Can't do pull ups

[Muse]

Originally posted by: presidentender

Originally posted by: gramboh
If you are going to do lat pulldowns, make sure you warm up well on them. I tweaked my shoulder a few times doing them last year (I never do them anymore). I'm not sure if I had bad technique (likely) or I just tried too heavy weight without warming up, but it did not feel good. I was pulling the weight to my chest while leaning back a bit.

I was in love with a wider grip for a long time, because it made the exercise harder. However, you can bork your shoulder pretty badly, especially if you go "all the way" down with the bar with a very wide grip on heavy weight. Wide grip is okay, pulling the bar down past your chin is advisable, and heavy weight is great. Just not all at the same time, please.

Years ago I stopped doing pullups on a single horizontal bar, instead using parallel hand-holds. It's a lot easier on the joints. Take care of your joints!

 

[purbeast0]

on this subject ...

yesterday i tried weighted pullups for the first time. my first set i just did my body weight 10x to get the feel. then i tried adding a 15lb dumbell between my legs. i could get like 7 or so of those, howhever the dumbell slipped out while doing them. then my last set i got 8x of them w/the dumbell then did 2x of just my body weight.

i was shocked at how much heavier/difficult it was when doing simply 15lbs more.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
on this subject ...

yesterday i tried weighted pullups for the first time. my first set i just did my body weight 10x to get the feel. then i tried adding a 15lb dumbell between my legs. i could get like 7 or so of those, howhever the dumbell slipped out while doing them. then my last set i got 8x of them w/the dumbell then did 2x of just my body weight.

i was shocked at how much heavier/difficult it was when doing simply 15lbs more.

Yeap. I recently started doing chins/pullups with additional weight. Stared at 5 lb and adding 2.5 each workout. Gonna do pull ups with 10 lb today. 5 sets of 5, in addition to SS.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN

Originally posted by: purbeast0
on this subject ...

yesterday i tried weighted pullups for the first time. my first set i just did my body weight 10x to get the feel. then i tried adding a 15lb dumbell between my legs. i could get like 7 or so of those, howhever the dumbell slipped out while doing them. then my last set i got 8x of them w/the dumbell then did 2x of just my body weight.

i was shocked at how much heavier/difficult it was when doing simply 15lbs more.

Yeap. I recently started doing chins/pullups with additional weight. Stared at 5 lb and adding 2.5 each workout. Gonna do pull ups with 10 lb today. 5 sets of 5, in addition to SS.

My advice - get a weight belt from Amazon or somewhere off the net. It also doubles to add weight for dips as well. Much safer, and easier to handle extra weight for pull/chin-ups and dips.

And yes, the extra weight is a little shocking at first. I can't seem to get over the hump at about 30lbs, but I just feel like I've been exhausted as of late. (Due to exams, work, the woman, sleeping over and going to bed late due to various activities, etc)

 

[MegaVovaN]

I'll get the belt a little later. Kinda silly getting a belt for 10 pounds. Right now I just take a plate (or two), and tie them to my waist with a rubber band used for stretching.
When that gets bad due to weight, I'll use backpack and put plates in it. If I don't like that, then I'll get the belt. And at the moment I don't have anywhere to do dips either. Not even 2 chairs of same size.

 

[brikis98]

a belt is definitely the optimal solution, but depending on the type of dumbbells at your gym, you can makem the work as well. the dumbbells at my gym have flat-ish plates on them, and i've done 5 reps with 55lbs dumbbells while doing pull-ups and 8 reps with 65lbs for dips, and haven't had the slightest issue. i'd guess i could get up to ~80-90lbs before I'd need a belt.

The trick is knowing how to hold it with your legs so that it's secure and doesn't hurt. It's a bit hard to describe, but I basically cross one leg behind the other, so the bottom of the shin of my back leg rests on the heel of the front leg. I then hang on the pull-up bar or dip bars and have someone put the dumbell between my ankles. The key is to have all of the dumbbell's weight on the back of the ankles, between the bottom of your calves and your heels. when seen from the side, the dumbbell at an angle to the ground, with the part of the dumbbell in front of my legs lower than the part behind my ankles. With proper positioning and flat dumbbells, you don't even feel that it's there. As a bonus, during pull-ups, you end up working your abs a bit to hold the weight, but not so much it affects the pull-up itself.

 

[gramboh]

Originally posted by: brikis98
a belt is definitely the optimal solution, but depending on the type of dumbbells at your gym, you can makem the work as well. the dumbbells at my gym have flat-ish plates on them, and i've done 5 reps with 55lbs dumbbells while doing pull-ups and 8 reps with 65lbs for dips, and haven't had the slightest issue. i'd guess i could get up to ~80-90lbs before I'd need a belt.

The trick is knowing how to hold it with your legs so that it's secure and doesn't hurt. It's a bit hard to describe, but I basically cross one leg behind the other, so the bottom of the shin of my back leg rests on the heel of the front leg. I then hang on the pull-up bar or dip bars and have someone put the dumbell between my ankles. The key is to have all of the dumbbell's weight on the back of the ankles, between the bottom of your calves and your heels. when seen from the side, the dumbbell at an angle to the ground, with the part of the dumbbell in front of my legs lower than the part behind my ankles. With proper positioning and flat dumbbells, you don't even feel that it's there. As a bonus, during pull-ups, you end up working your abs a bit to hold the weight, but not so much it affects the pull-up itself.

Thanks for this tip, the way I've been doing it (only using weighted for dips, still BW on pull-up/chin-up) is to stand in the dip bars, orient the DB in my ankles, then do my set. I had been orienting the DB a bit differently and it hurt my ankles, I will try the way you describe as it makes a lot more sense, or I'll have my friend put the DB in my ankles after I am in the air.