Pull ups and press ups: how many can you do?
Discussion
ORD said:
I wonder if there's a lesson to be taken from Marcus, though. He can do so much quality lifting because his CV fitness is insanely high, allowing him to recover fast between sets and between workouts.
Also Marcus weighs f
k all and practices pullups like an obsession 
Sorry, someone had to say it. I reckon if you're > 90kg and get anything above 15 decent widegrip pullups you're in the top 2% of gymgoers. That's very good going. Another thing is many lifters do pullups as their last back exercise precisely so they don't have to go beyond 8/10 reps. Reasons are 1. Pullups can exacerbate any shoulder or chest injury and bicep injury, so doing them last makes sense when you're not going to get many reps, and 2. Because the shoulder joint rotates into a weak position on a pullup it's very easy to injure it and the long head of the bicep tendon if you start putting heavy weights on a belt and pulling them as well. CV fitness will help with multiple high rep sets undoubtedly.popeyewhite said:
Also Marcus weighs fk all and practices pullups like an obsession Sorry, someone had to say it. I reckon if you're > 90kg and get anything above 15 decent widegrip pullups you're in the top 2% of gymgoers. That's very good going. Another thing is many lifters do pullups as their last back exercise precisely so they don't have to go beyond 8/10 reps. Reasons are 1. Pullups can exacerbate any shoulder or chest injury and bicep injury, so doing them last makes sense when you're not going to get many reps, and 2. Because the shoulder joint rotates into a weak position on a pullup it's very easy to injure it and the long head of the bicep tendon if you start putting heavy weights on a belt and pulling them as well. CV fitness will help with multiple high rep sets undoubtedly.
I think you have a point there. I have started to do Pull Ups at the end of my back routines instead of first, as I think they may help in stretching/decompressing the back/spine after all of the heavy lifting beforehand.k all and practices pullups like an obsession Sorry, someone had to say it. I reckon if you're > 90kg and get anything above 15 decent widegrip pullups you're in the top 2% of gymgoers. That's very good going. Another thing is many lifters do pullups as their last back exercise precisely so they don't have to go beyond 8/10 reps. Reasons are 1. Pullups can exacerbate any shoulder or chest injury and bicep injury, so doing them last makes sense when you're not going to get many reps, and 2. Because the shoulder joint rotates into a weak position on a pullup it's very easy to injure it and the long head of the bicep tendon if you start putting heavy weights on a belt and pulling them as well. CV fitness will help with multiple high rep sets undoubtedly.I have also read more than once that too many pull up (and dips) reps can cause/exacerbate the elbow joint -but not sure how true that is.
popeyewhite said:
ORD said:
I wonder if there's a lesson to be taken from Marcus, though. He can do so much quality lifting because his CV fitness is insanely high, allowing him to recover fast between sets and between workouts.
Also Marcus weighs fk all and practices pullups like an obsession Sorry, someone had to say it. I reckon if you're > 90kg and get anything above 15 decent widegrip pullups you're in the top 2% of gymgoers. That's very good going. Another thing is many lifters do pullups as their last back exercise precisely so they don't have to go beyond 8/10 reps. Reasons are 1. Pullups can exacerbate any shoulder or chest injury and bicep injury, so doing them last makes sense when you're not going to get many reps, and 2. Because the shoulder joint rotates into a weak position on a pullup it's very easy to injure it and the long head of the bicep tendon if you start putting heavy weights on a belt and pulling them as well. CV fitness will help with multiple high rep sets undoubtedly.king strong in other aspects too. To simply put his numbers down to being relatively light is to be more than bit unfair to him. chris watton said:
I think you have a point there. I have started to do Pull Ups at the end of my back routines instead of first, as I think they may help in stretching/decompressing the back/spine after all of the heavy lifting beforehand.
I have also read more than once that too many pull up (and dips) reps can cause/exacerbate the elbow joint -but not sure how true that is.
Yes you need to watch your elbows as well, I forgot about that - odd considering I've had that very injury myself.I have also read more than once that too many pull up (and dips) reps can cause/exacerbate the elbow joint -but not sure how true that is.
TheJimi said:
Marcus isn’t just reasonably light, he’s fking strong in other aspects too. To simply put his numbers down to being relatively light is to be more than bit unfair to him.
