Ladies! Chin ups/pull ups
Smacfit_
Posts: 101 Member
For those of you that can do unassisted chin up/pull up, how long did it take you, and what did you do to get there? What would your advice be to someone (me!) who aspires to be able to do this?
2
Replies
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I'm not there yet but I am working towards it. I use the assist machine. I do 3 sets of 5. I started with the most assistance. Every time I complete all of my reps and sets, I reduce the assistance by one notch. I started with 120 pounds of assistance and I am down to 82 pounds. Hope this helps you!10
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Congrats on the great progress! I've also been working with the assist machine, I love it!4
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The first one takes the longest. After you can do one, adding more reps is a lot faster. I think it took me at least 6 months to get one and that was starting from ZERO upper body strength. I used the assist machine, lat pull downs and negatives. I think negatives and scapular pull-ups give you the most bang for your buck. Also hang at the top for as long as possible before lowering down in the negative as slow as possible.6
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Negatives, assisted, TRX rows, small sets. First one took me a few months. They come faster after that, but I am plateaued at 6.1
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I don’t have a gym membership, but I have a pullup bar at home. I started out using two resistance bands and slipped my knee into those. Once I could do about five or so that way, I switched to just one of the bands. When I could do 5 that way, I moved to a lighter band and kept moving down my band stock that way. I finally was able to do one unassisted chinup a couple of weeks ago after a couple months of working on it. I did also lift weights as well, using a dumbbell routine I found through these forums. I think that made a big difference and am sure I would have progressed more slowly without it. Once I can do five unassisted chinups in a row, I’m going to hang the bands back up and work on pullups next! I’ll keep at the chinups as well though; that was way too much work to just lose the progress.
Also, I was losing weight through the whole process. On one hand, it was nice to be lifting less weight over time. On the other hand, there were days that I could literally feel that I was weaker than I had been maybe a week or two ago. Even with strength training, I’m sure I have lost some muscle while losing weight. Eating at a deficit also means I wasn’t fueling as well as if I were at maintenance. It was really frustrating sometimes to feel that setback. If you are currently losing weight, keep in mind that could also be something you experience and just keep right on fighting for those strength gains.4 -
I can do 9 pull ups from a dead hang. Before I worked on pull ups; I was able to do 12 chin ups once (chins irritate my elbows).
Body weight to strength ratio has a lot to do with my ability to pull myself up. 5lbs up and pull ups suffer/5lbs down and I'm the pull up queen.
I credit my upper body strength to working shoulders (heavy) twice a week. I do a lot of heavy rear delt and tricep work.2 -
Another vote for negatives! Do them often. Three to four times a week.3
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mom23mangos wrote: »The first one takes the longest. After you can do one, adding more reps is a lot faster. I think it took me at least 6 months to get one and that was starting from ZERO upper body strength. I used the assist machine, lat pull downs and negatives. I think negatives and scapular pull-ups give you the most bang for your buck. Also hang at the top for as long as possible before lowering down in the negative as slow as possible.
Thank you! Great advice!2 -
deputy_randolph wrote: »I can do 9 pull ups from a dead hang. Before I worked on pull ups; I was able to do 12 chin ups once (chins irritate my elbows).
Body weight to strength ratio has a lot to do with my ability to pull myself up. 5lbs up and pull ups suffer/5lbs down and I'm the pull up queen.
I credit my upper body strength to working shoulders (heavy) twice a week. I do a lot of heavy rear delt and tricep work.
Wow you sound so strong! Goals!0 -
I don’t have a gym membership, but I have a pullup bar at home. I started out using two resistance bands and slipped my knee into those. Once I could do about five or so that way, I switched to just one of the bands. When I could do 5 that way, I moved to a lighter band and kept moving down my band stock that way. I finally was able to do one unassisted chinup a couple of weeks ago after a couple months of working on it. I did also lift weights as well, using a dumbbell routine I found through these forums. I think that made a big difference and am sure I would have progressed more slowly without it. Once I can do five unassisted chinups in a row, I’m going to hang the bands back up and work on pullups next! I’ll keep at the chinups as well though; that was way too much work to just lose the progress.
Also, I was losing weight through the whole process. On one hand, it was nice to be lifting less weight over time. On the other hand, there were days that I could literally feel that I was weaker than I had been maybe a week or two ago. Even with strength training, I’m sure I have lost some muscle while losing weight. Eating at a deficit also means I wasn’t fueling as well as if I were at maintenance. It was really frustrating sometimes to feel that setback. If you are currently losing weight, keep in mind that could also be something you experience and just keep right on fighting for those strength gains.
