[quote]cvb wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
cvb wrote:
The last couple of weeks I have been working on increasing my chin-ups and pull-ups. My goal is 20 chin-ups and 10 pull-ups. Right now I using a machine to offset my weight and do 3 sets of 15 reps.
I am a female powerlifter. Do you think having chin-ups and pull-ups in my workouts are a waste of time or will it benefit my bench? I trained hard for 6 months and my bench only went up 15 lbs so I am trying to change my workout. I thought adding pull-ups might help. I am not sure what will work but I do know what didn’t.
I don’t see it helping your bench directly but it will help you avoid an imbalance and possible injury.
What other back work do you do?
For lats - hammer strength row, cable row, lat pulldown, barbell row, and single arm row. I work my lats twice a week and mix up the exercises.
lower back -reverse hypers, cable pull thru, rack pulls, romanian deadlifts and back ext. I work my lower back twice a week and mix up the exercises.
I was following WSB. I have only competed in a bench meet in the 148 lb weight class. I benched 160 lb with shirt.
Pullups have always been my favourite exercise. I can do 4 reps with 90 pounds attached. My back, especially the upper back muscles, is probably my most muscular area as well. I guess I can’t really say if they’re good because I’ve never not done them, but just from my experience, I’d definitly recommend pullups as the main exercise in your back routine. Parallel grip are best in my opinion.
[quote]cvb wrote:
AG1 wrote:
My current program has me doing both. Did chins today and really tried to recognize what was giving out first - my arms or back. It was definately my back.
My first trainer was an ex-marine ( huge arms and back ) and he could pound out pulls. When he had me start doing them his exact quote was, “chicks who do pull-ups look badass and they will carve out your back”.
How often do you do chins and pullups? I tried a pullup with my body weight today and was able to do one. Last week I wasn’t able to do any.
[/quote]
It depends on the program. Currently I do chins ( 4 x 6) once a week and pulls ( 5 X 3 ) once a week. The pullups are paired with bench pressing and really kick my butt by the end.
[quote]AG1 wrote:
cvb wrote:
AG1 wrote:
My current program has me doing both. Did chins today and really tried to recognize what was giving out first - my arms or back. It was definately my back.
My first trainer was an ex-marine ( huge arms and back ) and he could pound out pulls. When he had me start doing them his exact quote was, “chicks who do pull-ups look badass and they will carve out your back”.
How often do you do chins and pullups? I tried a pullup with my body weight today and was able to do one. Last week I wasn’t able to do any.
It depends on the program. Currently I do chins ( 4 x 6) once a week and pulls ( 5 X 3 ) once a week. The pullups are paired with bench pressing and really kick my butt by the end.[/quote]
Thanks AG!
My trainer just changed my lower body workout to switch to power lifting. He is going to change my upperbody soon. I will have him keep the pullups but probably dump the chin-ups.
[quote]Dr. Stig wrote:
More’s the point, if the chin/pull was the greatest strength builder for the back, then it would at least translate into greater strength in some rowing movements which I don’t think it does.
[/quote] What kind of logic is this? Chinups and rows are in two completely different planes? One is a vertical movement while the other is horizontal. Chinups and rows use completely different motor units and muscle fibers. Why would there be any crossover in strength?
[quote]Miserere wrote:
Back in my early 20s I went into a chin/pull up frenzy and (thanks to a bar at home) I worked my way up to 25 wide-grip dead-hang pull ups and about 50 chinups. It got boring at that point.
It only took me about 4-5 weeks to go from 5/10 pull/chin ups to the numbers above. Funny thing is, I don’t think my back grew much, if at all, during this time. All I did was become more efficient at the movement.[/quote] C’mon guys. Use your heads. If you only used 135lbs on the bench and never more and worked up to 50 reps - how much bigger do you think you’d be? 15-50 reps isn’t going to put an ounce of muscle on you. If you worked your way from bodyweight chins for 5 reps to bodyweight + 120lbs, I guarantee you no one would recognize your muscular back.
And chins are better than pullups for the back. MRI results have shown this.
[quote]john-lennon wrote:
using the smith for rows? you cant even row with a smith, the bar moves your body, instead of you moving the bar i have no idea how you could row well in a smith machine
but hey if you like the smith machine go nuts, more room for others at your gym [/quote]
I like it cos it works, maybe that logic eludes you. I don’t use it for presses etc, it can cause injuries, but the machine has it uses, so go play with your dick.
