Pulldowns vs Pullups?

East1600Plus

East1600Plus

Active member
well for my current workout on my back i do

Dead Lift (heavy set then light set)
BB rows 2 sets
1 arm DB rows (R/P)
Heavy T-Bar rows

and then
Front PullDowns 2 sets
Rear Pull Downs RP
Lat PullDowns RP

now im wondering instead of the pulldowns should i switch to pullups for more back mass/development?? and if so how should they be rep'd??
 
You can do either or. I switch mine up.

Example for maybe a month i might do pulldowns

an another month ill do pullups
 
Pullups are much better then pulldowns. But try doing pullups first and then finish it off with pulldowns to the back
 
A nice back burn I've been doing lately is...

Deadlift or Heavy T-bar
Bent Over BB Row
Single Arm DB Row

Wide Grip Pull Up
Dumbell Pull Over
Lat Pulldown

I know the pull over is usually classified as a chest workout, but I tend to feel it in my lats more.
 
Pullups all the way, i barely even use pulldowns now, do all the variations too close, medium wide, and add weight to get the most out of them.
 
East1600Plus said:
now im wondering instead of the pulldowns should i switch to pullups for more back mass/development?? and if so how should they be rep'd??
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you only mention the amount of sets you do for some of those, and it looks like its only 1 or 2 for a good amount of them. thats kind of like masturbation without the payoff.

if you want to build mass you need to go heavy, and 3 sets is a good number to stick with. try 3 sets of 8-10 reps with the exercises you mentioned above, at the very least the switchup in routine will help to stimulate growth.
 
well i'm doing a variation of HIT workout so i do 2 working sets...heavy sets with forced reps and then R/P some of them also
 
I say do both, work it out so you incorporate pullups into your workout with pulldowns. I would suggest to start out with pull downs because they take more out of you. Say for instance you do pullups behind the back, do pulldowns in front that day. That way you target diff. muscle fibers. You can also do some close grip pull downs as well.
 
I don't believe there is a definite answer to which is better. If you always do pullups then eventually your muscles will get used to that and adapt. I think the answer is to switch them out with each other. Maybe two weeks, you could do pullups and then two weeks you could do pulldowns. Make sure that when you do pulldowns though, that you add enough weight so that your pushing yourself. Anyways, fact is you always need to be changing your workouts so as to keep your muscles shocked and guessing. GL man.
 
would this be good...

Front Pullups do as many sets as needed to do 50 reps...
then do Rear Pulldowns R/P'd and then Lat Pulldowns R/P'd
 
East1600Plus said:
would this be good...

Front Pullups do as many sets as needed to do 50 reps...
then do Rear Pulldowns R/P'd and then Lat Pulldowns R/P'd
Click to expand...

I wouldn't do a pulldown or a pullup behind the neck because of the shoulder impindgement. Bottom line is that you have to progressively overload the muscle to get it to grow so every workout when doing pullups or pulldowns make sure you progress is reps or weight to keep your back growing!
 
dlew308 said:
would it be bad to do pullups and pulldowns during the same workout?
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No you can do that. If i were you id do some pullups then some close grip pulldowns, then go on the your thickness exercises like barbell rows.
 
You can do all of them in the same workout without hurting anything. Do not worry about the stress. Only thing you need to be worried about is how heavy you go to push yourself
 
East1600Plus said:
ill prolly do 50 pullups and then do my regular pulldown workouts
Click to expand...

If you are doing 50 pullups, your doing yourself no good. Add weight to your ankles or waste. Every gym has the capabilities to do this. My rule of thumb though is that if I can do 4 sets or even 3 sets of 10 then I need to add weight (or more weight). Also, always try to make sure you hit your weakest part first. Like if your width is weaker than your thickness then start with pulldowns/pullups, and vice versa....hope this helped. GL buddy.
 
bLacKjAck. said:
If you are doing 50 pullups, your doing yourself no good. Add weight to your ankles or waste. Every gym has the capabilities to do this. My rule of thumb though is that if I can do 4 sets or even 3 sets of 10 then I need to add weight (or more weight). Also, always try to make sure you hit your weakest part first. Like if your width is weaker than your thickness then start with pulldowns/pullups, and vice versa....hope this helped. GL buddy.
Click to expand...
ya i couldnt even get 50 so i just decided to see how many i could get in 5 sets...which was 25 lol god i can do 210-220lbs pulldowns but cant pull my fatass up which is only 190
 
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