[for]

so, i think chins are great and they really are helping my build my back.. my question is should i add weight ?

last week i did sets of 5,4,4,3 . with bodyweight, all the way down all the way up. im prolly getting 1/3 - 1/2 a kg heavier each week.. should i add weight or just stick to bodyweight.

[Beowulf]

I would probably stick with bodyweight until you can start getting 3 or 4 sets of 8-10. Give the weighted chins/pullups a try and see what you can do, but you might just end up straining a bit too much. I didn't add weight till I could get 3x12.

[for]

Originally Posted by Beowulf

I would probably stick with bodyweight until you can start getting 3 or 4 sets of 8-10. Give the weighted chins/pullups a try and see what you can do, but you might just end up straining a bit too much. I didn't add weight till I could get 3x12.

i have done weighted chins before, just by adding 2.5kg on a belt my chins drop to sets of 3 and 2 etc.
so i guess its best to use bw then.

for dips i dont have much trouble adding a lot of weight, but chins it really seems to be way harder.

[Beowulf]

I don't have time now, but if you want I can hit you up with a kickass pullup routine to get you into double digits in a few weeks.

[for]

cool, that would be real good. right now i basically do as many as i can each set.

Beo please post the chinup routine, I always wanted to go up to 15-20 easy but with each bulking phase that passes I feel it would never happen!

[Beowulf]

OK, here it is:
Quite simple really, you just do ladders. It works best with a training partner. If not an option, just rest the time it would take for someone else to hop in and do a pullup.

With a partner, a fairly easy ladder based on where for is right now would look like this:
For Partner
1 1
2 2 Ladder 1
3 3

1 1
2 2 Ladder 2
3 3

1 1
2 2 Ladder 3
3 3

1 1
2 2 Ladder 4
3 3

ETC...

For, you can probably do this right now, probably for even more ladders than I have listed here. With your current routine you are getting a total of about 16 total pullups. If you do what I laid out above you will get 8 additional reps. Plus, you can probably do more than what I've laid out. About a year and a half ago I built my ladders up from 6 ladders up to 3 or a total of 36 pullups, to 8 ladders up to 6--or 168 pullups. That progression only took about 2 months of 2 ladder workouts per week. Every time you do it you should be able to increase. As you get comfortable doing say 6 ladders up to 3, start doing maybe 3 ladders up to 4, and 3 ladders up to 3. Just keep building. Do this for a month or 2 and you will easily be in double digits.

I have been doing weighted pullups for a while, but last week in school (I'm a h.s. teacher) I had to cover for someone in the gym. A few of the guys were having a pullup contest. The best anyone got was 9. I asked how many they thought I could do, and they said 6 or 7. I promptly banged out 15 reps w/o hitting failure and told them I had to save the rest for my p.m. workout. It was hilarious, they were all screaming from the time I passed 8 or 9 until the end.

[natedogg]

I like that. We also did something in the Marines that helped get my pull-ups from around 8 or 9 to around 21 to 23 in under a year. It also allowed some of the guys in my section to get anywhere from 10 to 12 which was pretty damn good considering these guys could any bang out 2 or 3 before. It's best if you use a partner to help out. In fact, I guarantee you'll need one. First you do 1. Rest, than do 1, 2. Rest, than do 1, 2, 3. Do this all the way up to 10. We didn't let anyone quit until they did their set number of reps. Of course our standards were set pretty high and failing was not an option. I worked out though, so I progressed faster than those who didn't.

[for]

so is each ladder like a set ? and in between each 1 2 3 you wait the time it would take another person do do those chins ?

[Beowulf]

You can think of each ladder as a set, but istead of getting 3 or 4 chins you'll be getting six. It adds up quickly. You alternate at every step throughout the ladder. You do 1; partner does 1. You do 2; partner does 2. You do 3; partner does 3... Once you hit the max reps you'll be doing in a single ladder you rest about 60-90 seconds. That is one Ladder. With no partner you will just wait about as long as it would take someone else to jump in and do their reps, which is not long. For motivational and practical reasons, a partner is definitely helpful here.

[intv]

http://www.4mcd.usmc.mil/AOP/OSOHyat...%20Program.htm

That's a pullup routine from Major Charles Lewis Armstrong, USMC. The goal of the routine is to reach and maintain 20 reps. One of my friends, who lifts, but was frustrated at the fact that he could only get 8 or 9 pullups followed it strictly for 8 weeks. He definitely overtrained, but he made his goal and then some. I think the routine is pretty crazy, volume-wise, but I'll admit he made his goal, leaned out a little, and his lats grew like a weed!

[Beowulf]

My back is currently my most developed bodypart, and I think the ladder workout probably had something to do with it.

[for]

cool. thx for the info. ill be trying it out this coming week

[for]

just done with my back workout..

chins went like this

122
121
121

im just not strong enough for 123 yet heh.. ill keep hitting them though

[Beowulf]

Next time try at least 1,2,2;1,2,2;1,2,2; 1,2,2.
If you can't get that, do: 1,2,2; 1,2,2; 1,2,2; 1,2;1,2

Be patient and within a month you'll be posting some solid numbers.

[for]

Originally Posted by Beowulf

Next time try at least 1,2,2;1,2,2;1,2,2; 1,2,2.
If you can't get that, do: 1,2,2; 1,2,2; 1,2,2; 1,2;1,2

Be patient and within a month you'll be posting some solid numbers.

will do man

[weeenisss]

Originally Posted by natedogg

I like that. We also did something in the Marines that helped get my pull-ups from around 8 or 9 to around 21 to 23 in under a year. It also allowed some of the guys in my section to get anywhere from 10 to 12 which was pretty damn good considering these guys could any bang out 2 or 3 before. It's best if you use a partner to help out. In fact, I guarantee you'll need one. First you do 1. Rest, than do 1, 2. Rest, than do 1, 2, 3. Do this all the way up to 10. We didn't let anyone quit until they did their set number of reps. Of course our standards were set pretty high and failing was not an option. I worked out though, so I progressed faster than those who didn't.

not that we got tested on pull-ups in the Army but i remember doing them with BDUs and a full TA-50 on. 5 was the most i did, lol. (TA-50 is web gear and a full ruck among other things, like cantines, etc.) good stuff though. i was doing about 18 normal ones for a while when i was at 175lbs, im about 220ish now so 10-11 is max. i neglected them for a while but I am starting to do them regularly.