Can’t progress pull ups - need some help with strategizing

@dollfaceme23 Okay first of all focus on losing some fat first. at 20% BF and sounds like you're pretty new to exercising, that shouldn't take long. Get the right diet and you could lose 10 lbs in probably a month. Next, work on bicep and forearm strength (while progressively adding weight and strength to latissimus dorsi). Next, do 1 pull. Muscle your way up there. Kick and scream if you have to. Then rest and do it again. You'll be at 5 in no time.
 
@dollfaceme23 Start with negatives. Hold yourself up as long as you can until failure. Fight it all the way down. Do this for one rep two or three times a day. Space them out to give yourself plenty of recovery time. Do this every day for a week. I know it’s counterintuitive, but do it. You’ll train your body and mind to hold yourself up. By the end of the week, try a real pull-up. Once you’ve gotten there, try this workout for quick gains.

https://www.strongfirst.com/the-fighter-pullup-program-revisited/

I’ve done it, and it works.

Edit: By “space then out,” I mean you can do one in the morning and one in the evening, or maybe one first thing in the morning and another half an hour later. Just make sure to recover fully from the first before you try the second.
 
@dollfaceme23 Do the negative until failure. That is, hold yourself up in a completed pull-up position (you might need a chair to get yourself there), and maintain that until you physically can not do it anymore. Fight it the whole way down, trying to hold yourself up even as your muscles are failing due to exhaustion.
 
@dollfaceme23 From a purely training aspect here's what you can do and don't hate on me for one of these comments:
  1. You have to build the entire kinetic chain, so add an exercise for grip, hammer curls for biceps, lat pull downs or bent over rows, and leg raises for your abs.
  2. Modify your reps as you go or change the angle that you're getting help from. You say you can do 12 reps with very little assistance from your feet, but if it's not the exact angle of a pull up it night not be as helpful as it feels.
  3. Lose some weight. No judgement here at all, but pull ups are a body weight exercises, so cutting some body fat means there's less to lift. Just math.
  4. Rest. If you genuinely can't do a single rep, you can't be trying every day. 1rep maxes should only be tested about once a month.
  5. Eat your protein.
 
@dollfaceme23 Our high school had a minimum in Texas for football. Min on bench pulls and squats and it pushed me to steroids and tearing so much then fusion on discs. Now at 54, I can barely walk. I'm starting a very low-impact program on testosterone replacement bc these killed my hormonal ability. I managed a great son out at 37 and I thank God for him. He is huge at 17 and said do I have to play football dad? Nope, don't think about it and two yrs ago at 15 was Apple certified and fixed the coach's phones and computers at his school. He has a full-ride for education. I could not walk on football steroids and all. Not to mention I did four years in prison for steroids either.
I know this post got way off the topic. I'm a writer now and do internet stuff and looking at a 2023 book release on bodybuilding, drugs, sports supplemental industry and prison. There are many topics in here but it's my story. It was amazing growing up in Dallas, Texas with parents that did well then you turn 50 in prison in Huntsville, Tx where it's a culture of gangs and violence. I survived being the prison diet, lifting information guy for all rival gang leaders. I was protected by White, Hispanic and in the end even the brothers. The white culture preyed on itself. The Hispanics did not let anyone mess with you and the brothers were also very respectable to me but ran the drugs for the most parts. The white dudes washed underwear and cooked food. At times very ashamed at my white brothers.
For 28 yrs owning a large sports supplement company I never even witnessed race in my world. Then Denton County lockup would change my world and at 260 and addicted to pain meds coming down was beaten into a coma and never needed to fight. Wow, this has gone far off here and I apologize. Fitness brings people together helping. It's what I knew and what saved me in Huntsville. Our body is a precious thing that God sends us in with. I coach people off steroids all the time and run a prison ministry. I love this forum and speaking openly. I feel anyone that trains to be better will accept this story. It's about changing, adapting and never giving up. Peace my brothers, sisters and lifters and watch the steroid thing....EMD Texas-Clean in and out...
 
@dollfaceme23 Don't do vertical pull ups, this is what i did (besides losing weight cos i was fat):

Put a bar on the rack, lay on the floor, pull yourself to the bar with your arms, and try to hit the maximum reps possible with the best form you can, meanwhile you should also focus on compound exercises that -also- strengthen the shoulders (mostly rows and pushups). Give or take in a couple of weeks or a month you should be strong enough to do the negatives.
 
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