the pullup peeps thread!
canadianlbs
Posts: 5,199 Member
i just thought since we have so many members with an ambition to do pullups (yay, company!), it would be nice for to have their very own thread for discussion and sharing of victories/frustrations/progress and all.
(not saying to keep your pullup content out of the daily workout thread, which wouldn't be my call to make anyway. just that that thread is so active some of the content might get a bit buried and be harder to find or follow)
(not saying to keep your pullup content out of the daily workout thread, which wouldn't be my call to make anyway. just that that thread is so active some of the content might get a bit buried and be harder to find or follow)
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awesome. What are your goals? Mine is to do one within the next 1 year. However, I would also be happy with one at any point in my life
if the one year goal is not realistic and/or I get pregnant before then. 0 -
awesome. What are your goals?
i guess i want to be able to do the wider-grip form, rather than the closer one, because i feel like i already have enough biceps/deltoids for now and i want to start bringing my lats into my life. so that's one focus, not exactly a goal.
how are you planning to get there? for me, i'm focusing more on my upper back muscles than the biceps and other 'front' ones. lats and rhomboids and traps, i guess. and i'm not really crazy about the actual assisted-pullup thing for some reason. too lazy to do the seat setting and the climbing up, i think ;-)
so for straight muscle recruitment and strength, i'm using the pulldown machines at the gym for the moment, and still working in a 5x5 kind of structure: 1x5 reps at three different grip widths on the bar. then i add 2.5 pounds, return my hands to the centre, and do that sequence again. if i can fit them in, i try to do three super-sets of that kind throughout a workout, kind of fitting them in before/after/between the real stronglifts lifts. my most recent weight for that sequence on the double-pulley machine was 27.5 pounds, but when i moved over and used the single pulley i wasn't having much trouble with 60lb.
i guess as far as giving myself a 'plan' i'm wanting to keep formal track of my pulldown weight, and kind of set myself the expectation that i'm not just doing this randomly, but i'm expecting myself to progress at it. i.e. keep adding weight.0 -
canadianlbs wrote: »
how are you planning to get there?
First step is to lose 20lbs and keep doing 5x5 with additional exercises on the pull up machine with progressively lower counter weights. Once the 20lbs are gone, will assess and add more pull up specific strength workouts.
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My goal is 3 overhand grip pull-ups (no cheating - all the way down to straight arm hang and then all the way up). I can currently do multiple sets and reps of underhand chin-ups with no assistance but overhand is so much harder. Thanks for starting this thread.0
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RockyMountainKAG wrote: »My goal is 3 overhand grip pull-ups (no cheating - all the way down to straight arm hang and then all the way up). I can currently do multiple sets and reps of underhand chin-ups with no assistance but overhand is so much harder. Thanks for starting this thread.
whoa. your post told me something i hadn't even thought about . . . over versus under. i'd been so focused on grip width till now.
so i went to the gym tonight and tried this out with my pulldown routine. up till tonight i'd been doing everything that i do overhand, so i repeated every set underhand too, just to find out how that is. i sure see what you mean about being stronger that way, and it was also easier for me to roll my shoulders into a position that felt neutral and safe, that way. but it felt so much like each one was hitting a different muscle set, i don't want to stick to just one. i'm going to try and do both.
today my assist weight for two sets of 5 (1 wide, 1 close) was 50lb. on the dual-cable pulldown, i started at 27.5 for the first set, and my top weight was 30lb. and i used the smith machine to do one full negative pullup before some guy came back from the water fountain and let me know i'd just busted in between his own sets.
oops.0 -
I've never done one single pull-up in my entire life. But one day, one day, I will get there!0
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whoa. your post told me something i hadn't even thought about . . . over versus under. i'd been so focused on grip width till now.
As I understand it, underhand grip uses more of your biceps which is a huge assist. Overhand grip has no such help from the arms.
