Client who can not do a pullup, so now what?

I have got a client who cannot do a pullup/chinup. We dont have a pullup assist station at the gym I am currently at. Heres the question: I currently have him on a total body routine, but sooner or later I would like to go to an upper/lower routine. Upper being uppe/vertical, upper/horizontal. So on the upper vertical days should I simply have him bust his butt as much as possible trying to do a pullup or 2? (Which I am thinking not).....or should I simply just have him do something horizontal? Believe this or not, this certain rinky dink gym has no pulldown station! The gym is trash and I have just been there taking on a few people until I get released for good from my other job.

Is there a chinup bar? If so, he can do assisted pullups, but it's you who'll have to do the assisting. Have him grab the bar, put your hands on his hips, and lift. I've also seen it done with the helper cupping his hands together (fingers interlocked) to form a little step in which the lifter puts one foot and then steps up while holding the chinup bar.

I did that a few times, but I feel like hes pushing off of me more than really getting somewhere.

You could also have him work on his grip by hanging from the bar, and them do the stool thing as TT said and have him work on negatives. Also, BW face pulls will help him get used to stabilizing his core.

I did think of negatives, and may actually give them a go. I also thought maybe doing some horizontal pulling for a while until his overall strength increases. Thoughts on that?

Isn't there some kind of high pulley station?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Witchblade

Isn't there some kind of high pulley station?

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Double D

Believe this or not, this certain rinky dink gym has no pulldown station!

---

:D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Witchblade

Isn't there some kind of high pulley station?

---

Nope, they have said there is one coming for the past 2 months. They had one, but for some reason it isnt there anymore. :confused:

I guess some pullovers can't hurt in that case.

I never gave them a thought.

If you have a sturdy pullup/ chinup station get a large climbers sling and loop it around a weight plate then throw the other end over the bar and have him do one arm pulldowns. This is great to do if you have a home gym too because you see if you have a stronger side. Alo, it is easier to move your wrists and arm in a less rigid path.

Now theres an idea. Thanks BB.

That Bakerboy thinks of everything. :thumbs:

this is what i did with my bro. have him just hang in pull up position, then have him do negatives with chinup position, then negetives with pull up, then real chin up , then real pull up.

I think I may have him do some negatives for now

yah def do negetives untl he can do 1 or 2 pull ups. what i do is GTG method. its called greasing the groove. it is basically when lets say you can do 10 pushups then you will do 9 and keep doing nine. as often as you can so you can "grease the groove" it works great for BW excercises. have your client just do negetives as often as he can

I use jump stretch bands. I loop them over the chin up bar and have them place their knee into the band. That gives them a spot.

either that, or we do negative only's.....They jump up over the bar, or I help them get up there, then they lower from anywhere from a 3-8 count. Or we do iso's above the bar, help them up and then hold. Sometimes we combine the 2 techniques also.

You have to get creative! We have no assisted pull up machine and no machines. All we use are free weights and cables.

I use jump stretch bands. I loop them over the chin up bar and have them place their knee into the band. That gives them a spot.

either that, or we do negative only's.....They jump up over the bar, or I help them get up there, then they lower from anywhere from a 3-8 count. Or we do iso's above the bar, help them up and then hold. Sometimes we combine the 2 techniques also.

You have to get creative! We have no assisted pull up machine and no machines. All we use are free weights and cables.

You and BB think the same all the time! Thanks P.....I am going to do the negatives with him tonight and purchase some of those bands.

Let me know how this works, I intend to start working on my pull-up strength this next couple months. The lat pull down works well for that, but the movements are close and I had hoped that pull downs would improve my pull-up but such was not the case.

Negatives here I come.

Try a band assist pull up. Choke the band around the bar, then put the loop over one or both of the shins when the knee is flexed.

http://www.wannabebig.com/images/bigbands16.jpg

I can hardly make whats happenning in that pic.

Negatives were the first to come to mind.

Negatives, some isometrics and some assisted pull ups with various grips can make for a good vertical pull day.

I can't do pull-ups, and I can;t even control myself on negatives, I do these http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/sport...youCircuit.jpg (the top left)

Yeah I need to give the negatives a try. Its such an awkward movement I don't know if I'm doing it correctly or not.

Whats awkward? The motion of a pullup or the negative portion of a pullup?

I find negatives to be pretty awkward too tbh. Not bad, but awkward.

I was doing a shitload of them a few months ago. I think theyre on the first few pages of my journal. I do remember jumping off a bench then controlling the decent and sometimes I would rock, but it was from the jump and not my form.

I dont know...it didnt seem too awkward to me. Different, but not awkward.

So why does he need to do a pullup right away? Why dont you just give him time to build up those appropriate muscles than work his way slowly. Thats what I would do, but Im far from an expert in the topic so I dont really know.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by xnorwaks

So why does he need to do a pullup right away? Why dont you just give him time to build up those appropriate muscles than work his way slowly. Thats what I would do, but Im far from an expert in the topic so I dont really know.

---

Ok, then beside whats already mentioned, what would you suggest he do to work those muscles? :twitch:

Rope, or pole climbing. Climb up a pole, slide down. :)