Pullups: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff, the Men from the Boys, and the Awkwardly Feminine from the Possibly Canadian Since the Stone Age.

Jamie Chaos

January 7, 2019

They’re a hallmark of phys ed class, the bane of fat kids and channers, and the (sorta) beloved exercise of CrossFitters- pullups. Additionally, they are the only type of exercise that counts as a survival trait outside of swimming, since anyone who’s ever dangled out a window, off a cliff, from a lofty tree branch, or from a helicopter skid would have ended up a Jackson Pollack painting in gore had it not been for their ability to do a pullup. The best part? They’re free, so packing on upper body mass can literally cost you nothing if you simply prostrate yourself before the almighty god Pullup and devote yourself to a daily dose of his worship.

If my man had a wicked lat spread, his insides would not be on the outside.

And before we get started, if you cannot do 25 consecutive pullups or chinups, your opinion on kipping is unwarranted, invalid, and generally fucking retarded. Even if you can manage to eke out 25 reps and have an issue with kipping pullups, no one fucking cares- anyone who is good at kipping pullups almost certainly has a better upper body than someone who sucks at all pullup variations. Therefore, prepare to be ridiculed mercilessly if you decide to pop off in the comments. Know how I know this? Because I’ve done over 1500 pullups in a day more than once and lived to tell the tale (before you ask, 12-15 rep sets over and over throughout a very boring day), and you get to a point where you really don’t give a fuck how they’re done, so long as your chin gets within shouting distance of the bar. And for the record, kipping pullups are to pullups what the push press is to the military press, so if you hate CrossFit and butterfly pullups, just have a Coke and a smile and shut the fuck up, because you’re an idiot.

Kara Webb Saunders, like lots of CrossFitters, is stronger and better built *than most of the people in your gym*, and kipping pullups helped get her there. Plus, she’s so hot that if she recommended eating dogshit for bigger biceps, I’d give it strong consideration.

Frankly, pullups are so fucking easy that this article seems unnecessary, and the topic has been covered to the point that this might seem redundant, but as I am the People’s Champion, I’m giving you what you guys have requested. Dating back at least to the time of Galen, who described chinning movements in Hygeine (170-180AD), the pullup, chinup, and all of their myriad variations are one of the longest surviving codified exercises in human history. If the dip is the upper body squat, then the pullup is… well, I don’t think there is a decent analogue, but just rest assured that the pullup is not an exercise to be ignored. And if you can’t do pullups with any kind of ease, it’s a fair bet you’re no great shakes in the strength department.

Dude might be a little light in the legs department, but Jan “King of Pullups” Kares has ridiculous upper body development to the point he’s a trainer to Hollywood A-listers like Orlando Bloom.

If you suck at pullups, forget everything you think know about building them up- I am about to school the fuck out of you on this. The NFL physical requires (or required, as the article I initially read on the subject is long lost) players to be able to complete one pullup, and for linemen who can weigh upwards of 400 lbs, that can be a motherfucker (though for one 338lb beast of a man, nine pullups looks easier than it likely does for a lot of you). The solution, however, is easier than that aforementioned motherfucker- they use negatives to get those man mountains to be able to bust out pullups with ease.

For whatever reason, negative pullups seem easiest to do in sets of three- it’s a nice number wherein you can throw yourself into the deep end without drowning, and can basically do endless sets if you want. As I highly doubt anyone reading this is a rank beginner and I have no interest in coaching beginners to anything past the exit of the gym, we’ll just assume you have a baseline level fitness. As such, you’re gonna do 30 reps of negatives in sets of 3 or less, three times a week. Given that 100 reps of pullups should be a warmup for anyone with a pulse and a desire to stay aboveground beyond the first 15 minutes of whatever apocalypse seems to be looming, 90 reps a week shouldn’t kill anyone. Using that scheme, even someone with stage four cancer who’s recently been released from an internment camp should be able to knock out some full rep pullups inside of a month.

From there, the sky is the limit. Famed strength author David Willoughby had a formula worked out for determining how many pullups was equivalent to a one arm pullup or chin, and how weighted pullups would factor in. By his calculations, if you can do a set of 9 pullups, you can do a single weighted pullup with 35lbs added. If you can do 24 chins, you can do a single one arm chin. I’d recommend you use those guidelines as a loose idea of what you’re capable of, and if one arm chins are one your list of things to do, make sure you can do 25-30 two arm chins before you drunkenly try to show off your pullup skills on an airplane.

