Stew Smith Pullup Program that claims to DOUBLE your pullups in 2 weeks

[Accord]

Most of you have heard of Stew Smith, well he just came out with his own pullup program and he claims that you will double your number of pullups in a mere 2 weeks.

I find it hard to believe that I will go from 12 to 24 pullups in 2 weeks, but i'm going to give it a try, Stew Smith wouldn't claim such outlandish results if it didn't work, so it definitely can't hurt.

Here's the link: http://www.*************/opinion/0,15202,114660,00.html?ESRC=recruiting.nl

Edit: for some reason the website is on the word filter here on the forums so the link will not work, i'll just post the article/program below....

[Accord]

Pullup-Push Workout
Stew Smith | September 22, 2006

This week, getting better at pull-ups was a subject of concern for many people. As with the Pushup-Push Workout (linked below), this idea makes little sense physiologically, but it works. You never want to have an extended period of repeating the same exercises day after day, but you can do this workout for ten days, rest for three or four days with no pull-ups, then test on day 14 or 15. Then you will find your increase to be as high as 50-100% from your previous max pull-ups.

Here is a question from a Marine Reservist wanting to max his PFT of 20 pullups.

Where can I find your pull-up routines outlined? I am stuck at about 7 pull-ups and would like to get to 10-12.

After the unbelievable success from the Pushup-Push Workout, in which people doubled their pushups in two weeks, I performed the same test on pull-ups with (young and old) students with similar success. This workout works best on folks who can do 3-10 pull-ups. Many increased their pull-ups to 10-20 in two weeks.

Here is what you need to try for a two-week period:

Do your regular workout program, but for 10 straight days do an additional 25-50 pullups.

If you are only able to do less than 5 pull-ups: do 25 pull-ups for your daily plan below:

If you can do more than 5 pull-ups: do 50 pull-ups for your daily plan below:

ODD DAYS (Supersets OR Pyramids):

Supersets (repeat 10 times):

pullups - max
pushups - 20
dips - 5-10
abs of choice - 30

Pyramids (see PT Pyramid article above)

pullups - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 rest with
pushups - 2,4,6,8,10,12,14....2
abs of choice - 5,10,15,20,25,30,35....5
alternate with NO rest from one exercise to the next

EVEN DAYS:

25-50 pullups anyway you can throughout the day or in a single workout. Do small repetition sets until you reach 25- 50 pull-ups.

Rotate for the next ten days from odd day workout options and even day pull-up supplement, then take three-four days off from doing ANY pull-ups. Test on day 14 or 15 and let me know your results.

Good luck with the Pullup-Push Workout. Push yourself and you can quickly perform better on your pull-up test. You can fit this type of program into your present workout plan by just adding 25-50 pullups on your rest days so you do a ten-day routine of pull-ups.

[Achped]

Umm, Im sort of confused, could you put it in your own words?

[Kildars]

Umm, Im sort of confused, could you put it in your own words?

What are you confused about?

[Accord]

Umm, Im sort of confused, could you put it in your own words?
Do you know what pyramids are? It's basically a bunch of mini-sets working your way up to a big number then back down again. You do 1 rep, rest, 2 reps, rest, 3 reps, rest, 4 reps, rest, 5 reps, rest, 6 reps, rest, 7 reps, rest, 8 reps rest... then once you reach the top of the pyramid you go back down... 7 reps, rest, 6 reps, rest, 5 reps rest... all the way down to 1. Doesn't sound like much right? You just did 64 pullups in 1 pyramid and shouldn't even be fatigued at all.

The goal of pyramids is to do a LOT of work and a LOT of reps, but never going to failure. Doing 3 complete pyramids even up to just 6 reps will put you at more than 100 reps for that one workout... compare that to just doing 3 max sets of 9 or 10 reps to failure and it's no wonder that pyramids will yield far better gains than just simply "doing pullups."

So to answer your question:

For 10 straight days you do this workout.... On the ODD days (1,3,5,7,9) you simply do pyramids, and on the EVEN days (2,4,6,8,10) you simply do small sets of pullups throughout the day until you eventually reach 50 total pullups. So basically just do one set of 5 pullups every 30 minutes until you reach 50.

[Echo_Four_Bravo]

Did the workout come from stewsmith.com?

[Accord]

Did the workout come from stewsmith.com?
It was from a Stew Smith article on military(dot)com.

[cplbrooks]

This is good stuff. I need to increase my pullups too for my next PFT. I want to get promoted so i need a good score to make up for being an old man with a slower running time. I max out crunches so the pullups make the difference.

[mrbsox]

How about the

JUST Fkn DO IT METHOD !!

