Pull Ups PR Test

[WhoDaresWins1189]

Trust me when i say this, i do pullups to failure every single day, minimum 20 reps and It works alot better than doing 5 reps all throughout the day, just do 1 set to failure each day and you will be able to do an extra rep the next day ect. ect.. this works for me, hope it works for someoneelse too

[ticosexy22]

Wait 2 seconds up and 1 down for max strenght ;)

[lllogical]

haha you got strong fingers dude. i was just wondering what does pavel mean when using the armpit muscles?

[bongobear43]

@lllogical Thanks haha.. I believe he is refering to the latissimus dorsi muslces or the lats. You can feel them tense if you sink your shoulders down in a pulling motion..

[TheSleepingMoth]

I do not understand the idea that if you do a rep when your muscle is fatigue you are teaching it to be weaker. If that was the case (steroids aside) all natural athletes including me who lift weights would be benching 135lbs when I can at least bench 405lbs for a rep (nothing special).

[chiconspiracy]

@TheSleepingMoth

Yet it seems to work. The Russians and Eastern Europeans who have dominated the hell out of Olympic lifting go by that philosophy.

[TheVelocinator]

Excellent video. I shared it on my blog. Simple concept. Great description. Perfect form, and a bit 'o humor!

[toby099]

wow strong hands

[davidmerle79]

so would you go a do as many sets as you could 3-5 times a day? or just hit one set at like 8am then next time you get a chance hit another set?

[bongobear43]

@davidmerle79 The idea is to do several sets per day spread throughout the day. You can take an oraganized approach and plan out what time you will do each set, for example 8am 11am 2am 5am etc.. Or do a looser approach and do them whenever you feel like it. They both have their merits I think.

[MrJDGOLD]

lol that was funny 100 ;) 

[samcarter62]

How many pull-ups could you do before trying the grease the groove method?

[bongobear43]

@samcarter62 I think my range was 7 - 9 pull ups depending on the day.

[warriorfire8103]

@bongobear43 Glad to see it worked for you too. I used to do my pull ups in one setting but I was going NO where. so I decided to test doing as many sets as I could over a day on my pull up days. Worked great

[bongobear43]

@warriorfire8103 I'm glad to hear it worked for you.

[iq201]

Thanks! That's a great, concise description of GTG. It looks like you got great results. I hope all of what you said is true, for example, that you never maxed out before trying this 16.

[havingaSADday]

hypothetically, say i could do 15 pull-ups before i start getting fatigued. does that mean i could gtg with 15rep sets throughout the day? or should it be kept to 5-7?

[bongobear43]

@havingaSADday That's a good question. I think that you could go about it 2 ways. Either you could do as you say and gtg with 15 reps. Or you could drop the reps to 5-7 but increase the resistance by adding more weight or doing a harder variation of pull up. I think the latter example would help improve your max strength where as the former would improve your endurance.

[havingaSADday]

@bongobear43 ok thanks. i think the added resistance is the way to go. i think it would help me in my goal to add muscle-ups to my training. this video is 1 year and a half old...are you sstill training?

[bongobear43]

@havingaSADday No problem. Yep, still training. I'm working on endurance at the moment. The exercises I'm using are pulls ups, one-arm push ups, weighted-pistols, and kettlebell exercises. After a few weeks I'll probably return to max strength training..

[havingaSADday]

@bongobear43 cool, thanks for the reply, and good luck with your training.

[meatyspudpies]

@havingaSADday you do 50% of your max repps through out the day, also google search evil russian pressup program

[yosarian83]

I didn't see your legs

[1987pandora]

Weak. Try using a bar that is not stable. Suspended from a chain. It really works everything you got. They have to be perfect pull-ups. Straight up and down or you wind up swinin' around. Your core has to compensate to maintain stability and it's impossible to cheat. Also just hanging for as long as you can tears you up real good. I know a guy who can do 30 one arm pull-ups from using these two methods. Not near that myself yet but I can rip out 25 with two hands.

[byakuyakuchiki7]

16 isn't too bad figuring you've never done to failure before..not only that, you had no real grip on that thing, so your forearms musta been firin..good stuff tho

[chemlight9000]

Very cool man. Those were some super strict dead hangs too, that took some strength.

[metskickanus]

I guessed you would do 16 when it started.

[Eddie123xyz]

Would you do this in addition to say your weekly pull up sets that you might do on a back workout day, or would you leave the the lat pull up sets and just concentrate on doing GTG pull up sets on a daily basis? Good clip.

[bongobear43]

Hey good question...

I would say do one or the other. The reason being that you want to avoid over training. You can always cycle between them also. In other words, spend 4 weeks doing them on your workout days, then 4 weeks doing GTG etc.. I find this helps in avoiding plateauing to soon.

[rmsolympic1]

If I do sets throught the day, how many sets should I do altogether? And how often each week should I do this kind of workout?

[bongobear43]

It depends on person to person. The idea is to do as many as possible without getting fatigued. Here's what I'm doing now:

Mon: 3 sets

Tue: 4 sets

Wed: 5 sets

Thu:4 sets

Fri: 3 sets

It's pretty much a pyramid spread through the week. I change the volume each day so I don't get stale. I keep the last days light as I am getting quite tired by then. 6 days a week would be the maximum because you want to allow for rest.

This is just an example. Have a play around with different ideas.