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apologies: i may be boring the snot out of everybody . . . guess i've gotten a little obsessed and i'm turning this thread into my own personal day-to-day blog about it.RockyMountainKAG wrote: »As I understand it, underhand grip uses more of your biceps which is a huge assist. Overhand grip has no such help from the arms.
that makes sense, i guess . . . when i did that workshop, i quite liked the trainer - i.e. she seemed to know what she was talking about. she did mention the biceps/deltoids difference, but the main thing she said about grip orientation was that wrist mobility might make one mode more comfortable than the other one for a given person.
the big thing that i learned in that workshop came when she started to explain about over-reliance on the arms in general, regardless of which grip form you use. i didn't even know there were alternatives before i did this thing . . . i thought pullups were all about arms. apparently they don't have to be, and the main things she focused on was trying to show us the muscle habits of recruiting your entire upper back and all of the shoulder muscles before you even start trying to pull yourself up. for me that was kind of like the way you start out thinking that squats are all about quads, and then you find out you can use your hamstrings/glutes too. so i've been focusing a whole lot on that, especially because i already have lots of bicep and deltoid, thank you, from all that biking. and slightly shaky/unstable shoulders.
i can see how if you do rely quite a lot on your arms, then underhand lets the biceps in on the game, and overhand would do the same for deltoids. but the more you're recruiting all the other stuff you've got available to work with in your shoulders and back, the less of a difference front-to-back arm strength should make. in theory.
anyway since adding some underhand sets last thursday the main place i seem to be feeling it now is in my teres muscles, and maybe a bit in my triceps and lats. and when i think back on myself taking hold of the bar and then 'setting' my shoulders safely before i start doing my pull, it's definitely all about teres and triceps and lats . . . my biceps barely feel like they got a chance to join in.0 -
How'd I miss this thread up until today? I've been trying to get my unassisted pull-up (or chin-up really. At this point I'm not picky on which one comes first! lol) for over a year. I always say "by xx I'll have it!" and always come up short xD
I've been doing a good bit of grip hang work - I'm heavy. Even just holding my weight on the bar can be a challenge. So losing weight is at the top of the list to getting there now.
I mix horizontal and vertical pulling moves in with my routine regularly, and I try to do assisted pull-ups of some kind at least once a week. Resistance bands are awesome for that because you can't over-rely on them to stabilize your core or give you much momentum at all
And if you've never tried, parallel grip close is where I'm the strongest at. Usually when I do pulldowns I try to go wide grip because of that. I can feel when hanging from a bar I'm getting close now. But I'm still not quite there
It's such a frustrating journey! lol0 -
I try to do assisted pull-ups of some kind at least once a week. Resistance bands are awesome for that because you can't over-rely on them to stabilize your core or give you much momentum at all
does this mean you loop a band over the bar overhead and use the stretch in the band for your 'assist'? as opposed to using the machine? it's the only way i could figure out how to interpret this ;-)
i get the same kinds of suspicious about momentum when i start doing math. it's making me see the assisted-pullup thing as kind of the smith machine of the pullup world now.
on the 'pulldown cable' machine where my feet stay on the ground the whole time (i don't sit for this thing), i can pull around 60lb and my upper abs in particular really have to kick in for the last few inches to get the bar all the way down to my chest. whereas when i get on the 'assisted pullup/dip' thing that has you kneel on a little seat and kind of pushes you upwards from underneath . . . well, my body weight minus the assist on that one would be 80 pounds. so there's a 20lb difference and i think the pull down is the one that is real.
darn. 0 -
OH how I would love to be able to do a pull up!0
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I am heavy and it gets very difficult for me to even attempt an unassisted pullup. Any idea of a regime to preapre for this.
I do stronglifts 3 times a week and have definitely seen an improvement in my strength. I can now 15 pushups at a stretch But pullups 
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anupriyasin157 wrote: »I can now 15 pushups at a stretch
wow
here's some things/ideas i learned at the workshop i went to, where most of us didn't have even the beginnings of an idea:
- try to leverage your back muscles and lats as well as your deltoids and biceps. when you take your grip on the bar, 'set' your shoulders and engage those muscles before you start your attempt.