Speaking of which, if you have a burning need to publicly display your physical prowess with one arm pullups rather than a haka or something, I don’t recommend you go the Barrrstarzz-approved method and do them with resistance bands. Though the Barrstarzz guys are definitely monsters at fiddlefucking around on playground equipment and hustling change on street corners, their instructional vids seem to be utter nonsense. The use of training wheels like resistance bands for pullups or those ridiculous pullup/dip machines is just going to allow you to rely on the implement rather than yourself, which defeats the entire point of doing them in the first place. As such, I recommend that you use negatives for those as well. Prior to blowing my left bicep off the bone I would go through occasional bouts of interest in one arm pullups and chins, and negatives were definitely the best method for developing strength and technique.

Assirati, getting it in, 1949-style. Can you imagine the shitstorm this pic would cause on the Gram these days? Every 150lb know-nothing on the planet would chime in about Bert’s impending Snap City trip.

If you think one arm chins are only for the diminutive, you’re wrong- Bert Asserati could do three one arm chins at a weight of 240lbs in 1938. Likewise, bodybuilder Jack Delinger could do five with either arm, Steve Stanko could do three with either arm, and Eugen Sandow could do a chin with any single finger, including his fucking thumb (Willoughby Chins). In short, there is no such thing as “too big to do one arm chins.” There is simply too weak, and we can fix weak. According to Willoughby, who spent his entire life studying this shit, there were two non-negative methods that worked best.

“One way is to continue to chin using both arms, and to add weight in gradually increasing amounts to your bodyweight. For example, suppose you have reached the stage where you can perform, say, 15 bodyweight pullups with both arms. You should then attach a 10 or 15-pound barbell plate around your waist and reduce the number of pullups, performing several sets or series of these with brief rests between. When you have progressed to where you can do 15 reps in a single set with the added weight, a again drop back down to 8 or 10 reps with another increase in the amount of weight carried; and so on. When you reach the stage where you can perform a single pullup while carrying extra weight equal to two-thirds of your bodyweight, you should have the strength, if not the capability, to chin with one arm (Willoughby Chins).

Dude on the right is David Marchante, a personal trainer from Spain who holds the world record for heaviest weighted pullup (230lbs).

From there, Willoughby said, you should work to “breast” the bar rather than simply chinning it. Work on doing progressively deeper partial chins from the top position, then do a very slow negative to the bottom of the rep. Yeah, negatives are the shit. This way, you can leave the resistance bands to the little people who are gonna go play on the jungle gym later. Willoughby did add a bit to his recommendation that is unsurprisingly not mentioned by any other writer I perused on the topic- what to do with your non-lifting hand. Though I had initially used my non-lifting hand to stabilize and help with the pull by holding the wrist of my lifting hand, I quickly realized if I kept doing that I would never graduate to a single arm chin. Apparently, the guys Willoughby studied had the same idea.

Just like the broad from Stim99, sometimes you’ve just got to suck it up and go hard.

“One difficulty – perhaps the main difficulty – connected with a one-arm chin is to have the hand of the chinning arm in the most advantageous position for starting the pullup. This is with the palm of the hand facing the body, just as in chinning with both arms. This preliminary maneuver places the body in a favorable position for being drawn up to the hand, as the necessary drawing-in of the forearm close to the chest (to the finishing position of rest) can take place only when the palm is facing the body. In doing more than a single one-arm chin at a time, the body should never be lowered to the extent of completely straightening the arm; if it is, the body will swing around out of the proper position for commencing the next pullup. Therefore, if and when you become able to repeat the one-arm chin, keep your legs straight and well up in front, and in lowering your body do not let your arm straighten past the point where you can exert full power for the next pullup” (Willoughby Chins).

