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How many strict pull ups can you do?

shutup

There was an argument a few months back in one of the threads here. I thought it would be interesting to see how many STRICT, DEAD HANG pull ups (not chin ups) people here can do.
There’s probably going to be a a few lies, and a few people (like a good friend of mine) who count pull ups even though they don’t lock out arms or get chin over the bar, and a few people who aggressively say “who cares” and have a go at me.
But for those of you who want to take part, post up your score and let’s see if any of us can improve over the summer.

Male
Age - 47
Current capability - 7
Best ever - 14 (10 years ago)

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Gottanage

Currently now 25(30+ if I add temp). My best clear pullups were 30+20(with adding temp)

Transform

Bob Harris wrote: »

I'd have my doubts that they are the strict dead hang pull ups the OP asks about.

my thoughts exactly, need vid

Transform

italodisco wrote: »

You're free to be skeptical, but i have nothing whatsoever to gain from lying online.

Maybe the gymnastics background up to the age of 17 helped, along with the fact i must have done 10 sets of them a day along with a couple hundred push ups daily through my teen years up to my mid 20s.

And then theirs the other side of the coin, i cant squat more than 130kg without my legs giving way even though they look like theyd handle 400kg lol

gymnastics back ground = well that explains it

freemenfitness

Transform wrote: »

my thoughts exactly, need vid

Yep anything over 20 and I need video. Except maybe long term gymnasts

NSAman

dastardly00 wrote: »

I think Gorillas have stronger arms than legs!

OK an upsidedown gorilla..;)

CrankyHaus

Is it normal to be able to do more chin ups than pull ups and advisable to do more during training?
For instance I may do X sets of 5 pull ups and X sets of 10 chin-ups.

shutup

Yes chins are easier. You should be able to do more.

ittakestwo

shutup wrote: »

Yes chins are easier. You should be able to do more.

Are pull ups and chin ups complementary to each other.... ie if you practice just one of them that you will get better at the other even if your not practicing it.

Ush1

ittakestwo wrote: »

Are pull ups and chin ups complementary to each other.... ie if you practice just one of them that you will get better at the other even if your not practicing it.

Yes, chins have more bicep focus while pull ups are more purely back focused but back is the primary muscles involved in both.

[Deleted User]

I can do about 8 chin ups with good form, though it's not something I do regularly.

But I have really really struggled with pull ups, even on the assisted pull up machine with a lot of assistance. I think my form must stink and I may ask for guidance seeing as it is a fantastically efficient exercise and I want my limited gym time to be as constructive as possible.

What do people think is the best exercise to work your way up, assisted or negative pull ups?

freemenfitness

Deleted User wrote: »

What do people think is the best exercise to work your way up, assisted or negative pull ups?

It depends on what part of the movement you struggle with is it the starting point, pull or lock out?

[Deleted User]

freemenfitness wrote: »

It depends on what part of the movement you struggle with is it the starting point, pull or lock out?

The pull but I couldn't be sure tbh

freemenfitness

Try some later and let me know.

Zillah

Deleted User wrote: »

I think my form must stink

Honestly, proper pullups are just a really hard exercise, it takes tons of upper body strength. I started out having to do, like, two, before having to take a break.

I'd do 2,2,2,2,1,1, something like that, and then next time it'd be 3,2,2,2,2,1, then 3,3,2,2,2,1, etc. You really just have to work up to it slowly.

Bob Harris

Zillah wrote: »

Honestly, proper pullups are just a really hard exercise, it takes tons of upper body strength. I started out having to do, like, two, before having to take a break.

I'd do 2,2,2,2,1,1, something like that, and then next time it'd be 3,2,2,2,2,1, then 3,3,2,2,2,1, etc. You really just have to work up to it slowly.

It's all relative. There is a video on Youtube from about a month ago of Brian Shaw - 4 times the World's stongest man. The best he could do were 6 fairly crap pull ups.

Transform

Zillah wrote: »

Honestly, proper pullups are just a really hard exercise, it takes tons of upper body strength. I started out having to do, like, two, before having to take a break.

