# Pull up advice



## AspiringJumper1991 (May 15, 2014)

Hi chaps, I just wanted to ask for advice on how to increase the number of repetitions for pull ups. Ive kinda hit a brick wall of 10 and its been like this for about 2 weeks. Thanks for your advice in advance.


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## Viper1 (May 15, 2014)

Try buying a belt to strap on weight and add about 5-10 pounds.  You can also do the same with a weighted vest.  Work back up to 10 pull-ups with the weight and then go back to pull-ups without the weight.  You'll definitely notice the difference.

If you need to do some weight machine work, the low cable row, cable pull-down, and shoulder press can help as well.


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## AspiringJumper1991 (May 15, 2014)

Roger that sir.


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## enceladus (May 15, 2014)

Weighted pull-ups are definitely a great idea, and I also like to work in pull-up pyramids.... http://armstrongpullupprogram.com/


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## AspiringJumper1991 (May 15, 2014)

Hooya Sir.


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## AspiringJumper1991 (May 15, 2014)

Emceladus, that training programme looks really promising, I'm going to start with that using weighted pull ups for the next month. Thanks.


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## AspiringJumper1991 (May 15, 2014)

AspiringJumper1991 said:


> Emceladus, that training programme looks really promising, I'm going to start with that using weighted pull ups for the next month. Thanks.


Enceladus*


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## Mac_NZ (May 16, 2014)

Honestly, pull ups suck but they are an important exercise.

When you step up to the bar you need to take your balls in both hands and just f---ing do it.  I used to do 1-3-5-3-1 for training and then build up from there increasing by 2.  There isn't any easy answer 
(like any beneficial exercise) to them apart from get hard and push harder.


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## AspiringJumper1991 (May 16, 2014)

I hear that sir, Thankyou


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## Ranger Psych (May 16, 2014)

Max rep sets 3x a day worked to get me to 17, but it's a mf'er doing proper isolated non-kip pullups when you weigh 230 and have a yard to move your chin to boot.  We had the advantage of a pullup bar outside the chow hall, earn your chow etc.


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## AspiringJumper1991 (May 16, 2014)

Sir, so i was in the gym today and someone noticed that i took my elbows in when i do my pull ups. Which they said it results in me taxing more on my arms, rather than my lats. Have you ever come across anything similar to this technique. Also am i right in thinking that correct form for a pull up is dead-hang straight arms and up without twisting your elbows in. I used to have a pull up bar outside my bedroom door, and every time i walked through it i would do max reps, this helped a lot but didn't leave a lot of room to do dead-hang.


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## hoepoe (May 16, 2014)

Forgive me, are your hands palm in or palm out? How far apart are your hands? Are you swinging and jerking or strict form (ONLY your shoulders, elbows and wrists working bending)?

How many are reps and how many sets with what break are you currently doing?

H


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## DAVE101 (May 16, 2014)

Don't listen to those people at the gym. You are worried about increasing your pull ups, not isolating your lats. If using your biceps helps you achieve more reps then (which it usually does) then so be it.


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## Hillclimb (May 16, 2014)

I didn't find extremely heavy weighted pull ups to help much; maybe 5-25lbs. Anything above 25+ went into the realm of diminishing returns for me, but everyone is different.

As a 6'4" 220lb fatty, just working with really high volume and cutting down rest helped me. I'd do 5 sets of 8-12 OTM's every other day at the end of my workouts, until I could do 5 sets of 12's for 60.

Around the time of being able to complete the 5x12 OTM, I was able to crank 25-30 pretty easy, then I just started adding the 6-8kg kettle bell to my foot, close grips, etc.

But that's just one way of skinning the cat. I'm a big OTM/low rest person.


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## AspiringJumper1991 (May 16, 2014)

hoepoe said:


> Forgive me, are your hands palm in or palm out? How far apart are your hands? Are you swinging and jerking or strict form (ONLY your shoulders, elbows and wrists working bending)?
> 
> How many are reps and how many sets with what break are you currently doing?
> 
> H



Sir my palms are facing out, shoulder with apart and from my own judgement enforcing strict form apart from bending my knees when pulling my self up on the 8-10 repetition. So i am doing max reps for the first two sets with 90 sec rest period. Following with 3 sets of 6 repetitions.



DAVE101 said:


> Don't listen to those people at the gym. You are worried about increasing your pull ups, not isolating your lats. If using your biceps helps you achieve more reps then (which it usually does) then so be it.



Hooya sir!. I did initially think it had a lot to do with biceps, but the PT instructor was telling me that a good proportion comes from your Lats. But surely its your arms that are pulling you up and then uses your lats to get you that bit further, chin over the bar.



Hillclimb said:


> I didn't find extremely heavy weighted pull ups to help much; maybe 5-25lbs. Anything above 25+ went into the realm of diminishing returns for me, but everyone is different.
> 
> As a 6'4" 220lb fatty, just working with really high volume and cutting down rest helped me. I'd do 5 sets of 8-12 OTM's every other day at the end of my workouts, until I could do 5 sets of 12's for 60.
> 
> ...



Sir, i was told from anything between 5-10 extra lb. when doing weighted pull ups. 6'4 and 220 lb. your a big guy sir, I'm slightly smaller, only being 6'0 and around 185 lb.


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## Etype (May 16, 2014)

I'm a big fan of Louie Simmons- if you subscribe to his work, max rep sets and max effort single reps get similar results.  The last rep in a max rep set is comparable to a max effort rep to your muscles.  Therefore, max effort strength translates directly to higher rep sets.  Westside barbell dudes can belt squat super high reps at moderate weight, and press light dumbbells for high reps as well to substantiate this.

I'm no pullup master, I did 27 on my last UBRR (@ 5'10", 190#)- but I do attribute weighted pullups and failure sets to helping out.


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## 2-1 Alpha (May 16, 2014)

AspiringJumper1991,

Another website you may be interested in is http://www.50pullups.com/. I have used the routines on the site and was able to achieve 28 strict pullups for a max effort set. In my experience,  and echoing what Etype has mentioned, having used both weighted and high volume routines I was able to accomplish the same results. I believe one of the more important and sometimes overlooked aspects of getting better at pullups, aside from just doing them, is working grip strength. Doing grip work will help with numerous other exercises as well. My average max effort set fluctuates between low to high 20 reps depending on my training cycle. I am 5'11 and weigh between 195-205 lbs. Just my 2 cents.

Very Respectfully,

2-1 Alpha


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## yankfan (May 16, 2014)

"Hooya sir!. I did initially think it had a lot to do with biceps, but the PT instructor was telling me that a good proportion comes from your Lats. But surely its your arms that are pulling you up and then uses your lats to get you that bit further, chin over the bar."

Pullups are great because you use muscles of the shoulders, scapulothoracic region, and elbow such as your deltoids, lats, pec minor, biceps, traps, etc. That being said it can be beneficial to not only do pull-ups and a hell of a lot of them, but also make sure the muscles involved in pull ups are all strong and well conditioned. And as 2-1 Alpha said, grip strength is HUGE. Just as with dead-lift, if you can't hold up a certain weight with your grip, your body simply won't lift the weight anymore (to a certain extent)


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## SkrewzLoose (May 17, 2014)

Negatives once you reach failure.
Also, stop saying "hooyah".


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## LibertasVeritas (May 23, 2014)

Negatives worked for me.  When I joined the Army, my max non-kip pull-ups were 1.  I started doing negatives and got up to 5 within a few weeks.  When I do a climbing workout now, I shoot for 20 dead hangs.  On a good day, I'll get to 16, and then I kip up and slowly negative down until I hit 20.


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