If you need SOMEONE else to motivate you
to do what you already KNOW needs to be done
maybe MY boot camp ain't the place for you

Why don't you just get off you wannabe a$$
and DO IT !!

[Accord]

How about the

JUST Fkn DO IT METHOD !!

If you need SOMEONE else to motivate you
to do what you already KNOW needs to be done
maybe MY boot camp ain't the place for you

Why don't you just get off you wannabe a$$
and DO IT !!
With all due respect, there are other and better ways to train and manipulate your muscles than just simply doing pullups until you cannot do anymore, and if you can train using proving methods that work and yield great results over the traditional "just doing pullups" then why shouldn't you do that? With pyramids, you'll easily be doing 100 to 150+ pullups in a single workout whereas that would be impossible by just simply repping out on every set until you can't do anymore.

I certainly do not need someone else to motivate me, I have already gotten off my wannabe ass and motivated myself to lose 80 pounds to be able to DEP in, if I can do that then I can motivate myself to do pretty much anything.

[cplbrooks]

lol

[PooleeJon23]

How about the

JUST Fkn DO IT METHOD !!

If you need SOMEONE else to motivate you
to do what you already KNOW needs to be done
maybe MY boot camp ain't the place for you

Why don't you just get off you wannabe a$$
and DO IT !!

You sounded like a Drill Instructor right there. Plus...nowhere in that article does it talk about someone motivating you. It's telling you a way to efficiently work-out. And about the getting off our wannabe a$$ and doing it...thats what the article was about. Thanks for the advice Accord. My pull-ups are my worst right now. Hopefully this method will help.

[Motorola07]

bump!

[fraser]

what ?

[HLeyb]

Wow, Accord thanks man.

I've been working my ass off to increase my pullups and I've added 4-5 but it took me longer than I'm proud to say. I'm starting this today and should finish the program about 2-3 days before I ship. PERFECT TIMING! Thanks again.

[Echo_Four_Bravo]

This plan works. I did it after Accord posted it, and I gained 9 pull ups I believe.

[futureMarine418]

I found this in another stew smith article a while back. It is for thoes who cant do any pull ups YET. Ive been doing this for about a mounth now and i just did my first pull up ever yesterday. Hope it helps.
:D

Pull-ups (negatives) - If you cannot do any pull-ups, you should try "negatives". Negatives are half pull-ups. All you have to do is get your chin over the bar by standing on something or having spotter push you over the bar. Then, you slowly lower yourself all the way down - let your arms hang grasping the bar fully stretched. Keep your feet up and fight gravity for a count of 5 seconds. This will get your arms used to supporting your weight.

Assisted Pull-ups - This is the first step to being able to perform pullups. Using the bar that is 3-4 feet off the ground, sit under it and grab with the regular grip. Straighten your back, hips, and slightly bend your knees while your feet remain on the floor and pull yourself to the bar so that your chest touches the bar. Repeat as required. This is a great way to start out if you cannot do any pull-ups at all. You can also do this on a pair of parallel bars that are used for dips. These are also great to do after you can no longer perform anymore dead-hang pullups. This is a good replacement for the Lat Pulldown machine as well.

Pulldowns -Using a pulldown machine, grab the bar, sit down and pull the bar to your collar bones. Keep the bar in front of you. Behind the neck pulldowns are potentially dangerous to your neck and shoulders.

Dumbell rows - Bend over and support your lower back by placing your hand and knee on the bench. Pull the dumbbell to your chest area as if you were starting a lawn mower. Muscles worked: Back, forearm grip, Bicep muscles

Biceps Curls - Place dumbbells or bar in hands with your palms facing upward. Use a complete range of motion to take the weight from your shoulders to your hips by bending and straightening the elbows. Keep it smooth. Do not swing the weights.

[Echo_Four_Bravo]

Good job future. The first one is the hardest. Once you get to two or three do this plan.

[rick777]

I'm starting this today. Awesome, thanks.

[zackmerc]

I tried the Stew Smith workout to do pull-ups.

I started the workout of bicep curls, negative flex hang, back row, lateral pull-downs, etc.

That workout actually did get me from 0 to exactly one dead-hang pull-up.

It took the wisdom of my recruiters to get to where I am. They put me on a pull-up workout, I think its called the Armstrong pull-up. I went from 2 to 9 dead-hang pull-ups in about a month.

I have to admit, Stew Smith did a lot for me to get me started but my recruiters got me there. I thank them very much.

[Echo_Four_Bravo]

Armstrong is well established. It does wonders for people that are able to do it. However, if you can't do pull ups, you can't do the workout. Recon Ron is another well known program that has the same draw back.

Personally, if I were under 10, I would do this program. If I were over 10 I would do Recon Ron.