[rmsolympic1]

I began the process. Interestingly, I already see a difference - I think I may've already added a rep or two to my pull-up count, though I only recently started this program. I also like how easily I can manage to do the pull ups almost all day, even while I do other tasks; they make my break times more productive. But I wondered how long - as in how many days, weeks, or months - should I do this?

[bongobear43]

Again, it depends on the person. At the end of the day we train to improve. So to answer your question, I guess once your gains stop then it is time to reassess your program. If after 6 months you are still improving then I don't see a reason to stop. I think it's just a matter of being observant of your progress. GTG is just one of many protocols you can use. So you always have other options to fall back on if things begin to slow down.

[rmsolympic1]

@bongobear43 I see. Thanks for your info.and replies; they've been a good help.

[mbrls]

I did 12 pull ups today.That's 2 more than last time ( Sat. Nov.7),10. So there was progress, though not as much as I'd have liked ( 15+ pull ups would have been good!). Well, on days when I'm home alot of the time I'll do sets of 5 throughout the day( I have a pull up bar in my rooms doorway); on days when I'm out alot I'll do 1 pull up workout ( ladders, pyramids, 2-3 per minute,etc.). Of course, never to failure. See you in a month.

[mbrls]

Excellent. Did you also do a pull up workout or did you just do pull ups every now and then through the day? I find if I just "grease the groove" I can get in only 5-7 sets throughout the day. Thus just 25-35 pull ups through the day ( 5 reps x 5-7 sets). But I'm wondering if I'm going about it wrong. For the record, my max is 10 pull ups. Next pull up test will probably be next week. Any advice will be appreciated.

[bongobear43]

Hey there,

I think you are approaching it very well.

I wouldn't suggest doing a set program in addition to GTG, mainly to avoid over training. Especially since you are doing about 3 x your maximum per day anyway.

If you find that you can't add more sets throughout the day then you could always make the sets harder. You could do very slow reps, do static holds between reps, and adding weight. You can also vary between easy and hard sets.

I'm intersted to know how you do for your next test!

[LOLXDPUN]

WHOOOOAAA i'd really like to learn that :O

[hedgehog019]

I have this book! its great aint it?

Ive been doing the same thing i can get up to 12 so far. Keep at it man i hope to see some more great videos!

P.S would also love to know how you set up to do a planche like your other vids i just cant seem to get the balance right.

Cheers, Liam

[kingfreddys]

I guess another reason to avoid maximum effort/failure, is because it fries the nerves in your muscles, inhibiting the muscles ability to create the most force.

[fistusfanius]

hmm I might give GTG a go myself. Its so different to my usual though! I usually do pull ups with 2-3 minute breaks in between each set of until I can barely do 2. I feel good knowing I have pushed myself to my limits afterward though.

[bongobear43]

Yeah, I know what you mean. It does seem counter-intuitive to end a workout while you are still able to do more but in some ways exercising that restraint can be of benefit.

The idea of GTG is to stop before you reach that point of failure. The reasoning is...

Though you are exerting maximum effort for that "extra" rep you are producing sub-maximal force. This results in reinforcing a bad habit; that is.. to produce sub-maximal force despite maximum effort.

[fistusfanius]

I see, it does make sense. Thank you. I will give it a go. I like your channel and your videos by the way and have subscribed.

[dskick]

haha, I really thought you did a hundred, but you were just joking. I guess I'll have to wait to the end results for that, Keep training hard.

[Tygrus]

Are those pullups full lock out on the bottom? Seems like the elbow is "soft" aka slightly bent so you are not pulling from a relaxed position. I just came across your profile from your static testing positions. Are you working on them like Coach Sommer's program?

[bongobear43]

You are probably right. At the time I was just aiming to straighten my arms out after each rep, but I wasn't completely locked out and relaxed though. I guess that would be a more consistent way to measure each rep.

Yep, I am working on a few exercises from Coach Sommer's program.

[tranquilatus]

Great job! Very nice back definition. I am going to try GTG--pullups are my weakest exercise. I a still hovering at 5 after a year of training! Ugh.

[bongobear43]

Cool man. Good luck to you. 5 is a good number for starting GTG I reckon.

[whatispoetry]

what song is this?

[bongobear43]

Color your world by Devin Townsend.

[BumHendrixxx]

very nice

definitely harder than normal pushups

[LordBydnelg]

i was expecting mario music =O

still awesome

[bongobear43]

K, next test I'll use mario music haha.

[nomorestars]

"nah, jokes"

So very kiwi lol

[bongobear43]

haha

[MysticGentlemanPRD]

Was the camera shooting from the side a bit, cause it looked like you lifted yourself slightly towards the upper left corner with each rep. A well, it's still good and Pavels books are gold worth.

[bongobear43]

I think you're right. I probably had the camera mounted on top of a box that wasn't completely flat..

And I agree, Pavel's books are prime.

[Nobodytus]

Tough stuff using finger grip. Full arm extension too. Good Job. Keep up the good work!

[Michawk]

100:)

Very nice work. And you have some good technique, not like those "athletes" knocking off 1535443 pullups that almost don't tax their muscles.

[bongobear43]

Thank you very much :D

[XvXBigJohnLXvX]

u would be able to do more if u had better pull up equipement like a bar. that seems way harder

[USAJungleGym]

Now it doesn't get more home made than that! Using the closet space for pullups?! Brilliant! Keep it going man.

-Mantis