I did 10 pullups in a row on my 32nd birthday!

[jessicarobertso07]

Dear /r/bodyweightfitness,

Last Friday was my 32nd birthday, and I gave myself the ability to do 10 pullups in a set!

Lately, I've been frustrated that I'm not making any progress with my pullups. A common set of pullups looked like 7-4-1, or 6-3-2, or something like that. My absolute max was 8 pullups - always followed by a steep decline.

I stumbled across a video by /@fromgenesistorevelation a while back and was immediately hooked by the idea and decided to try to do 10 clean pullups in a set for my 32nd birthday.

Here is the video:

I started lightly with 4-3-2-1 pullups two months ago and continued to add one pullup per session (~4-5 sessions per week): 4-3-2-2, 4-3-3-2, 4-4-3-2, 5-4-3-2, 5-4-3-2-1, ... (max 5 sets).

On my 32nd birthday I did 42 pullups: 10-9-8-8-7

Admittedly, I neglected most other exercises for this little project, doing only occasional dips and pushups. I also increased the rest time as I progressed and had up to 6 minutes rest on Friday, but I did it!

I'll hold on to the routine for a bit now and try to decrease rest time while maintaining (and improving) form aiming for sets of 10-10-10 or something like that while incorporating some more diversity into my workouts again.

This community has been a good place for me to come to whenever I looked for advice and fresh input and it didn't fail me. I'm feeling stronger than ever at 32 and will continue to progress.

Thanks for reading my blog, I guess, and have a great day!

Note: I religiously warmed up my wrists and shoulder before every session, doing up to 32 reps of each warmup.

 

[houstonreborn]

@jessicarobertso07 Thats great! Congrats!

 

[jessicarobertso07]

@houstonreborn Thanks!

 

[looktohim]

@jessicarobertso07 Congrats , as someone approaching 30s how much difference you felt in increasing the number . Like as in 20s you will find easy to gain strength .

 

[jessicarobertso07]

@looktohim I never did proper strenght training in my 20s but I feel like sticking to the programme and being mindful to eat enough I was mostly able to add one rep each session with relative ease! I'd even say my gains in strength are higher now than they were in my 20s.

e: typo
Granted, I'm pretty slim..

 

[scalves]

@looktohim 32 is literally a man’s prime physically so they should be fine for a while

 

[joey1234]

@jessicarobertso07 Sounds a lot like the Russian fighterpull up program to me. Nice work dude!

 

[followchristianity]

@jessicarobertso07 Nice work! We're actually right around the same spot in the program... I'm starting the 11,10,9,8,7 week tomorrow.

 

[jessicarobertso07]

@followchristianity Nice! It feels great to have this clear structure as someone who was dilly-dallying around a lot!

 

[simplychristian1]

@followchristianity Nice! I’m on 10,9,9,8,7 today so not too far behind you

 

[followchristianity]

@simplychristian1 Nice! You'll actually be surpassing me. I decided to go back down in reps and start adding weight.

 

[aranyi_zsolt]

@jessicarobertso07 Did a similar program I invented myself and will likely get to 3 sets of 15 in my next work out.

 

[composerusa]

@jessicarobertso07 Congrats! How many weeks did it take from when you started to your 10 pull ups set.

I’m stuck at 6x3 and feel doing your same program might be the key to achieving better numbers

 

[followchristianity]

@composerusa I would recommend doing this program... It's called the Russian fighter pull-up program(if you want to look up more about it). If your first week starts with 6 reps on the first set, your 5th week would start with 10 reps on the first set.

 

[jessicarobertso07]

@composerusa I started 8 weeks before my birthday with 4-3-2-1.

So if 6 is what you can do cleanly, you should start with 6-5-4-3-2 and add from the back, you'll be at 10 soon, like @followchristianity writes!

 

[jermyn]

@jessicarobertso07 Congrats on reaching a new PR in your Pull-Ups!

 

[shybow]

@jessicarobertso07 Great job! I just turned 32 a few weeks ago, and I took up bouldering earlier this year so I got pretty good at pullups but I don't know how many I can do exactly. Now you gave me something to work towards

 

[dustcake]

@jessicarobertso07 Great post! I will be 32 in 7 months. Currently I can do 4.. Used to be able to do 6 a year ago.. I might take up this challenge as well!

 

[jessicarobertso07]

@dustcake Yes, go for it!

 

[krissy127]

@jessicarobertso07 Meanwhile I can’t even do 2, so reading about how pathetic 7 was is deeply upsetting.

Either way congrats!