Bodyweight Meeting goal of 23 Chin ups and Pull ups

[Nicholas Marsala]

Hey all I'm basically starting out from scratch here. My goal is to be able to do 23 Chin ups and 23 Pull ups. All the way up all the way down. Proper form. Chin over the bar at the very least and not my face looking straight upwards in the way some people do.

I was hoping that I could get whatever kind of routines and workouts that there are to do help accomplish this goal.

Also are there any exercises that I could/should do that would help or just do nothing but chin ups and pull ups?

Anyhow thanks guys and take care!

 

[pet']

Hello,

@Nicholas Marsala
First off, welcome here.

Do you have any [previous] injury regarding shoulders, elbows, wrists ?

Plus, do you already follow a routine (regardless the move(s)) ? Are you already able to do some of them ?

Kind regards,

Pet'

 

[Harald Motz]

Hey all I'm basically starting out from scratch here. My goal is to be able to do 23 Chin ups and 23 Pull ups. All the way up all the way down. Proper form. Chin over the bar at the very least and not my face looking straight upwards in the way some people do.

Welcome to the forum, Nicolas.

A little bit of information about you is needed to give some useful advice: age, sport history, (previous) injuries, (height/weight as body composition and being lighter matter a lot, with pulling yourself up, especially @20 plus reps). And when you say you start from scratch I have the impression, that it probably take some longer time. How many strict reps are you able to do at scratch?

 

[Nicholas Marsala]

Hey guys regarding injuries none at all. I'm 31. I weigh 180 lbs. I'm 5'11.

I haven't really been able to workout and exercise for a while now because of simply being so busy with so many other things in life such as School/work/and just about anything else you can think of.

 

[Steve Freides]

@Nicholas Marsala, a video of your current chinup and pullup would be helpful as well as telling us what sort of numbers you can currently achieve.

Welcome to the StrongFirst forum!

-S-

 

[PaulAtreides]

You haven't provided a whole lot of information, so I'll make this as generic as possible.

Hey all I'm basically starting out from scratch here. My goal is to be able to do 23 Chin ups and 23 Pull ups.

Should you do other exercises than Chins and Pull-ups?
If 23 Chins and 23 Pull-Ups are your main goal, maximum specificity is the way to go.
So unless you're far from achieving a proper rep, only do chins and pull-ups. You can still do presses and stuff, but don't do "assistance lifts" for your pull-ups and chins.

Can't do 1 proper pull-up / chin up?
Start with dead hangs, work your way through negatives, slower negatives, negative frenchy pull-ups/chins, next step, add 5-15kg to your negatives if you're on your own or find a partner to do assisted reps (assisted reps seem to be the consensus here on Strongfirst, though I have no experience with it personally).

This progression could take anywhere between 1 and 4 months. If you're starting out from scratch, patience and consistency are your key to success. And you will succeed!

Can you do up to 3 proper reps?
Greasing the groove would be the optimal program in my opinion.
If that is not an option, do as many sets as you can do with perfect form minus 1-2 with 3-5 minute rest. Three times a week or every other day.

Can you do more than 3 proper reps?
Greasing the groove is still a very good choice (spoiler: it basically works for pretty much everything, at any level).
My other go-to programs:
- Pavel's fighter Pull-up program
- Ethan Reeve's density training
- Ladders

Can you do more than 10?
The methods mentioned for 3+ reps are still applicable, but you have some additional options now:
- Add weight until you're back in the 3-5 rep range and repeat the programs.
- Arnold's 100 Pull-up workout, as described by Matt Kroc in this article


In general, take a week off (or decrease volume/intensity) every 3 to 6 weeks, and resume training at a somewhat lower volume/intensity than before. This is called cycling / Training Cycles, in a nutshell

If you still get stuck, or a program stops working, switch programs and return to your old program.
- Density training and the Arnold program I mentioned will generally add more to your working capacity (how many reps you can do for time and volume per day) and also build more muscle mass and fatigue than the other programs I've mentioned.
- The other programs will generally add more to your Repmax (maximum consecutive reps) and maximal strength (at least in the lower rep ranges, using heavier weights), while building less muscle mass and generating less fatigue per workout, which is why they can and should be done at high frequencies.
I have found in my training, that these two "types" of training work best if you alternate them every couple of months.

 

[The_Scribe]

Hey all I'm basically starting out from scratch here. My goal is to be able to do 23 Chin ups and 23 Pull ups. All the way up all the way down. Proper form. Chin over the bar at the very least and not my face looking straight upwards in the way some people do.

I was hoping that I could get whatever kind of routines and workouts that there are to do help accomplish this goal.

Also are there any exercises that I could/should do that would help or just do nothing but chin ups and pull ups?

Anyhow thanks guys and take care!

Brother, there are many schools of thought on this particular issue. Many a person has wrestled with the problem of increasing pullup numbers. I don't want to diminish or discredit the value of any other pullup system. But I will share the lessons I learned when I was trying to up my pull-ups after I commissioned into the Marine Corps and was waiting for The Basic School.

1) Specificity is key. Certainly there are a myriad of exercises (rows, curls, even deadlifts) that work the pullup muscles but in the end nothing will prepare you to do a lot of pull-ups. I don't mean to insult your intelligence but in the end the only way to increase pull-ups is to do a lot of pull-ups.

2) Appropriate variance is important. You need to let volume fluctuate over time. You need to know the time to go all out and when it is time to throttle back. Don't max out more than once week. Some will say every two weeks but I think we all agree that maxing out frequently is not good.

3) Volume matters. You don't need to go crazy but cracking that 20 pull-ups or more requires a lot of focused training. Get your body used to it. When I was waiting for TBS I would set 80-100 as my rep goal for each workout. Sometimes I would reach that through ladders and sometimes through max rep sets but that was what I shot for. Doing lot of pull-ups just makes you better at pull-ups.

4) Grip training is important and should not be neglected. Get a crush gripper or just do bar hangs. And work the extensors. You can use rubber bands for this or do fingertip pushups. Get a solid grip.

5) Rest pause training works. Do sets of 5-10 pull-ups with a 5-10 sec pause hanging at the bottom.

6) Once every 1-2 weeks, do 100 pull-ups in as few sets as possible. This is your time to teach your muscles to break through that lactate barrier.

7) The other 2-3 times your train pull-ups in the week, do ladders or circuits. Take it easy and make sure you are leaving strength in the bank for your max out sessions.