A Couple of Other Methods for Bringing Up Your Pullup/Chinup

Monkey Bar Arm Walks

This is a favorite of both world record holder in pullups Alicia Weber and of one of the founding fathers of American strength sports, George Barker Winship. you might recall Winship for his creation of a badass deadlifting machine that was all the rage back in the day, but Winship was known for more than that. According to David Willoughby,

“Dr. George Barker Winship (67 inches, 160 pounds), a leading all-around strength athlete of those days, developed great upper-body strength by the following means. In the gymnasium he attended there was a fixed, inclined ladder. Hanging by both hands from one of the rungs of this ladder, and facing the upper end, Winship would launch himself upward to the top of the ladder in a series of pullups, rung by rung. When this became easy, he would do the same thing, only each time skipping a rung. Naturally this was a risky feat as the top of the ladder was approached. He then became able to skip two rungs. After several months of such training, he found that he head unknowingly gained the strength to do pullups with one arm. He then progressed by using only one hand for the hoistings, and finally became able to go up the ladder using only one arm and skipping two rungs on every pullup. Small wonder that he could easily hang suspended from the rung of a ladder by his little finger alone, or chin the bar with the same meager grip” (Willoughby Chins).

Holder of eleventy-million pullup records Alicia Weber wasn’t quite so hardcore about it, and noted that “this exercise is easier than a pullup because the arms can be held in extension the whole time” (Anderson). She recommends doing this in 30-60 second bursts, practicing both forward and backward walking.

Every time I write one of these I end up thinking, “holy fuck, I am a pussy.” This is one of those times. Berger, doing pullups holding onto 2×4 rafters.

Flexed Arm Hang Walking

Another fave of Alicia Weber, these are to be done on parallel bars, but as most of us lack access to gymnastics equipment, you can just use the outside rails on monkey bars to get the same effect… or level the fuck up and do them like lifter Al Berger’s training partner Henry Matysek did them (pictured above, though that’s Al Berger) holding on to rafters set 18″ apart. Whatever you use, your palms should be neutral (i.e. facing each other), and she does them with her knees tucked into her chest to hit abs as well. Again in 30-60 minute bursts, she walks the bars back and forth with bent arms.

I’m generally not one to muscle hustle, but Kara Webb Saunders has the first set of female arms that have ever made me literally drool.

Grow Your Biceps

One point Willoughby made over and over is that your bicep strength directly correlated to your ability to do pullups. The guys with the more heavly developed arms seem to have an easier time with pullups, and Willoughby had a whole equation to prove it. Al Berger, pictured in the flexed arm walk pic, could do a hell of a lot of pullups, and was one of the men in Willoughby’s treatment on comparative bicep and pullup strength.

“Berger by 1947 had increased his weight to 248 lbs. while carrying little or no excess fat. At the latter bodyweight he performed a correct two arm military curl with 240 lbs. This lift was equivalent to a two arm chin with a total weight (i.e. including bodyweight) or 457 lbs. And the latter two arm chin, or pullup, is equivalent to a one arm chin with a total (including bodyweight) of 274 lbs.; a one arm chin without extra weight, 3 or 4 times in succession; or 38 consecutive chins free two arm chins” (Willoughby Chins).

As I’ve published dozens of articles with the arm training routines of every manner of lifter, I’m not going to dig up that horse’s corpse and flog it. Just train the fuck out of your arms. It’s not goddamned rocket surgery.

Row Like Your Name is Olaf

This is something I’ve come to realize over time, and everyone with whom I’ve shared this has agreed- if you include large numbers of higher rep cable rows into your workout twice or three times a week, you will have a sick back, badass arms, and the ability to do a lot of pullups very easily after a few weeks. I honestly can’t explain why I enjoy 10-20 rep sets of cable rows for hours at a time- I just do. And after two months of those without a single pullup, I was able to do a set of 30 pullups that was reasonably strict, without a warmup. And that was after gaining at least fifteen pounds post incarceration.

If only I could say that was an actual online “coach” who’d gotten his just desserts.

For Fuck’s Sake, You Don’t Need a Program

If someone is trying to sell you a pullup progression program they’re a charlatan and should be drug out into the streets, shot, and left for the fucking dogs. You don’t need a program, you need a bar from which to do pullups. Try some of these ideas:

set a daily volume goal and do however many sets you need to so you reach it. I recommend starting with 50-100 and work up from there. Don’t go to failure on each set- stop a couple of reps short. Otherwise you’ll burn out and miss your target volume.
buy a pullup bar and put it in a doorway through which you walk frequently. Every time you go through it, do 5-10 pullups.
use that same bar and set it up where you can see the tv, and do pullups at random while you hang out and binge watch Guy’s Grocery Games.

And there you have it- an extensive article about a survival skill you should already possess. If this seemed unnecessary, you have only your fellow readers to blame. If this is exactly the knowledge for which you’ve been waiting for years, my apologies- I honestly didn’t know this stuff wasn’t common knowledge.

