Assisted Pull-Ups is it cheating
Options
Replies
-
Only cheating if someone else is doing them for you.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
7 -
Girl_With_Muscles_ wrote: »I'm don't teach people pull ups using the machine and here's why.
You're knees are resting on a plate so you're not engaging your core and other muscles as much as you could be doing. Sure, you're working the muscles but there are a lot of other muscles you could be working as well.. Besides, the machine doesn't give you the feeling of a full pull up
So here's what I teach:
When you start, find a bar and a box. hold the bar and jump up, use your hands to slowly lower yourself down and keep your lower body as still as you can wile you do that. If that's easy... find an exercise band
Now here's when things get fun Here's where you actually do a pull up and get the feeling that you're doing them. Step into the band with one leg, keep the band between your hands and lift your weight up.
You can get bands with different levels of strength so you can progress fast with this one and it engages all your muscles.
When you're doing the pull up make sure you don't swing (unless your trying to do the kipping pull ups which you shouldn't be doing unless you can do a dead hanging one), keep your core tight, your shoulder blades pinched behind you and again, try keeping your body still..
The pull up is so fun to master and a huge barrier to get over. I really hope you get a non assisted pull up soon cause it's such a triumph.
having a 300 pound man jump to a bar and hang there is a great way to f**k someone's shoulders up- you should probably re-evaluate that technique.3 -
You got up, went to the gym and exercised.........youre the winner.......I used to be your weight, and started out small, and even had a piece of equipment that helped me do sit ups.........I was just too big to do them on my own
through out time, I got to where I could.....again, if its a tool, use it.........before you know it, youll be doing them on your own........and congratulations on going to the gym.....thats half the battle1 -
Girl_With_Muscles_ wrote: »I'm don't teach people pull ups using the machine and here's why.
You're knees are resting on a plate so you're not engaging your core and other muscles as much as you could be doing. Sure, you're working the muscles but there are a lot of other muscles you could be working as well.. Besides, the machine doesn't give you the feeling of a full pull up
So here's what I teach:
When you start, find a bar and a box. hold the bar and jump up, use your hands to slowly lower yourself down and keep your lower body as still as you can wile you do that. If that's easy... find an exercise band
Now here's when things get fun Here's where you actually do a pull up and get the feeling that you're doing them. Step into the band with one leg, keep the band between your hands and lift your weight up.
You can get bands with different levels of strength so you can progress fast with this one and it engages all your muscles.
When you're doing the pull up make sure you don't swing (unless your trying to do the kipping pull ups which you shouldn't be doing unless you can do a dead hanging one), keep your core tight, your shoulder blades pinched behind you and again, try keeping your body still..
The pull up is so fun to master and a huge barrier to get over. I really hope you get a non assisted pull up soon cause it's such a triumph.
having a 300 pound man jump to a bar and hang there is a great way to f**k someone's shoulders up- you should probably re-evaluate that technique.
especially if that 300 pound man has never done a pullup.
If that 300 lb man was drew carey(a former marine) it might not be so bad. If it's Joey Bagadonuts yeah, its an awful idea.
Note: I didn't say it would be a good idea for Drew Carey, just much less bad.3 -
So have you actually gotten on the machine?
I had a client once who was VERY over weight- and the counter weight was barely enough for him- and he almost ripped his arms out of his sockets when he put his weight on it because he didn't realize he needed to check to see if it was going to support him.
Just make sure it's got enough counterbalance for you.
Being said- once you confirm that its' adequate- do them if you're clear. Most of the big body builders in my gym use the assisted pull up- real pull ups are difficult b/c they are so much heavier- so they cant' do the volume they need to do train their back- so they use assisted.
Definitely not cheating.
If it's not adequate, you're back to doing cable pulldowns until you can get to a point where the counterweight is sufficient.1 -
I have a pull up bar in my laundry room and I put my feet on top of the washer to 'cheat'. Well guess what, I went from 0 unassisted pull ups 1 chin up to 3 pull ups 6 chin ups in 2 months by 'cheating'. Now I'm working from there0
-
stanmann571 wrote: »So have you actually gotten on the machine?
I had a client once who was VERY over weight- and the counter weight was barely enough for him- and he almost ripped his arms out of his sockets when he put his weight on it because he didn't realize he needed to check to see if it was going to support him.
Just make sure it's got enough counterbalance for you.
Being said- once you confirm that its' adequate- do them if you're clear. Most of the big body builders in my gym use the assisted pull up- real pull ups are difficult b/c they are so much heavier- so they cant' do the volume they need to do train their back- so they use assisted.
Definitely not cheating.