If you're lighter pullups are an easier lift, what's the mystery? For some lifts lighter bodyweight does mean great strength ie most Oly lifts...squats, pressing etc. Nothing personal against Marcus! king strong in other aspects too. To simply put his numbers down to being relatively light is to be more than bit unfair to him. I think that, as with most things in life, the more you practice and focus on something, the better you get. This was certainly the case for me when I could hardly do one pull up (wide grip, close grip is relatively easy for most, I would have thought).
The more you do them, the better you should get.
The more you do them, the better you should get.
popeyewhite said:
Also Marcus weighs fk all and practices pullups like an obsession Sorry, someone had to say it. I reckon if you're > 90kg and get anything above 15 decent widegrip pullups you're in the top 2% of gymgoers. That's very good going. Another thing is many lifters do pullups as their last back exercise precisely so they don't have to go beyond 8/10 reps. Reasons are 1. Pullups can exacerbate any shoulder or chest injury and bicep injury, so doing them last makes sense when you're not going to get many reps, and 2. Because the shoulder joint rotates into a weak position on a pullup it's very easy to injure it and the long head of the bicep tendon if you start putting heavy weights on a belt and pulling them as well. CV fitness will help with multiple high rep sets undoubtedly.
I would be surprised if 1 in 500 big guys can get 15 decent wide arm pull ups...if we are talking about full ROM. As I have said before, a lot of very big guys do very jerky and short ROM pull ups (understandably given how much they weigh!)k all and practices pullups like an obsession Sorry, someone had to say it. I reckon if you're > 90kg and get anything above 15 decent widegrip pullups you're in the top 2% of gymgoers. That's very good going. Another thing is many lifters do pullups as their last back exercise precisely so they don't have to go beyond 8/10 reps. Reasons are 1. Pullups can exacerbate any shoulder or chest injury and bicep injury, so doing them last makes sense when you're not going to get many reps, and 2. Because the shoulder joint rotates into a weak position on a pullup it's very easy to injure it and the long head of the bicep tendon if you start putting heavy weights on a belt and pulling them as well. CV fitness will help with multiple high rep sets undoubtedly.The risks posed by pull ups and chins can be reduced greatly by using a bit of care at the top and bottom of the ROM - keeping the shoulders down at the bottom of the rep and not over-pulling at the top (i.e. do not take the chest to the bar). I use too much ROM at the top, for example, and am going to try to shorten it a bit by keeping my chest 2-3 inches below the bar.
I expect most guys that can do 15 or so pull ups would do themselves a lot of favours by doing really strict and fairly slow sets of 5-8 rather than going for lots of reps.
popeyewhite said:
It's not an advantage to weigh less when doing bodyweight pullups?
Trade off between upper body strength (where additional muscle mass is a plus) and weight lifted (where all additional mass is a negative).I imagine that a complex formula could give us the optimum weight at a given height.
My best guess is that it would be quite low. I think I could be quite a lot weaker and still do more pull ups if I was 10kg lighter.
popeyewhite said:
TheJimi said:
I don’t think it’s as inherently simple as that.
It's not an advantage to weigh less when doing bodyweight pullups?k all" That's putting it in black and white, essentially suggesting that if one is relatively lightweight, one will be able to bang out high rep, good ROM pullups.
My anecdotal evidence suggests that strength has a bigger part to play than bodyweight does.
TheJimi said:
That's putting it in black and white,
Nothing like stimulating debate
A few things first - I think my weight is definitely a factor, 77kg as of this morning, but more importantly my power to weight ratio is quite high i.e. I'm pretty strong for my size. My absolute strength doesn't compare with the bigger guys, obviously, such as diddely and co, and remember, between October and December I did about 9,000 pull ups (I've got a fair idea how to do one). If I couldn't do 24 in one go, it would be a pretty poor show I think.
A few things first - I think my weight is definitely a factor, 77kg as of this morning, but more importantly my power to weight ratio is quite high i.e. I'm pretty strong for my size. My absolute strength doesn't compare with the bigger guys, obviously, such as diddely and co, and remember, between October and December I did about 9,000 pull ups (I've got a fair idea how to do one). If I couldn't do 24 in one go, it would be a pretty poor show I think.
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