- 'negative' pullups are when you start at the top of the move, and lower yourself back to a full hang as slowly as possible. i can't reach the real pullup handles at my gym, but i've finally found a good use for the smith machine. i set the bar where it's already below my chin, and then i just take my feet off the floor ;-)
- just hanging all by itself is a good start for training your grip. you can get into a hang and then just practice doing the 'engage muscles' part in point 1.
- you don't even have to do a full-length hang if it's too much. with a low bar, you can put yourself into an upside-down plank and still practice pulling your chin up to the bar and then letting yourself back down. i actually do this as part of setting myself into a good position for bench press, but do make really sure the bar is safe on the pins first so there's no risk of you pulling it down onto your own throat ;-)
- rows are supposedly helpful. i hate rows no matter how i try to approach them, and i'm never sure if i'm doing them right. but the pullDOWN machine at my rec centre/gym has been just about my most-favourite thing. i concentrate really hard on getting and keeping good neutral shoulder position throughout, so (again) using the lats and upper back and entire rotator cuff, and not just my upper arms.
i'm creeping my way towards it, i hope. with the pulldown, i'm concentrating on adding a liiiiiiitle more weight every time, because eventually i'll be pulling down my own body weight so in theory that should mean i ought to be able to pull the same weight upwards as well. with the pulling-up, i'm concentrating on trying to get just a little bit closer each time. either way, i'm taking a progression approach just like with sl, and keeping my fingers crossed.0 -
I found these on a FB post
http://www.t-nation.com/training/strengthen-your-strict-pull-up
http://www.50pullups.com/
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oooo, that 50-pullups thing looks promising. i may set myself at the 'under 5' section and try out what will happen if i just complete that level of training at least. thanks.0
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Great links! But those muscle growth ads on T Nation are really freaking me out.0
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Resurrecting this thread! I'm thinking of adding assisted pullups to my accessories routine and was just looking for some "I'm absolutely a noob at pullups" advice. How did you figure out what weight to use? How many sets / reps? And I'll go check out those articles too.
Thanks!0 -
Wow--I didn't even know this thread existed!
Thanks @Crabada for bumping !!!
I'm going to read the links above but I have been using the Convict Conditioning progressions to help with this. I'm also working on upper back strength because I think that plays a major role in the pullups...
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I started my pull up journey last summer (July 2014). I had a goal to do one unassisted pull up (no kipping) by xmas. And I was able to do 2 - wide grip strict. Here's what helped:
Lat pulls/ shrugs. Basically from a dead hang do te first 10-15 degrees of motion of the pull up focusing on your lats. You can also loop a thick resistance band around the cage and your wrist and pull with you lat.
Assisted pull ups. Using a looped elastic band or a friend or clipping the two cable attachments together, adding weight with pins and standing on it.
Eccentrics (slow lowers)
Heavy rows of all varieties.
It's also miserable training bc it seems like you fail forever. But stick with it because it is so awesome When you get it.
Three months later and now I can do three. Slow progress is still progress.
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I've just started with the assisted pull up machine.
I had no real plan though. I just picked 55 lbs of assistance and tried it. I did like 3x5. Then I tried 40 lbs and it was way too hard! So I am going to stick to 55 lbs until I can do like 3x15 or so, then move down in assist weight. I also want to do negatives. I think I will need to figure out where to do these at the gym though. May use the smiths machine, since it just sits there anyways
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May use the smiths machine, since it just sits there anyways /quote]
i use the smith. it's actually been a great use for the pointless thing as i'm far too short to reach the pullup grips at my gym without a lot more jumping than i'm willing to let myself in for right now. the smith lets me set the bar at a height i can actually reach.
not really on any specific pathway for full-on pullups, but i'm still using pullup-ish actions (dead hang and that first 'pull everything together' move), just to strengthen and rehab all the muscles around my shoulder capsule.
