T Nation

Doing Pullups

Conditioning
#1

why dont guys do pullups? i always see guys doing the lat pulldown exercise with way too much weight, pulling with such terrible form…never understood why guys just dont do pullups. i normally i go out to my garage and train, but when go to the gym,i think me and a few are the only ones doing them…nothing wrong if you can only do a few.

just build up from there… such a great exercise… shooting for a pr this spring of 35 dead hang pullups…been stuck at 32 for a year now…maybe after cycling season, i’ll do weighted pullups again… gotta get 35… but i gotta save all my energy for bicycle racing/training…fall time=weighted pullups…

#2

Imo, because most people like to see either of the two when they work out-

  1. Big numbers on the weight they’re moving.
  2. Big numbers of repetitions.

But mostly because they’re pussies. It’s really funny when I overhear people say they can do 20+ pull ups, and then they do kippers. Kippers are fine; they’re just not pullups and should not be referred to as such.

One of my proudest physical accomplishments thus far is going from being a fat kid who couldn’t do a single chin-up to save his life to going to do 15 for max. Not a high number, but for someone who thought chin/pull-ups were fucking impossible back in childhood that is a glorious number to achieve.

#3

^^^^^

great job…

and i agree…

pussys… an ego thing i guess. cant do pullups so they put a ton of weight on the bar and do the lat pulldown with horrible form… practice pullups AND THE CORRECT WAY TO DO LAT PULLDOWNS…

real men do pullups!!!

#4

Excuse my stupidity but whats a kipper?

#5

Kipping pullups aka hanging upper body seizures…

Personally I love pullups. I do them first (weighted) or third (bodyweight for reps) every single pull session.

#6

Kipping “pullups”

Basically you use lower body momentum to push your upper body over the bar, generally above the pec/chest.

If properly done, there is very minimal effort required by your back/arm to push yourself up. The power comes almost entirely from the hip/lower body momentum that creates the force that you use.

The funny thing about kippers is that there are a proper way to do them, and I think a good number of people don’t do that either. Proper kippers are hard to achieve. They require a solid rhythm instead of the spastic crap that many do.

#7

if you got 32 pullups either you were swinging your legs or you dont have any legs. if that is the case then i apologize.
the most pullups i have ever done were 17, and the last two reps i couldnt get my head above the bar

#8

^^^^^

this post is saying cause you can do 17, someone else cant do 32 dead hang pullups??

#9

[quote]spk wrote:
^^^^^

this post is saying cause you can do 17, someone else cant do 32 dead hang pullups??[/quote]

32 with strict form is pretty rare. How about a video?

#10

I do a lot of pull-ups, especially after reading Bret’s “The Best Damn…” article series. If you can do 15 or more body weight pullups with great form (i.e. no kipping, from a full hang every time) try adding a weighted vest or backpack.

#11

[quote]eremesu wrote:
if you got 32 pullups either you were swinging your legs or you dont have any legs. if that is the case then i apologize.
the most pullups i have ever done were 17, and the last two reps i couldnt get my head above the bar[/quote]
I think that means you got 15. 32 is a lot but it is possible.

On the subject of swinging your legs and not getting your head over the bar: crossfit. I understand that in a lot of the competitions they allow you to kip. However, does that also mean that you don’t have get your head over the bar? I ask because in most broadcasts of the crossfit games where they are doing pullups (particularly when women are doing pullups), the kipping pullups quickly degrade into flailing around while saluting the bar from below with your chin. This is in full view of the judges and we’re talking about the top level participants. Is it not a requirement that you get your head and chin over the bar on every rep, even if you are kipping?

#12

The gym i go to has 2 handles that move freely attachment option to the pulldown. It is safer when we do them 6-7 days weekly for joints compared to using a fixed grip. Ask Chad W.and for months i do agree with him.

#13

[quote]hb50p wrote:
The gym i go to has 2 handles that move freely attachment option to the pulldown. It is safer when we do them 6-7 days weekly for joints compared to using a fixed grip. Ask Chad W.and for months i do agree with him.[/quote]

Yep, my elbows get achy if I do my pull-ups on a fixed bar (I like higher reps for these), so I always do them on rings.

#14

well i can do 8 legit pull ups, then it becomes seizures. :slight_smile: Im working on them though.

#15

Pullups are the only way to go. If you can’t do a lot, do sets of 3 between all your other sets.

#16

Pullups are the only way to go. If you can’t do a lot, do sets of 3 between all your other sets.

#17

[quote]eremesu wrote:
if you got 32 pullups either you were swinging your legs or you dont have any legs. if that is the case then i apologize.
the most pullups i have ever done were 17, and the last two reps i couldnt get my head above the bar[/quote]

I have a friend who can do 28 (180lbs), another friend who can do 44 (150lbs), and my buddy who just got back from USMC boot told me that the guy who won the Ironman competition got almost 60 (132lbs).

Meanwhile I can do like 16 (220lbs).

#18

[quote]louiek wrote:

[quote]eremesu wrote:
if you got 32 pullups either you were swinging your legs or you dont have any legs. if that is the case then i apologize.
the most pullups i have ever done were 17, and the last two reps i couldnt get my head above the bar[/quote]

I have a friend who can do 28 (180lbs), another friend who can do 44 (150lbs), and my buddy who just got back from USMC boot told me that the guy who won the Ironman competition got almost 60 (132lbs).

Meanwhile I can do like 16 (220lbs).[/quote]

I’m not saying that your friends or the Ironman winner fall into this, but there are lots of people who can do “lots of pull-ups”, but there is a big difference between strict perfect pull-ups and what most people do when they bang out lots of pull-ups. I know that there are some gymnasts, acrobats, and rock climbers out there who can do high numbers of perfect form pull-ups though, so it’s certainly possible that spk and your friends can really do that many pull-ups. I’m with others though that I’d like to see a video of it because it is rare.

And just so you know what I mean by strict form/perfect pull-ups:
-every rep starts from a full dead hang (arms locked straight, shoulders relaxed up into the ears)
-there is no swinging of the body whatsoever (body is kept in a straight line, legs straight, no arching the back)
-the body is pulled up to the point where the collar bone/clavicle is level with the bar/the bar touches the upper chest

I see very few people doing pull-ups like this when doing “lots of reps” though, just like most max rep push-up or dip sets use less than perfect form. Still impressive to do that many reps, but a totally different animal to do that many reps correctly.

#19

Here’s a vid of someone doing 40: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU8pdd-6zvw

He swings a little near the end, but I think overall it’s a solid (legit) effort.

I know I’ve been able to do 20-25 for years, what gets the max up most after a base strength level is established is definitely weighted pull ups. I didn’t start doing them until I could hit 4 sets of 10 pull ups with a minute of rest between sets, but once I started doing weighteds, I fell in love with them. Also, they’ll get you stares… lol. I guess normal pull ups by themselves are considered herculean by many.

#20

I’m with those that say doing X pull-ups with perfect form is extraordinarily rare, and those claiming to do X are sadly mistaken.

Case in point: in that video posted with dude banging out 40, I have issues with his definition of a pull-up. He is not executing each rep from a dead-hang and movement in his lower body, albeit minimal, is driving his upper body towards completion of the lift.

When I do bodyweight pull-ups, I’m a tad bit more extreme. I start from a dead-hang, raise myself so my chin is above the bar, and hold myself there for 2-3 seconds before lowering myself back into the dead-hang position in preparation for my ensuing rep. When I throw on the plates, I hold for 1-2 seconds though. None of that speed demon shit where you’re using momentum as your friend.