Hard plateau in pull-ups

[childofgod49]

I have been working out for 15 months now and I have been around the same bodyweight. Stats (Height:6'1, weight: 185 lbs). Started at 1 pull-up and over the course of 7 months I got to 8 pull-ups. Initially I had two pull days where I did pull-ups to failure for 3-4 sets and was progressing linearly. During the 7-10 month timeline my pull-ups didn't even increase by a rep. So I planned to try something new and came across grease the groove method. I found that it was a great way to increase reps and i thought that I would give it a try.I was doing about 50% Max for 5-6 sets a day. I did gtg for 2 months and then I tested my Max after a deload. It went disappointing to say the least and I got only 8 reps. After that I tried k boges pull-up program for 2 months and even after that I didn't see any improvements. So my question now is will I ever be able to do 12 pull-ups? Is it over for me as I have tried everything possible?

 

[audiotech]

@childofgod49 I don’t know if K boges plan involves weighted pull ups. If not I suggest you try that. I went from a 12 pull up one set max to 16 in 2 months by using a 20kg weight vest. I did 50 weighted pull ups in total every two days.

 

[childofgod49]

@audiotech No his program doesn't have weighted pull-ups

 

[kevinshuman]

@childofgod49 Maybe shift your focus to strength. Get a weight belt and add 2.5 kgs, and work your way up to 3 (or any number, your preference) sets of 8, and repeat, then add another 2.5. Work like this for a month or two then test the number of body weight pull ups you can do.

 

[roamingnomad]

@childofgod49 Have you tried weighted pullups? My goal is to increase my weighted pullup 1RM but I've found it also makes unweighted pullups much easier.

 

[childofgod49]

@roamingnomad No I haven't tried weighted pull-ups because I was planning to implement it after hitting 10 pull-ups.

 

[roamingnomad]

@childofgod49 8 pullups is enough to add some weight. If you get used to doing them with +30lbs (to pick an arbitrary number) bodyweight will start to feel pretty light and I bet you'll get to 12 fairly quickly.

I'd recommend plates rather than kettlebells. The latter can bang you in the knee easily.

 

[childofgod49]

@roamingnomad Can I put the weights in a backpack and do pull-ups?

 

[roamingnomad]

@childofgod49 Yeah, you can do that but it might get uncomfortable when it gets heavy. Early on with 20 or 30lbs it probably wouldn't be too bad though. A dip belt is the best way IMO and they aren't too expensive. Most gyms also have them.

 

[swae]

@roamingnomad Got a dip belt on Amazon for like $15, works ok

 

[girly123]

@childofgod49 I’ve been using dumbbells for this. Place one between your ankles or thighs and gtg

 

[shanemw]

@childofgod49 This may be more of an expectation and nutrition issue than a training one. For starters, if your weight has not increased, most of your muscle has been made through body recomposition which is a lot slower than being in a hypercaloric, anabolic state (ie. a surplus). Additionally, the less bodyfat you have, the harder that becomes. Providing your body sufficient protein also matters.

Secondly, strength and muscle mass gains slow down a lot as your training age increases. I refer you to this article for some concrete figures to get a realistic idea of what to expect. A lot of the initial strength gains as one starts out training is in fact neurological adaptations but as you continue training, you are increasingly restricted by the amount of muscles mass you have built.

So, I would not feel too discouraged in your situation. If anything, for someone primarily recomping, your progress sounds quite decent. Is there room for improvement in your training regime? Probably. But I think you should consider it may not be the thing holding you back. If you want to learn more about the fundamentals of good nutrition, recovery and other variables, there's plenty of quality articles on the SbS site to delve into.

 

[jermyn]

@childofgod49 I'm sorry to hear about this plateau and how long it's gone. It's kind of annoying to be working that hard for that long and not getting the results you want!

I do think one thing that could help you is switching to getting STRONGER now instead of going for more reps. Use a progressions like Mixed Grip Chin-Ups for a bit and work towards increasing your strength in the 3-5 rep range. Then as that gets stronger, your max Chin-Ups willl also likely get stronger. Make sure that you avoid going to failure during this training and leave a rep in the tank so that you don't increase the recovery needs from your workout higher than they need to go.

 

[ihadavision]

@childofgod49 Apart from weighted pullups I would also recommend Pavel Tsatsouline’s fighter pullup program https://www.strongfirst.com/the-fighter-pullup-program-revisited/

 

[chosen44]

@ihadavision +1 for this program, increased from 5 to 10 in 1 month using this method.

 

[houstonreborn]

@ihadavision Sounds pretty good, bit isnt there a heightened injury risk from daily training? I always hear "at least 48h btw workouts"...

 

[goce]

@houstonreborn I did it and I didn't get injured, although I had already been training for a year.

 

[houstonreborn]

@childofgod49 Try out Calimove's 8 weeks pullup challenge.
I increased my max from 8 to 14 in 10 weeks (took a deload every 4 weeks).
Can be found on YT.

 

[columbian1414]

@childofgod49 Easy fix, do assisted pull-ups in the rep range you want(8-10) for a period. Then switch back to non-assisted in the same range.

 

[dmitry677]

@childofgod49 Instead of adding a rep add weight. Plus 10 lb and do 5 sets of 5, then 15 lb for 5x5. After a month or 2 of this then retest reps.

One additional rep is a HUGE STEP compared to adding a little weight and stopping at 5. I got up to 30 strict starting at age 44, took a few years but I really wanted it. Couldn't do 1 when I started