Increase the Number of Pull-Ups You Can Do By 50 Percent in One Day

May 16th, 2008 Posted in Conditioning, Motivation, Workout Routines

Pull ups are hard, but they are one of the few true tests of strength. I say this because some powerlifters can bench 600 or squat 800, but they also weigh 300+ and can barely manage 5 pull ups. This is one of the few exercises where you can measure relative fitness by comparing the ratio of the number of pull ups completed to bodyweight. Some of you might get mad at me, talking about powerlifters training for strength rather than endurance, but the fact of the matter is that when I was powerlifting I could still do 15 pull ups at 195 lbs.

Buzzcut Now, let me take you back to high school gym class… the year was 1993, I was 15 years old. Mr. Buatti the gym teacher, who happens to bare a striking resemblance to Coach Buzzcut, called my name to stand up in front of the class and do an many pull ups as I can. The football jocks each knocked out from 10 to 20 and the wiry tough kid with only 3 fingers on one hand completed 14 of them. I got 3. It was humiliating.

Now we come back to the present. Recently I started doing pull ups again after a year layoff. On my first set, I got 5 reps. A week later I was up to 8 reps. Just yesterday I did a set of 11 reps. But I want more. I’ve done 18 pull ups before; I’ve also done 5 pull ups with a 45 lb plate hanging off a belt. So, how can I get back to that place? How can you get to that place?

The Pyramid Pull Up Strategy

This is the description of a little program that I’ve used to increase my pull ups quickly in the past.

Here are the instructions:

Start by doing one pull up.

Rest for 10 seconds, but don’t hang there. Stand on something and take all the tension off your arms and back.

Do one pull up more than you did in the previous step.

Go back to step 2 and repeat until you can’t complete the required reps.

Take a break for 2 minutes and do it again. Complete 2-3 sets.

You might feel weird because normally you can do 10 or 12 pull ups in a set, and you finish this exercise with a set of 6. We need to look at an example to see why this is so effective.

Normally I could do 3 sets of 11, 9, and 7 reps for a total of 27 reps at bodyweight. Using the pyramid I ended up doing sets of 1,2,3,4,5,6 then 1,2,3,4,3 and 1,2,3,1 for a total of 41 reps at bodyweight in nearly the same amount of time. That’s nearly a 50% increase in the number of reps in just one day! Which protocol do you think will force your body to adapt and grow stronger?

Try completing a pull up pyramid twice a week for 1 month then see what your new 1 set max is. Over the course of 4 weeks I’ve gone from 5 reps to 11 reps by doing the pyramid once a week and 1 regular set of pull ups every other morning. Granted I have the benefit of muscle memory, but I’m thinking I can back up to a 15 rep set within the next month or two as long as I complete 2-3 pyramids a week.

If you try this, please let me know how you fare.

Written by Steve Hanson
Discussing Conditioning, Weightlifting, Powerlifting, Strongman Training, Nutrition, Diet, Recipes, Martial Arts, and Healthy Lifestyle Ideas
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Tags: pull-ups, pyramid

10 Responses to “Increase the Number of Pull-Ups You Can Do By 50 Percent in One Day”
By Zap Brannigan on May 16, 2008

I like that pull-up program. My lifting partners can’t do pull-ups very well so they think they are “stupid and pointless” but I believe pull-ups are one of the best upper body exercises one can do. I’ll definitely be giving the Pyramid strategy a try. Thanks.
By Steve on May 16, 2008

You won’t regret it. This pull up program has kicked the ass of more than one workout partner, and has help 3 women, on 3 different occasions, go from being able to do 10 assisted pull ups to being able to do 3-5 real ups in a matter of a couple months.
By Tyler on May 16, 2008

Pull ups are one of my favorite exercises because, like you said, it shows true strength compared to body weight. I can do from 30-35 pull ups in one set, depending on how I am feeling. The way I increased my pull up count was through doing 3 sets of pull ups with added weight, enough so that i can barely eek out about six reps per set, along with my normal lifting routine. Now I usually do about 12 pull ups per set with a 53 pound kettlebell on my waist. Another huge factor to my pull ups is rock climbing. I go to a climbing gym about 2 or 3 times a week 10 minutes from my house, and it has really helped me become exceedingly strong for my body weight. Climbing constantly works almost your entire upper body and involves a lot of pulling yourself up. I think finding a good climbing gym near you would help you a lot. Also, I would advise lifting for all your upper body muscles because any added strength will help you do more pull ups. For people who can do less than ten pull ups though, I do agree with your pyramid workout.
By tim on May 16, 2008

I will try it and get back to you. I compete in Pump-n-Run events where bench press endurance is needed. Ever try this method with other muscles? Thanks
By Fat Jon on May 17, 2008

I have found since losing some weight pull ups are easier. I still cannot do a proper pull up, just a semi-pull up where I use a low bar and support my feet in front of me on a bench. I really would like to be able to do pull ups. Along with being able to do many dips, pull ups do allow you to show off you strength on a beach, if you feel that way inclined!
By Dane on May 17, 2008

This really works. I’m very good at pull ups but even to me this is a fantastic training method.
By Steve on May 17, 2008

Tyler:
Wow, 30-35 pull ups in one set is real good man. You climbers can always do a ton of pull ups. I’ve been intrigued by rock climbing for probably about 8 years now, but have yet to try even one class.

I do agree that all other muscles should be trained as well. Even when one muscle is being prioritized with maximum intensity, all other muscles should still be hit with at least one exercise each week.
By Steve on May 17, 2008

Tim:
I have yet to try this method with very many other exercises, but the theory can be applied to nearly anything. I wouldn’t try it for squats, but you could try it with the bench press. The problem is that you will need a spotter because the weight can get real heavy, real quick when you get up into sets of 5,6,7… This is why I used pull ups, since you can end on a half rep and just let yourself down, rather than dumping 200+ lbs on yourself if you can’t make the lift.
By Steve on May 17, 2008

Fat John:
If you can’t do a full pull up, you should definitely do assisted pull ups first. If you don’t have access to an assisted pull up machine, you should definitely put a box behind you and use one leg to offset the body weight that you can’t lift. Eventually you will just have one toe left on the box, and then no toes.
By jake3988 on May 21, 2008

Strength does not increase with increased reps, only endurance. If you’re looking for endurance for such things as rock climbing (as you need both strength and endurance) then it’s great. But if you’re purely looking for strength, it won’t help.

Instead, add weight to yourself or increase the weight on yourself. If you can do more than 10 add more weight.

I personally use those ironman vests that add weight as belt weights got too awkward after so much weight.