I‘m tired of not getting better at pull-ups

[greg67]

@deborah123 I don‘t quite understand. I only do these three supersets on upper body days, no isolation or other exercises. So I can‘t reduce time anywhere else

 

[deborah123]

@greg67

I don‘t quite understand. I only do these three supersets on upper body days, no isolation or other exercises. So I can‘t reduce time anywhere else

I said one way to do it. You're doing 18 total sets, 6 per each superset.

At the VERY least you should be doing pairing which is dips, 1.5 mins, rows, 1.5 mins, etc. This makes it so you have some rest between each set so you can recover better than doing bother exercises in a row.

If you don't superset the pullups, then pullups, 3 mins, pullup, 3 mins, pullups 3 mins takes about 10 minutes. Then say pushups, 3 mins, 3x takes 20 minutes. Then you superset the last two it should take about 10 mins per superset which is another 20 mins total. This should take 40 mins max.

Even a full body routine should take around 1-1.5 hrs with proper pairing. I have no clue how you're assuming it's going to take 3 hours.

But ok, look, you're the one who wants to improve on pullups. I've told you why the quality of your sets are bad. It's up to you to make changes. If you're just going to give more excuses why you can't rest more then you're clearly not tired of not getting better at pullups.

 

[greg67]

@deborah123 I think, we misunderstood each other. I thought you assumed that I do additional stuff after my supersets bc you mentioned core and isolation exercises where I could reduce rest times. I don‘t do those (on upper body days), so I said that I can‘t reduce rest times there. Also, I thought that - with rear delt flyes as the only exception - that all of my exercises were compounds, so I didn‘t consider that you meant I could cut rest times there either. Aren‘t those compounds? All of the move through more than one joint, which is the definition of a compound movement, no?

Now that you explained it, I get it. Sounds good, I‘ll do it as you suggested. Thanks

 

[exodus20]

@greg67 Did you tried russian fighter pullup program?

 

[greg67]

@exodus20 No, what‘s that? Also I don‘t want to dedicate everything to the pull ups. I just want them to be part of my routine and get better over time it works with everything else

 

[wilco]

@greg67 https://www.strongfirst.com/the-fighter-pullup-program-revisited/

This is really excellent, but it does make you do pullups everyday for four weeks with every sixth day being a rest day.

It bumped my pull-up max from 3 to 7 in two weeks.

 

[greg67]

@wilco Thanks! My problem with stuff like this is that I don‘t wanna neglect everything else and I‘m also afraid of injuries. But I‘ll look into it!

 

[mwatkins09]

@greg67 I'm doing the Russian fighter pullup program at the moment.

How I do it:

1. Small change: I take 2 rest days instead of 1. So work on Monday-Friday, off in the weekend. Give it a bit more rest to avoid injuries.
2. I leave pullups out of my regular workout. So I workout 3 times a week, but no pullups. I still do rows though.
3. I started in May, being able to do 4 proper pullups. End of May I could do 9. Then I took some time off from the program (to avoid injuries), but did my pullups (3 or 4 sets) during my workouts 3 times a week.
4. I started again in July, but with 6 pullups as a starting point (although I could do more). Again, injury prevention as I'm old... In my 3rd week in, my pullups sets today are: 8, 7, 6 , 6, 5.
   
   When I did the 8 this morning, I definitely was not going to failure.

So basically: I definitely getting better at pullups, I think (on feel, but I'll try when this month is over) my current max is around 11, maybe 12.

I'm still doing all my other work, I'm getting better at pullups, and I give myself an extra rest day from pullups every week to prevent injury. And after a month of the program, some rest (well, going back to 3 times a week instead of daily during weekdays) and then start again.

It also helps that I work from home and I have a pullup bar in the doorframe of my home office...

 

[greg67]

@mwatkins09 Thanks for the insight! I wondered how to incorporate this into my normal routine.

Why did sou start with 6 on your second run although you could do more?

 

[mwatkins09]

@greg67 Because I do feel it's taxing on my tendons. Typically those don't get that strong as fast as muscle. So I want to avoid going too hard.

And give my tendons some more time to get strong.

Doing the 5 sets a day when reps going up, does feel hard

I'm doing 32 pullups today, 33 tomorrow, 34 on Friday...

 

[greg67]

@mwatkins09 Makes sense, thanks

 

[jes1023]

@greg67 imo pike push ups interfere a bit with your pull ups, eventhough it’s push and pull.
the lat is also used in pressing movements as such and it will take some juice out of your muscles for pull ups.

so maybe check your rest time or just prioritise Pull ups more, as in don’t do super sets or do with maybe legs eg.

But lats is a huge muscle and is stabilising while push exercises the whole time as well. some people have them strong by nature some don’t

also adding 1-2 sets at the end of your workout will likely help, just adding volume basically without stopping your recovery too much

good luck!

 

[greg67]

@jes1023 Thanks!

Supersetting is necessary bc of time issues, sadly.

 

[jes1023]

@greg67 okay well than another set might be also not in?
or easiest way to add reps without loosing too much time would be that you do your reps on pull ups, leave the bar just for 2-3 deep breaths and go up to get another 1-3 reps out, even just one, but you should let go of the bar for few seconds to get muscles fueled

 

[greg67]

@jes1023 Yes, I‘ll try that! Thanks

 

[cesthtims]

@greg67 My bench was horrible for many years. Always my weakest exercise and frequently plateaued. I started doing a pyramid set up of
8-5-3-1-1-1-5 on bench for both strength and stamina of muscle. I’d recommend doing this.

8 pull ups normal
5 - with 5-10 lbs
3- 10-20 lbs
1- 20-30 lbs
1 - same weight
1-same weight
5 normal pull ups.

2x per week. Other than that very minimal back work maybe some 50-60% lat pull downs or something on off days. Your strength/stamina will increase.

 

[greg67]

@cesthtims Thanks! Sounds very interesting

 

[dawn16]

@greg67 try weights.

sounds like you have a decent base and a healthy weight.

you want to put on strength fast? there’s nothing like weights.

i’m not saying give up on pull-ups. but i am saying raw strength is best built with iron. and it sounds like you’re at an annoying plateu rn

throw in some heavy back work.

 

[greg67]

@dawn16 So lat pull downs or stuff like that?

 

[yhjmkiop]

@greg67 I think they meant weighted pull ups. Just hold a 5kg barbell or bag between your legs while doing a pull up. When you can do 3x8 of those, increase the weight.

Believe me, the looks of sheer disbelief on the other gym goers' faces alone will be worth the effort.