If it's not adequate, you're back to doing cable pulldowns until you can get to a point where the counterweight is sufficient.
yeppers.
I had to do pull ups in college for my PT test- I used to do lat pull downs to train. I did a lot of lat pull downs. LMAO.
I passed my PT test.0 -
Girl_With_Muscles_ wrote: »Girl_With_Muscles_ wrote: »I'm don't teach people pull ups using the machine and here's why.
You're knees are resting on a plate so you're not engaging your core and other muscles as much as you could be doing. Sure, you're working the muscles but there are a lot of other muscles you could be working as well.. Besides, the machine doesn't give you the feeling of a full pull up
So here's what I teach:
When you start, find a bar and a box. hold the bar and jump up, use your hands to slowly lower yourself down and keep your lower body as still as you can wile you do that. If that's easy... find an exercise band
Now here's when things get fun Here's where you actually do a pull up and get the feeling that you're doing them. Step into the band with one leg, keep the band between your hands and lift your weight up.
You can get bands with different levels of strength so you can progress fast with this one and it engages all your muscles.
When you're doing the pull up make sure you don't swing (unless your trying to do the kipping pull ups which you shouldn't be doing unless you can do a dead hanging one), keep your core tight, your shoulder blades pinched behind you and again, try keeping your body still..
The pull up is so fun to master and a huge barrier to get over. I really hope you get a non assisted pull up soon cause it's such a triumph.
having a 300 pound man jump to a bar and hang there is a great way to f**k someone's shoulders up- you should probably re-evaluate that technique.
I'm in Europe. We have kg. I didn't google how much 300 lbs was in kg but now I know it's almost 137 kg so no. I would not recommend jumping off a box to hang on a bar for a man or woman that big. Thanks for pointing that out.
understandable mistake (I get mixed up on peoples 1RMP sometimes b/c of kg)0 -
Im doing arnold Schwarzenegger golden 6 for a month and pull up are part of it so i jump on the machine so i could do the exercise im doing 6 assisted and i plan lowering the wait next week im also doing qigong and tai chi on my off days i hope im doing the rhight thing (op here)0
-
I hope it's not cheating, because it's all I can manage right now. Due to my hypermobility (loose joints) my trainer wouldn't even let me loose on the assisted pull up until I could manage 80lb on the lat pull down and then he started me with a lot of assistance (don't know how much weight but started at level 4), I've gradually increased the difficulty by adding reps and the going up a level once up to 3 sets of 10 and am finally ready to start working on hanging from a bar (no pull ups just hanging).1
-
If it is cheating I am a cheater. I did 2 sets of 10 at 120lb assistance today. I have been working on it and am down from 150 lbs.
Yup 120 lbs is a long way to go to get to 0 but hey it is improvement and I am feeling the difference.1 -
Yes you're a cheater. Just kidding.... props for doing it all.... you're already ahead of most people.1
-
I sure do feel like assisted pull-ups are better than none at all.2
-
stanmann571 wrote: »If that 300 lb man was drew carey(a former marine) it might not be so bad. If it's Joey Bagadonuts yeah, its an awful idea.
Note: I didn't say it would be a good idea for Drew Carey, just much less bad.
"You're the brother of Joey Bag-o-donuts? We love that guy!" -- Head Chef to Mike Birbiglia
It is only "cheating" if the machine is doing all of the work for you.
Balance it out with some hangs if you are able and work towards negatives.
Lat pull-downs should probably be in there somewhere also.
Simply put, you will almost certainly need to lose weight to do "normal" unassisted pull-ups.
But the number of people in the gym that think they are "strong" while not being able to do a single pull-up themselves is startling.
Just keep it up. Decrease the amount of assistance when you can.0 -
Definitely not cheating....it's modified! You have to keep yourself safe and if doing a assisted pull up is what you can do than do it!!!0
-
My goal is to rep 200+ on the bench... but I can only rep 185 at the moment. Is it cheating to use a lighter weight while I work towards my goal? Or should I have a spotter help me do nothing but negative reps on the bench with 200 until I can do a real bench press with that weight?
/lol2 -
First, it's not cheating-it's called an Assistance machine for a reason. That said, I'm not a big fan of the Pull Up assistance machine but in your case I think it's a great place to start. Some other options to work the same muscle groups would be the Seated of Standing Lat Pulldown. 0
-
Not cheating. I use the machine myself. Have some joint issues in my shoulders.
Been doing for about 2 months and I definitely getting stronger and using less counterweight.
I also notice better muscle definition in the arms and shoulders.0 -
Have you tried australian pull ups? Plenty of videos on YouTube0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392.1K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.9K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 403 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 999 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions