How he does 100 Pull Ups - PER DAY!
How he does 100 Pull Ups - PER DAY!
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I routinely get emails from guys asking me how they can or whether they should add Pull Ups to their KB workout routines.
So I thought we could learn something from the following story.
I first started having my son do Pull Ups on the doorway Pull Up bar when he was around 6 or 7.
I had him start with multiple sets of 1 rep.
His first goal was 5 in a day.
His second goal was 10 in a day.
His third goal was 20 in a day.
And when he was about 8 years old, he did 110 in ONE DAY.
But here’s where it gets interesting…
Since then, he’s kept up with his daily Pull Up training.
Now, at age 14, he routinely does 100 Pull Ups PER DAY.
Almost every day.
He knows the importance of “waving the loads” - varying the total amount of work from day-to-day and some days he’ll “only” do about 70 or 75.
How well does this work?
He’s destroying kids his own age and older on the mats.
And I can really tell a difference in his strength levels now that puberty’s kicked on and he just turned 14.
He’s gained about 4 or 5 inches in height and nearly 20 pounds on the scale in the last 6 months.
Now, how does this apply to you?
Simple.
You start the same way my son did.
1 Pull Up at a time.
And you slowly build up over the course of weeks… Months… Years.
You follow the process and build your patience muscle along the way.
For guys our age though, I have a caveat:
Don’t train Pull Ups (palms facing away from you) at first.
Train Chin Ups (palms facing you).
Here’s why:
Most of us spend large majorities of our days with our hands pronated - palms away - clickety-clacking away on a keyboard or steering a mouse.
This weakens our supinator muscles and can lead to elbow issues like Tennis Elbow or Golfer’s Elbow, which creates sharp pain around your elbow which can last… forever.
We can both agree that’s No Bueno.
So, starting with Chin Ups starts to address this imbalance in your forearm muscle groups and keep the pain away.
PLUS -
I’ve found that training Chins instead of Pull Ups tends to work your abs more. So it’s like a 2-for-1 special.
A little extra ab work never hurt anyone.
And if anything, I’ve noticed it increases the power output in your KB ballistics - makes them feel lighter and more explosive.
Another thing:
Most guys I work with work in offices. Some spend a lot of time driving.
Very few work from home.
So, following my son’s program - a “grease the groove” style program - get more info just won’t work. Highly impractical and virtually impossible.
Therefore the better way is to purposefully program Chins into your training plan.
Many guys ask me if they should “super set” their Presses and the Pull Ups / Chins.
And while that can work, remember that a properly performed Press uses the lat(s).
So, more likely than not, when you combine the two, both will suffer due to fatigue accumulation.
I think there’s a better way.
That’s one of the reasons I recommend guys who want to train Pull Ups / Chins do so with Schedule B found inside “Rebuilt After 40.”
It also includes Presses, Squats, and my personal all time favorite “chest developer” exercise. (I use it for other reasons - but it can “Pump Up Your Pecs!” to “channel” Joe Weider. LOL.)
I’ll leave a link below this video so you can check it out if you want to.
Furthermore, I think it’s worth pointing out that research validates the ideas that the more Chin Ups you can do -
1- The less body fat you’ll tend to have
2- The more you can express your athleticism
3- Chin Ups improve shoulder health and function
Finally, I’m NOT saying you shouldn’t do Pull Ups.
I’m saying START with Chin Ups.
Use this progression:
Chin Ups (palms facing you) → Neutral Grip Chins (palms facing each other) → Pull Ups (palms facing away)
Hope you found this helpful.
Stay Strong,
Geoff
RESEARCH
[1] Rosaci, G., Latini, D., Bartolomei, S., & Nigro, F. (2024). Relationships between Anthropometric and Strength Profiles of Streetlifting Athletes. Applied Sciences. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14167172.
[2] Weakley, J., Till, K., Darrall-Jones, J., Roe, G., Phibbs, P., Read, D., & Jones, B. (2017). Strength and Conditioning Practices in Adolescent Rugby Players: Relationship with Changes in Physical Qualities.. Journal of strength and conditioning research. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001828.
Coutts, A., Murphy, A., & Dascombe, B. (2004). EFFECT OF DIRECT SUPERVISION OF A STRENGTH COACH ON MEASURES OF MUSCULAR STRENGTH AND POWER IN YOUNG RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYERS. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 18, 316–323. https://doi.org/10.1519/R-12972.1.
[3] Urbanczyk, C., Prinold, J., Reilly, P., & Bull, A. (2020). Avoiding high‐risk rotator cuff loading: Muscle force during three pull‐up techniques. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 30, 2205 - 2214. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13780.
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