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Lupo22
04-12-09, 09:17 AM
Yesterday we had our RS function for all RSS in Fort Lauderdale...

Watching some of the other poolee's do pull-ups, I noticed most of the guys who do the most use a really wide grip. From observation, I think that this is effective becuase they don't drop nearly as far as a close grip. And since a wide grip works primarily your lats, when you tire, you can switch to a close, closed grip and pull out a few more with your biceps as the primary muscle.

Haven't tried it yet...any input?

BR34
04-12-09, 10:15 AM
Go try it and report back.

meallen07
04-12-09, 10:25 AM
I don't know which grip is best, I'm sure it just what works for you. The two strategies I know of though is to go quickly, and drop fast. That insures you lock your elbows out and you tire slower. The other is to look up at the ceiling. This incorporates your back more. Try different things and find what works best.

BigGunz90
04-12-09, 10:29 AM
I think it depends what you're stronger with. I have a strong back [lats] so I use the reverse grip, but I see people with bigger biceps use the forward grip. Like the others said, go try some different techniques and stick to what you think works for you.

Ethos
04-12-09, 12:33 PM
Yesterday we had our RS function for all RSS in Fort Lauderdale...

Watching some of the other poolee's do pull-ups, I noticed most of the guys who do the most use a really wide grip. From observation, I think that this is effective becuase they don't drop nearly as far as a close grip. And since a wide grip works primarily your lats, when you tire, you can switch to a close, closed grip and pull out a few more with your biceps as the primary muscle.

Haven't tried it yet...any input?

Yeah I've tried it. And like you said, it uses mostly your lats. Me, I like using reverse grip medium width apart, it's what I've found to work best for me.

Frankf5
04-12-09, 02:53 PM
yea i saw the guy yesterday at the poolee function he did 34 pull-ups using the whole bar wide grip, that was crazy. im gonna try it next time and remember to put my chin up. see how it goes

Lopez561
04-12-09, 04:50 PM
yea i saw the guy yesterday at the poolee function he did 34 pull-ups using the whole bar wide grip, that was crazy. im gonna try it next time and remember to put my chin up. see how it goes


That guy was also kipping his body and bicycling his legs..

codeman92190
04-12-09, 04:52 PM
I used to do them palms inward because I could do more that way than wide grip and palms out. When I switched, however, I found I was improving much faster by using my lats.

When I mentioned this to a Marine friend of mine, he explained that most people who don't work out too much (i.e. me) have stronger Biceps initially because they are used in everyday life, but the lats are much bigger, and so have the capacity to improve more.

Who knew?

NoRemorse
04-12-09, 07:47 PM
Whoa... this is like the first time I've heard poolees suggest... more pullups. Sounds like a plan. Pull yourself up through the elbows, and throw yourself back down. It's sort of like pulling yourself back down from the top of a push up.

Pull through the elbows, push through the shoulders back down, nice and quick; and do it a lot, like all the freakin time.

And then bend and thrust until you lose a lung.

Good fun.

KilpatrickF250
04-12-09, 10:16 PM
I like it, can only do 5 wide outside grip, just pumped out 7 mid inside grip while looking up and popping up and popping down. :thumbup:

MLMonk
04-12-09, 10:34 PM
I just pull myself over the bar 20 times, and I do it again to build myself up. I have a feeling my elbows would snap if I drop myself down from the bar, just a weird feeling for me. Just find a grip your comfortable with and stick with it, don't change your routine, you will just lose pull ups. What works for most people, doesn't work for all, most like using their back, while I enjoy the biceps. It is all personal preference. Same with running, some people breath in their nose, out the mouth, while I just breath twice for 2 steps in my mouth, and 1 exhale over 2 steps, you can't exactly copy someone else if it works for them, just get an idea and see if you like it or not, or make up and entire rhythm that just works for you.

Lupo22
04-13-09, 12:39 PM
for now, i'm not going to change anything as I ship in two weeks from today. I'm at a solid 18 now with my current grip and I know for sure if I'm not at 20 by the time I leave, I will be by the end of boot!!

After that, i'll begin experimenting with the other methods and report back if someone hasn't already.

I too feel that if i drop quick, i'm going to break my elbows or pop/tear something, therefore, I drop quick, but I don't just dead fall.

That guy that did 34 got his chin over the bar 7 times and was lunging like a mad man! Very cheap.

