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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