Thread: Frequency of Pullups

It depends on a few things......If your just going out there and maxing out on pullups one time then it is not going to contribute to overtraining very much.

I do chins every back workout

That is going to depend on how hard they are for you (The intensity), how close to failure you go, the rest of your training program, rest and nutrition, etc.

I go through some weeks where I do pullups like 5 days during the week. However, several of those sessions include doing them as part of a circuit and not going anywhere near failure.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

That is going to depend on how hard they are for you (The intensity), how close to failure you go, the rest of your training program, rest and nutrition, etc.

I go through some weeks where I do pullups like 5 days during the week. However, several of those sessions include doing them as part of a circuit and not going anywhere near failure.

How was your growth when you didn't train to failure and was doing the exercise 5 days a week?
The reason I ask is because I can only do 5 honest pullups before my form goes to shit, and I haven't been making any progress lately. I was thinking about going for 3x3, 3 times a week.
I would like to hear what you have to say about that.

Originally Posted by KelJu

How was your growth when you didn't train to failure and was doing the exercise 5 days a week?
The reason I ask is because I can only do 5 honest pullups before my form goes to shit, and I haven't been making any progress lately. I was thinking about going for 3x3, 3 times a week.
I would like to hear what you have to say about that.

It doesn't negatively affect my growth or strength gains. Really, growth seems to pretty much be a product of diet for myself. I grow if I weight train competently, regardless of my cardio. As long as I compensate by adding more calories to my diet I'm fine. I think most people would get the same results if they just counted their calories, ate the right foods, learned about nutrient timing, and ate more frequently.

It seems reasonable enough to do pullups that frequently. I would at least change up your grip often though. You may also consider throwing pulldowns in there on occasion.

i will often do pullups every time I train.

Just going back through some posts I made and came across this one. Pullups are one of the best lifts for the back yes? Can doing pullups with various grips make up the majority of back workout? Throw some rows in at the end or something.

along with deadlifts, yeah, they are great. go with weighted pullups to progress

I do pullups 4 days in six days. (Push/Pull splits, two day on one day off cycle)

Once you'd be able to do weighted pullups with a certain weight then you could train in a wide rep range.

In my case, I superset light-midium-rep(8-10) pullups with my benchpresses in my chest day, then I do heavy-low-rep(3-5) pullups as the main exercise in my back day(next day).

But then I always train not to failure.

Originally Posted by P-funk

i will often do pullups every time I train.

Holy shit really? I do pullups once a week. I dont put them anywhere else cuz of my program, but why are pullups not associated with overtraining?

What if you did bench every time you trained? Even with different grips?

You couls do push ups with different stances almost everyday I think it would be hard to overtrain.

Originally Posted by P-funk

i will often do pullups every time I train.

Same here. I see pullups/chinups the same way I see pushups, something you can do 5-6 days a week easily.

Do training sets though, like Kel was talking about earlier. Pick a number that is slightly over 50% max effort, and do a few sets of that everytime you hit the gym. Maxing out on pullups once a week would work, and this would only make sense if it fell on your back day.

I only do them once a week.... maybe I should do them more often.

So you all think that the main difference between pullups every day or once a week depends on if your "maxing out" on pullups or basically going to failure with multiple sets?

I did pullups yesterday and I had a mad pump after (it was my back day) Did them to failure then did them with the assist. I probably should wait a couple days before doing that again yea?

I wouldnt do them right away again "to failure."

To those of you that include pullups close to every time you train, are you actually doing dedicated sets? Or are you just throwing them in between sets (like abs or calfs)?

I do dedicated sets

I think people are mistaking chin-ups/pull-ups you'd perform in a back/pull day to doing them in a circuit, or doing them to warm-up, etc.

I do weighted chin-ups on my back days, but throughout the week I'll perform pull-ups to warm-up whether it be a leg day, an arm day, a chest day, a shoulder day, a push day, a pull day.. whatever.

i do pullups every other day

i just do them to failure
one set of about 20
sometimes less, sometimes more

my personal best is 27 without dismounting
but i dont normally approach that number unless i have taken a few days to rest

the world record is 57 in one minute last time i checked...

keep in mind that im only 160pounds

Ohh, I havent forgotten!

Shit, I haven't done these in a long time.

Originally Posted by plewser2006

my personal best is 27 without dismounting

Judging by your foto.


I don't get this discussion tbh, it doesn't mean much if you don't know the program.

yeah... judjing by my photo??

when i was 8 in PE i failed misurably in front of my intire class to do a single pullup

my dad and i built a pullup bar, and for the past 11 years ive been doing calisthenics

just because i dont have 20 inch bi's doesnt mean i cant pull my own body weight repeatadly..

lets remember

size doesnt equal indurance

and indurance doesnt equal size



strap 10 pounds to each of my ankles and i probably reach failure at 8 pullups



marines out of bootcamp often do 25 pullups...
and not all of them weight 200+ pounds

maybe i can do more pullups than you because you weight more...

ever thought of that?

anyways
its very hard to overtrain on pullups
unless your doing them as a set workout
like 4 sets of 12 pullups
you would want to rest for a few days befor doing them again

And spelling really is a virture.

i didnt realize the incorrect spelling of my vocabulary would stunt my gains, or inhibit me from reaching any of my goals...


but in the future i will proof read my entries

Regardless of how much you weigh, a 27RM doesn't become a 8RM if you add 20 pounds.

You could be doing 27 high-speed plyometric power pullups, but if you're talking about controlled perfect form dead hang pulls, you're talking about different numbers. And those will lead to overtraining just as fast as bentover rows, deadlifts, or bench presses. It all amounts to the recovery you get.

Anyway, I'm not going into a 'yes' 'no' discussion here.

Damn can you all feel the testosterone flowing up in here?!

Originally Posted by Witchblade

Regardless of how much you weigh, a 27RM doesn't become a 8RM if you add 20 pounds.

You could be doing 27 high-speed plyometric power pullups, but if you're talking about controlled perfect form dead hang pulls, you're talking about different numbers. And those will lead to overtraining just as fast as bentover rows, deadlifts, or bench presses. It all amounts to the recovery you get.

Anyway, I'm not going into a 'yes' 'no' discussion here.

I dont like this kid, but he has a good point.


27 pullups is nothing but a good bragging number. I dont seem how it could be good for anything else. Just like a bench max.

For hypertrophy or power, strap some weights to your shit and continue to grow.