my pull ups have been hitting a plateau. i started out with the advice of doing 15 sets and 1 rep. Atm, I have improved and I can do a maximum of 6 reps and by the end of the 3rd set the 6 reps takes a hell lot of effort. the problem is this has been going on for 4 months now and i can't even get the 7th rep at the last set. i do pull ups once a week together with my shoulders and back and pull ups is always the first thing i do. any suggestions?

2 simple ways.

Generally, if you can't hit 8-10 easy repetitions, no real point using additional load so I don't recommend weighted pull-ups yet.

First method.

Break your pull-ups into three separate days. 48 hours apart.

Do 5 repetitions for 3 sets for the first week
Every week, add one extra repetition.
By the time you're done with the second week, you'd be at 6 repetitions.
And so on, so forth.
By week 5, you ought to have hit 10 reps for 3 sets.

Second method.

IF you don't wanna add extra pull-up days, you could try this.

Do the usual pull-ups for 2 sets of 6 repetitions.
Then change to a chin-up grip for 2 sets of 6 repetitions.
Then switch to a neutral grip pull-up for 2 sets of 6 reps.
Finally pull yourself over the bar and hold up there as long as you can, and as you descend, control the fall. Do this for 3 repetitions.

Research has shown that in the squats, your best result is with a descend tempo of 2.5 seconds. It gave a mean of 14% (I'm not gonna find the paper, but google "Tempo affects squat results" on journals) above squatting with a fast descend tempo.

I don't know how it affects pull-ups (Never had the sample size to test) but I would believe that it'd be better to take a medium-slow tempo when descending.

G'luck increasing your pull-ups.

Not frequent enough.
If you can do pull ups at home everyday, do it.
1 set of 4-5 every time you walk past the bar.

Thanks. I will try the first method. I was so impressed with my gains initially but wow hitting a plateau really sucks. I can't wait to hit 10 reps. it has been my target all along.

nice.
initially i could only do 3reps/1set.
normal can struggle till 8reps/1set....yup,i'm weak, but getting stronger

i used to do pull ups everyday and i get from 4 very lousy form to 15 strict form reps in just over a month...and reached plateau at 15..now i'm adding weight to my pull ups...

when you do pull ups everyday,remember to separate the sets for 1 set in a session,and dont go total failure on the set

set a target,like you set for 25 pull ups per day,so make sure you already made a total of 25 reps by the end of the day..

Hey pizzaboy..thanks a lot for your advice. It is improving and I am on my 8 reps/set now. Btw, I have another question. What's the big deal with wide grip pull ups? I am keeping it at shoulder width but many buffed people in the gym does the wide grip. I tried doing the wide grip once but I ended up hurting my right shoulder. Is the wide grip a further progression for pull ups? Thanks.

Wide grips are harder to perform than the close grip. The wider you go, the more lats you use. The closer your hands are, more biceps is recruited.

with my torn labrum, I can't even do 2.

Yeah it is much harder. So i assume it is a progression thing but why am I suffering from right shoulder pull? I did not skip on my rear delts.

.

This post has been edited by hoxy: Jun 13 2012, 08:49 PM

Yeah, that is why I don't do on the wide grip pull ups. It is not even pain after the exercise, it is pain during the exercise. I rather not look cool by doing narrow grip than to look cool and suffer permanent damage.

For me, I do half pull up. I dont lower my body until my arm are straight. Just half way. I can do 12 set for 12reps. My sequence - wide grip, neutral grip, chin up, then opposite push up where you pull your body up. Donno the name of the last exercise

This post has been edited by kurtkob78: Feb 11 2011, 07:49 PM