@andy, congratulations!0 -
I've done one before but I don't remember how my form was. I've done sets of assisted. I need to be better about remembering to include them when I'm at the gym.
Would like to be able to a few unassisted. I figure doing them assisted and winding the assist down over time can help. Also lat pulldowns. And just trying them unassisted every now and then to gauge progress.
I remember in junior high my gym teacher said females can't do pull ups because they have larger hips so we could just hang there or whatever instead of trying. I wanted to ask him if he could do a pull up with his big behind.0 -
The trainer I work with, who knows that one of my long held goals in life is to do a pull up, has me doing lat pulls, and assisted pull ups quite often. The whole "actually using my lats" part of both of those exercises is still the seemingly tricky part, as it seems to be any time you try and engage muscles you never really thought of having before. As far as what level of assist to use, i think it depends on strength and weight and other factors. Whoever started with 55 lbs of assist, I think you are amazing!!! I weigh 200 lbs, and started with 160 lbs of assist. When I work alone, I am doing 3x12 of a weight that I can manage for 12 reps (sometimes this is a guessing game and I might fail on rep 6 and have to reset with greater assist) ... With trainer it sets and reps really vary because its easier to adjust as we go... but I think the last time was like 4 x 8 at 120lbs assist... I think??? Lat pull downs I can do 80 lbs so it ends up being about the same weight either way for me anyways.0
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I am slowly trying to work towards doing a pullup (or several!). I am following the tips Nerd Fitness laid out, still on the inverted rows portion, but going to start trying negatives and hanging soon. I know I can do it, I just need to buckle down.0
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For those doing some sort of pull up program, when do you do it? SL days or off days? I find that my pull up stuff is really hard after SL, especially on bench/row days, but I don't want to compromise my recovery by doing it on rest days.0
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@mirrim52 I do all my weights on the same day, it can be quite difficult but I find doing much of anything resistants wise on my off days screws up my recovery.0
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i do the real pullup work in the gym, when i do it. on in between days, i sneak into the washroom at work and hang from the cubicle walls for a while.0
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Oh wow, I also forgot this thread existed!
I like to do what's called hollow hangs to work on grip. You hodl onto the bar or rings, tighten up your entire body until you're in a hollow position (shoulders back, legs straight, core braced, feet will be a little in front of you) And you just hang there as long as possible. Then swings help getting that whole momentum control thing down (even if you're not aiming to kip, which I ain't). Assisted with an elastic band, or three, is great as well.
I haven't done pulldowns in forever, which makes me think I wanna do a few tomorrow! Haha.
I also like to hang from the door frame at work while heating up my lunch. And at home I have one of those door frame pull-up bars and will do a few negatives when I think about it. I am close to a chin-up. Not so much an actual pull-up. It helps to lose some weight! xD 190lbs ia a lot to lift off the ground >_>0 -
I also like to hang from the door frame at work while heating up my lunch.
i use that time to take a grip on the edges of the double sinks and stretch out my upper back ;-)
i'll just mention, someone i worked with last year told me in university he and a friend did a study of 'organisms' found in random swabs taken from idk, regular life. according to him, the most lethal area in the whole survey was the tops of doors. in his words: 'we found stuff up there that the w.h.o. would get the horrors about.'
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canadianlbs wrote: »I also like to hang from the door frame at work while heating up my lunch.
i use that time to take a grip on the edges of the double sinks and stretch out my upper back ;-)
i'll just mention, someone i worked with last year told me in university he and a friend did a study of 'organisms' found in random swabs taken from idk, regular life. according to him, the most lethal area in the whole survey was the tops of doors. in his words: 'we found stuff up there that the w.h.o. would get the horrors about.'
Don't ask what you would find on a doctor's wrist watch and neck tie...
I have seen the results and they are not pretty. Part of the reason I do not wear my wedding rings to work.
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