Solid: In-Between Simple & Sinister

[Maxrip13]

There is another Russian method for pull-up progression: Double Ladder.

You start with 1 pull-up and go up to the number that you can complete being close to failure but having 1-2 reps in a tank. You will start going down the ladder at this point.

Example:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (2 reps shy of failure).
4, 3,2, 1.
Done.

I have done that when I was about 16 y.o. and that was fantastic method. I might be going back to it now being 46 [/quote]

I have done similar in the past, but mine was 1,2,3,4,5 and reset starting at 1 again. This works great with a partner and provides your rest time. I think it was in pavels book beyond bodybuilding. After doing 5 the single feels so easy and you just build up again to that 5 and repeat.

It works out to 15 reps per set and you will easily get 5-10 in if you can do 10+ pullups. It's also the first program I used to add weight to my pullups.

It's funny how you go back to basic stuff you have done in the past

[Maxrip13]

No experience with S&S, but on the high volume pullups, some heresy perhaps. I'm decent at them, weighted and unweighted. And I have done programs where I have done a fairly high volume of unweighted. Not struggling. But I can't point to any benefits from the activity either. It did not lead to being able to do more in one set, it did not lead to added mass, it did not lead to greater strength. Now it may be that after so many years of doing weighted, the potential for improvement was not all that great in my case. Or that getting improvement would require even more work. But my point is it maybe gets to a point where the potential return isn't worth the added effort. When I see those detailed pullup programs that tell what do every day, I think maybe to try them if there is an extended period where there aren't good alternatives. But if I were really trying to drive improvement, my leaning would be to get in more work in a heavier range, because that strength training for pullups does more for endurance than endurance training for pullups.

I definitely get what you mean. I am very strong in the 3-5 rep range for pullups and can pump out multiple rounds with close to my 5 rep max. I am finding this fighter pullup program is so different from what I normally do I am feeling strong in that 10+ rep range for the first time in a while. I am thinking I would like to make my 10 rep max feel like my 5 rep max and add a weight vest. I have been working in the 3-5 rep range so long I think this may do my body some good for a while. I would like to see the effect it has on my 1 rep max and similar. I will say that people have been commenting on my arms recently and the only direct "arm " work I do is my pullups haha. I couldn't tell you the last time I did a curl or tricep exercise.