Pull Ups

herblady28 · Post by **herblady28** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 4:30 pm

I have been working out with a friend of mine at the gym and we have made a goal for ourselves that if I can do 20 unassisted pullups and she can 5 unassisted pullups we are going to treat ourselves to a girl's night out.

We have been trying both assisted and unassisted and I have now made it up to 5 unassisted pullups. And she is lessening her weight everyday on her assisted pullups.

Does anybody have any suggestions for us?

We are just everyday that we go to the gym slowly working on it. We are not sure what else to do or if there is a better way of going about it.

Thanks!

bkoman · Post by **bkoman** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 4:43 pm

You work on it everyday? Might not be seeing great results because you are training your muscles to frequently (over training). Take a break let your muscles recover and then try your routine 2-3 times a week.

Remember your muscles don't get stronger at the gym they do when they are given time to relax and heal!

herblady28 · Post by **herblady28** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 4:44 pm

Sorry-we work on it every time we go to the gym. About 3 times a week.

ketchuplover · Post by **ketchuplover** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:30 pm

Do you do any other exercises that work the shoulders and upper back?

clem · Post by **clem** » Mon Jun 15, 2009 10:01 pm

Good things to do to improve pull up number are more sets with lower reps so 10 sets of 1, 6 sets of 2,5 sets of 3 etc.. Negatives, so jump up to high pull up position and lower yourself in controlled manner. (good for when you can't pull up anymore) also doing other exercises to strengthen your body will help.. i hope your doing more than just pull ups

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 2:43 am

have been working out with a friend of mine at the gym and we have made a goal for ourselves that if I can do 20 unassisted pullups and she can 5 unassisted pullups we are going to treat ourselves to a girl's night out.

just go out tonight, 20 is a lot of pull ups in a row for anyone

for you do 10 x 3 adding wt to yourself if you can get them all

http://www.uponlinetraining.com/services.html

herblady28 · Post by **herblady28** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:36 am

Thanks for all the replies and ideas.

Yes, we are doing more than just pullups. We usually work on shoulders and chest once a week.

The pullups are just an added thing that we do even on days that we do legs.

I like the idea of doing more sets with less reps.

And Swanso-I think you might be right. 20 might be too many in a row for me. Doing 5 in a row just about does me in.

But I have been surprised because when I first started I could only do 1 unassisted and now have worked way up.

lens_d · Post by **lens_d** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 10:27 am

Even doing 5 is awesome for women to do. I bet most women canâ€™t manage 5 unassisted pull ups. You might be waiting for a long time to get 20. I am sure you can do it though. Swanso is right just go out anyway.

clem · Post by **clem** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 1:33 pm

I'll put last 2 cents in here. 20 is alot considering you can only do 5. However don't be satisfied with 5 "just because your a woman". Its that mentality that keeps women away from squats, deads and any other heavy lifting. Keep working hard and you'll see results. (also go out and enjoy yourself

)

herblady28 · Post by **herblady28** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 3:10 pm

Thanks for all the encouragement. We knew it was going to be something that was going to take a long time to do. We wanted a goal to work towards that didn't have to do with weight or diet. We wanted it to be something fun but not too easy.

BTW, we are also doing dead lifts but at this point only using the bar with 5 pound weights on each side.

We are not afraid to try a lot of things but we are going slow with anything new that we do.

I will tell friend we should probably go out.

bigboy5491 · Post by **bigboy5491** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 3:56 pm

Maybe add another lat exercise to switch things up every once and awhile...widegrip pulldowns are great to develop your lats. And it is easier to vary weight using this machine.

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 4:20 pm

add wt to those deadlifts each session and watch yor pull ups improve simply from them

www.uponlinetraining.com

ElliotWilson · Post by **ElliotWilson** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 4:35 am

Here's what works for me...

If you want to do 20 consecutive pull ups, what I'd recommend doing is as many pull ups as you can consecutively, wait later on in the day and do more till failure until you reach 20 pull ups. Record the time taken and start again.

Eventually you'll get to the point where the time take is so close together you'll be able to go for the big goal and attempt 20 consecutively.

All the best!

Pull Ups

Pull Ups

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