Home lat workout, assisted pullups exercises for beginners

[jimmyjam9014]

how many pullups should i be able to do to no that i dont have to do the chair spotter method thing

[MV685]

YOU'RE FUCCIN HOT DUDE...NEXT TIME DO IT IN SPEEDOz....OR....NOTHING AT ALL...LOL...ME LIKE IT...

[samirhossain]

They have pull-up bars in Wal Mart and Zellers

[janiky]

very good video man.. i need to work out my lats n i think ur advice is very good .....

[bengaliballa]

scooby is the shit! man knows his stuff! thanks for the advice on my wrist man! and please chek out my clapping pull ups lol thanks bro!

[drinkup27]

thanks bud :) This should help my rockclimbing

[olymsailor83]

Scooby youre making these pull ups look waaaay too easy lol

[watahface]

Question: I saw the movie "I am legend" and Will smith's doing pull ups with his kness bent. Is it ok to use that form? I can only do 6 slow pull ups at the moment.

[watahface]

Spelling correction: Smith is*, knees*

[tyciol]

It's fine to do it with your knees bent, that's a personal preference. I do that because otherwise my feet touch the bottom because I do them in a doorway. In gyms they have you step up so you can have straight legs at fully straightened arms. Maybe it helps to focus on the arms or something (curling knee takes slight focus) but pulling is pulling.

[JollyRogerBass]

Hey, great video! I have one of the doorway pullup bars, so I'm gonna start using it again.

One question though- what is the best position for your legs? I can get 2 or 3 reps in while keeping my movement smooth, but I have a tendency to bend my knees while I do it. I'm not kicking my legs or struggling, but I'm worried because it feels like I'm flexing my abdominal muscles more than my upper body.

[Haikss]

Scoob you the best, God bless you !

[TheKingofKH]

where else can u do pullups. I have no bar to do it. Answer Scooby lol.

[omgr0ckorz]

you can do them at a park on jungle gyms

[TheKingofKH]

i was asking for in my house but thanks anyway.

[Ben0087]

I'm not scooby... but-

If you have any sturdy exsposed pipes or ceiling beams, say in your basement, those can work. But you can buy or build a pull up bar for like 20 bucks. Trees in your back yard are also good if you have gloves to protect your hands

[TheKingofKH]

OOO where can i buy a pull up bar?

[Ben0087]

try craigslists "items for sale" area. (They are a website, google em. Or ebay is also good for cheap ones. But any fitness store has them. Walmart might also have one. And you can probably find some videos on how to make one on youtube

[TheKingofKH]

Yea. Ill try to get one..

[NViriya]

Playground near your house

[xXspartanerXx]

hey great body!!!

[TheKingofKH]

I need a bar like that to do pullups lol.

[stratman123]

Yeah, you can hang out the laundry, too!

[TheKingofKH]

lol what?

[stratman123]

You can throw your "delicates" on that clothes line while your doing pull-ups!

[TheKingofKH]

lol. Thats sick..

[solidsnake58]

Great advice! Thanks so much!

[bluepits1983]

thanks scooby...great advice...

[RichardODwyer]

thanks for this vid, i currently using the lowing myself method at the gym.

[gencbiba]

Oops.. Sorry for posting so many comments but I didn't realize that they had to receive approval before they appeared (haven't slept for quite a bit and I'm delusional! lol).

[gencbiba]

Hey! I just want to say that I just watched all your videos and I thank you for showing us all these cheap ways to exercise!! What I want to know is what type of cardio is best for fast weight loss? I'm training for breakdancing which really puts a toll on my body so this extra dead weight isn't helping me stay off the ground (handstands, etc). Running on concrete always leaves me with a headache because of the hard impact when I run... Any advice?

[gencbiba]

Hey! I just want to say that I just watched all your videos and I thank you for showing us all these cheap ways to exercise!!

[gencbiba]

I've seen all all your videos, and I'd like to thank you for showing us how to work out in our home cheaply! I have a question similar to bluepits1983'. I myself am around 210 pounds (5'10).

