@greg67 Try doing 4 or 5 sets of pull ups at the beginning of your workout, stopping 1 or 2 reps short of failure, and resting for a whole 2 minutes in between. Work those scapular pull ups into the same workout (try for 12-15) a little later in the routine, and finish the routine by gripping the bar to failure.
I have used a similar method to increase my own pull ups, and modified it to increase my handstand pushups. Hope this helps.
Edit: I would approach your pull ups like a skill training, don't superset them with something else until you're happy with the number you can do. It's like the old saying, you can half ass two things or you can whole ass one.
@greg67 There are 3 main variables in training: volume (quantity), intensity (difficulty) and frequency (number of days per week). You can only have 2 of them at a high level. So if you have a hard workout that entails many sets, you won't be able to do it for many days on a given week (for example). You don't have to always train for volume. In fact, the best is to switch it up from time to time. I don't know if I have explained myself well !
@greg67 Might be an unpopular opinion on here, but you are doing too much stuff in your workout. If you want to get better at pullups (which are the best exercise in your routine) drop some of the stuff and do more pullups. The rows aren't completely necessary and pullups are a way more efficient exercise bc they are harder. Rear delt flies are good for shoulder health so I would keep those as a finisher at the end of the workout AFTER you've done all the pullups you can do.
Supersets are great for cardio but they don't leave you a ton of energy to do real work.
Here is my recommendation. Do pullups 3x a week. Block off the first 30 mins of the workout and do a lot of submaximal sets with a few mins rest in between. If you can do 8 reps max, do 3 or 4, multiple sets and try to hit volume PRs every week. Slowly increase your volume over time and your pullups WILL go up.
@greg67 The volume is different for everybody. What is important is that you build slowly over time and progress.
If you can comfortably do 15 pullups a workout, 3x a week, 45 is your base. Every week try to do 2 or 3 more total. Rome wasn't built overnight, just build slowly and steadily so you don't get injured. Progress is more important than the number you start with. If you added 1 pullup a month to your total for a year you would be at 20 pullups which is insanely good.
I always tell my athletes - you get good at what you do. If you want to get better at an exercise, prioritize it and do more of it. Its really that simple.
Yes, it is simple but not easy. I‘m a perfectionist and dropping exercises feels as if I‘d drop the optimal thing (even if it isn‘t actually optimal). Just hard to break the habit, you know? But I‘ll do it. I wanna progress.
@greg67 There is HUGE overlap between pullups and rows. They basically work the same muscles. Trust me when you get your pullups higher you will be able to do twice as many rows without training it. Rear delts are a little trickier so you may want to do a set or 2 at the end of the workout once you've already done all your pullups.
@walterroger I actually do the rows to build more strength for the pull ups and because everyone says you need horizontal and vertical pull stuff. So…I don‘t even really care about the rows. Do you suggest that I just switch them and do pull ups instead?
@greg67 I think bodyweight rows are an excellent exercise, especially if you cannot do pullups. If you CAN do pullups and want to increase your pullup numbers, I would recommend putting your energy into pullups instead of rows. Horizontal pulling is more important for the rear delts and upper back than it is for biceps and lats. You can cover the rear delts with facepulls/ rear delt flies/ or band pull aparts. For my workouts I do not do horizontal pulls directly but I do a lot of band pullaparts to hit the rear delts.
@walterroger Thank you! I think I can live with that, just doing pull ups instead of the rows. Because it doesn‘t change my routine too much. I think, it‘s a good start. Thanks for encouraging change
@greg67 To be clear I think rows are a great exercise, but everybody only has so much energy, if you want to get good a one exercise I personally find its better to focus on it.