Pull-Up/Chin-Up Goals

I’ve read Poliquin’s back to basics no more geek back training. I’ve always sucked at pull ups and have always thought it to be one of the marks of true upper body strength to be able to do them.

Here’s the deal. I can do one good chin. I want to be able to do 34 consecutive chin ups or pull ups by my 34th birthday, which is May 27th.

anyone ever pursue this program to improve their chinning and if so, do you have any pointers?

Good luck, but that doesn’t sound like a realistic goal. Unless you mean by May of next year.

Holy shit. If you went from one chinup to 34 in 4 months, you’d be the man.

Eccentric training seems to be the way to do get stronger at doing a chinup. At least, that’s what I’ve always read. :slight_smile:

Losing weight/Gaining back strength (properly performed rows) would help too. :wink:

I really dont have any real good advice to offer. I was able to do 4 chinups from the start (I seriously wonder about my form back then, though.) I honestly haven’t improved much. :-/

Yeah that seems like a lofty goal. from one to 34 in that time. There’s guys that have been chinning for years and their output is in the 20 to 40 range.

D

this may give you some other pointers - http://www.T-Nation.com/article/bodybuilding/keep_your_chin_up

i went from 0 chin-ups to 6-8 in about 9 weeks. pull-ups much, much harder - still working on those - on a good day, i can manage 3.

If you hit a plateau, use a drop set.

The Armstrong prog is supposed to be good. I’ve not tried it myself but let us know if you do and it works!

4mcd.usmc.mil/AOP/OSOHyattsville/Armstrong%20Pullup%20Program.htm

I think it was Waterbury that said the best way to improve something that you’re weak on was to increase the frequency of that exe. By that he meant do more sessions per day, like am and pm workouts of that specific move.

The problem becomes fatigue and not strength to do what you want. You should progress quickly once you can do a few. Maybe a more realistic goal would be to do 4 sets of 12 plus one for good luck by your birthday. Do them twice a week and keep a log. Beat your previous record each time. Give yourself a minute or two rest between sets.

[quote]ChuckDHunt wrote:
I’ve read Poliquin’s back to basics no more geek back training. I’ve always sucked at pull ups and have always thought it to be one of the marks of true upper body strength to be able to do them.

Here’s the deal. I can do one good chin. I want to be able to do 34 consecutive chin ups or pull ups by my 34th birthday, which is May 27th.

anyone ever pursue this program to improve their chinning and if so, do you have any pointers?[/quote]

I live on this shit, Pull-ups and Chin-ups. I post my workout on the, over thirty lifers, under “Need for Speed”. I really do have to say, you hear some people are doing enormous amounts of Chin-ups but their form totally sucks. Heres what I’ve learned Pull-ups are better for the back and form is everything (plan on having some pictures up within a couple days) all the way down no swing and as little body movement as possible. Nothing wrong with resting a bit at the bottom. My workout is for lean so I max out every time. If size in on your agenda maxing at reps of 8 to 10 with multiple sets will do wonders for you. There are many forms of Pull-ups and Chin-ups to work every part of your back, biceps, forearms, shoulders etc. I have them posted and try to describe the crazy ones as best I can. My max to date is 63 total combo of Pull-ups and Chin-ups in a single workout routine. I hope to hit 120 at some point 6 x 20, that is going to take awhile, I am super strict, Although my knees do come up a bit when I struggle for that last one or two reps. Chad Waterbury touches a bit on this in the Muscle Revolution (title of his book) interview with Chris Shugart, Articles Most Recent. Good luck, it take time but well worth the wait.

1 to 34 is (I’m sorry) quite an extreme goal.

I would work on:
-trying to get 5
-move on to 10
-next 3 sets of 10
And then progress from there, with either
like weighted drop sets, or 5x5 or something.
Or once you get to where you can get 10-12, try EDT. Check my thread for details: http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=1879132&pageNo=0

Assistance work:
-strict form lat pull down (focus on pulling with your elbows, no jerking, etc)
-cable/rope face pulls
-seated row to neck

4 months eh ?.. if you’re <170lbs AND you already have superior aerobic conditioning in place i think this is possible.

If you can do 34 chins, you can surely do a 1RM chin of 1.5-2 X BW, probably closer to 2X BW. You will not add 50 percent or double your absolute strength on an exercise you already train and are neurologically adapted to in a few months.

Shoot to increase by 5% or better per month, that would be awesome. A 20+% increase in absolute strength would take you (say your 200lbs BW) to 240+lbs 1 RM max which is about 6 to 8 BW reps. If you were very ambitious I would say shoot for a quality set of 10 or 12. Doing quality reps is tough, most people sell their training short and use poor form to add reps (which has its place for plateau busting and overloading purposes).

Well… while appreciate the honesty… It’s not what I wanted to hear.

Damn the torpedoes! Full Speed Ahead!

I may not make 34 reps, but I will get as damned close as possible.

Edit:
Lemme let everyone know I’m doing mostly posterior chain work. I’ve been doing the PSG Deadlifts and the luke sauder calf routine, and now I’m working the pull ups… every once in a while I do some squeeze presses for vanity, but that’s it. I do the PSG’s every other day with my calves and I’m worki the pullups every day…

To perform 34 chins in decent form requires alot of strength. You are completely underestimating this. If you go from your current record of 1 chin today, to getting 12 by your birthday you’ve earned your birthday cake.

I guess we’ll see. I’ll let everyone know…

do chins often.
Frequency is the key.
I just went from doing…(checked #'s on fridge)
from a rested max of 5 to a rested max of 9 in 3 weeks. (rested max means monday morning after my normal warm-up). I just did a minimum of 25 chins a day, monday through friday.

The trick doing doing lots of anything. Is to do it a lot. (That’s why in bootcamp people go from doing 5 pushups to busting out 50, they do a lot of them, on a daily basis spread throughout the day)

Tip1: KEEP A LOG!!! My log is actually on the fridge, it’s vertical, easy access and paper mounts well with magnets. Pen and pencil are right there too.

Tip2: Bed-time protein really helps keep soreness to a minimum.

Frequency. If you don’t already have a pull-up bar at your residence get one.

This is explained by…

Adaptation.

That is why it is easy for a previous lifter to get back to near his old weights once he gets used to it again. But then it’s hard work all the way out.

Good luck.

good luck! Keep us posted

Why not just have your legs surgically removed? You’ll probably perform at least one 1-Arm chin-ups if you do.

Seriously though, it’s a pretty rough goal otherwise… and kind of arbitrary much like the 300 workout.

What will you do next year when you’re 35? A 35" vertical jump? When you’re 36 you can shoot for 36 reps in the 225# bench press. A 37-stone front squat for 3 reps would be excellent the year after. Oh, and that’s at full olympic depth with no belt, wraps, or spotters. If I were you I’d also aim for 38 BJ’s from Heidi Klum on your 38th birthday.

What you’re playing with is converging arbitrary metrics. The first metric is your age. To continue this game you just have to pick a second metric that has the same number as your age, but takes most people years to accomplish. This way you only have to work at your goal for about 10 days before you realize it’s impossible and you (or Heidi’s jaw) will give up.

Might be best to break it into milestones like gabex had mentioned. I should hope you’re able to do 15 perfect chin-ups or 12 pull-ups by now.