Am I weak? Trouble doing pull ups...

S

sc0ttb

0
Hi
Been training for a good few months now and noticed a massive increase in size and strength but I still cannot do a single proper pull up! It is really annoying me and although I can now bench almost 70Kg from starting at 40kg my biceps seem to be the limiting factor here. I have tried working them twice a week hard sessions and they have gotten really big but strength hasn't imrpoved all that much.

Should I be worried that I struggle with pull ups and also press ups during my routine?

Any tips?
 
Don't worry, pullups are pretty hard to do.
I won't expect the newbie trainee to be able to do them.
I could do one pullup.
What I did was I got a spotter to push me up a bit so that way I was able to do around 4 reps (assisted) at the beginning. After a few workout sessions I was able to pull 2,3 unassisted reps and I continued doing 3-4 more with the help of the spotter.
Now, after around 2-3 months. I'm able to do 8 un-assisted pullups with a slow and controled motion.

You might try doing what I did, it worked for me.
I don't think if you get your biceps strength up would make that much of a difference.
 
That's good to know cheers. I'll try the assisted ones like you suggested and see if it makes any difference. Thanks for the tip...
 
Nice to see I'm not the only one then!

I'm in a similar situation, however, I've gotten there a different way.

I was originally too weak to do proper pull ups, then I lost about 30lbs and I could do them ok, then I started weight training and got better at them, however once I started bulking and after gaining around 15lb I started to struggle with them. I'm actually referring to "chin-ups" not pull ups (chin ups=underhand grip/pull ups=overhand grip).

Anyway, now at another 15lb heavier and about 23% BF, I find chin-ups the most demanding exercise in a workout by a mile!! I don't think there's any other exercise that makes me feel as "insufficient" as that one does!

I find that a makeshift base can help as it's there at the bottom of the ROM if you need it to launch off to give yourself a little boost! And if you can do without, then you don't have to use it, whereas with a spotter you may feel inclined to use him/her for every rep just because s/he's there. May be a good alternative anyway if you can't find a spotter!..
 
The biceps are only there to assit the back muscles in the chin-up. Make sure you are sufficiantly working your back not just hitting the bench press. Bent-over rows, seated rows, lat pulldown etc are all good. There is no need to isolate your biceps, it won't help much if at all.

Also, it might sound simple but the more you do them the better and stronger you get.
 
sc0ttb said:
It is really annoying me and although I can now bench almost 70Kg from starting at 40kg my biceps seem to be the limiting factor here. I have tried working them twice a week hard sessions and they have gotten really big but strength hasn't imrpoved all that much.
Click to expand...
Work your back more.
 
Practice with a spotter & go through the motions. Cheat a little bit with an assist from your spotter to get you started. Keep trying & you'll get there.
 
Im bad at pullups also, at the most i could do 2 maybe 3 if im realllly lucky.

If you do pulldowns, then using common sense i would say dont be doing them in like sets of 10 reps everytime. To increase your pullups, id do like 6-10 sets of 1-3 reps, high weight. Makes much more sense to build up that strength ;)
 
Last edited:
If your gym has an assisted pullup/dip machine that works too to.build up the requisite muscle group. Also lat pulldowns as suggested earlier. As for the spotter, make sure he holds you vertically. Some spotters hold the legs out and if your grip fails you're going down facefirst!
 
Last edited:
Has anyone mentioned doing negatives yet?

If not then try using a step to get you into place at the top of the lift and then let yourself down slowly. You'll get better at holding yourself there pretty quick and you'll also be able to lift yourself back up unassisted before too long
 
g8r80 said:
If your gym has an assisted pullup/dip machine that works too to.build up the requisite muscle group. Also lat pulldowns as suggested earlier. As for the spotter, make sure he holds you vertically. Some spotters hold the legs out and if your grip faoils you're going down facefirst!
Click to expand...

Another spotting method that we use in the military is to have the spotter stand behind you and place his palm on the small of your back. When your movement slows have your spotter give you a *small* upwards push. You'll be suprised how much a little assistance can help you get over the hump.

If you're still having problems, lat pull until you've developed the requisite strength to complete a pull up.

As you're having problems with your pull ups and your press ups, you might be focusing to much on the chest and arms. Make sure that you are balancing your resistance training throughout your body in order to prevent muscle imbalances and possible injury.
 
Last edited:
+1 on the negatives (and eveything else mentioned here).

When you do your negative, concentrate on going down as slowly as you can! Also, incorporate stopping at the halfway point for a moment and then continue in the slow fashion.

Lats are key here. Bentover rows, pulldown and pullovers are all going to improve your lat strength and help you along your path to a pull-up goal.

Good luck and keep us posted!
 
Cheers for all the advice lads! I have been somewhat neglecting my back lately and have got obsessed with chest and biceps so def going to include a 'back' day. I will keep u posted cheers
 
+1 on the lats work- but pullups are kind of a weird exercise in that they come easy to some people, and other people just have a really tough time with them. My brother is immensely stronger than I am, and can barely do one, and I can't remember a point in my life where I couldn't do at least 25- and I've never been particularly strong.
 
sc0ttb said:
Cheers for all the advice lads! I have been somewhat neglecting my back lately and have got obsessed with chest and biceps so def going to include a 'back' day. I will keep u posted cheers
Click to expand...

Your welcome,

But please dont ever neglect any body part! :) Dont be leaving you back out, its the main part of the upper body!

I hope you work out your legs aswel? If not start working them, missing bodyparts out slows down progression of other gains. If you are missing out your legs, start doing them other wise your upper body gains will also become less.

My bad if you do train them tho :)

Good luck mate ;)
 
I'll be honest I haven't been doing any leg work as I do a lot of cycling and football. But i will start adding some squats and leg extensions into my workout then. I guess the more muscle i gain the more it will help burn fat no matter where it is i.e. legs.
 
Instead of doing bicep curls with dumbbells or barbells, how about doing a bicep curl on a pull up bar? =) Just a suggestion.

One thing to make sure is (of any exercise that includes the lats) is to depress your scapulae by keeping your shoulders down and back, and lats contracting. You don't want your upper trapz to try and take most of the load if the lats is what you want to build muscle on.
 
I'm not sure what this is called, but what you do is pull a chair up to the bar, then put your chin over the bar, let yourself hang off the chair, and slowly go down (ie do the reverse of a pull up- start from the top then slowly go back down to the starting position).

Another thing you can do is reduce the weight by sitting on the ground and doing pull ups. You can do this on the dip machine. Sit on your bottom, and pull up. You're only lifting perhaps .33 ~ .80 of your weight.

Also, chin ups are easier than pull ups. Sometimes they're called the "girlie pullups" due to the fact that some people can do 100s of them. Do chin ups, and pull ups. Or you can do mixed hands, have one hand over another under.

For exercises.. do deadlifts and squats.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top