I'd do 2,2,2,2,1,1, something like that, and then next time it'd be 3,2,2,2,2,1, then 3,3,2,2,2,1, etc. You really just have to work up to it slowly.

if you practice them daily, rarely go to failure and vary the practice in all sessions then they progress pretty quickly

this goes for most exercises - biggest mistake is going to failure all the time

Transform

Bob Harris wrote: »

It's all relative. There is a video on Youtube from about a month ago of Brian Shaw - 4 times the World's stongest man. The best he could do were 6 fairly crap pull ups.

any 300lb powerlifter is going to find pull ups hard not just because of their weight but also because getting your shoulder into full extension with a sh1t ton of muscle in the way is bloody hard

honda boi

Transform wrote: »

if you practice them daily, rarely go to failure and vary the practice in all sessions then they progress pretty quickly

this goes for most exercises - biggest mistake is going to failure all the time

Would doing them everyday and not going to failure help progress quicker rather then going to failure one day,then skip a day and going to failure again the next day?

Alf Veedersane

honda boi wrote: »

Would doing them everyday and not going to failure help progress quicker rather then going to failure one day,then skip a day and going to failure again the next day?

It comes down to how many you do? If doing them every day means more total reps across the week, then there's your answer.

silverharp

this video came up in my suggestions , it gets advanced very quickly but the first 2 minutes looks like a good starter , do negatives, isometric holds and scapula pulls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DHZpc_SVJ8

Transform

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

It comes down to how many you do? If doing them every day means more total reps across the week, then there's your answer.

exactly - total volume of work performed and consistency matter more than intensity

[Deleted User]

Sounds like that backs up "greasing the groove"

Mellor

Bob Harris wrote: »

It's all relative. There is a video on Youtube from about a month ago of Brian Shaw - 4 times the World's stongest man. The best he could do were 6 fairly crap pull ups.

He's 415lbs. Very few people in the world are pulling up that weight even once.
When you consider them in terms of load and not reps they are no different than any other lift imo

Transform

Deleted User wrote: »

Sounds like that backs up "greasing the groove"

Id put in far more variety when applying greasing the grove as it allows for more repetition without repetition

Bob Harris

Mellor wrote: »

He's 415lbs. Very few people in the world are pulling up that weight even once.
When you consider them in terms of load and not reps they are no different than any other lift imo

Which is why I said it's all relative. No point comparing me doing a dozen at 165lbs with someone who is 415lbs doing even one.

Transform

Bob Harris wrote: »

Which is why I said it's all relative. No point comparing me doing a dozen at 165lbs with someone who is 415lbs doing even one.

165lbs is far more within the normal body weight range than 400+lbs

Transform

Transform wrote: »

