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

@greg67 I don't know.

I am advising you to take one and from there increase the load progressively and do that again and again so you can learn yourself.

For the record, you could need a good kick in the butt and actually train hard, which is what I was also hinting at when I mentioned 5 sets and an exercise on top. Then you'll most certainly need a deload.
 
@greg67 I'm a guy and my max weighted pullup is 70 pounds and after a couple years I still can't do 3 x 10 yet. If you want to add reps at the same weight you have to put on more muscle which is a slower process if you aren't a beginner and depends on other factors like rest and nutrition as well.

Edit: Doing weighted pullups will help you get stronger but is probably not the most productive thing if you have to work in the 3ish rep range to increase reps.
 
@greg67 I also think my lack of progress was due to beginning shoulder problems. I remember a light pain similar to normal fatigue that I haven't paid much attention to. I think the body was just unconciously blocking further strain.
 
@dawn16
I haven't paid much attention
Click to expand...

FTFY.

Although payed exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
  • Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. The deck is yet to be payed.
  • Payed out when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. The rope is payed out! You can pull now.
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.

Beep, boop, I'm a bot
 
@greg67 I'm not saying weighted pullups are bad, but if you are only doing 3-8 reps per set, then I think what you need is more volume. In the short term think adding on muscle mass, which requires 10-20 sets per week. You are doing 6 sets per week which isn't enough. Also, make sure you are eating enough protein. Guarantee this will solve your problem.
 
@hackthegibson That‘s what I was thinking.
I‘m also doing six sets of rows per week, that might also kinda count for the pull ups in terms of back focused hypertrophy?

Also don‘t worry about the protein. I‘m having trouble decreasing it because I‘ve gotten used to high protein food but my stomach isn‘t happy about it. I‘m eating way too much, like 140g per day.
 
@greg67 It's a bummer if the protein is upsetting your stomach, but the best and newest guidelines I have seen is one gram per pound of bodyweight per day. Not gram per lean body mass, not gram per kilogram of bodyweight. It's a lot but I have found my recovery is a lot better and I blasted through some plateaus when I changed to 1g/lb. If you are doing 6 sets of rows per week you still have plenty of room for more volume on the pulls. Just do 5-6 sets of pullups before your rows. Go get it. You will sort this out in no time.
 
@greg67 I'm a woman, much older than you, weigh 63kg and can do a set of 10 now and have got up to 15, so it's definitely do-able.

My suggestions:
  • Training twice a week is fine (I wouldn't advice much more, although you could do some light sets on one other day) but you need to give pull ups their own space
  • Stop the super-setting. Do a warm up then do your pull ups first, when you're fresh
  • Do other things that aren't pull ups to improve your strength:
    • Static holds top/middle (arms at 90, top of head touching bar), bottom (both passive and active
    • Inverse rows
    • Weighted rows - bent over rows, dumbbell rows etc.
  • Do a warm up and then try these two sets (do not do them on the same day!). They were advised to me by one of my training buddies from back in the day when I was going for a set of 15:
    • 5 sets, max out, 1 minute rest between sets. This is brutal so use sparingly
    • 10 sets, two reps from failure (so they are always manageable), 2m30s rest. On this one you are going for good quality reps and volume
And remember to rest. I don't think one rest day is enough, even for a 24 yo. Personally I would do upper, legs, rest, upper, legs, upper, rest

One other tip - for maximum strength gains, do your cardio in a separate session. So get up, do cardio, go about your day then train strength in the evening. Also treat skill work as as skill, not a strength. So do handstands separately or right at the beginning of a workout.

Hope that helps :)
 
@greg67 I totally get that. Wait till you're in your 40s - time just goes and goes until you're my age and it's impossible to get everything done as you're landed with so many commitments!

I think you need to decide if they're really a priority then. To maximise your strength and the gains you get, you need to do them fresh and not be tiring yourself out by doing other stuff.

How about you bring legs into your upper body sessions? I quite often superset pull ups and dips with legs, like dips and squats or pull ups and lunges. Could that work?

Also by ditching one session a week (which I definitely think you should - five sessions is more than enough) you will have some more time,

Once you get your pull up numbers up you can put them on maintenance by supersetting.

Also don't forget to take the odd rest week. Honestly those are when your gains will crystallise. It will feel awful and you'll be stressing, but you'll get back on it like holy cow I feel amazing and I'm even stronger 💪
 
@goldnagel Thank you, this somehow encouraged me to make a change. I‘m actually so afraid of changing, it‘s stupid.

I don‘t even know what my priorities are sometimes. I just want to do everything which is, as you said, impossible. But just interacting with all the people here gave me some more ideas. Supersetting with legs is not really an option for me because of several reasons but I could at least do some pull ups on leg days. Regarding more rest days, I take them if I feel the need to. I‘ve also taken weeks off - more or less voluntarily - so yes, that definitely helps.

Again, thanks for the advice :)
 
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