Sources:

Anderson, Jon R. 3 drills to better pullups from record holder Alicia Weber. Military Times. https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-fitness/2014/04/09/3-drills-to-better-your-pullups-from-record-holder-alicia-weber/

Heffernan, Connor. The history of the pull up. Physical Culture Study. 11 May 18. Web. 27 Dec 2018. https://physicalculturestudy.com/2018/05/11/the-history-of-the-pull-up/

Willoughby, David. Some chinning records and training for the one-arm chin. The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban. 17 Jun 2008. Web. 6 Jan 2019. http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2008/06/chins-david-willoughby.html

Willoughby, David P. The Super Athletes. South Brunswick: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1970.

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Jamie Chaos

I am a former all-time, all federation world record holder in raw powerlifting at 181lbs, a record I broke just to say fuck you to the internet’s “lifting” community and the powerlifting community at large. Over the last ten years I’ve written over 500 articles on strength training, nutrition, and supplementation, and continue to do so simply to fight the tide of weakness and sadness that currently pervades the scene I’ve called home for the better part of three decades. I’ve got personal trainin certs, BodyPump and BodyCombat certs, a BA in History and East Asian Studies from the University of Arizona, and MBAs from the Vienna University and University of South Carolina on my side, in addition to some sick lifts and a hell of a lot of rage. What the fuck have you got?

44 responses to “Pullups: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff, the Men from the Boys, and the Awkwardly Feminine from the Possibly Canadian Since the Stone Age.”

Adeel

January 7, 2019

Awesome article- I spent a whole summer doing assisted one arm pull up reps and it didnt budge my pulling strength, but when i progressed with weighted pull ups and one arm negatives in a 3-4 month period i could do 2-4 reps on either arm.

Marvin Eder could also do apparently like 9 reps per arm

Negatives are DEFINITELY the way to go with pull ups. Never tried doing 1000+ reps though, have try that one of these days!
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  January 8, 2019
  
  It’s surprisingly easy to do that kind of volume. I’ve done over 300 pullups in a half hour, and that did make me sore as fuck, but the high volume stuff didn’t so much.
  
  Glad to see we agree on the assisted exercises. I’ve never seen them work for anyone, honestly.
Tony

January 7, 2019

How do you like pullups on olympic rings?
1. Jamie Chaos
  
  January 8, 2019
  
  I like them. I’ve not done tons of them, but they’re definitely effective.
2. Justin Paul
  
  January 8, 2019
  
  They are fantastic as long as you aren’t stupid enough to buy them for yourself.
Scott

January 7, 2019

Excellent article Jamie. I always listen to the soundtrack from Dredd when I read these entries, they pair well together. Consider raising your blood pressure watching the TV episode Insight: Fat Fighters if you create another “your fat is your fault” post. Also check out this fantastic compilation video of 80’s era workout motivation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP_476P5SvM

(P.S. more ladyboy porn please)
Nigg

January 7, 2019

Penis
Gary

January 8, 2019

Gay. No mention of rope pull ups or rope climbing or rock climbers (who have awesome pull up strength).
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  January 8, 2019
  
  Rope climbing is an entirely different activity that I’ve only had access to in one gym. It’s a fucking rope and you climb it. Why would I write about that? As to rock climbers, they’re great at pullups but hold no records in them that I saw. They’re more about minimizing bodyweight and maximizing finger strength.
Matt

January 8, 2019

How about muscleups? Legit or just a trick?
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  January 8, 2019
  
  They seem legit, but I’m not a gymnast, so I’ve never bothered with them.
Anders

January 8, 2019

Thanks for the article. Do you think it makes a difference whether a person trains chinups or pullups in order to get that 1-arm chin-up? I am able to do 30 strict pullups on any given day, but I can’t do a 1-arm chinup. Anyway, I’m going to try the positioning tips in the article, maybe that’ll do the trick.
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  January 8, 2019
  
  It likely plays a role, due to the different position of your arm. Chins are far more bicep-centric.
John C

January 8, 2019

One day Kara Webb’s thighs will pop my head like a champagne cork. That’s my goal and i’m sticking to it.
Kenny

January 8, 2019

Orlando Bloom is an A-lister?
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  January 10, 2019
  
  He was when that guy was training him.
ANTONIO

January 9, 2019

Top article, the next one might be about dips?
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  January 10, 2019
  
