pullups…ugh
It is and has been a goal of mine to increase the amount of pullups i can do. The most I have ever done is 17(max set) and I consistently hit 13-15 when I try to max out. I believe that the only way to get better at pullups is to do pullups; but is there another way?(rhetorical) Pull-ups is just one of those excercises that mentally psyche me out and I know that is all that is holding me back from acheiving my immediate goal of 20. I do workout shoulders and back regularly. I do believe I could improve my core strngth and that will help. But, overall it is mental. I think it is mainly stemming from the fact that pull-ups are a mandatory event in the Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test, and because it is testable and does affect my career it causes me undue stress, which in turn hinders my progress. But again, I believe it is mental, because all of my other excercise weights steadliy increase, but my pullups always seem to end up being 13-15. Anybody have some advice?
March 12, 2008 at 6:37 am
I don’t have any good advice, but I will tell you that I have the same mental block that you do…Me and my gym partner were talking about the exact same thing in the gym last night, because last night was back night…..
March 12, 2008 at 6:38 am
Don’t count yourself. Have a buddy count silently as you focus on just doing it. You’d be surprised at how many you will do. But don’t cheat and count in your head!
March 12, 2008 at 8:44 am
Thanks for the advice. Why are pullups sucha pain?
April 17, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Jrod, first off THANK YOU for serving your country. Nobody is tougher than a Marine, and I have no-doubt you can do 20 pull ups. Like you, I struggled trying to up my pullup count. I maxed at 12 at your age. Finally, at age 39 and 25 lbs heavier, I changed the way I trained for them. I started doing lat pulldowns with more than my weight. When I got to 10 reps with 1.5 times my weight, I found I was able to do 17 regular pullups. Then I discovered drop sets. Do as many regular pullups as you can. Rest for 1 minute. Repeat. Do this until you can only do one pullup because your arms and back are so fried. Do this routine three times a week. Don’t do any more pullups days than that. You need the rest days to recover. Today, I’m an overweight 42 year old and I can do 25 pullups. If I can lose some fat, maybe I’ll get it up to 40. Good luck. I bet you could do 50. Think big and your mind will set you free. And check out the crazy French bastards doing pullups hanging off a crane hundreds of feet in the air. The video is posted on my bodyspace for entertainment purposes only.