The Cornerstone of Upper Body Strength: The Pullup

joejccva71

Excellent read Joe. I am using the assisted machine so I guess from your post I should NOT be. ;o) I will search out the appropriate machine at the gym and get on this.

Stop using it, and either start with Chinups or start with 10 sets of 1 rep. If you can't do 1 rep, you can use a resistance band. Gyms have them. You can pick one up at Sports Authority or ****'s Sporting Goods for cheap.

FlyEaglesGuy

I guess I better step up my pull up game then huh!!!

jerber160

damn.. i can barely hang there.. grip strength has somehow completely vanished over the years... how can you pull up if you can't hang on?

Bobby_Clerici

I can knock out 40 if I cheat - 20 dead hangs, and for a guy pushing 50, not bad.
Oh, how life has changed....:drinker:

ChappyEight

Good stuff.

russeljames

fkn bump

JayByrd107

Santa got me a pull-up bar for this very reason.

AmyLRed

bump

Thanks!

saxmaniac

Frekain' awesome. I'd like to add some comments/questions:

"6. Perform negative movements. Start in the up position, and go down slow. This will help not only form, but strength as well."

Excellent advice, this is how I got started. Convert those negatives into positives.

"10. Initiate with your lats. When you start to pull, keep shoulders back, head up and fire your lats FIRST, not your biceps/arms. If you are doing this correctly, you'll know it."

Very important. A little clarification, since this eluded me for a while. When you start, pull the shoulders back and pull blades inwards towards each other. Made a huge difference.

"12. Pull your chin over the bar. Sure when you're starting to build strength, you may not be able to which is fine, but eventually you need to. Nothing else needs to be said."

Yes, but be sure not to crane your neck out and point the chin. You can screw up your cervical spine like that. (I did.)

"13. Use different grips. Palms facing away, Palms facing you, Palms facing each other. Also use different widths of your grip."

Also, mismatched grips. One away, one towards you, etc.

"14. Keep elbows slightly bent throughout your set. Don't lock your elbows in the middle of a set. Keep them bent at all times."

Care to explain? I thought the lockouts made it harder. I can do a lot more if I don't lockout.

bacitracin

Excellent read Joe. I am using the assisted machine so I guess from your post I should NOT be. ;o) I will search out the appropriate machine at the gym and get on this.

I use the assisted machine because, until recently, I had never been able to do a single pull-up in my entire life.

Thanks to the assisted machine, I can do about 3 actual pull-ups now, before being completely drained for a day or two.

MoveTheMountain

I mean......................Opinions can vary on this. Chinups and Pullups are a mans exercise no doubt.
But for me to call it the best its hard to overlook things such as bench, squats, deads. Chinups/Pullups are right there though.
The information and quality of the post is there and many will learn from it so thats a gret job by you

But in the scenario below I will take the dealifter
And I will use PHRAK the guy who posted above

Phrak. Who can deadlift 800 lbs but onlyp ullup his wiehgt 4 times
vs
SUPER HUMAN 10000 PULLUP GUY

PHRAK=WINNER



FACT

Chinups/Pullups don't involve your legs. The biggest muscle on the human body
Squats/Deads/Bench do.

1. The initial post stressed pullups as a measure of upper body strength

2. How does Bench work your legs? You're not supposed to use legs at all during bench - dats cheating!

3. I agree, Deads are awesomel; but pullups are key, too.

Sarauk2sf

Thanks for the post Joe.

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.

Dave198lbs

Excellent read Joe. I am using the assisted machine so I guess from your post I should NOT be. ;o) I will search out the appropriate machine at the gym and get on this.

Stop using it, and either start with Chinups or start with 10 sets of 1 rep. If you can't do 1 rep, you can use a resistance band. Gyms have them. You can pick one up at Sports Authority or ****'s Sporting Goods for cheap.

the assisted machines get a lot of use at my gym...are you saying they are a waste of time or that they are detrimental?

what about lat pull downs? do they get you better prepared for pull ups?

good tips

BerylX

Bump for later. Thanks for the info!!!

ninerbuff

"You don't lock your elbows straight in a dead hang position while in the middle of a set. You keep them slightly bent. "

Again, why?

Because it takes tension off the muscle being worked. "Locking" out shifts the resistance of any exercise to joints.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

MoveTheMountain

Greetings fellow MFP'ers. It's your "friendly" neighborhood Joe here to speak with you today about the SCALE of upper body strength known as THE PULLUP.

... This is your "friendly" neighborhood Joe....signing off.

Thanks, great post!

MoveTheMountain

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.

There are several 'door jam' pullup bars that work pretty well. I have one that has definitely been adequate - my only complaint is that I'm sorta wide through the shoulders, so that if I try to do chin ups, I'm all squoooshed up. But it's great for wide grip pull ups.

Here's a link:

http://www.amazon.com/Maximum-Fitness-Gear-All-In-One-Exercise/dp/B002LN9XJI/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1340722107&sr=1-1&keywords=door+frame+pull+up+bar

mskari77

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.

We have the Perfect Pullup bar at home, it was $30 at Target. It is the door frame one. My husband, whose weight fluctuates anywhere between 200 and 220 uses it all the time. My 5 year old twins use it on a daily basis to hang and play on, and my 10 year has done flips on it. My house is 115 years old, and it is very sturdy in the frame.

Thank you Joe for this article....I do use the assisted machine at the gym, but am still no closer to doing one pull-up. I will try this at home!

joejccva71

Excellent read Joe. I am using the assisted machine so I guess from your post I should NOT be. ;o) I will search out the appropriate machine at the gym and get on this.

Stop using it, and either start with Chinups or start with 10 sets of 1 rep. If you can't do 1 rep, you can use a resistance band. Gyms have them. You can pick one up at Sports Authority or ****'s Sporting Goods for cheap.

the assisted machines get a lot of use at my gym...are you saying they are a waste of time or that they are detrimental?

what about lat pull downs? do they get you better prepared for pull ups?

good tips

Assisted machines get a lot of use because people are put into this mindset from "trainers" or their friends that they work. You might get a little benefit from them. You are better off taking it slow and start with Pullups without the machine, and go through the guidelines I outlined in the first post.