Shippingsoon
04-13-09, 04:39 PM
How I went from FOUR to TWENTY EIGHT Pullups in TWO MONTHS:

You've got seven days in a week. Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays were my pullup days. I did PT with my Poolees on Tuesday and Thursdays. Sunday was a running day, but I rested my upper body that day. I did these at a gym.

MONDAYS, WEDNESDAYS AND FRIDAYS:
Do four pullups. Drop four pullups. Drop. Do three pullups. Drop. Etc. etc. Until I had done a total of 50 pullups. Towards the end, I was doing one at a time. I did them with my palms facing me, with my hands just a little wider than my shoulders.

After I was done with the pullups, I used a seated-row machine to work out my upper/middle back for three sets. Do whatever is difficult, but comfortable for you. You should be able to do three sets of 8-12 reps. On the last rep of each set, you should almost, if not actually fail. Each set used progressively heavier weights. When I started this program, I could only pull back about 100 pounds. Now, I'm pulling twice that back.

Then, I moved to bicep dumbel curls. This, I did four sets of. Again, 8-12 reps with a fail on the last one. When I started this program, I could only curl about 20 pounds per arm. Now, I'm curling 45 per arm.

Saturdays, I did sets of 100 pyramid sets of pullups/pushups going as high as I could for my first and going down 1 pullup/2 pushups each set until I hit the bottom.

For example:
4 Pullups/20 pushups
3 Pullups/18 pushups
etc. e

Shippingsoon
04-13-09, 04:44 PM
This is where I started. Each week, if I could do more, I would. DO NOT PUSH YOURSELF TOO HARD. Do what's tough, but comfortable.

Two Months Later, I'm now at almost at THIRTY pullups. My lats are huge and I can knock out the first 20, wide grip, palms facing away, perfect form, without breaking a sweat. I have two months left and hope to hit 40 when I ship. During this process, which began when I signed into the DEP program, I gained a lot of weight (granted, I have also been doing other weight training for other muscle groups and I make EVERY single PT session with the pool) in muscle and dropped some in fat.

WHEN I SIGNED I weighed about 140. In two weeks, I dropped to about 134. I'm now up to 149 and my pants are all falling off.

This program is a ***** and it requires dedication, but it worked extremely well for me. As with all training programs, make sure you are eating a good diet (do not skimp on protein), hydrating like a mofo and getting enough sleep. Let me know if you have any other questions about other training or excercises, as I am well above the 300 mark for PFT with situps as well (136).

cbazsist
04-13-09, 09:47 PM
a tip i got from my friend who got back from boot camp...

when you grab the bar just hook your fingers over, don't wrap your thumbs under or grip hard. From my understanding this is so you don't use up excess energy in your forearms when attempting to do as many pull-ups as you can.

unfortunately, i'm still building the strength to do one.

Shippingsoon
04-13-09, 09:48 PM
a tip i got from my friend who got back from boot camp...

when you grab the bar just hook your fingers over, don't wrap your thumbs under or grip hard. From my understanding this is so you don't use up excess energy in your forearms when attempting to do as many pull-ups as you can.

unfortunately, i'm still building the strength to do one.

unless you have a gorilla grip, this sounds like a fast-track to a drop... but then again I've never tried it.

benw2200
04-13-09, 10:36 PM
The finger grip seems like bs to me.. even with tape wrapped around it, the bar is pretty slippery at 0 dark thirty when there's dew on everything, especially if you're one of the first few people to go.

as for the "switch" method where you start out with a wide outboard grip and do a few more inboard.. in my opinion it's bs too. if it works for you, it works. you can't argue with results. but 4 out of 5 times i've seen people do it, they're too exhausted by the time they switch to do any more. and there's always the chance you'll fall off the bar trying to switch, when you could have done a few more with a wide grip if you had just rested a few seconds.

I agree with what has been said already, and have heard the same from various other people.. initially the inboard grip works better because your biceps might be stronger than your lats, but the lats and back can be trained to be stronger than your bi's if you just work at it.