[bluepits1983]

hello scooby...im just starting to work out...i weight 180 lbs...not much muscle yet...im trying to gain some muscle weight, should i do some cardio first to lose some weight and then begin lifting...or should i just lift and do less cardio?

[scooby1961]

Good question! Cardio is WAY more important than weights when you are making a big transformation like this. Not only is cardio what you need most for general health but removing the bodyfat allows you to make very rapid appearance improvement.

[sheppz]

hey scooby! i followed your advice on pullups and basicly everything else on your site! ive gained alot of weight and i am starting to get 6-pack abbs shining through! i guesse im losing body fat!!!

thanks for all the ace advice!

shep

[ThaHeartOfLife]

good setup. man, i can do like 7 or 8 underhand grip pullups. overhand grip i can do like 3 or 4. so to do more reps for both, should i add weight and do as many as i can, or should i just keep on trying to do more reps with my own weight.?

[scooby1961]

If you can do 3/4 overhand pullups, I would work on getting that number up to 8-10 before adding weight. Do your 3 pullups then without rest use the chair method to do 8 more reps of negatives. My guess that will build you up to 8-10 in a few months.

[ThaHeartOfLife]

im going to try that. thanks for the info.

[calvinnivlac]

Great advice, I'll try the chair one, thanks.

[scooby1961]

If you are almost strong enough to do pullups unassisted, the chair method is great. If you are not close to being able to do a pullup then the pulley method works best.

[SlickRick1117]

i like the char one

[knightridercupid]

Scooby owsome tips ! all your videos are so logical and make since..just the way i like it..thanks

[sibalnom]

great videos. great advice about avoiding risks of getting injured, i'm glad there is someone doing this. Right now i'm following all your advices

[scooby1961]

Yep, there are enough folks on the internet with videos of doing dumbell curls with 100lb dumbbells and horrible form, I dont need to do it too!

[hempstead56]

Is it ok to do negatives and assisted pullups in the same workout. And if so How should I go about and do it?

[scooby1961]

Using the "chair method" is doing negatives because you are lowering yourself with more weight than you can pullup with. If you have access to a gym and are doing cable pulldowns without much progress you could consider using the chair method afterwards to get your negatives in and make those lats work extra hard.

[hempstead56]

The reason I ask is that my friend spots me for assisted pull ups. And I just wanted to know If it was safe to do negatives with a chair after Im done with my friend. I assume you do them until fatigue.

[Overseer32]

thanks for the vid, how can you build more mass and more bigger lats, by doing it faster or slower?

[scooby1961]

IMHO, slow is the way to go. If you do them fast, the reps get really jerky and you put yourself at risk for shoulder injury.

[waelium]

hey man...ur videos r really great and helpful alot but i want to ask about something that has nothing to do with this exercise but since u r replying here lately...i want to know if the alternate shoulder press & the side rises r enough to practice the whole shoulder ?!!!

[scooby1961]

If I could only do two shoulder exercises those are the two I would do.

[waelium]

ok...thnx alot for ur concern man

[rubinskio]

fantastic advice...Thank you

[scooby1961]

Thanks, If you try this technique I'd be interested in how long it takes you to get to the point where you can do unassisted pullups

[ThaHeartOfLife]

hmm, i notice you always use slow form. is it really better to use slow form for adding mass than doing it fast?

[scooby1961]

I am a 100% believer in slow form. I dont think you can add more mass by doing exercises faster, it just puts you at risk of injury.

Just my opinion.

[tingtangs]

Great video!

When you started talking about pulleys I actually thought you would be creating a pulldown device where you don't pull yourself up, but the bar down towards yourself. The weight would then be attached to the bar itself. On the other hand, that would require something really heavy :)

[scooby1961]

Thanks! It would be pretty easy to build a lat pulldown machine but it would have to use stronger parts as the loads on the pulleys and ropes would be much larger. My next project? Na, I dont have room for a lat pulldown machine!

[scooby1961]

Thanks Pete!

