Nice work on the Pullup progression man, about elbow irritation, i found that changing variations really helped for me, switching between supinated, neutral, pronated and grip widths too, and yeah like you said lower reps more sets.
The Pullup for me was probably the biggest feeling of accomplishment ive had in training, going from negatives and assisted to being able to bust out a few reps, that easily beats adding plates to a bench press.
Makes me want to get more into calisthenics, learning completely new movements rather than just adding weight, but calisthenics requires lower BF%, and I require beer.
Yeah, I need to look into that more. When I ordered my pull up bar I went for one with multiple grip options, but got sent a more standard one. This was last spring, where fitness equipment was kinda hard to source, so ended up accepting that. Did lots of chins (supinated) at the outset, but developed problems with my left wrist as a result - which are still problematic.
My FB is overflowing with ads for something called āangles 90ā right now, am considering getting a set of those for a flexible grip option.
Ha ha - yeah, me too. What is it all worth, if life ends up being only about the sensible stuff.
Somebody here at some point had a log titled āOut-training the dietā - which I thought was brilliant, as it precisely sums up what I am doing as well.
Starting a new 5/3/1 three week cycle today - but after two weeks I will be on vacation for a week. (Plan to bring some bands and get some bodyweight sets in, but canāt do the proper press that week.)
What would you do
Compress the 3 week sections into 2 weeks
Or just accept the break and complete the last section after the vacation?
@dagill2 is right about doing lots of pull-ups, but Iād wager more on doing more sets. They are a skill after all. Iāve had great success using EMOM with clients. Like you did 5 x 3. You could try something like 10 x 2. I like the Dan John way also: everythime you pass in front of a pull-up bar, you do a pull-up lol
Iām lean and all so pull-ups werenāt a big deal to me but to improve them (got to 25 good reps) I was just doing pull-ups every other day, and horizontal pull-ups the other days, before my session.
But always stay away from failureā¦
Indeed you could try to compress the 3 weeks into 2, CT mentioned that itās not a bad idea for people to amp up volume/intensity to something a bit unustainable before a layoff, well because you can rest well enough.
This or Iād just do something completely different for 2 weeks like bodybuilding work lol
Well pull-ups arenāt only the back, but (as all bodyweight movements) an effort of coordination and balance, and involve the core and the rest of the body to an extent. If, letās say I do 16 reps to failure right now, even if I wait 3 mins Iāll bang like 9-10 afterwards? Itās better improved as a skill lift
Warm-up: Back/hip/leg stretches, air squats, external rotation set
Band leg triple SS exercise (Hip/glute/quad): 12,12,15
Glutes bridges: 42x 20,20,20
Nordic curls: 10ish
Reverse nordic curls: 15
With DLs on hold, I am experimenting with something else I can do for a bit of leg training and found these on the internet and thought I could give them a quick tryout. The hammy curls in particular was more difficult than I had imagined, think I identified a weakness here. Definitely something I can see a benefit in pursuing and something that will probably add a functional dimension as well. Just need a bit more weight on the anchoring bar for stability.
Finishers:
Air squats: 10,10,10
SS with X-walks: 8,8,8,8 (es)
The last time, and itās been a while, I tried Nordic curls I got the worst cramp in my right hamstring. Hopped around the gym on the left leg working it out.