Petz
04-13-09, 11:02 PM
hahaha... anyways.. I do wide, narrow, wide opposite grip, narrow opposite grip then I try wide again and if I can squeeze one more out of that I go narrow again... ****es everyone off whose behind me... especially in winter. but I get my 12-14 pull-ups damn-it.

the trick is not to think about it and just do it... that's why forest was able to run so fast and get so many people out of the jungle to save Lt. Dan.

codeman92190
04-13-09, 11:40 PM
hahaha... anyways.. I do wide, narrow, wide opposite grip, narrow opposite grip then I try wide again and if I can squeeze one more out of that I go narrow again... ****es everyone off whose behind me... especially in winter. but I get my 12-14 pull-ups damn-it.

the trick is not to think about it and just do it... that's why forest was able to run so fast and get so many people out of the jungle to save Lt. Dan.


SSGT.... You are officially my favorite person on this site for referencing the best movie ever made, haha

Lupo22
04-14-09, 06:28 AM
The finger grip seems like bs to me.. even with tape wrapped around it, the bar is pretty slippery at 0 dark thirty when there's dew on everything, especially if you're one of the first few people to go.

as for the "switch" method where you start out with a wide outboard grip and do a few more inboard.. in my opinion it's bs too. if it works for you, it works. you can't argue with results. but 4 out of 5 times i've seen people do it, they're too exhausted by the time they switch to do any more. and there's always the chance you'll fall off the bar trying to switch, when you could have done a few more with a wide grip if you had just rested a few seconds.

I agree with what has been said already, and have heard the same from various other people.. initially the inboard grip works better because your biceps might be stronger than your lats, but the lats and back can be trained to be stronger than your bi's if you just work at it.

The switch works if you go wide to narrow because of the muscle groups being worked.

I've seen guys really really struggling to do 1 more with a wide grip switch to an inner grip and push out 6 or 7 more! switched back wide and did 2 more after hanging ingward for a minute

NoRemorse
04-14-09, 09:03 AM
The finger grip doesn't help you bang out more, you finger grip when you're going ballistic, not going for max reps. If anything you should grip the bar harder when trying to bang out those last few.

The weakest part of the chain is usually the grip because we don't train grip enough. Hanging off the bar for extended periods or doing monkey bars will help your grip. If you're not using your grip then you're turning a lot of muscles off which turns off more muscles throughout your whole torso which means you won't get stronger doing a full-body motion.

Translation, grip the bar comfortably and squeeze it to a pulp when you need more juice. Pull your shoulders into their sockets before starting for more juice. You can usually add 2 pull-ups by adding more hang time (as in just hanging off the bar with your shoulders pulled into their sockets for extended periods of time, but not when you're trying to max out).

The different types of grip are good to switch up but know which grip you're getting the most reps out of for your IST and PFT. I trained my pull-up (shoulder width, palms facing away) so I did my IST and PFT with those. I didn't chin-up (shoulder width, palms facing towards you) so I didn't use that grip for any testing.

Petz
04-14-09, 09:06 AM
also, being EXPLOSIVE from the down position to the up uses less energy so those are the types of pull-ups you should train for.

NoRemorse
04-14-09, 09:12 AM
I'll also add that you should not slow yourself down when moving from the up position back to the start. You should be pushing yourself back down, not letting gravity pull you back down.

You'll actually get more rest by actively pushing back down vs letting gravity doing the work and having to slow yourself down to absorb the shock at the end of the movement.

Petz
04-14-09, 09:12 AM
but not so hard you destroy your elbows...

NoRemorse
04-14-09, 09:19 AM
Or overcome your grip and fly off the bar... Actually do that... and have your recruiters post pictures... video if at all possible.

Petz
04-14-09, 09:21 AM
yeah, not expecting it and falling epically off the bars!!! hahahaha

BR34
04-14-09, 05:20 PM
Pullups are not complicated enough that there should be a 2 page strategic planning session being conducted to make them easier.

Just get on the freaking bar and pull!!!

090112
04-14-09, 05:22 PM
the best technique for pull ups is to start with you palms away from ytou and your arswide then go to your palms towards you. after that hang on with one arm and shake the other out. then do the same for the other arm. then

Petz
04-15-09, 02:19 AM
Pullups are not complicated enough that there should be a 2 page strategic planning session being conducted to make them easier.

Just get on the freaking bar and pull!!!


BR34 is full of Epic Win!!! hahahahahahahahaha:iwo:

PaidinBlood
04-15-09, 02:28 AM
SSgt would you care to demonstrate some ORM planning on this physical training evolution...?

Petz
04-15-09, 02:33 AM
... do these poolees and wannabes know what ORM is?

operational risk management.

it helps you weigh your risks to the goal and since we are all goal oriented, orm is a tool that helps us plan safer ways to reach our goal.

when doing a pull-up, don't hyper-extend your arms as you will injure you elbows... this should conclude your ORM planning for the exercise of pull-ups.

