Increasing Endurance/Reps for Pull ups, Push ups, Dips?

Okay so I just got back from a fitness expo where they held a 60 second max rep contest for pull ups, push ups, dips and bicep curls (don't know what the rules are for this particular exercise, so I won't bother training for it).

The numbers to beat were Push ups (80 something), Pull ups (37), and dips (65).

I didn't compete in them because I was "out of shape". Anyway, I decided to record my 60 second max reps for three of the exercises and here is my current progress. I have never spent any actual time working on endurance, so I don't know if this would be considered good, but here are my results:

Push ups (50)

Pull ups (27)

Dips (40)

Is my form acceptable?

How would I go about improving my endurance?

Is there a specific technique I should use like using wider arms for pull ups, or arch your back for dips/pull ups?

Do I need a specific diet such as increasing carbs?

My goals for max reps in 60 seconds are: Push ups (100), Pull ups (60), and dips (70).

Is a 4-5 month period a reasonable time frame to achieve these goals?

Push ups:

• Your chest must touch the ground.
• Your tempo is way to fast.

Pull ups:

• Your chin must go over the bar.

Dips:

• Your shoulders must touch the bar.
• Your tempo is too fast.

Great effort overall my friend. You have a lot more strength endurance than myself. Keep practicing and don't worry about how long it takes to complete your goals.     

SuperBru said:

Push ups:

• Your chest must touch the ground.
• Your tempo is way to fast.

Pull ups:

• Your chin must go over the bar.

Dips:

• Your shoulders must touch the bar.
• Your tempo is too fast.

Great effort overall my friend. You have a lot more strength endurance than myself. Keep practicing and don't worry about how long it takes to complete your goals.

Of course this atrocious form is reserved only for max rep contests lol.

"Of course this atrocious form is reserved only for max rep contests lol." I'm unsure whether this is true or not. I would recommend using correct form no matter what the situation. If you have purchased F1 you will know that theres some really high volume exercises that must be performed with correct form. I can't go into too much detail however I can tell you that upon completion you will truly understand the meaning of endurance.   

To add to SuperBru's last post - it depends whether you want to beat them or CRUSH them 

Very good effort paolo, you should have competed - you are in great shape, no matter what you think.

Of course your body weight is 35 or 40Kg, but these are very respectable numbers with as good form as can be for a reps for time challenge.

Well done!

He means that the contest allows for that kind of form so that's why he will be using that form because most likely everyone else will do it with that kind of form. So doing everything with perfect form like full ROM will put him in a disadvantage in the contest if sub-par form is allowed and counted in the total of reps. I'm sure everyone wants to get an upper hand and maximize the chances of winning in a competition. In other words, sub-par form is used only in situations like that and good form is used in the actual training and development.

@Paolo: Since those exercises are very basic and take so little percent of your max strength, It would be very easy for you to develop the endurance to heavily increase your reps. You just have to keep doing very high maximum rep sets to build the endurance up. I'm not exactly sure how long it will take you to reach the amount of reps you listed, but I think you can achieve it in well under 5 months with your current progress and high base of strength.

SuperBru said:

Your tempo is way to fast.

Your tempo is too fast.

 

Some day, you'll have to explain how you can be too fast in a race for time! 

......... But not today!

lol doing a push-up with a 60 second tempo will make you lose that contest unless your opponents can't even do 1 rep.

 60 second max rep contest...am I retarded or something.

 All depends on the rules of the contest.

 If you ask the army drill sergeants, they'll talk about pushups to 90 degrees roughly. If you ask some marine gunny's, they'll say chest to desk. And some of either side will say either.

If you ask one gymnastics coach to another, pretty much the same thing.

My opinion. Chest to deck. Otherwise form is decent especially for a max rep contest amongst laymen.

Pullups. Well they aren't chin over the bar. I think this is because on a set of pullup bars like that, you have to go a bit wide like you did or a bit narrow on the inside unless you use a neutral grip. I'd rather see the neutral grip.

Dips. ROM is a bit short IMO, especially if you have more shoulder ROM.

And no cross legged **** ever. Man, I really hate that. Not as much as "sagging" but it annoys me.

Blairbob said:

(...) no cross legged **** ever. Man, I really hate that. Not as much as "sagging" but it annoys me.

Why?

What is the reason to avoid crossed legs?

FredInChina said:

Why?

What is the reason to avoid crossed legs?

I would assume that it's unconventional in the gymnastics world? 

SuperBru said:

I would assume that it's unconventional in the gymnastics world? 

What would you recommend then?

Uncrossed.

I have no idea what they count as a rep in fitness expo but assuming reps you did count, there's not much to say about the form. You are very likely already doing all the exercises in the easiest manner which is what this kind of competition is about. One thing though is that stop reaching with your neck in pullups. Even if it might give you couple of extra reps in their eyes, it's bad for your neck.

I hope you indeed leave this terrible form for competitions only and practice usually with full rom.

That is chest to ground pushups, maximal elbow flexion with pullups and shoulders to bars with dips. I'd suggest trying them the right way for amusement and see how much harder they are done right. 

I know K-Star went over it in SuppleLeopard and I'm sure it's on MWOD somewhere.

Basically, crossing your legs increases stability as a "trick" vs having to maintain body tightness by just keeping your legs together.

Serisously, it's not that hard to keep your legs together.

Well...unless there is some alcohol involved and I've been drinking tequila or vodka. 

Just a thought, won't for the most part good reps have good carryover to doing bad reps with too fast tempo ?

Like, if this was a sport could you do mostly good dips, pullups and pushups with proper ROM and tempo and near the contest (like in season) specifically train for the max bad reps with fast tempo ?

 All depends on the rules of the contest.

If the rules state that partials are given full credit, then it wouldn't make any sense to complete reps with a huge ROM. Of course, it'd be a lame contest but that is neither here nor there.

SuperBru said:

 60 second max rep contest...am I retarded or something.

I lol'd

I can't believe my ignorance sometimes.

Yes, but I meant for training. Wouldn't training good reps build more strength which will applies to making bad reps (with of course some pre-contest specific training) ?

Blairbob said:

 All depends on the rules of the contest.

 

If the rules state that partials are given full credit, then it wouldn't make any sense to complete reps with a huge ROM. Of course, it'd be a lame contest but that is neither here nor there.

When I watch a lot of people in endurance competitions I must admit it doesn't impress me. The ROM is shocking.

Well done! You are strong, and your form is more than good enough for any competition I have seen at least. And if that is what you are training for, I would keep the form you have. When it comes to training endurance I think one of the smartest things you can do is teaching your body to perform even when you are pumped. I was doing the 4 min pushup test for a while, and it is torture, but it will give you higher max reps, and learn you to perform when exhausted.  Same for 4 min pullup or dips.

When it comes to your goals, I think 100 pushups is doable, and maybe 70 dips, but 60 pullups with good form in 1 min is very very hard. Unless you kip or go very wide with grip, you will have to train a long time to achieve that in my opinion. Some time ago I was looking for people on youtube that does more than 30 strict pull ups, and there are not that many out there.

You might want to check out some out some of the bar-videoes on youtube. Some of them seems to be training very high rep, so they should know how to best go about it.

Lol I once saw someone doing a max rep dips contest on a youtube video and he barely had any ROM. It looked like he was having a seizure on the bars.