TacticalBarbell.com

Hey guys,

I'm ready to start Operator along with Black protocol (Standard). I have a bit of a dilemma. I can only do one very shoddy pull-up. My cluster so far....

Back Squat
Flat Bench Press
Deadlift 1 x week

What can I do instead of pull-ups during workout# 1 and 2? I don't feel comfortable doing Deadlifts more than once a week

Are you aiming to be doing pull-ups in future? If yes, then train towards a pull-up (start with chin-ups and work your way up). There are plenty of resources online about getting to a pull-up from zero like Pavel's fighter pull-up program, or go to calisthenics websites where they'll talk about how to up your pull-up to respectable numbers.

If not and you want some pulling, you can look at other barbell movements like the bent over row or pendlay rows.

Another alternative is to do power cleans - these also help with the deadlift movement.

I've had good experience with building up pull-ups using resistance bands.

Find a band(s) that allow you to do 10 comfortable pull ups having 2-3 reps in a tank. Call it your training max and go from there. Play with different band(s) as you go. That helped me to jump from 0 to 15 BW pull ups over few months. Another important thing to realize that there is a psychological aspect in the pull-up game. There is a mental barrier of the feeling that you can't do a single goddamn pull-up. Resistance bands can help you to break it. Once you get the groove of pulling yourself up to the bar -> your progress will fly.

Also, there is always a way to substitute pull-ups with inverted rows. IR are underappreciated now days. It is a great exercise and it can help you to build your upper body strength for pull-ups. It is very shoulder healthy if you can get around TRX or rings. And there is a 1000 ways to make it more challenging.

Good luck, mate!

You could substitute the standing overhead press. Lots of guys (including me) do that.

You could also build up towards pull ups by doing the cable pull downs on the "lat" machine that is in almost every gym.

Can you do one pull-ups for 5 sets?

The reason I ask is I prefer rep goals for my pull-ups. I'll set a rep goal (say 5) and then do as many sets as it takes to reach that goal. Once I can do those reps in two sets, you can bump it up by 5 (to 10 in this example) and repeat for as long as you want to. For me and lots of guys I've recommended this to it works, as it's time spent actually doing pull-ups rather than stuff kinda like pull-ups.

WallBilly wrote:You could substitute the standing overhead press. Lots of guys (including me) do that.

You could also build up towards pull ups by doing the cable pull downs on the "lat" machine that is in almost every gym.

Wouldn't that be too much pushing if I'm already doing bench?

grouchyjarhead wrote:Can you do one pull-ups for 5 sets?

The reason I ask is I prefer rep goals for my pull-ups. I'll set a rep goal (say 5) and then do as many sets as it takes to reach that goal. Once I can do those reps in two sets, you can bump it up by 5 (to 10 in this example) and repeat for as long as you want to. For me and lots of guys I've recommended this to it works, as it's time spent actually doing pull-ups rather than stuff kinda like pull-ups.

I could but it wouldn't be pretty and I'd probably have to rest quite a bit in between sets. I like this idea though, thanks, this is what I'll go with.

Thanks for all the suggestions from the other posters too!

Mug Costanza wrote:

WallBilly wrote:You could substitute the standing overhead press. Lots of guys (including me) do that.

You could also build up towards pull ups by doing the cable pull downs on the "lat" machine that is in almost every gym.

Wouldn't that be too much pushing if I'm already doing bench?

I'm no expert, but I did end up at this place via Rippetoe's "Starting Strength". His core lifts are squat, bench, dead, and OHP. Younger guys or real athletes are encouraged to throw in power cleans.

Here's an article where Rip argues that the press and the bench are complementary, and doing the press with the bench will keep you in balance and help you avoid shoulder injuries:

http://startingstrength.com/article/the_press

I've been doing bench with OHP for almost 3 years, and I'm happy with the combo.

By the way, most folks on this Board who do Operator seem to prefer the weighted pull-up. This includes the wise Proprietor and program author.

I am not trying to say the press is better than the WPU and they are wrong, just that there is more than one way to skin a cat.

WallBilly wrote:By the way, most folks on this Board who do Operator seem to prefer the weighted pull-up. This includes the wise Proprietor and program author.

I am not trying to say the press is better than the WPU and they are wrong, just that there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Hmmm.. Skinning with pulling will be easier on a cat, no?