From zero to twenty pull-ups - No experience necessary!

Worked out day 1 of week [-2] today -
Plan was to have first day be 28 Sep but got sidelined by a flu which has not made for a stellar start to a new routine, but here I go.

With each negative, I started above the bar and held for 5 seconds, followed by a 5 count down and then a five count pull at the bottom -

I've used this method years ago when I did a similar program (armstrong) to increase my pull up numbers. My best during that program was 12 in a row so that's my first goal with this challenge.

If you have access to a bar and a chair or stool to get the bar to chest level, then it first is a matter of trying to make a flexed arm bar hang - Even if you can only do 1 to 2 seconds at start, trying to control to rate of your sinking is doing the negative. So long as you descend slow enough to not be falling at the acceleration of gravity, your arms and back will get worked.

Most people are able to hang longer in a chin up position (palms facing you) so although pull ups are more effective and should ultimately be switched over to, its a pretty solid plan to use chin ups at first to get your arms used to working and then switch over to pull ups once you are able to control your negatives better. And hey if you want to do the whole program using chin-ups, that's cool too.

Good Luck

@MarcyMavin

One Pull-up is an amazing goal if you have never done a pull up before. I love the simplicity of the pull up for what it is (literally pulling your own mass up) but also that it engages 13 muscles in order to perform. The pull up is an excellent goal as it is a measure for strength/mass.

So you can straight arm hang for 10 seconds? Awesome. You have your first baseline measurement. Start your negatives at the top (with a stool) and then lower yourself (no count) into your ten second hold. Start with six (one minute of total hang with 2 minutes+ in between each hang) and try to add one more neg+10 second straight hang each session- Maybe until you are hanging two minutes total (12 negs with rest) - .

The reason you can hang for 10 seconds at the bottom but not at the top is not grip strength or even probably arm strength but your nervous system. Its the same reason grip fails for people starting to deadlift when the weight is actually less than their body weight. (they can flex arm hang and its not their legs or back, but their grip fails)

Hanging flex armed is a weird thing for your body and takes getting used to. This is why you will want to get your reps up per session so that your body is used to the feeling while also working on grip endurance. Start trying to make a 3-5 sec count as you lower yourself when you feel comfortable - Maybe once you have increased to doing the 12 negs+10 sec hang (so after 6 sessions?) . I think you will surprise yourself with how quickly your flexed hangtime will increase while you work on the straight hang time this way.

Here's what I have used as a guideline in the past when I worked with others to get to 1 pull up (years ago) Start above the bar and hold for 5 seconds, followed by a 5 count down, then a five count pull at the bottom(squeezing your shoulder blades together) and rep 5 of these without rest in between. If you can do 3 sets of these in a day, (as much rest in between as needed) you can EXPECT to do one pull up-

Also speaking from experience, negatives can be rough so do make sure you give yourself a full rest day in between work days. The elbows can get really achy otherwise.

Keep your determination- You can make it.

Okay first week [-2] down - Here is the plan for week [-1] I felt good enough on today's negatives that I ended up doing another set of 5 (after several hours)

Day 1
Rest 120 seconds between each set

Set 1 1
Set 2 1 negative
Set 3 1 negative
Set 4 1 negative
Set 5 1 negative

Day 2
Rest 90 seconds between each set

Set 1 1
Set 2 1 negative
Set 3 1
Set 4 1 negative
Set 5 1 negative

Day 3
Rest 120 seconds between each set

Set 1 1
Set 2 1 negative
Set 3 1
Set 4 1 negative
Set 5 max

I would say hold off for two days if you feel like you pulled a muscle. It could be a muscle ache or it could be a tendon. Its hard to say without being there in person.

Also, I am neither a trainer nor a doctor.

That said, anyone can tell you that rest, ice, compression, elevation is the way to go with feelings of soreness or pain. I have a ice ball mold (for making round whisky ice) that works absolutely amazing for icing sore muscles. I wont put a link here but you can find one using "silicone ice ball mold" in your browser.

Give yourself some time but don't give up. Honestly , I would cautiously try again in two days with the lowering but even if you are unable to lower yourself make sure to work on the straight arm hang. This is a skill even elite climbers work on.

Be mindful of discomfort and until you build a better knowledge of what is pain and what is soreness err to the side of caution. If it is too painful to lower yourself, I would hold off on the straight arm hang until you have healed.

Good luck

Ok - Finished my second workout for week [-1] with no problems - This means that after the day 3 workout, I will take 2 days off and then do a test to see how many pull ups I can do -- Now if I can do three, I am ready to start week 1. If not, I restart week [-2], but this time on a different column depending on if I can do 0,1,or 2 pull ups.

Awesome - Welcome to the challenge. I am a cyclist also, so I hear you on the strong legs and weak arms...

Just grab a bar and test yourself. Even if you can't do any (like me) I think you'll quickly find that your strength increases. I was able to do one after 4 workouts -

I really like the progressions on twentypullups.com. It seems like there was a lot of thought that went into setting up the progressions, and I wanted a program that was something more than "do as many max reps sets as possible"

Wow 630 miles is a crap tone of saddle time! I've ridden down to Portland from Seattle in one day (not during the STP - but same route) - After that ride, I wasn't looking to do another 200 and such miles!

It certainly is possible to get to 20 pullups, but I doubt anyone truly could get there in the 8 weeks printed (twenty pullups knows it too)
What is great about the course is that you can look at it as a three week sprint (or two weeks for -2 and -1) If you can't do any, your first goal should be to get to the next column (1 pullup) rather than for 'fail' if you cant bang out 3 to get to week 1 - Similarly, after weeks 1-3, your goal should be to get to 6 pullups instead of the 9 it takes to get to week 4 - If you set the goals reasonably, you can always over deliver. That's better than feeling down by not growing arbitrarily fast.

Anyway, do the work, then come back here to report your progress!

Finished Day 2 week -2 ~

1; 1; 1neg; 1; 1neg with 90 seconds rest in between- I did one set then came back after an hour and did another set to increase volume -
2nd set was 1;1;1neg;1neg;1neg - I was unable to pull completely on the 4th rep so turned it into a neg -