Thank you and congrats on your unassisted chin up progress!!!!!!0 -
What are negatives?0
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I just recently (as in within the month) was able to rig up a pull-up bar station for my at-home workouts. I was happy to find that I can do sets of three right off the bat. But I'd been working up to them for a long time. Inverted rows were really helpful: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/inverted-row-are-you-missing-out-on-this-great-exercise/2
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negatives and taking aerial yoga classes1
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<--- not a lady but I do lots and lots of pull-ups and I've been coaching my son (needs them for FBI test) and wife who just wants to do them. There is good advice above but one thing I've not seen yet is the importance of proper form. Most people I see doing pull-ups or chins in my gym (men and women) do what I call a half rep. They only come maybe half way down and then bounce right back up. This is a great way to artificially inflate your count but it's a terrible way to train your back and to actually get better at this movement.
Pull-ups are also no different than benching or doing rows or any other compound weight lifting exercise. You don't want to go to failure often or especially on your initial sets. Going to failure should be reserved for specific circumstances. I only typically go to failure if I'm testing my max or before an extended rest/break - like on a Friday where I won't be lifting for a couple of days and only on my last set.
http://pullupschool.com/pull-ups-to-failure/3 -
Bump sharing this for the ladies:
https://www.chroniclesofstrength.com/the-simple-5-day-pull-up-plan-the-pat-flynn-show/1 -
It took me almost a year to do one real pull-up (I still remember that day. I was so excited). I did negatives and the assisted machine until I could do real ones.2
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I eventually got to the point where I could do 4 pull-ups. The only thing i know helped me that has not yet been mentioned here was losing 30 lbs. 😜6
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quiksylver296 wrote: »It took me almost a year to do one real pull-up (I still remember that day. I was so excited). I did negatives and the assisted machine until I could do real ones.
I cannot wait for this day haha. I'll probably cry with joy at the gym LOL0 -
emilysusana wrote: »I eventually got to the point where I could do 4 pull-ups. The only thing i know helped me that has not yet been mentioned here was losing 30 lbs. 😜
That is so true. @deputy_randolph mentioned the part body weight plays. I'm totally with her. 5lbs in either direction makes a huge difference in the number of reps I can crank out. The leaner you are, the easier pullups are going to be.1 -
I’m trying to be able to do pull ups too but have ridiculously weedy little arms 😂 I’m building strength through body weight exercises like push ups with different hand positions and chair dips. At my gym we have an assisted pull up machine and I need it to assist 41 of my 48 kg of weight 🤣 I have a long way to go!1
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I started with assisted pull-ups, gradually decreasing the weight1
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I've been doing full-body weight training 3 times a week, 45-60 minutes at a time, for almost exactly 3 months, and use the assisted pullups and dips machine maybe every other trip to the gym. I don't know what rate of progress is average/normal/whatever at this level of commitment so I'll just share my n=1: I've improved by 20 pounds in this time; that is, my weight has been 135 this whole time, I'm eating at maintenance with an attempt to ensure I get enough daily protein, and when I started I was getting a 70-pound assist for 3 sets of 10 reps. I'm currently at a 50-pound assist for the same.3
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Actually did 45 today so make it 25 pounds' improvement!3
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I can do the reverse grip ones, but not forward grip.
Reverse grip, I can do about 8 before I hit failure.
Forward grip? I have to jump and then I can only just hang there. Lol. I'm determined though!1 -
I am a unicorn. I have always been able to pull out a couple of pull ups and chin ups, even after slacking off any exercise at all for a year or being ill in bed with a chest infection.
Are you sure, absolutely certain that the researchers that reinforce the idea that women find these harder than men are not allowing their biases to direct their research.?I mean... Before ww2 white (middle class) women were too delicate for "male" jobs and roles. But in other cultures where the sexes share physical labour more evenly have much more equal sized bodies.
Therefore, I believe a large amount of so called sex differeces are cultural. Feed women and girls less because they're 'delicate' and they will grow up smaller. As they're smaller, they're more delicate and feeble. If this were world wide over all time I would find it easier to believe it has deeper biological roots. But with the above, amongst other arguments, i think it's bunkum! With environment and culture playing a much greater role.
My tip is to practice lowering until that's easier. Then really push yourself to just do it. Make a visual chart. Not on phone, print off for the wall and tick off the three times during the day that you practice.0
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