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So I had my max test today and was only able to do 4 pull ups. I'm going to do operator+black with squat,bench,WPU, DL once a week. How should I progress with pull ups?

My gym has that assisted pull up machine and rubber bands, but I was kind of hoping there would be other options?

If I was working with someone whose max pull-ups were 4 then I would suggest something that's even more "grease the groove" (GTG) than TB. With GTG, you want to avoid muscle failure while doing frequent sets of an exercise. So for pull-ups you might do 50-60% of your max pull-ups (in your case 2 pull-ups) and do 5-6 sets spread throughout the day and take a day off every 5-6 days. Get a door hang pull-up bar and every time that you walk by it, do 2 reps. As your max number of reps increases, so does the number of reps that you do per set. It's a very simple, but effective way to raise your pull-up numbers.

Do a google search for "grease the groove pull-ups" or something similar and you'll find a plan to help. You might also search for Pavel's fighter pull-up program. Then when you can hit 15-20 pull-ups you can switch to weighted pull-ups.

mikhou wrote:If I was working with someone whose max pull-ups were 4 then I would suggest something that's even more "grease the groove" (GTG) than TB. With GTG, you want to avoid muscle failure while doing frequent sets of an exercise. So for pull-ups you might do 50-60% of your max pull-ups (in your case 2 pull-ups) and do 5-6 sets spread throughout the day and take a day off every 5-6 days. Get a door hang pull-up bar and every time that you walk by it, do 2 reps. As your max number of reps increases, so does the number of reps that you do per set. It's a very simple, but effective way to raise your pull-up numbers.

Do a google search for "grease the groove pull-ups" or something similar and you'll find a plan to help. You might also search for Pavel's fighter pull-up program. Then when you can hit 15-20 pull-ups you can switch to weighted pull-ups.

Here:

http://www.strongfirst.com/the-fighter- ... revisited/

Thanks. Luckily I have pull up bar at home.

Fighter pull up program sounds fun. I'm going to start with 3RM program and practice form at the same time. Or switch to chin ups because those I can do at least 5 for sure.

begz wrote:Thanks. Luckily I have pull up bar at home.

Fighter pull up program sounds fun. I'm going to start with 3RM program and practice form at the same time. Or switch to chin ups because those I can do at least 5 for sure.

Pavel's program is awesome! Good luck! Share your progress please.

begz wrote:Thanks. Luckily I have pull up bar at home.

Fighter pull up program sounds fun. I'm going to start with 3RM program and practice form at the same time. Or switch to chin ups because those I can do at least 5 for sure.

I went from 4 to 10 chin up on this program in 6 weeks.

Update..

I started with 3RM program with chin ups, got to 4,3,3,2,1 reps, then got flu and had three days off.Started again from 4,3,2,1,1 and yesterday did 4,3,2,2,1 and managed to strain my lat(?) on the very last rep I guess some days off again..

Maybe bodyweight chins are too heavy for me to do this kind of greasing the groove program? I'm a bit overweight with like 10kg of fat to lose. (179cm / 87kg)

I have studied pull up / chin up form and made a form video of myself. From the video it look everything is quite ok formwise.

Do you do some kind of warmup before?

I do some jumping chin up and a couple of singles before starting with more reps.

xfitxm wrote:Do you do some kind of warmup before?

I do some jumping chin up and a couple of singles before starting with more reps.

I do inverted rows as a warm up.

Also, this is excellent mobility/warm up drill for lats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qovO0ysEpuc

mikhou wrote:Get a door hang pull-up bar and every time that you walk by it, do 2 reps. As your max number of reps increases, so does the number of reps that you do per set. It's a very simple, but effective way to raise your pull-up numbers.

I just did this with three of my sons. We hung a pull-up bar in their bedroom doorway, and every time they cross that threshold they do a pull-up. In just a few weeks they all went from being able to do 1-2 ugly reps, to being able to do 10-11 perfect dead hang pull-ups. Of course these are kids (8, 10, and 12) and I bet pretty much anything works with kids. Nevertheless, it was great to see the "grease the groove" magic at work.