I’ve been doing the same with my dips and chins. On days where I do a full workout, I’ll do them as part of it. I don’t feel the need to do as many though, because I’m doing them 5 days a week.
1 Like
Yes. I mean, I’m not doing that, but he is.
Did you have a thread a while back where you were talking with someone about an inability to do chins? Or maybe I’m thinking of someone else.
Anyway, stuff takes time. I personally feel like one of only, if not the only, ways to get better at chins is to do chins. Personally have never noticed much carryover from other movements, like rows, lat pull downs, or curls.
So even if you’ve been training for a long time, if you haven’t prioritized chins you probably won’t be a stud at them. Doing them daily or weekly for an entire year, let alone 10-20 years, will make you better at them than others.
Plus work capacity or conditioning or whatever…can you do chins one day and not be too sore to do them again the next day?
Multiple variables involved, and nothing beats time and consistency.
Yes I’ve written several posts about not being able to do chins. I started trying them on every pull day doing 5 or 6 just negative chins and for weeks I got no where and then for a while I just did that every day for about two weeks and finally I managed to do one chin. Doing that pretty much killed it for doing other exercises though so I gave up on the chins for now. I’m not ready to sacrifice everything else just for those chins.
Scott
1 Like
How often did a pull day come around? Once a week? Might not have been frequent enough.
Ah, didn’t read far enough. So maybe frequency helped. I’ve found the same for myself, and feel like others sometimes say the same.
What do you mean? Like you were too tired to do other movements? All movements or just ones that involved the same muscles as chins? If it just affected your pulling movements, well, there’s something to be said about effort…if you really pushed yourself on those chins, you were accomplishing something, so even if you couldn’t do (example) lat pulldowns afterwards, you still hit your back and arms.
If it affected all other movements that you tried to do, I’d say that’s where the idea of improving your work capacity comes in. I’m far from as strong/in shape as many of the posters on here, so while some of the stuff they’re doing seems like “too much” to me right now, it’s just gonna take me time to be able to handle as much work.
If it’s not your priority though, don’t sweat it. Chins are good, but it’s not vital to include them. Whatever gets you to meet your goals.
When I started trying chins again I was just starting 30 10 30 so I wanted to see how well that worked more than doing some chins . When I tried it everyday for 2 weeks I would do several chin attempts getting pretty much no where . Then I’d do 5-7 30 second negative chins and then just hanging there as long as my grip would hold. After a few days of that I was feeling really drained. I probably should have tried less each day? I do think in this case doing chins every day is the way to go but at the moment I’ve got other priorities .
Scott
Maybe try finishing every workout with one chin up. Just one. And even if you can’t get the full rep just try that one.
I know for me if I don’t do them multiple times a week the number of chin-ups o can do goes way down quickly
1 Like
Just do your Pulldowns 5x5 and do them first/before pullovers. Train for performance/ no super slow negatives.
Stop 1 -2 reps short of failure, start light and add one rep somewhere over the 5 sets until you get 6 reps across the board. When you can hit your comparable bodyweight 105% on the machine you will be good to go
If want even faster progress swap the machine rows for Kroc rows also( an HIT friendlly option!)
Not trying to be a dick buttt… at your age if you only do the Darden approach year round you will never get there
2 Likes
Losing Bodyfat will probably also help. I’m not sure what your exact level is, but losing weight will always make bodyweight exercises easier. I’ve been doing the chin, dip, sprint(although due to rain I’ve swapped the sprints out for squats twice so far) cycle twice a week with the single joint movements on Wednesday and I add a cycle every week. Before I started this 2 weeks ago, I could do 18 strict chins from lockout to hands touching my chest, chin well over the bar. I feel fairly certain when I test my Max in 2 weeks when this is over, I should be able to do at least 20 with all this practice. Additionally, I’ve lost 7 pounds and approximately 2% Bodyfat over this time and will hopefully be even leaner by then end, which will no doubt help me get more chins. Maybe giving this protocol a shot will help you too.
I did 5–8 chins at about this same body weight years ago so I was just trying to see if I could still do them . Obviously not. I’m over weight now thanks in part to this pandemic where I can’t get out and do things but I never have really cared about being trim. Typically I’m very active at work and at home so it wasn’t a problem keeping my weight down .
I might try this after I start going stale on 30 10 30. For now If I add anything to my routine it would be unfair to judge how well 30 10 30 did for me and yes, the 30 10 30 routine I’m doing will never get me to chinning again but each is it’s own separate goal.
Scott
1 Like
Do you have a video you can post of you doing 45 chins?
Thanks
Scott
You got 91 Posts in here and I can’t find one of you logging a workout? Am I missing it?
1 Like
I’m sorry but I didn’t put the Scott Report in this workout log section , someone else did. Somewhere on this T Nation site I’ve posted my workout several times but I’ll post it again.
I do Dardens 30 10 30 . For those who don’t know of Dr Darden , that means a 30 second negative followed by a 10 rep regular set , 2 shy of failure , and then another 30 second negative. I do a split routine ( which is not recommended ) of pull - push . One day I do 5 or 6 pull exercises of 30 10 30. Then I take a day off and then the next day I do push and then a day off. Rinse and repeat… there’s many other aspects of 30 10 30 I don’t incorporate .
On pull day I do
Pullover
Seated row
Rowing torso
Sometimes either BNTA or pulldowns
Curls of some form
Rev curl
On push day
Double chest press
Lateral machine
Leaning forward laterals
Tricep extension
Tricep pushdown
I do an easy leg workout on some off days like body weight squats and leg extensions, stationary cycle or erg. My legs were always stronger than my upper body.
I take no supplements , I usually take about 30 seconds between exercises if I can get there quick enough.
In the past I did similar exercises but usually did 2 sets of 10 —15 reps to failure two days a week.
I’ve been at this working out insanity longer than I should admit too and having pretty much tried everything over the last 40 or 50 years I’ve found this 30 10 30 routine to be the most productive ever and I’m not even following it to the letter. I’m sure I’d make even better progress if I did as Dr Darden wrote in his book.
Scott
2 Likes
How many times a week do you workout
Not starting on any particular day
Monday pull
Tuesday off or bike
Wednesday push
Thursday off easy leg day
Friday. Pull
Saturday off
Monday. Push
Tuesday off
We’d. Pull
And so forth. Roughly 4 days a week of hard lifting with easy cardio in between
Ok Wannabe , so I don’t have to look through 297 of your posts let’s see a workout log that represents your typical day and week !
Thank you
Scott
I’m curious as to how many people post on this training log and of those how many know of Dr Darden and or Arthur Jones?
Thanks
Scott
Tonight’s back day. I’ll record it and log it and tag you when I do
I don’t.
You understand that this is 45 reps TOTAL. I’m not talking about a set of 45 chins.
I just want to see what you consider a chin. How they are performed can vary from person to person . 45 chins done one at a time or however is a ton of chins in one day!
Scott