Are weighted pull ups even worth it?

[bluddre6]

@vinod367 Yes

 

[losteve19]

@vinod367 I do weighted pull-ups when I bulk. As in, as I gain weight on the bulk they are now weighted lol.

 

[angelicaberoe]

@vinod367 3-6 rep range weighted pull ups has made my last very wide

 

[barneyo]

@vinod367 So ive been struggling with this for a while....

The idea of pull ups being a staple in the back workout is undeniable, but I cannot do them. Why? Who knows possibly my body comp.

Im 6f5, 250lbs, 18% bf. I can do 3 sets of 8, but that is it but it took a year to get there, any sort of progressive overload just isn't possible.

Now, I have switched to a lateral pulldown and am doing 200lbs 3x10 with solid form and am able to progressively overload, even if its by 1kg

 

[alexisfaith27]

@vinod367 Worth it if you can do it properly but I find them harder to recover from than other exercises and they feel worse to do for me. Long arms gang.

 

[greathope]

@vinod367 I went from being able to do 2 pull ups at 105kg to 4 pull ups at 120. My back is noticably bigger even with all the fat. I honestly think it's bigger now than when years ago early 20s...i could do 15 pull ups at 185lbs ( I believe at that fitness I could use a 25lb plate and do about 6)

 

[gates3]

@vinod367 Yes, definitely worth it, weighted pull ups/chin ups are the best way to progress to a harder variation, be it to the clavicle or the sternum. Ego lifting is a possibility but that's something that comes from you not the exercise. People also use momentum to do more pull ups or harder variations, it's still ego lifting.
The only reason I don't do them anymore if that it's impossible to do at my homegym setup

 

[sbrodhagen]

@vinod367 Bro I have a hell of a time trying to progressively overload pull ups and there was a time I use to do 15-20 of em at a time.

I find it much easier to consistently progressively overload the lat pull down from workout to workout

Spinning my wheels on pull ups in hind sight didn't sound like a good use of my workout time/programming.

 

[notsure17]

@vinod367 Worth it to me or worth it to you?

 

[georgengondo]

@vinod367 They've been amazing for building strength and size in my back and arms! I weight 18.5 st and my back workout is:

Pull Ups BW x 12, 11, 10, BW +20 kg 6, 5 (drop to BW)

Bent over row 115 kg x 10, 10, 10

Brilliant exercise for overloading the back muscles.

 

[needheaven]

@vinod367 I can't do that many pullups but going to add at least 1 set of weighted in an attempt to make my regular ones feel easier over time. All my other lifts I do some sort of pyramid/ramping weight so even if my reps are low I might as well do the same for pullups.

Think of pullups like other lifts, in your video I saw what looked like a hard set of 5-6. If you did that on a lat pulldown machine its probably not the rep range you want to be in most of the time but a set like that isn't completely out of place and fine if it works for you. Would for sure be doing some unweighted as well for more reps.

 

[jpeltier17]

@vinod367 Yes, do 15 full proper form sternun chin ups before you move on to anything.

Your form is pretty good though. But sternum chin ups are the hypertrophy chins. Probably narrower neutral grip being best.

 

[alliejack]

@vinod367 Absolutely.

I do neutral grip weighted pull ups as my compound back work and my back width growth has been insane. Like a noticeable difference in just a few months from my progress pictures.

For upper back thickness I really like seated wide bar rows and have seen great progress but for width, pretty much nothing but weighted pulls ups has been my go to for a few months and I’ve felt stronger than ever and my back has never looked better.

 

[remas]

@vinod367 I did a pull-ups phase for a year, and didn’t like it. Couldn’t progress as quickly, too many variables involved (swinging, etc.). I stick to just lat pulldowns for my vertical pull movement, better isolation and control, and easier to track and progress.

 

[sten]

@vinod367 You can tell the difference between people who do weighted pull-up and those that don’t I think not all how do you spell ego

 

[dsx]

@vinod367 It can be an ego thing like everything in the gym but they are great even if you can’t do 12-15. They could be useful in a strength phase or in lower rep progressions for hypertrophy or as a first exercise in a workout compromised of different rep ranges just off the top. Ego lifting is a problem with everything so I wouldn’t single these out. Good form a given but like a lot of other people are saying with a little more wiggle room than a lot of influencers let on.

 

[prayerinprogress]

@vinod367 I feel like they’re good at giving and extra stretch to the lats tho I prefer heavy lat pulldowns so I can get a deep stretch, then chest reps and partials which aren’t really an option for weighted pull ups without being prone for injury

 

[jzhanglsw]

@vinod367 Easy question. Yes. Only when you’re ready though.

 

[televisionassistant]

@vinod367 At this point, I feel like Mike's advice generally only applies if you're on lots of gear and already huge.

 

[hbsged]

@vinod367 I’m in my worst condition in years and I can only manage 6 pull-ups with a CrossFit vest with 42 lbs of plates in it.

I find unweighted pull-ups help me get me more max reps. I don’t really know what the weighted ones do.

If weighted ones will help me get back to 30 unweighted that would be great. Right now I’m sitting at a max of 18 but I am 205 lbs about 30 lbs heavier than I was when I was running marathons.