[quote]john-lennon wrote:
you have to stand in some queer position over the smith bar to get it to move where you want it to go, which is what i mean by adjusting you. i know icant really pull the bar into my gut on a smith unless you were bent 90 degreees right over the damned thing. and yeah im anti smith machine its horrible form and it assists way to much. why cant you just do a barbell row? or even a cable row or something? and if you squat in the smith machine… wow… [/quote]
stig is pretty defensive about his smith machine! of course a smith machine row is much better than a pull up or chin up, youll get a huge wide back thats bristoling with muscles. and adopt the best form possible. and you right i am biased i hate that fucking smith machine its USELESS. everyone that uses it is doing horrible form and not even working all the muscles they could be working. they also seem to think the bar weighs 45 pounds which just boggles my mind as you can lift it with your pinky finger alone. ive seen many a people benching 2 45s on the smith and then they head to the free weight bench and try that and then almost kill themselves and then its right back to the smith machine because the “bench fucking sucks”
[quote]greatgro wrote:
Miserere wrote:
Back in my early 20s I went into a chin/pull up frenzy and (thanks to a bar at home) I worked my way up to 25 wide-grip dead-hang pull ups and about 50 chinups. It got boring at that point.
It only took me about 4-5 weeks to go from 5/10 pull/chin ups to the numbers above. Funny thing is, I don’t think my back grew much, if at all, during this time. All I did was become more efficient at the movement. C’mon guys. Use your heads. If you only used 135lbs on the bench and never more and worked up to 50 reps - how much bigger do you think you’d be? 15-50 reps isn’t going to put an ounce of muscle on you. If you worked your way from bodyweight chins for 5 reps to bodyweight + 120lbs, I guarantee you no one would recognize your muscular back.
And chins are better than pullups for the back. MRI results have shown this.
[/quote]
I don’t want to add both chin-up and pullups to my routine. Am I better off skipping the pullups and do chin-ups instead?
[quote]john-lennon wrote:
stig is pretty defensive about his smith machine! of course a smith machine row is much better than a pull up or chin up, youll get a huge wide back thats bristoling with muscles. and adopt the best form possible. and you right i am biased i hate that fucking smith machine its USELESS. everyone that uses it is doing horrible form and not even working all the muscles they could be working. they also seem to think the bar weighs 45 pounds which just boggles my mind as you can lift it with your pinky finger alone. ive seen many a people benching 2 45s on the smith and then they head to the free weight bench and try that and then almost kill themselves and then its right back to the smith machine because the “bench fucking sucks” [/quote]
What?
If Stig had written an article on here, perhaps that would make his methods acceptable to some people. Good grief, I though the whole point of training was finding what works for you. If you don’t like the Smith don’t use it.
Ok,I nearly cried at the gym today when I discovered that the dip/pull belt has been torn and put to rest. I was ready to do both, but had to substitute. I am not happy.
I do chin-ups, pull-ups, and sternum pull-ups. I also do bent-over rows, power upright rows, cleans, and high pulls for my back. Although I’ve gained weight, I still include pull-ups and weighted pull-ups and always try to get higher reps.
I think that heavy bentover rows and power bent over rows have helped me increase my pull-up numbers despite my climbing bodyweight.
I use the pulldown and seated row machines to assist in working my back with higher reps.
the point is hes saying that chin ups and pull ups dont build your back and are useless, i dont care if he was a world famous coach and said that and that using the smith machine was better, id tell him what i thought to his face. i dont know how anyone could find a smith row to be better than any other back exersize. mabye better in as its not as hard to do? requires less effort? anyways i still disagree with doign smith machine rows instead of chins and pulls for back building…
[quote]john-lennon wrote:
the point is hes saying that chin ups and pull ups dont build your back and are useless, i dont care if he was a world famous coach and said that and that using the smith machine was better, id tell him what i thought to his face. i dont know how anyone could find a smith row to be better than any other back exersize. mabye better in as its not as hard to do? requires less effort? anyways i still disagree with doign smith machine rows instead of chins and pulls for back building…[/quote]
I agree with you.
You’d figure a Ph.D would have more common sense.
Not only does he bash chin-ups, but he then goes on to tell us how great smith machine rows are. WTF!?
People have been destroyed on this site for much less (not that I condone that type of behavior).