  I can do one about dips, I suppose.
  1. skankhunt42
    
    January 16, 2019
    
    Thanks Jamie, very cool!
    When’s the one about goblet squats coming?
    1. Jamie Lewis
      
      January 17, 2019
      
      Hahahaha. Look for it around April 1.
Akahige

January 9, 2019

Check out saiyaman great on youtube. He built a DBZ character physique mostly by going ham on pullups, pushups and ab roller.
https://youtu.be/9QFb4-1bu0k
Akahige

January 9, 2019

Check out saiyaman great on youtube. He built a DBZ character physique mostly by going ham on pullups, pushups and ab roller.
stephen sutton

January 9, 2019

I got a home gym like these sort of routines in deep winter time when it is freezing cold in the shed and hanging around doing a few reps on barbells is pretty miserable.

A month or two of nothing but skip rope, pullups, dips, press ups punch bag kettlebells and fast running is a good recharge.

Of course there are a quadrillion ways to blend these elements with barbell lifts too. But a lot of this game is in the mind and absence makes the heart grow fonder, giving the barbell a prolonged break now and then can be a good thing.

End of the day it’s a game, should make you happy.
Emmet Louis

January 9, 2019

I can give you some other metrics for the one arm chin up. Based on the people I’ve trained to do it, we normally use bodyweight exercises to get there. Anyone who can do a one arm on both sides could do 3 chin ups with 50% +-5% of bodyweight attached. Endurance varied from 12-45 continuous reps so its a poor marker imo.
Pat

January 10, 2019

Been following the blog since 2010, Couldn’t agree more with your opinion on frequent high rep rows. Love doing high rep rows with bands from a variety of angles multiple times a week.
It really is amazing what can be achieved with a $25 set of bands from Walmart. Quit going to a gym and started working out in my garage/basement with nothing but a rack, and a shit load of weights about 3 years ago when my first son was born and haven’t looked back. Stronger, leaner, and having more fun then ever.
Eetu

January 10, 2019

I’ve found it to be easy to go overboard with negatives, and I personally won’t bother with them until I can get a solid minimum of three seconds on the way down, without crashing down in the lower half. Waiting around for tendonitis to pass wasn’t very productive for pullups. Then again, I’ve yet to accomplish a full range OAC; managed one starting a quarter above dead bottom. For reference, at that time I was chinning and pulling 60 kg extra at 75 kg BW, and the weak point in OAC has always been the bottom for me.

I’d like to add that simple holds at the top, middle and eventually slightly above bottom will prove effective as well, and you will quickly see progress in them. Once you’re nearing ten seconds in a middle hold, you should be able to slowly descend to the bottom. Oddly enough, these isometrics have felt alright to do even when a little feverish, when everything else feels like crap.

Muscle-ups have a bit of technique to them: in a normal pull-up you travel towards the bar, but in a muscle we have to pull ourselves around and over the bar. Meaning: it helps to initiate the move with a little swing forward, opening the chest and contracting the back to initiate a mighty, long pull before flipping the elbows over the bar. Add a little quick tuck with the knees alongside the elbow flip, lean forward, press down and you’re done. It sucks if you have to flip one elbow over at a time at first, but it doesn’t matter, you’ll still get stronger and more coherent at the movement.

I did them daily for some six weeks at work, one to three, four sets a day for singles, doubles or triples, and managed six good reps at the end. Started with a shaky single.
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  January 10, 2019
  
  Interesting in re the muscleups. They just never struck me as anything I felt like trying. As to the one arm chins, the isometrics make a lot of sense. I’ve never dealt with much tendonitis- just knotting for me. DMSO helps immensely for both, though.
  1. Eetu
    
    January 11, 2019
    
    Isometrics in general are something I’ve to train more often. It’s just that when training, my mind usually thinks of only concentric movements in spite of having had fast, good results from simple isometric exercises. Perhaps now, after writing about it, I’ll be better able to will it into being?
    1. Jamie Lewis
      
      January 12, 2019
      
      I know Steve Justa was a huge fan of them- maybe you should revisit Rock, Iron, Steel for ideas.
Pat

January 10, 2019

Couldn’t agree more on the high frequency rows recommendation. Been incorporating band rows from a variety of positions 3-7x week and in spite of the fact that I’m working overnights and sometimes 12–16 hour days my back size and strength is top notch. I feel like easy high frequency work is the magic bullet most people are missing. It’s amazing the amount of extra work that can be done withcheap resistance bands without much effort.
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  January 12, 2019
  
  Yeah, it’s nearly no effort and a ton of benefit. I completely agree- people are leaving a lot of gains on the table by ignoring them.
2. Eetu
  
  January 15, 2019
  
  Thanks for the suggestion for band rows. For some reason, seeing the word “rows” alone did not click, but “band” was needed as well. I often times put in some training during work, doing a set here, a set there throughout the day, which ends up with some nice volume.
  
