Pull Ups Stoppped Progressing

fapel said:

how long should it take to go from doing 7 pullups max to 20 pullups?

Impossible to say. It took me about 7.5 months to go from doing 9 pull ups to 23, but that was one of my main goals in preparation for BUD/S class 245. I was in boot camp for 2 of those months and that didn't help, but didn't hurt either. Kind of stalled a bit... no pull ups in the Navy boot camp. Had to sneak them in after hours on doorframes in the bathroom. Not super comfortable on the hands. I was eating everything, and lots of it.

May as well ask how long it takes to save 200 dollars... everyone will give you a different answer and none might apply to you. Eat well, train regularly, and see where it takes you.

This routine definitely fried my lats last Friday, going for my 2nd day tomorrow and can't wait to see the progress in the next several weeks. I just have one question about the simplified version you used for push ups: did you only do 3 sets total? Or you did 3 sets of each exercise (regular, diamond, and wide) for a total of 9? I know for the pull ups the focus is 10 total, 2 of each grip. Just wanted some clarification.

Thanks for the advice as always though.

James: Simplified version is simply the program Stew Smith uses. I also started doing 20/20/20 of regular push ups, diamond, and then wide. You can change the order if you like. These were slower non-explosive reps that took 3-4 seconds each from top to bottom and back to top. At first I could barely do 20 without needing to take a break in the straight arm position, but eventually I could do all 60 in a row without stopping. That took about 6 weeks, but I was already doing 120 push ups for my 2 minute max at that time.

Ah, so for the 20/20/20 (in my case, 10/10/10 lol) it is indeed just those 3 sets for push ups per workout? I workout 3 days a week at the moment and I definitely need to increase both my pull up number and my push up number but I also don't want to ignore horizontal pulling and vertical pressing. Of course, I might actually have to drop down to 8 if I'm going to be doing slower reps; as you can see I'm not very proficient at push ups... yet.

I just found this thread and would like to try the pullup program.

I am also curious about the horizontal pulling question. Would it work to simply add rows as one of the pullup variations? My PT wants me to do rows. I don't have any restrictions so I can do pretty much whatever else I want, I just need to include rows.

Thanks.

Joshua Naterman said:

James: Simplified version is simply the program Stew Smith uses. I also started doing 20/20/20 of regular push ups, diamond, and then wide. You can change the order if you like. These were slower non-explosive reps that took 3-4 seconds each from top to bottom and back to top. At first I could barely do 20 without needing to take a break in the straight arm position, but eventually I could do all 60 in a row without stopping. That took about 6 weeks, but I was already doing 120 push ups for my 2 minute max at that time.

James,

I second Nate's advice.  Although the Armstrong program starts with 3 sets of max pushups BEFORE every pullup workout, the Armstrong program is very taxing.  Nate's giving you great advice for long term progress and little chance of injury.  Many newbies get injured trying Armstrong by 1) to do too much too soon and 2) skipping the daily pushups that assist and protect shoulder health.

Paul

Joshua Naterman said:

You're basically going to figure out how many pull ups you can do for 10 sets. I would suggest trying 4. You will do regular pull ups, close pull ups, chin ups, parallel grip and wide pull ups. Then you repeat that. You're looking for 20-30s rest periods. You do not add reps until all sets are 4 pull ups. You may need to start with 3, and that's fine. You want every rep to be good. Right now you've still got a little size to gain, but once you're hitting 12-15 good pull ups you will either need to add weight or start transitioning to one arm work. I will suggest using this routine, which is pretty fast since it should take 10 minutes or less, until you can do it with 8-9 reps all the way through. At that point, and not before, I will help you figure out whatever it is that you want to do to continue moving forward.

I would suggest doing this routine 2-3x per week. I will also suggest working on front pulls and yewkis, tucked versions can be used as a pull up variation to replace the close grip pull ups and parallel grip if you like.

First, I'm sorry for reviving this ancient thread. I need to increase my pull-up max for a physical test I have in 4 months, and this thread popped up when I searched the forum. I tried it today and got 2,2,2,2,2,1,1,2,2,1(I also did regular pull-ups instead of wide grip, they're too hard for me). I can do 5 pull-ups max. Is this still the program you would reccomend to increase your pull-ups as quickly it can be done safely? And if so, can you increase the rest times to get all sets done and then work on decreasing them?

Duff said:

First, I'm sorry for reviving this ancient thread. I need to increase my pull-up max for a physical test I have in 4 months, and this thread popped up when I searched the forum. I tried it today and got 2,2,2,2,2,1,1,2,2,1(I also did regular pull-ups instead of wide grip, they're too hard for me). I can do 5 pull-ups max. Is this still the program you would reccomend to increase your pull-ups as quickly it can be done safely? And if so, can you increase the rest times to get all sets done and then work on decreasing them?

5 pullups is small enough to let Grease the Groove (GTG) work. Just do like, 2 or 3 pullups whenever you walk past your bar (if it's in a common area of your house), or alternatively, do 2-3 pullups 5-10 times a day (just at random times throughout the day, not as a concentrated workout). 

Once you get better, Armstrong Pullup Routine or the one Slizzardman suggested.

If you read the thread you will find that the others have already actually posted good ideas for increasing the number of pullups, I merely rehashed what they said.