[Motorola07]

I'm at 16.. You got a link to recon ron. I can neer get above 16....

[Soon2BeVIP]

I am a struggler at getting my 2. Sometimes I get 3 when I'm nervous in front of the other poolees. So my recruiter came up with this plan for me. We use...
http://spln.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/p1286847reg.jpg
We put it on I think the 3rd lowest height (so there is at least somewhat of an angle) and I lay on my stomach and grab onto the black pull up bar thing. Do ten with my palms in and then do ten with my palms out, having my arms extend fully for each one. Then I do 10 pushups and stretch real quick while he changes it up one more height. Then keep repeating til we get to the top level. After we get to the top, we repeat and keep doing the same thing all the way back down to the 3rd (or whatever) height again. It surprisingly still stays hard when you are coming back down because (at least for me) your muscles are getting sore. It seems to be working. My arms killed today at school.

[MCWRESTLER2006]

Thanks im gonna try and ill let you know in 15 days if it worked or not.....:usmc:

[DaveXIII90]

I think I will get into this, but first I want to continue for one more week with my pullup plan Im on now, and get back to 16 pullups, which was the max I could do a few months ago before I (without knowing why) took a long break. I am back at ten right now. After 16, I will try this. Also I am confused about when he says do 25-50 extra for the daily routine in ten straight days, is he saying 25-50 extra A DAY, or 25-50 extra totaled at the end of 10 days. I are stupids.

[Echo_Four_Bravo]

Recon Ron isn't for you to make very quick progress, but it will get you there. It is the first post in the linked thread.

http://www.crossfit.com/discus/messages/21/7099.html

[millar123]

How about the

JUST Fkn DO IT METHOD !!

If you need SOMEONE else to motivate you
to do what you already KNOW needs to be done
maybe MY boot camp ain't the place for you

Why don't you just get off you wannabe a$$
and DO IT !!

Hey you know what that is the way I did it, 274 PFT score with pullups of like 30. So he is deffenetly right.

[Jrrrr]

Pullup-Push Workout
Stew Smith | September 22, 2006


Pyramids (see PT Pyramid article above)

pullups - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 rest with
pushups - 2,4,6,8,10,12,14....2
abs of choice - 5,10,15,20,25,30,35....5
alternate with NO rest from one exercise to the next



So if I'm reading this right, I gather the author instructs one to do 1 pullup, then immediately proceed to 2 pushups, immediately proceed to 5 reps of ab exercise, then immediately proceed to 2 pullups, and so on?

Or, just complete the pyramid set of pullups and immediately move on to the pyramid set of pushups?

[millar123]

The way you said it first is right. Pyramids are supposed to wear you out. If you cant do like 14 pullups already then I would not go all the way to seven you wont make it, go to five and then back down.

[bgsuwoody]

I'm bumping this one as well because the pyramid program and Recon Ron are great!

[PapsPlC]

I see all these posts out there about what you're doing to improve pull ups, but what I don't see is how you're working this into your normal everyday fitness routines. I also have not seen what other type of fitness activitie are taking place within your routines. After all, there is more than just getting a 300 PFT.

[ecom]

I would be careful with that initially.

When I was a LCpl, some Sgt found some, as he called it, awesome pullup regiment. After the first day, it put me on light duty for the next two weeks. I went from exactly 14 pull ups to nil in 2 weeks.

Following this program, I had to do 140 pull ups. Probably 110 of those were assisted during a PT session which meant this took place over maybe a 90 minute period. The next morning I could not fully extend my arms without pain and could not carry more than about 15 lbs. If I put my arms to my side, it would still be bent so POA was fairly difficult. I went to BAS and they put me on light duty and gave me a bunch of vitamin M and musscle relaxers for the next two weeks . I was better but not fully recovered after two weeks break.

For a poolee, you don't want this to happen because of the disruption to your training regiment and you don't want to ship if you are injured. I hyperextended my arm after I got put in an arm bar while sparing while in DEP and it took 3 months to heal which was 1 month before I shipped. I would not have wanted to ship if my arm had not healed up. There's wanting something bad enough that you will endure pain for it, but shipping to boot camp while injured is just going to aggrivate things and can cause other things like put you in the platoon where all the broken recruits go.

[LoveOfCountry]

Just do 100 pull ups every other day, any way that you can. max out each time, even if you're max out is only 1 or 2... just keep doing them until you get to 100. I started doing 3 and am at 14-16 now.

[MarinesFTW]

Why bump up an old thread?

[LoveOfCountry]

Are you the thread bump police? Why does the age of a thread matter, if my question is about this thread? Who says when a thread is "too old" to respond to it? I'm confused.