So I am trying to work in some kind of daily pull up routine to space out throughout the day (along side other boxing and conditioning workouts) and Ive noticed that I can easily increase my daily pull up out put if i only do around 5 at a time but do five pull ups every time I walk by my pull up bar. I'll end up spacing out around 60-70 in a day. When I am maxing out at around 12-15 I can really only successfully crank out like 40-50 in a day and I usually end up "cheating" by swinging a little bit or not getting my chin fully over the bar or not going down all the way in the last few pull ups. If my goal is to increase my maximum pull up output as much as I can in as short an amount of time as possible, what strategie should I go with? I am obviously leaning towards the first one but what concerns me is that when I am maxing out with pull ups the benefit could be that there is some amount of work done on my muscles when taking their capacity for pull ups to the limit that I am missing out on. I am also regularly switching between 3 different types of pull ups (wide angle forward facing grib, chinups, and the one where the pull up handles are facing perpendicular to my body). Please let me know if youve got any good advice! Also, I would be particularly interested in the benefits I might notice in boxing from having a pull up routine. could the stronger back and core muscles lead to punches with a lot more solidity behind them? let me know
id pick a rep number and a goal number of sets for that week. so like id pick something like 8 reps in a set and make the goal 10 sets a week for the first week, then 15 sets the second week. so then after the second week id increase the reps in the set and go back to 10 sets a week. so since i was doing 8 reps in a set id increase it to 10 reps in a set. then the first week 10 sets of 10 reps second week 15 sets of 10 reps. then another increase to 12 sets in a rep, first week 10 sets second week 15 sets. i dont know if this is the fastest or best way its just how id do it after finding sucess with a similar plan dirrected twords improving my push ups sit ups and pull up rep count. i like this set up with a goal for the week so like if on monday your busy and dont get your 2 sets in, you can just do an extra set tuesday and wenesday or like if your sore one day you can rest and then catch up throuh out the rest of the week.
Firstly, paragraphs are your friend. Secondly, look up grease the groove, which is essentially what you describe in your post. Multiple, sub-failure sets throughout the day, really helps to get your numbers up. I did this initially when I was working nights and had lots of time off during the day, almost every hour I'd bust out a set of 5 or more pull ups. You basically end up doing anywhere between 50-80 chin ups on any given day. Thirdly, pyramid sets are probably what really got my numbers up the most. First do 1 pull up, then 2, then 3, etc. Go up to a set of 5, 8, 10, what ever you can manage, then back down again (keep it pretty small at first, even a 5-pyramid can be challenging). Rest only for as long as it took you to do the previous set, unless you're struggling, then take a slightly longer rest. This allows you to do relatively large amounts of pull ups in a single session. So rather than doing 3-4 sets of 8-10 (giving you a max of 40 pull ups), in a pyramid with a max of 8 you're doing 64 pull ups. A variation on pyramid sets is something one of my old coaches called ladder sets. Similar to a pyramid, but you don't come down the other side, you just start back at 1. So a ladder set of 5 chin ups would be 1,2,3,4,5, repeat as needed. So if you did three ladder sets of 5, you'd start at 1 and work up to five reps 3 times, giving you total of 45 chin ups. Just like the pyramid you rest as long as the previous set took to complete. These aren't easy workouts, mind, but they do get your numbers up fast. I used to combine them with dips, which gives your upper body one hell of a beating. Also, don't listen to ylem.
Thanks for the advice! I have noticed it works my shoulders pretty good to as I am having a much harder time doing pushups as well now. I'll try out the pyramids for a little while and see what happens
I hit a plateau at 30-40 unless I actually train to go past that with increasing weighted resistance. So I throw on heavy weight on a strap and do a few, then the next time it really helps the muscles not fatigue on the regular pullup set. Unfortunately, pullups are something you actually have to train for or you go back to your old natural plateau. At one point I really did get up near 75 or so in my mid 20s because I was specifically training just to max out pull ups and really not doing any other kind of focused training, but after like a month without the training that way the max jumped right back down to the 30s-40 range [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPauF5w-HZ8&list=UUOdjNCjRNxichnITdnCNx_g&index=2&feature=plcp[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNVQ0yFnE9o[/ame]
you are working very hard on your pullups, i have to recommend the pyramid sets for real gains. If you want maintenance (though no where near as many sets) i would stick with what you're doing. Good work though mate.
