Need additional work for pull up strength. Help.

Hi !

I have a HUGE problem with Pullups. The thing is I can't progress in them or the progress IS super slow.

Currently I am still waiting for my rings to arrive ( So no RC work for atleast a month or so )  

I need Your help in what I can do to increase my pullup strength and reps because I am very afraid that The RC work will be slow in progress for me. 

My pulling strength was always been the weakest, in my lifting days I could not Deadlift much either. 

Should I build reps on a pullup assistance machine  ? Or do Lat Pulldowns or Barbel rows ?

I had no problem with my pushing strength but my pulling strength is my weakest point.

Help.

A weak grip would make deadlifts and pullups hard, but I'm just guessing, that's all I can do. You need to give us some numbers, video or anything really before we can help you.

What is current max? What are your workouts like? How fast/slow have the pullups progressed?

Personally I'd use some rope as a substitute until you get a hold of your rings. Working pullups wont be that much help, RCPE1 is an absoloute killer even though I have decent pulling strength. Also you don't want to re-enforce bad movement patterns that you may have (which the RC progression will address)

Get a couple of lengths of rope and hang them from where you are planning on hanging your rings, make a couple of figure 8 knots in the end so that you have rudimentary hoops, you can improve the "rings" slightly by putting some pvc pipe in the middle of the knot, these aren't ideal but they should be more than good enough for you to start on the RC progression. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLopeVBb7yU

^ What he said. Improvise, and get going with the RC progression. It is meant to make you strong. It's not like you need the rings for executing a couple maltese to planche presses with double somersault dismount

spinelli said:

Personally I'd use some rope as a substitute until you get a hold of your rings. Working pullups wont be that much help, RCPE1 is an absoloute killer even though I have decent pulling strength. Also you don't want to re-enforce bad movement patterns that you may have (which the RC progression will address)

Get a couple of lengths of rope and hang them from where you are planning on hanging your rings, make a couple of figure 8 knots in the end so that you have rudimentary hoops, you can improve the "rings" slightly by putting some pvc pipe in the middle of the knot, these aren't ideal but they should be more than good enough for you to start on the RC progression. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLopeVBb7yU

Ravn said:

^ What he said. Improvise, and get going with the RC progression. It is meant to make you strong. It's not like you need the rings for executing a couple maltese to planche presses with double somersault dismount

The thing is that I'm afraid of my progress being very very slow with RC work as with pullups, thats why I asked for maybe some assistance work.

My pushing strength responds fine but my pulling strength is like weakest ever and its not a recent discovery It has been like that for 2-3 years now when I started to train.

Niklas03 said:

A weak grip would make deadlifts and pullups hard, but I'm just guessing, that's all I can do. You need to give us some numbers, video or anything really before we can help you.

 

What is current max? What are your workouts like? How fast/slow have the pullups progressed?

I don't know what my max is but I started to work on controlled chinups ( pause at bottom for 1 sec with straigth arms/ dead hang and pause at top for 1 sec and the whole rep goes without kip)  I do a 4x4 atm and it's hard at the last set and I have been here for the last 2 weeks and no progress till now in this approach. I tried the same with pullups but i can't hold it at the top position. Anyway when I hang from a bar or rings ( especially rings) I feel very heavy. 

Pullups tend to respond well to sub-maximal rep per set ranges but many sets. So if 4x4 is hard try 5x3 or 6x3. Just keep increasing volume. Mix up your grips and tempo and you'll see progress but just be strict with your pullups, especially ROM ranges.

That said, pullups aren't the whole picture. I myself I'm not bad at pullups but I suck at the rowing movement in F1, so don't worry about not progressing as fast as you want to be, F1 is already a pretty good path for that.

I personally wouldn`t worry too much about your pull up strength. The Foundation Courses will adress all your weaknesses sooner or later and will help to overcome them. It`s not about a fast progression my friend. In my eyes it`s about consistency and sticking to the program so it`ll pay off in the long run. I think we are all in the same boat of getting the best out of our bodies while staying healthy and beeing able to perform excellent movements not in weeks,months or 1-2 years but maybe in 4-5 years I love this program so much because i see and feel that it`ll lead me towards the right path concerning a well balanced physique. I´m sorry that i actually didn`t answer to your question but i just wanted to share with you my insight. That beeing said don`t worry that your pulling strength isn`t up to the level you would like it to have NOW. It´ll definitly come with time. All the best brother

What MArtin said above: If Coach wanted us to do pull ups, they would be in the programming.

The RC will improve pull ups. I am up to doing the body row and my pull ups have improved well. I only do pull-ups in Crossfit workouts once a week. I am better at them now than I was when I always trained them. They do come up later in RC progressions. First things first. Trust the program as it works better than you realise.

Why would you think Foundation wouldn't go onto to pullups?

I use a jiu jiutsu belt over a doorway bar to do rowing work when either I can't get outside first thing (due to weather) or I'm just doing them in warmup. It's not ideal for ROM but at the same time it is probably even better than rings for grip work, so take this time for a short-term focus on that and 90% ideal strength work until your rings arrive IMO.