NoRemorse
04-15-09, 07:36 AM
I broke my freakin elbows!!! I didn't follow the ORM and now I'm looking at a page 11 entry and everybody's gonna laugh at me.:(

To BR34: This is now a 3 page pull-up training program.

I'm going to continue posting because we can package this and sell it on the internet for big bucks.

Ryan S
04-15-09, 09:38 AM
i personally can do 20 pullups, but, it just depends. if i widen my grip anymore than shoulder length, i get around 18-19. so dont try and show off by going wider or anything. i was doing palms facing away at first, but i found out i tired out too quick and had to stop at 12-13 to regain breath and continue, i do palms facing inward now, and i stop at around 16-17. Dont ever stop when your doing pullups, go as many as you can before taking a break, go up and down as fast as possible so you dont waste needless energy, and just keep pumping them out. also an exercise i found great was doing pullups with tennis balls in my hands, it greatly improves your grip, therefore if you need to rest for a while longer, your hands dont feel as much stress.

JMReynolds111
04-15-09, 03:25 PM
Well heres another method it's quite simple. Buy an adjustable pull up bar at Walmart for around 12 dollars. Place this in your doorway to your room, every time you pass the room do a set of pull ups till failure.

Also to help with pull ups and abs at the same time I try to do this once a day. Get a regular deck of cards, shuffle them and pick one card, do the number of reps that card shows.

For Spades=do bicycle kicks for abs
For Clubs= Do regular sit ups
For Diamonds= Do wide push ups
For hearts=do inward push ups

Example = (8 of hearts) do 8 inward push ups then flip the next card.

Also for bonus, I use jokers for 1minute planks or leg lifts.
And- Jack= 11, Queen=12 King=13 Ace=14

This may seem easy, but about half way through the deck starts getting pretty difficult.

Gunner614
04-15-09, 04:08 PM
Pullups are not complicated enough that there should be a 2 page strategic planning session being conducted to make them easier.

Just get on the freaking bar and pull!!!

Agreed
Get on the bar, go up and down, and repeat. Quite overcomplicating everything

OH, and lots and lots of these also help:yes:

PoolieAhrens
04-22-09, 01:04 AM
Does any body have good tips to improve on you're pull ups if you don't have access to a pull up bar or gym everyday. I use dumb bells every day. But have only been able to go to the gym and PT 2 days a week. And the Iron gym is no good for me, because my ceilling is too low. haha. I've been doing push ups and curls, but is there anything particular to help out so when I go to the bar I can knock out 1 or 2? haha.

JMReynolds111
04-22-09, 07:20 AM
Here's what I did when I was in your position, Push ups are great, but ask your recruiter if you can stop by the office like 4 days a week and use there pull up bar. If hes a good recruiter he will let you, knowing that your motivated.

0231Marine
04-22-09, 07:59 AM
Also to help with pull ups and abs at the same time I try to do this once a day. Get a regular deck of cards, shuffle them and pick one card, do the number of reps that card shows.

For Spades=do bicycle kicks for abs
For Clubs= Do regular sit ups
For Diamonds= Do wide push ups
For hearts=do inward push ups

Example = (8 of hearts) do 8 inward push ups then flip the next card.

Also for bonus, I use jokers for 1minute planks or leg lifts.
And- Jack= 11, Queen=12 King=13 Ace=14

This may seem easy, but about half way through the deck starts getting pretty difficult.

For those that might doubt this...I remember watching one of those stories like Behind the Lines that profiles athletes and they were doing one on Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens. For those that don't know, this guy is a fitness maniac and one of the best conditioned athletes in any sport, ever.

One of his roomates from college told a story of how Ray would do this same thing in college but he would do it through 3 decks of cards at a time and alternate each card with push ups and sit ups. The guy was just ridiculous but it shows that it works.

NoRemorse
04-22-09, 08:09 AM
If you can't mount a pull up bar in your home then get creative. Find something somewhere that's sturdy and has a surface you can grip. You'll approximate what you'll have to do in real life and get a hell of a lot stronger doing it.

Petz
04-22-09, 12:03 PM
make sure it can hold your full body weight and then some.... I won't go into details, but it WAS funny as hell since I didn't get hurt.