  Pullups are nice and all, but I’ve noticed rows are less aggravating on the elbows, so they are a good work-around if the elbows aren’t feeling it. And seeing how little is required for doing upper-body pushing work in this “grease the groove” manner, it is just too nice to have another tool for a pulling movement.
  
  Really no reason not to lift when you put your mind to it and love it.
  1. Jamie Lewis
    
    January 17, 2019
    
    “Really no reason not to lift when you put your mind to it and love it.” – Exactly this- there is always something you can do.
Jake

January 11, 2019

Jamie what do you think about power shrug with dead stop at each rep like Rippetoe version ?
https://youtu.be/-0t_hCzUgvM

Do you think there are some different in terms of lumbar spine stress and overload to your version with continue tension?

Thanks boss!
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  January 12, 2019
  
  I’ve never been a big fan of the power shrug beyond just trying to get reps in with 6 plates. My lifting partners in college refused to allow me to take plates off after they got to 6, so I just had to get what I could. Ripp’s shrugs are wildly different from mine- I rack pull them from knee height, then do my reps with pretty strict form. You can try doing them his way, but I don’t see a benefit, frankly- you get far more work in with my method.
  1. Jake
    
    January 13, 2019
    
    Have you ever tried them with an hexbar?
    With the classic barbell, at every rep I destroy my balls!
    
    Why with your version we obtain more work?
    
    Thank Jamie!
    1. Jamie Lewis
      
      January 13, 2019
      
      I’m not sure what you mean. Could you rephrase the question?
      1. Jake
        
        January 14, 2019
        
        1) Have you ever tried shrug motion with hex bar https://youtu.be/Ke5OmublmUU ?
        This would be a good option, because everytime I shrug with a straight barbell I hit my nuts!
        
        2) why with your shrug version we can obtain more work, compared to the rippetoe’s one?
        With his version we can use more weight, and hit the traps with more overload in the eccentric ohase of the exercise, in the catching movement
        https://youtu.be/YtVwqJVbols
        
        Thanks sir!
      2. Jamie Lewis
        
        January 17, 2019
        
        My thighs are so big that the bar never gets close to my junk. I’ve never had a problem with the bar crushing my dick/balls as a result. There is a balancing aspect of the hex bar I dislike, and the gyms I lift in rarely have 100lb plates, which I would need to use to fit enough weight on the bar to do hex bar shrugs. As to the rippetoe movement, I stopped doing cheat shrugs because I already use a tremendous amount of weight on the bar, and doing violent movements with 900-1000lbs is pretty hard to balance, honestly. Plus, you wreck bars faster with the added weight and the more violent motion, which gets to be a pain in the ass to explain to gym owners. So, I go with controlled movements.
Gary McKenzie

January 15, 2019

Jamie,
What’s your thoughts about “rack chins”? Helpful in improving chin/ pull ups, or entirely different exercise? Have read there more for lat development, myself, not really sure. What say you?
Gary McKenzie

January 15, 2019

Jamie,
What’s your thoughts about “rack chins”? Helpful in improving chin/ pull ups, or entirely different exercise? Have read there more for lat development, myself, not really sure. What say you?
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  January 17, 2019
  
  You mean horizontal pullups? Pretty pointless. I love cable rows, but I keep it to between 5 and 15 reps- I’m not gonna do those goofy faux pullups for hour long sets.
Gary McKenzie

January 18, 2019

Nah, those that are recommended by Paul Carter at Lift Run Bang.
Feet on a bench body hanging from a bar in a rack.
Joshua

January 19, 2019

Jamie what is your opinion about this exercise?

https://youtu.be/WzEhDA9XCRY

Is a sort of ‘one arm prone shrug’ for hit the mid and lower traps with fucking heavy weights.

For hit the mid traps which is your favourite movement?…

Probably we can overload this bodypart with more weight than a normal dumbell or tbar row