Pull ups??

c_luise
c_luise Posts: 35 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi MFP!

I have a goal to be able to regular wide grip dead hang unassisted pull ups. I am wondering if any of you have suggestions (that have worked for you or others) to train to be able to do these? What specific exercises/muscle (groups) to train? Including when to progress to another exercise or weight for the exercise?

About me (in case it helps):
5'6
female
190 pounds (yes I know I need to continue to lose weight to help with this, 45 already gone, so I'm on my way)
Lat pull down: 70 pounds 15 reps
Assisted pull up machine: 140 pounds
Bicep curls: 15 pounds 15 reps
I have a lot of lower body muscle which I know will make it even more challenging to do pull ups

Thank you for your suggestions and tips!

-C

Replies

  • ChrisLindsay9
    ChrisLindsay9 Posts: 837 Member
    I like your goal. And you're doing great thus far.

    Inverted pull-ups were a nice intermediary exercise for me, that led me to be able to do unassisted pull-ups. I used a smith machine and would raise/lower the bar as I saw fit. Some people at my gym have been wearing weighted vest (or a backpack with some small plates in it), while doing them. This might serve as a transition as well.

    Good luck!
  • darwinwoodka
    darwinwoodka Posts: 322 Member
    I like your goal. And you're doing great thus far.

    Inverted pull-ups were a nice intermediary exercise for me, that led me to be able to do unassisted pull-ups. I used a smith machine and would raise/lower the bar as I saw fit. Some people at my gym have been wearing weighted vest (or a backpack with some small plates in it), while doing them. This might serve as a transition as well.

    Good luck!

    That's what I do, too. Getting there! Pushups were my goal last year and I can do a lot of those now! I don't know if I'll get beyond modified pullups, but we'll see! I have the shoulder strength but not the arm strength yet.
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
    The thread below gives a ton of info that's helpful. I'm able to do pull-ups at all grips and was able to do so by building upper body strength and good ol'practice. You can use the assist machine if need to but you need to be taking weight off each week or when your able to progress. However do not rely on it. Challenge yourself, it's the only way to improve.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/646798-the-cornerstone-of-upper-body-strength
  • jackaroo21
    jackaroo21 Posts: 127 Member
    Pull-up bands.
  • TomfromNY
    TomfromNY Posts: 100 Member
    Great goal!

    I never found the assisted pullup machine to be helpful - the other two exercises are pretty good. You can add a seated row. Its much more the muscles on the back than the biceps.

    For each of those, I would do 3 sets of 5 reps. Do a couple of warmup sets at lower weight (e.g. do a set of 5 at 25, do a set at 50 and now you are ready for 3 sets at your work weight of 70.
    Then increase the weight each time you work out. So for your next session go up 5 or 2 1/2 pounds for your 3 work sets. You will probably be able to increase the weight for a good number of sessions. If you don't manage to complete all of the reps during a session repeat at that weight next time. If you go 3 sessions without completing all reps, drop the weight 10% and work your way back up.

    This will be useful to build up basic strength but nothing works better than actually getting on the bar. Once you have got your strength up, you can start with the down motion on the bar - either step up on a char or jump up so you start with your chin above the bar. Hold your body weight for a second and slowly complete the down motion. Do as many as you can and pretty soon you'll be able to do the up motion too.
  • lemonfizzle
    lemonfizzle Posts: 40 Member
    I am commenting on this, so I can come back to this thread for future reference.
    Good luck with your goal, sounds like you are well on your way.
  • MrGonzo05
    MrGonzo05 Posts: 1,120 Member
    I started by doing negatives. Get a boost from a raised platform then control your descent to the floor. You will build strength quickly. Also the less you weigh, the less weight to pull up.
  • flechero
    flechero Posts: 260 Member
    I know the experts don't like the assist machine... but I went from needing 120 lbs of assist to doing pull ups in a couple months. Granted, I was also overcoming shoulder surgery but the fact remains if you challenge yourself and use less assist each week (i dropped 10 lbs per week) you;ll get there. I used enough assist to get 10 reps on set 1 then rested and did 2 more sets as many as I could. By the time I got down to 40 lbs of assist on this method I could do 4 (wide grip, palms away) pull ups, at which point I stopped using the machine completely.

    I've also seen lots of people say that doing negatives is a great way to build up to it.

    This is the workout I have been doing. The specific workout is not that important but there is logic in what muscles get worked on what days, which was helpful for me in the beginning.

    http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/dumbbell-only-home-or-gym-fullbody-workout.html

    be patient and good luck
  • hatethegame
    hatethegame Posts: 267 Member
    bump
  • fiftytogofast
    fiftytogofast Posts: 2 Member
    Not sure if this works but here is advice from Scooby.

    How To Do Your First Pullup! (Then 8 more!)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRznU6pzez0
  • Mummyadams
    Mummyadams Posts: 1,125 Member
    bumping
  • albertabeefy
    albertabeefy Posts: 1,169 Member
    I started by doing negatives. Get a boost from a raised platform then control your descent to the floor. You will build strength quickly. Also the less you weigh, the less weight to pull up.
    This was the method I chose as well, simply because it uses so much of the same muscle groups.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    Nerd fitness has an excellent guide for teaching yourself to do pull ups. I've been doing bits and pieces from there and have managed 3 chin-ups and a neutral pull-up so far.
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
    I would suggest doing rows to work up to pullups. All forms of rows; seated, barbell, dumbbell, inverted (horizontal pullup using a low bar) work.

    The biggest reason is that most beginners tend to not know what it feels like to use their back muscles. Rows will help make that connection and strengthen all the relevant pullup muscles.
  • StrongLife
    StrongLife Posts: 525 Member

    Right now you need strength, not endurance, strength is built by doing few reps near failure I would say 1-3 reps.

    What i would just do is buy one o those things that attach to a door frame. do a total of 10 reps between morning and night.
    3 reps in the morning, 3 mid day, 3 at night.

    Use a chair or a step and put your feet on it, if you need some assistance pulling yourself up push up with your feet. Make sure you would fail at 4 reps. Leave one rep in the bucket(do one rep less than what you will fail at).

    Exactly! Pull-Ups can only be improved by doing more of them. I mounted a pull-up bar on a door frame and every time I walk past it I do 5. In a month, I went from doing 7 to where I can now do 14. It is amazing that once you stop you quickly lose that ability. I don't understand that part of it.
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,749 Member
    I used to be able to do about 7 unassisted wide grip pull ups (not sure if I can do them now or how many). I just practiced, even if I got just one off or even half of one. Every day at the gym I would make it a priority to practice them.

    You're making me want to get back into doing them. I think when it's back day and we're using the assisted machine I'm going to practice a few unassisted. :)
  • ixap
    ixap Posts: 675 Member
    I started by doing negatives. Get a boost from a raised platform then control your descent to the floor. You will build strength quickly.
    This is what did it for me too. 5 sets of 3 a few times a week, and after a month I could do one.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Negatives will go a long way to helping you get there. And you really need to increase the weight you're using on your other exercises. A weight that allows you to perform 15 reps before you fail is much too light and won't promote enough strength gains to get you to the next level. Lat pull downs are a totally different exercise from pull ups, but if you're only using 70 pounds and you weigh 190 pounds, we're having a serious disconnect.
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
    Here's a good thread on the subject:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/815050-the-pullup-encyclopedia-revised

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