How to Do Pull-Ups
I was training at one of the gyms I frequent, and I ran into a "gym friend", a middle-aged Indian gentlemen that Ive talked to before.
Gym friends are the people you only talk to at the gym. This gentlemen was a novice lifter, in his 40s I believe, but trains both SMART and HARD.
I first noticed him a few months ago, he was doing back squats and front squats in the same workout, with GREAT technique. It was very obvious watching that he had studied videos somewhere, and was diligent in hitting depth, maintaining an upright torso, and was doing sets of 5 reps with appropriate weight.
Front squats in particular are both uncommon and rarely done correctly. His front squats were textbook looking.
I complimented him on his squats and told him to keep doing what he is doing, and since that time we chat when we see each other.
On this particular evening, I was doing a back workout. I was doing cluster sets of wide grip pull-ups (10 sets of 5 reps) as my first exercise.
Cluster sets is a strategy of doing double the sets, but half the reps per set. None of the sets are taken to failure. Its a high volume approach thats effective for people that want strength and hypetrophy stimulus, with minimal soreness.
It takes longer than training to failure, and the hypertrophy outcomes are about the same, but its something Ive been experimenting with as of late.
That aside, I was doing my cluster sets, and he was doing sets of chinups as well.
He could do 3 at a time, but the reps were clearly a STRUGGLE. He was taking long rest between sets, and it was a 100% max effort to get those 3 reps in.
He watched me for a bit, banging out set after set, and when I was done he asked what I would recommend to get stronger at pullups/chinups
Enter TRAINER MODE
I asked him about his training, what was his current program, what were his exercises?
He was doing quite a bit as it turned out. Training Chin-ups high frequency multiple times week, doing pulldowns, doing extra iso hold after his full ROM reps, and also doing dead hangs every workout.
One BIG issue I identified: Zero horizontal rows of any kind.
Chinups were his only back exercise.
A-HA.
As I explained to him, vertical pulls will always work the lats, but for trapezius and rhomboid development, you MUST do rows.
Most people struggle with pulls ups and chin-ups not only because their Lats are weak, but traps & rhomboids as well.
There are TWO very large muscles that cover the back: the Latissimus, and the Trapezius.
People often mistakenly think the trapezius is only the upper portion that you train when you do shrugs, but this incomplete. The Trapezius originates at the base of the skull and covers the entire thoracic spine. It is the main muscle that pulls the shoulder blades together.
Underneath the trapezius is the rhomboids, which also perform the same action, but these are the SMALLER muscle of the two.
If your traps are weak, ANY kind of pulling motion will be difficult, regardless of whether its vertical or horizontal.
What movement trains the trapezius? Horizontal Rowing. Could be dumbbells, could be barbell, could be T-Bar, could be cables, could be bodyweight,
The basic pattern is the same. Pick which variation works best for you.
My recommendation for him was simple; start doing 3-4 sets of cable seated rows twice a week. 8-12 rep range, moderate grip, keep it simple In he will notice a difference in 4 weeks.