-
Can you do pull-ups?
-
I just went and tried and I did 4 totally cold. My pull up bar also has handles that stick out at a 45 degree angle from the bar and that was what I used.
-
I did the P90X program, and initially I could only do 1 or 2 but I worked my way up to about 10. I actually find the ones with my hands closer together easier (maybe because when you hold the pole and pull up on it, the hands are next to each other?)
-
Close grip pull ups are easier because you are able to use your biceps more to help pull you up. Wide grip is harder because you use your back muscles only in order to pull your body weight.
Right now i can do 3 unassisted wide grips from a dead hang, and about 10 close grip ones.
If you want to get better at pull ups, you gotta do more pullups.
What i do is start with a set of unassisted pull ups, as many as i can get, then do 3 more sets of assisted pull ups, each set to failure and increasing the assistance with each rep.
Other good things to work on are lat pulldowns. shrugs, and bent over rows to strenghten the overall muscles of the back.
I wouldnt say that pull ups should be used for an overalll fitness assesment, however I think they are the gold standard when determining if the muscles of the back and much of the arms are strong.
It wasnt until I really started to focus on building a back that i could do any pullups.
-
Someone posted that article on facebook too, and there was a huge flood of comments from polers about how many pull ups they could do! LOL. Personally, I'm up to 4 good deadweight pull ups. My goal is 10, (and super impressed someone wrote they can do 14!)
I started pole 2 years ago and couldn't do a single pull up. About a year ago, I started using a pull up bar, and I started doing silks and saw huge gains. Love being able to hold myself up, it has definitely helped me a lot with pole.
I think everyone should try a pull up challenge! How about at least 1 pull up by Christmas? =)
SV challenge along with our splits challenge?
-
I just tried and did 2. I just did some jump rope. I still can't do them from a dead hang, but with my elbows bent standing on the ground I can officially do them. Happy day! lol <33
P.S. I've never been able to do one, so this is HUGE! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif
-
I can't do any unassisted pull-ups yet, but I've been working on it since March. (I took some time off pole to develop more upper body strength so I can be safer.) When I went back to pole class this week, I realized that even though I can't yet do a pull-up from a dead hang, the work I've done toward that goal has really paid off for pole strength! (I'm still beginner level– can't invert safely yet.)
-
I can do a few, but they aren't my favorite exercise… I can do about 10 on the pole and maybe about 4 on a bar? I'm kind of bottom heavy so I don't really like pure arm strength exercises lol.
-
I do them twice a week at the gym. 8 proper ones down to straight arms in a row, then rest and do some other exercise, then 8 more.
I'm not good at doing the pole climb without using legs.
I think it's just that we become good at what we do and fine-tuning our technique for those specific exercises.
Once I had a friend with me at gym trying out my routine. She did a lot worse than me on each of the exercises but I don't think the actual difference in strength was as big as it seemed. It was just that my body knew exactly how to do those things from experience.
-
Pull ups and chin ups are different and work different muscles.
Pull ups are when your palms face away from your body with your arms at shoulder width apart, and chin ups are where your palms face towards you.
Pull ups use shoulder adduction, and chin ups use shoulder extension – they both work the lats differently. Chin ups are "easier" because they use your biceps more than pull ups do.
SO just thought I'd clarify because I think some people use the terms interchangebaly and they are not the same thing. My boyfriend first bought the chin up bar about a year ago and I could not even do one. Literally, could not pull my weight up whether I was in a chinup or a pull up. Now I can do about 5 pull ups, and maybe 10-12 chin ups.
But, I've hurt my wrist recently and the grip needed kind of pulls on that area so I haven't trained on it in a while, and have no doubt lost some of my ability to 🙁
-
I also am doin P90X and there are tons of different pull ups you do in those workouts! I am able to do about 6-10 in a row depending on the type. However pole pull ups are different and seem to use a bit more bicep and even tricep over a standard wide grip pull up which feels like all lat work! I’ve always had more upper body strength like a guy though…I think if you understand what muscles are needed to engage, anyone can train to do at least one pull up 🙂
-
@Storypole – I'm curious: what are the different kinds of pull-ups/chin-ups in P90X? Can you describe them?
-
Great article with pictures –
-
@elektra – gosh! Okay there is wide front pull-ups, close grip pull-ups, wide grip chin ups, close grip chin ups, switching wide grip pull-ups, corn on the cob pull-ups (where you walk along the bar with your chin still above). Oh – and towel pull ups (one hand is normal grip and the other is holding onto a towel wrapped over the bar…more similar to holding a pole :-). In one workout – I usually do 70-100 of these…intense!
-
Story- aren't those corn cob pull-ups a bitch?? lol I'm getting ready to start round 2 of p90x. It's such an aweosme program- execpt fo rthe fact that their cool-downs are waay too short. i learned that the hard way. My first week I was so sore from not cooling down properly. Can't wait to start again!! You do 70-100 pull-ups?!?!?!?
-
@sasha – I don’t do 70-100 in a row! I would die lol! In a one hour workout :-). This is the second time for me too. I did it a year and a half ago – the classic version but half way thru, my shingles attacked and I was out for the count for months :-(. This time I’m doing the lean and I like it much better bc I tend to bulk up quickly and I had major man-like muscles lol! I’m definitely noticing a difference this time in more lean muscles yay! Also, I’ve added shakeology this time around. When I’m finished, I’m thinking about doing a second round or possibly doing brazil butt lift…not sure yet!
Log in to reply.