Pull-up Plateau

Discussion in 'Health and Fitness' started by Cavedweller, Jul 7, 2012.

  1. Cavedweller

    Cavedweller Valued Member

    In the past few months I've incorporated pull-ups in to my regular workout. I started out being able to do 5 and now I'm up to a whopping 8! This appears to be my limit as I am unable to get past that magic number. This lack of progression has me perplexed. In the past year, I've gone from doing no strength training at all (apart from carrying a 3 year old around) to regular workouts using a 32kg sandbag and kettlebells up to 28kg. I also do 2 sets of 50 (proper) pushups every day. So I have progressed with other aspects of my quest for superman-like strength!

    I'm using one of those door-frame bars and I have to raise my knees up quite a bit toward my stomach so that I can get clearance. I don't know if that has an effect. I know that plateaus are not unusual with pull-ups but If I'm gonna be stuck on a plateau I'd like to be breathing thinner air (if you know what I mean). Anyone have any tips for progressing with pull ups? Is there a knack to it or is it just a slow grind (for some at least)?
     
  2. Sketco

    Sketco Banned Banned

    Add in some negatives in addition to the normal pull ups at the end. If you could find a real bar to do pull ups on you could do kipping pull ups to increase your reps.
     
  3. Jeffkins

    Jeffkins Sleuth Diplomacy

    Few methods to try:

    Do a couple of sets of weighted pull-ups; obviously you should drop in the number of reps, but increase in strength may push you through that plateau.

    Do 4 pull ups a whole bunch of times throughout the day.
    Say every hour or so. Just make sure every time you do them you do it with perfect form. If you think your next rep will be terrible, don't do it.
    You can try this one for about a week and it should shoot up your reps by at least 2.

    With both of these make sure you're eating right.

    Also if you're doing lots of push-ups, make sure you're not fatigued from doing push-ups before trying your pull ups. Your chest has an effect. And you need to rest from doing push-ups daily anyway.
     
  4. Cavedweller

    Cavedweller Valued Member

    I'll try that. I'm not sure what to use for weights though. What would you use?


    I don't really know what perfect form is when it comes to pull-ups. It never occurred to me that there was much form involved.

    I'm pretty much on the paleo diet.

    I usually do the push-ups as a separate thing from my main workout. 50 in the morning and 50 in the evening. I tend to add the pull-ups on to the end of a sandbag or kettlebell workout. maybe I'm fatigued from that.
     
  5. Jeffkins

    Jeffkins Sleuth Diplomacy

    I use a dip belt with weight plates, but as an improvisation you can just hold a dumbbell or medicine ball between your crossed legs. Or put heavy things in a backpack.


    No half reps, shouldn't be going to failure (when we're talking about doing intermittent reps throughout the day), no kipping, etc.


    You'll have an easier time gaining strength eating at a surplus rather than a deficit, but it will usually depend on what is important to you. You can do either on a paleo, and you'll nearly definitely be having enough protein.
     
  6. february

    february Valued Member

  7. Princess Haru

    Princess Haru Valued Member

    How many set/reps do you do and what exercise are you doing before them?

    I do mine after Overhead Press in small sets or pyramid sets, also trying to mix in pullups and chinups and my max was 9 reps but likely there was a little bit of kipping although the bar is against the wall in the gym so you can't do much. Since there's no way I could do 5 sets of 9 reps, I'd get 9 then 6 then 4 and be stuck there, I do 9 sets of 5
     
  8. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    try ladders.

    do 1 pull up, rest for a minute
    do 2 pull ups, rest for a minute
    do 3 pull ups, rest for a minute
    ...
     
  9. Cavedweller

    Cavedweller Valued Member

    Great. Thanks for all the advice. Not sure about the "eating a surplus" bit though. I'm the wrong side of forty and despite regular sandbag, kettlebells, jumping rope,cycling,swimming, pushups etc, it still does not take much for surplus food to turn in to a ponch complete with a matching set of love handles!
     
  10. Cavedweller

    Cavedweller Valued Member

    I usually do them at the end of a workout involving a range of kettlebell and/or sandbag exercises.
     
  11. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    Ross Enamait suggests pyramiding as one way of overcoming plateaus.

    Your max set is 1 less than your maximum (8 in your case) and you would follow a 1 set, 1minute rest protocol

    1-2-3-4-5-6-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 = 49 reps

    Treat them as a workout on their own rather than as a finisher or an end
     
  12. Cavedweller

    Cavedweller Valued Member

    Yeah, makes sense. I'll give that a go for a while.
     
  13. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    I'll let you in on a Marine Corps Boot Camp secret. I went into bootcamp doing 12, left doing 25. I could have probably squeezed out 30 but 20 was the max for the Physical Fitness Test and I had already exceeded that.


    The concept is "you're good at what you do all the time." Which is very true and especially in working out. If you do a certain thing ALL the time (not overtraining!) then the neuromuscular connection becomes a lot stronger. A lot of people assume getting stronger or being able to do more in something means their muscle is growing which isn't all true. The neuromuscular bit of your muscles get more efficient at doing things too which transfers over to more reps and more strength/power.

    So back to "do it all the time." You have a 1 up because you do this in your home. Do your regular pull up sessions but do it first in your workout. Then cut whatever reps you were doing in your sets by half (if you were doing 3x8, do 3x4) and do it again. Also, every time you walk near that doorway to 3 pull ups for the first week, 4 pull-ups the second week, etc.. Sooner then you know it 8 pull-ups will be what you're doing while you walk by.

    There is no way you have plateaued at 8 pull ups, you just have to change the training up a little bit. I wouldn't recommend using any sort of weights with pull ups until you can at least complete 12 clean reps.
     
  14. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    "Greasing the groove" as Pavel calls it - it works on the principle that strength is a skill in and of itself....makes sense to me!
     
  15. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    I read my first articles on it on T-nation. It had never been an actual way of explaining how to get good at something with all the terminology and stuff though because it's something I had already been doing with different exercises in the past. It was a big "oooooohhhh, so that's why it works" when I did read it though. Just about any body weight exercise I have gotten good at I used that concept, and with any big lift in weight lifting and it has always given me tremendous results up until the point you actually have to start pushing yourself in different ways by adjusting weight, rest time and reps. I think that should be the staple philosophy for anyone beginning training or trying to get good in a particular lift.
     
    Last edited: Jul 7, 2012
  16. Meitetsu

    Meitetsu Valued Member

    Some things:
    Try changing hands from palms out to palms in (or vice versa).
    Throw a towel over the bar (or tree branch) and hold on to the ends for pull ups that help your grip strength (learned that one from an article on Vladimir Putin's Judo regimen). Also do stuff like one hand on the bar the other hand holding the end of the towel draped over the bar.
     
  17. Perplexion

    Perplexion Valued Member

    One-Hand Assissted Pull-ups. Not with bar to grip, But wrapped Karate-belt. One-Foot-distance across,wrapped many times and try to keep the knots in the corners or sides. Have a Step under between your knee and shin. This exercise is the furthest from a lat pull-down as weight felt by the grip. You have to experiment on speed and intensty. How much Intensity depends how much you use your foot to assist. Does tire Quads though."Right-Hand,Right-Foot" other-outside, there is no support, but compensate.
     

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