Cant do a pull up!!

[mike100]

i second greasing the groove

[D15BT]

Heh, thanks dudes. Yea i will work on lat pull down seems like it can be very effective if you use it right! Ill just adjust the bar to max height so its not touching my legs.

[dex215]

Cool bro let me know how you progress. I will gaurentee you will feel and see the difference. Keep us posted. Send me a PM to let me know how you are doing. Good luck!

[tenpercent]

According to MIke Meija's Scrawny to Brawny, lat pull downs is not an acceptable replacement for pull ups. He suggest negatives.

[D15BT]

Negatives? Help me out here lol. I tried another pull up today deffinatley farther then b4 but like still half way from the bar heh.

[tenpercent]

for a negative you jump, use a stool or anything you need to get in the up position then lower yourself as slowly as you can.

[Backmann]

i love doing negatives after a full set...you can really feel the burn..

[D15BT]

Getting alot closer to that pull up. Havnt lost any weight tho its just a pure muscle gain approach. Ill have to drop the weight sometime its starting to get nice out maybe i can start up my HIIT again.

[Backmann]

good job, keep at it

[rip]

Originally Posted by RandyRhoads

I have a question...I have a friend that cant do any pullups...yet he is 20 pounds more than me...If i do weighted (20lbs) pull ups, does that mean he does not have as much strength as me?

Depends...

Leverage (the length between your arms and joints) and muscle/tendon insertion points say no. In a vacuum (so to speak) it would be true, but there are far to many real world circumstances that make it impossible to say who is truely stronger.

But, the odds get smaller the more weight and reps you do.

For instance, with a 30lb. diving belt (6 - 5 lb. shot bags) on, I can do 16 pull-ups. If my buddy weighs 210 (30 lbs more than me) and can do only 10, then it is safe to assume that I am stronger.

But, If you could only do 5 pullups with 20 lbs. added and your friend could only do 4 pullups, it is a toss-up.

Who knows... Who cares.

(-:

Compete with yourself bro!

-Rip

[rip]

D15BT,

Like everyone has said, try negatives... And throw in some lock-offs during your negatives for a real blast!

Along with your lats, don't forget to strengthen your biceps and chest. Surprisingly, this will help your goal. Reverse curls wouldn't be bad either.

Loose some weight and you will sail on the pull-ups.

-Rip

[D15BT]

I have no problem at all gaining muscle in those areas lol. Its just the WEIGHT thing..

[Adumb]

Your weight makes a BIG difference. I can lift a lot more than my friend, and I'm about average to a little skinny(Bigger now that I've been lifting). I'm 5' 10" and 165, my friend is 6' 0" and 145. He can do a TON of pull-ups like 15+ and I can only do about 5. So, it makes all the difference. So, I'd suggest some cardio too.

[John-John]

Yeah, adumb is right. I don't know your stats, but I don't know a whole lot of guys in the 19-20% bf area that can do several good sets of pullups. Also, work on your core! Almost all resistance exercises are assisted by your core but pullups are highly assisted by your core. About a quarter of the battle is stabalizing yourself and it takes a solid core to do it. You should also take the advice that rip gives in his last post. Also if you want to get stronger, no matter if it's in your upper body or lower body, or lose weight you should do compound movements, dips, rows, bench presses, squats, deadlifts, and eventually pullups. You can do curls and trunk twisters all day, but people who get strong and big do compound movements.

Also, a bit of advice on form. With back exercises, you really have to get the angle of pull correctly depending on which muscle group your're trying to hit. It's very easy to place too much emphasis on your traps when doing back exercises, and it can be only because of a slight miss on your grip, where your elbows are, or where you're pulling the weight to on your body. A gereral rule is, the farther your elbows are from your body, the more emphasis you put on your traps and rhomboids. Try it, stick your elbows straight out to the sides and act like your doing a pullup-feel it in your upper back? now try it, but stick your elbows almost straight out in front of you. notice the difference? Try moving your hands a bit closer on the bar, just a bit, an inch or two, bring your elbows in a bit, and when you pull up, arch your back tilt your head back a bit, and act like your gonna touch your nipples to the bar. Also don't let your elbows fly out like chicken wings. If your're using pullups as a lat exercise, this is how you should do pullups, and as you get stronger, you keep the same form but start to move your hands back out on the bar. This is why people who know do their bent over rows with an underhand grip and keep their backs as parrallel with the floor as possible. Overhand grip at a 45 degree angle works your traps and shoulders, not your lats. Anyway, this variant position on your pullups will really target those lats. It will rectuit a tiny bit of help from your biceps and make the exercise a bit easier, but the isolation this variant produces far outweighs the tiny cheat of the biceps and is not only THE best lat Exercise IMO but the Pullup is essential if you want to be strong and get bigger. It is the KING of the upper body compound movements. More so than bench presses. Especially when you can start adding weight. Remember your back should be as strong if not stronger than your chest. That is, you should be able to pull more than you can push. Humans are apes, and we got our start in the trees. This is why, from an evolutionary standpoint, backs have the potential to be much stronger chests.

[John-John]

Oh yeah, at first, if swinging is holding you back, have someone spot you from the front. they can keep you from swinging and BARELY assist you on those last few crucial reps.

P.S. The only good thing about those pullup cheater machines at the gym is that you get to work-in with all the ladies who are using it.