[nubbs]

because of the design of my basement ceiling i do my pullups with my palms separated by only 16". i do 12 first set, wait 30 secs than do about 8, wait another 30 secs and do about 5, than two more sets of about 3 unassisted and 3 assisted/negative, jumping up from the chair i use to reach the ceiling bar).

so my question: am i putting any undo strain on my shoulders by not having my palms further apart? have i just made it easier?

[scooby1961]

16" is not optimal for lat development, but 100% better than nothing. As long as you are keeping the bar in front of your face your shoulders should be fine. Another pullup you could try is the narrow parallel grip pullup, concentrate on trying to pull your hips up toward the grip.

[Bassman5000t]

dude your the man

[killajd8871]

scooby how tall are u?"

[scooby1961]

6'2"

[scooby1961]

Thanks! Let me know how it goes, I'd be interested in how long it takes you to get to the point where you can do 5 pullups unassisted.

[aznPr0krastn8or4lyfe]

the chair is a great idea! im gonna try it.

[scooby1961]

Its probably the simplest method of assisted pullups but being an engineer, I take any excuse to use pulleys!

[aznPr0krastn8or4lyfe]

i like ur aquarium in the backround lol

[scooby1961]

Thanks! My room doubles as office, gym, model workshop, and study. BTW, my fish are pretty upset these days, they dont like the monitor blocking their view.

[smallarms]

you are really a inspiration to all of us

thx for sharing you experience

[scooby1961]

Thanks smallarms!

[robbduffy]

I've watched several of your videos. I am a certified personal trainer and you have taught me a few helpful hints. Thanks.

[scooby1961]

Thanks Robb, thats a real compliment coming from you!!

[Hypsiphobic]

man you have great ideas.

thanks alot. keep on the great videos!

Could you make a video on how to breath while doing exercices please?

[scooby1961]

It wouldnt be very exciting :) Funny you ask, I actually have a video on that. Bottom line is that any type of breathing is fine as long as you dont hold your breath (or hyperventilate). The most dangerous is when you hold your breath because your blood pressure gets really high when you do that.

[firewolf185]

what do you think about kicking up on the last rep? For example, when I add weights I can manage 7, but then I kick up on the last one when I'm stuck.

[scooby1961]

Nope, IMHO kicking, jerking or swinging is never acceptable workout form. If you want to get that last rep, I would suggest putting a chair nearby and on that last rep or two pushing on the chair with your foot to do a "controlled cheat".

[thoughtyouthought]

Looks good man. Love when you update! I do a lot of these things @ home.

[scooby1961]

Glad to hear it!

[sayyo2pat]

Hey scooby, you should definitely mass produce ur inventions for home spotters and sell them. Its time for you to start making money of these things. I dunno about everyone else, but i would buy em.

[scooby1961]

Thanks for your vote of confidence! If I start selling fitness stuff though, I become one of "them" - those corporations just out to make a buck. I want to show people how they can get in shape inexpensively at home.

[CircularProductions]

as always a great video!

[scooby1961]

Thanks Ash! Great to hear from you again.

[Erdbeerbowle]

Quite the contraption you've got there. We are doing pulleys right now in physics, and they are pretty complicated (especially when you start incorporating vectors and all that good stuff.)

I notice that you emphasize a lot on using slow lifting movements, which leads me to ask: what do you think of explosive plyometric movements used for power?

Great video by the way. :)

[scooby1961]

Thanks Strawberry Punch (Erdbeerbowle)!

Ahhhh plyometrics, there is no denying that it is effective in jump training. Because of the high probability of injury, I would not recommend it unless under the strict supervision of a physical therapist. Plyometrics might be appropriate in certain types of sports where impulse strength is important - for example in explosive jumps for height or a boxers punch.

[BBlifter2]

Thanks!

[BBlifter2]

Great ideas! I thought of having a training partner help do pullups but the other two ways to do assisted pullups never occured to me. Will the chair method really help to build lat strength???

[scooby1961]

Doing negative reps by using a chair to get to the top of the pullup movement and then slowly lowering yourself down will definitely help improve your strength. Negative reps are actually a pretty advanced technique.