How many pullups are enough in a workout

@houstonreborn I do my pullups using cluster sets (as it stopped me from getting pain when doing pullups due to a labrum tear). They also helped bring my pullup numbers up insanely.

I tend to do singles with a 10-second pause in between each rep. Every 10-20 reps, I'll rest for a few minutes.

Throughout my mesocycle, I'd work up to over 100 pullups a week. At the end of the last mesocycle before my shoulder surgery, I managed 60 pullups a session three times a week, and honestly, there was no sign of slowing. The goal is over 100 a session... once my shoulder has recovered from surgery.
 
@xxusaf1rexx Sounds like Calimove's workout A: reach 5x your max in as short time as possible. I usually do series of 4 with 40-50s pause in between (currently aiming for 55 reps in these workouts)
 
@houstonreborn I think the main difference with cluster sets is that the whole point is form. Avoiding form breakdown is number one. If your form breaks, you stop. It's amazing for ingraining good movement patterns and working around injuries, not to mention collecting up a sheit ton of volume.
 
@houstonreborn As much as it takes to fail ? There’s some days I bang 10sets of 20 reps , and days like todey I do weighted controlled pullups and I fail around 8 reps ( 4 working sets and 2 warmups . try to ) slow and controlled and a good 2 sec squeeze.

Ain’t no perfect way man, be consistent and gains will come.

Stay strong 💪🏽
 
@johnblessed Pyramids/ladders etc. are legitimate set schemes to get a lot of volume in; three hard working sets aren't always the perfect recipe. The Kboges program that's often recommended around here prescribes ten sets on some days and possibly more on ladder days, for example.

A lot of people who have plateaued for a while doing three max-effort sets see a good boost from doing more sets of lower intensity.
 
@jw552 ten sets is just going to be junk volume, there’s multiple studies on how too much volume isn’t going to increase muscle growth after a certain point
 
@johnblessed Muscle growth isn't the only way to increase performance. Many people can increase their performance on pull-ups by getting more reps in with good form, and thus increase their movement efficiency for example.

Just look around this subreddit mate, there are tons of testimonials of people who have plateaued for months on their 3 set/session program and then broken that plateau using what you call "junk volume".
 
@houstonreborn It really depends on how difficult it feels for you, 3 sets of 2 might be super hard in which case 2 is great in a set because you are pushing yourself and will develop. For someone else that could be easy so maybe they do 3 x 10.

It really depends on you. As long as you are doing them regularly, have some recovery days and are utilising progressive overloadx you will improve.
 
@houstonreborn If you cant tell then you should rather do conventional sets. Those volume schemes are really good for getting extra volume but you should have an idea of your base before pushing it further.
 
@houstonreborn Depends how strong you are. 50 is a lot for a new person, for an advanced lifter 50 is just maintenance. I lean towards heavy volume since pullups eventually become low intensity. You can keep volume lower by increasing intensity with one arms or weighted.
 
@houstonreborn if you want to increase the number of reps you can do then more volume is better imo. you can also try adding weight to yourself so that your normal bw feels lighter which will also lead to more pullups and takes less time than doing 70+ reps.
 
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