165lbs is far more within the normal body weight range than 400+lbs

worked on a pull up program with lots of variation, here you go guys

Pull-up Program – get your first or build up your pulling strength

Points to keep in mind –
• This is a program to be used by those that can’t do a pull up yet or those that struggle to get a handful of pull ups
• The program has work programmed daily. It will take 10-12mins to do if it’s on it’s own but you can also slot the pulling in while you’re resting between other exercises e.g. in between breaks while doing squats/lunges etc.
• It’s important to please test your current pulling strength before starting – hang from a bar and check if you can do one, if you can’t do any then check if you can jump and pull chin over the bar (underhand or overhand grip) and lower slowly (5secs lowering) or use enough band assistance to allow for 1-2reps you can just about manage. This will act as your baseline which you should retest about every two weeks and performed at the start of any training session while your fresh, warm-up adequately before you test.
• The 7 days programmed can be run for 6-8 weeks which should be enough time to get or build your pull up. When you can do pull ups I suggest adding in a session with weighted pull ups and decreasing the frequency of pull ups so your training can move slightly towards a different goal.
• Grip – technically an underhand grip (palms facing towards you) is a chin up and palms facing away (overhand) is a pull up. I also program pulling exercises in a neutral grip (palms facing each other, same position you would have if shaking someone’s hand), such as, parallel grip bar pull ups, rope/towel pull ups, ring pull ups, ring rows.
• If you need to use band assistance then please watch the video here to show you how to do that in a few different ways – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHCLgrcH1cQ
• There are seven sessions programmed and ideally you would get them all done in one week, but this can be spaced out according to how often you can get to train. Having a home doorframe pullup bar would be ideal and they’re very cheap. If you want to get better at any skill you need to do it regularly, however the harder you push yourself the longer you’re going to have to recover. As we would like you to perform the program often please make sure that you’re not pushing every set or day to your limit. The last set should be the only one that you’re working to your limit or going to failure. Going to complete failure on all working sets will compromise your training for the following day and is counterproductive.
• It’s important to work on just on vertical pulling (pull-ups etc) but also on horizontal pulling which is why there is some rowing movements covered as they allow for more scapular retraction.
• The variation on the pull ups is important as we want to vary the movement slightly in each session as it allows for repetition without repetition i.e. you’re not doing the exact same reps, grip or style of pulling daily so it makes it harder to burnout or over train the pulling pattern
• The ultimate pulling strength is straddle rope climbs, building your pull ups to the point where you can attempt these is a very high and worthy goal - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEotwklXDzo

Session 1 Paused Pull-ups 3reps, please make sure you lower slowly for 3-5secs- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2mRab0sTzU
5-6 sets with 90secs rest between sets – feel free to do core work or mobility wok on your break.

Core work ideas here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgXj7Y6uj7g&list=PL7HyOap7lRny4eJPpPPGBkkGV0CmfFeWg
Mobilty work covered in link above

Session 2 High rep pull-ups 7-10reps – use band assistance as needed –
5-6 sets with 90secs rest between sets – feel free to do core work or mobility wok on your break.

Core work ideas here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgXj7Y6uj7g&list=PL7HyOap7lRny4eJPpPPGBkkGV0CmfFeWg
Mobilty work covered in link above

Session 3 Rope or Towel pull-ups 3-5reps, scale as needed as shown in vdeo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga7tXl2NcRI
5-6 sets with 90secs rest between sets – feel free to do core work or mobility wok on your break.
Core work ideas here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgXj7Y6uj7g&list=PL7HyOap7lRny4eJPpPPGBkkGV0CmfFeWg
Mobilty work covered in link above

Session 4 Pendaly row 8-10reps (use barbell or Kettlebells/dumbbells) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lG-wq9B0h8
5-6 sets with 90secs rest between sets – feel free to do core work or mobility wok on your break.

Core work ideas here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgXj7Y6uj7g&list=PL7HyOap7lRny4eJPpPPGBkkGV0CmfFeWg
Mobilty work covered in link above

Session 5 Chin ups (underhand grip) 5reps and use band assistance as needed
5-6 sets with 90secs rest between sets – feel free to do core work or mobility wok on your break.

Core work ideas here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgXj7Y6uj7g&list=PL7HyOap7lRny4eJPpPPGBkkGV0CmfFeWg
Mobilty work covered in link above

Session 6 Banded pulldowns 12-15reps these are supposed to be easier than many other pulling movements so focus on form and pulling with lats and not pulling shoudlers upwards - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imftgWv9Pyw&t=3s
5-6 sets with 90secs rest between sets – feel free to do core work or mobility wok on your break.

Core work ideas here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgXj7Y6uj7g&list=PL7HyOap7lRny4eJPpPPGBkkGV0CmfFeWg
Mobilty work covered in link above

Session 7 One arm rows 8rep per side - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUGrQopEFgY&t=5s or Ring rows 6-8reps (covered here at 1min in - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnTCswcA-aw )
5-6 sets with 90secs rest between sets – feel free to do core work or mobility wok on your break.

Core work ideas here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgXj7Y6uj7g&list=PL7HyOap7lRny4eJPpPPGBkkGV0CmfFeWg
Mobilty work covered in link above