was necessary. Sad. But thanks for the recommendations anyway.

dane11235813

i'm not a big bench press guy. it cracks me up watching the meatheads 'pressing' 3 plates per side while their spotter does half the work

That **** drives me f'in nuts! Then they get up acting all big and bad. Just by adding a finger or two the spotter can remove a fair amount of resistance from the weight and then you see the fool using his whole hand to spot them or damn near gripping the bar and pulling it. What's that accomplish?

i don't want to jack the thread because this is a really interesting topic, but possibly the funniest thing i've ever heard at the gym was a couple of 16 year old kids doing bench press and they probably should have stopped at 185 lbs, but they of course had 3 plates a side on the bar.
Kid A lifts the bar off the rack with the help of Kid B. Kid B lets go of the bar and steps back and the weight of course quickly pins Kid A so Kid B grabs the barbell and they manage to get it back up and re-rack it. Kid A sits up and starts laying into Kid B
"hey man you've got to keep your hands on the bar and help lower it down to my chest before i press it back up ok"

:huh: <--- me
:huh: <---- the guy standing beside me
:huh: :huh: :huh: :huh: :huh: <

---

the 5 other people that were standing there watching this debacle.

i guess they have a different definition of what spotting someone involves.
thankfully they were done after that before they really hurt themselves.

JNick77

i'm not a big bench press guy. it cracks me up watching the meatheads 'pressing' 3 plates per side while their spotter does half the work

That **** drives me f'in nuts! Then they get up acting all big and bad. Just by adding a finger or two the spotter can remove a fair amount of resistance from the weight and then you see the fool using his whole hand to spot them or damn near gripping the bar and pulling it. What's that accomplish?

i don't want to jack the thread because this is a really interesting topic, but possibly the funniest thing i've ever heard at the gym was a couple of 16 year old kids doing bench press and they probably should have stopped at 185 lbs, but they of course had 3 plates a side on the bar.
Kid A lifts the bar off the rack with the help of Kid B. Kid B lets go of the bar and steps back and the weight of course quickly pins Kid A so Kid B grabs the barbell and they manage to get it back up and re-rack it. Kid A sits up and starts laying into Kid B
"hey man you've got to keep your hands on the bar and help lower it down to my chest before i press it back up ok"

:huh: <--- me
:huh: <---- the guy standing beside me
:huh: :huh: :huh: :huh: :huh: <

---

the 5 other people that were standing there watching this debacle.

i guess they have a different definition of what spotting someone involves.
thankfully they were done after that before they really hurt themselves.

LMAO!!

crisanderson27

I really want to work on pullups, but do not currently have access to a gym. Are there any reasonably priced at-home bars that someone could recommend? Those door-frame ones kind of worry me, but I'd get one if someone (or several someones) highly recommends a specific one.

$20 in any sporting goods store. Goes on a door frame with no screws. There's a slight rubbing of the paint, but no damage.

wall mart has the "perfect multi gym" bar ...it goes wider than the door frame and has multiple grips for a variety and the best thing is it "hangs" in the door frame and can be taken off in put back up in 2 seconds literally...a great bar

After finding a video to see how these install I realize that I won't be able to use one. My house doesn't have molding around the doors. When I've looked at them before I didn't realize that was necessary. Sad. But thanks for the recommendations anyway.

If you have a door into a garage or in a closet, you can screw a 2x4 to the studs going across the inside. 4 screws should do it, and it's easily removable...not to mention sturdy as all hells.

RUNN3Rmom

My little gymnast 6year old daughter can do 6 unassisted pull-ups on our at home door way pull-up bar She is my inspiration (I can only do 4).

cortezpj

Bump

crisanderson27

Bumping to keep this up towards the tops. I'm helping a friend with her diet and exercise routine...and I have her doing negative chin ups in order to build strength for regular ones. She can only do three in a row, but I've guaranteed her that her strength will improve very, very quickly.

anashar

bump for later

Lesley2901

Thanks for the tips. You have motivated me to restart my attempts at pull ups again.

Smuterella

I'm pathetic at even negative pull ups so, what with starting P90x on monday I'm going to be doing assisted for the actual pull ups in the programme plus trying the Scooby's workshop thing a couple of times a week (5 sets of 8 negatives from a chair until I go down slowly rather than just slumping).

Would getting a resistance band really help me or can I progress with just the assisteds (chair) and the added negatives?

nml2011

Excellent post, lots of good pointers there... thanks.

CharlieJuliette

Great info. Thank you.

tmpayton

^^ this ^^

waldo56

Frownface at the lack of awesomeness that is the one arm chinup in this post. I don't care how many plates you've got on the bar on the bench, the guy that can do a 1 arm chin is cooler than you are.

For those that can do double digit pulls/chins and want more of a challenge and want their lats to explode, rotate up and pull your knees into your chest, holding a position with your back parallel to the ground, your hips at shoulder height (your abs and lats will have to fire hard to hold this), and use the bar to do rows while holding this position. I personally like the neutral grips for this. To further make it harder, start exending your knees out from your chest keeping yoru back parallel to the ground (which will exponentially increase the load on your lats/abs), taking it to one and eventually both legs extended straight.

Dustin_02

great advice!

tuffytuffy1

Question for anyone who knows, my trainer has me do about 165 pounds on the assisted pullup machine; but he also will have me grab handles at the top of a piece of gym equipment, jump up, and do pull-ups while resting my feet on his thighs. I cannot do them without that sort of assistance. Should I tell him I want to drop the assisted machine, and only do the handles? I'm so confused now. Thanks!

jerber160

this post is an inspiration. I have to start at ground zero and just hang there for 10-15 seconds at a time-it's about the grip.. amazing how weak I've gotten... sigh.. but it's gonna get better

apriltrainer

Currently I can do 6 deadhangs. I think I could do more if I did it the kipping way but for some reason I just can't get the hang of it!!

yecatsml

great post - added to list of goals!