Pullups!!!

[ChrisBell]

Right at the moment i can only achieve 2 full pull ups, 35-40 press ups, 60 sit ups and 3mile run in 20mins. I have good determination and if i get down for PRMC I will not give up until either I pass out or get told to f*** off! I have passed entry exam and interview and have my medical on the 11/12/06 so i think PRMC round about Jan Feb time. I'm going for it anyway but do you think this is to little? Bearing in mind the training continues up until PRMC so hopefully will be higher numbers of reps.

[jacko1234]

Nah.... is it eckers matey , your scores sound just about ready now , just go down there positive with lots of determination and dont give up . Keep training till you go and you will be more then ready ,as for the pull ups just keep practicing and if you go to a gym use the lat pull down machine it will help with your final scores, if not just do , sets of pull ups e.g 3 pull ups , 2 pull ups , 1 pull up then work your way back up again

[rgj-rifleman]

crack on with them pullups, if you have a pullup bar that you walk past just do your one or two pullups everytime you go past it. I have my bar in the garage, eveytime i go out, always crack out 6 of them. It will get really natural to you!

[TheWedge]

Right at the moment i can only achieve 2 full pull ups

Don't go to PRMC unless you can do 5 pullups minimum or you could waste a PRMC "life"!. The pullups come straight after the pressups and situps. If you can do 2 now then you will not be able to do any after all your pressups and situps. Two guys got 1 full pullup on my PRMC and they both failed, one said he can usually do 2-4 but was exhausted.

I could only do 2 when I first started, I can now do 11 so it is possible to increase them to a suitable standard so don't be disheartened. In my experience, pullups are the slowest increasing rep exercise, you are lucky if you can increase by 2 pullups per fortnight.

Good luck

[ChrisBell]

Thanks for the quick replies and am doing all that you have said. I only do my pull ups after my usual set anyway. But will definitely give it my all! I just want to say that this site is so goddamn helpful it answers so many questions and most of the people here seem to have there heads screwed on!

[lodgi]

Right at the moment i can only achieve 2 full pull ups

Don't go to PRMC unless you can do 5 pullups minimum or you could waste a PRMC "life"!. The pullups come straight after the pressups and situps. If you can do 2 now then you will not be able to do any after all your pressups and situps. Two guys got 1 full pullup on my PRMC and they both failed, one said he can usually do 2-4 but was exhausted.

I could only do 2 when I first started, I can now do 11 so it is possible to increase them to a suitable standard so don't be disheartened. In my experience, pullups are the slowest increasing rep exercise, you are lucky if you can increase by 2 pullups per fortnight.

Good luck

My pull up improvement has been like, 1 a month!

[TheWedge]

My pull up improvement has been like, 1 a month!

Yes, they are a bitch aren't they. I have been doing mine on and off for 6 months now, so I reckon I have been doing them for about 2-3 months solid. If I can do it then anyone can so crack on, I have about as much will power as a crack addict!

Regards

[simmo]

yeha they are a mega pain those pull ups, im on about 11 now, give me a couple of weeks off though and they numbers will plummet again! if i lose some weight in rt i think itll help as currently i weigh 90 kg, thats a lot of weight to pull vertically, trust me! there aree pull up bars all over the place in ctc for this reason, so that lads can practice whenever they have a spare moment, i want to be able to do 20 by week 32.

[lodgi]

How tall are you simmo? I'm roughly 90kgs and can do about 6 at the minute. Whats your running like? I find being broad and tall is not good for my running.

[JCAP3]

I would guess that the pull-ups would help you on the obstacle course (monkey bars etc)

[jammin87]

Lodgi, I'm just about at 92kg at the moment, and about 6'1", though I am trying to bulk up a bit more than this for rugby. Was just at the gym and managed 7 semi wide arm. I find it does affect my running but just one of those things, difficult to get the best of both worlds. Over the summer In the summer I was making 8.48 mile and a halfs, and about 20 for 3 and a quarter miles. Are you planning on trying to cut some weight whilst keeping strength before you join?

[simmo]

alright lodgi, im 6ft and used to play prop in rugby. although i havent toughed any weights and have stuck to simple pullups, pressups sit ups, squats etc, i have still gained muscle and effectivley bulked up, not what i was looking for! yeah i find the running suffers, when i was 80kg i really noticed how much easier running was, however, im 23 and just seemed to have filled out more! 5 weeks ago i struggled with 7 pullups, i have increased them by 1-2 a week, doing a circuit only twice a week. Hopefully the sheer volume of exercise at ctc, plus an aviodance of fry-ups will cut down my weight.

[simmo]

pull-ups- essential for the monkey bars- they give you the grip strength and forearm strength needed. With the reserves, i struggled on bottom field- esp on monkey bars and ropes until i really knuckled down onto the pull ups- i did ten sets of five twice a day for six weeks, but i ended up with DOMS from that, which is delayed onset muscle soreness, very painful, so i probably overdid it a bit , still, pull ups are v.good

[TheWedge]

yeha they are a mega pain those pull ups, im on about 11 now, give me a couple of weeks off though and they numbers will plummet again! if i lose some weight in rt i think itll help as currently i weigh 90 kg, thats a lot of weight to pull vertically, trust me! there aree pull up bars all over the place in ctc for this reason, so that lads can practice whenever they have a spare moment, i want to be able to do 20 by week 32.

That is a good reply. I am currently 93kg and I know what you mean about the pullups, you need so much more power in your arms/shoulders/back as you go up in weight, thats why most fatties can't do any. My mate told me he met a Marine in his gym who weighs 17 Stones and can do 12 pullups, I would love to see this as I have never seen anyone heavier than me do more than I can, although I am sure there are plenty out there,I just have not witnessed it. I am glad they have pullup bars all over CTC because I would definitely want to continue my pull-up program whilst I am there, I want to get to the coveted 18!

I would guess that the pull-ups would help you on the obstacle course (monkey bars etc)

You would think that, but I still felt uncomfortable on the monkey bars because the grip is different. With pullups I have thumbs over, but on monkey bars it is stricyly thimbs under, I felt like I was going to fall off each monky bar I swung from. I guess it depends on the diameter of the bar as to whether you can use thumb over or thumb under, I think thumb under on pullups would restrict my movement, does anyone else think this?

[lodgi]

Lodgi, I'm just about at 92kg at the moment, and about 6'1", though I am trying to bulk up a bit more than this for rugby. Was just at the gym and managed 7 semi wide arm. I find it does affect my running but just one of those things, difficult to get the best of both worlds. Over the summer In the summer I was making 8.48 mile and a halfs, and about 20 for 3 and a quarter miles. Are you planning on trying to cut some weight whilst keeping strength before you join?

My mum has paid for me to go to the gym for december, half price only £13 which includes pool and any classes! Anyway, I went on one of those weight, height, BMI and body fat machines while I was waiting for my induction. I weigh 14st 4lb (90.9kg), i'm 6ft 1.6in (187cm) and have 9.7% body fat.

I'm trying to get some of this weight off, which I think will help my running. My current best 3miler is 22mins 1 second, my strentgh is pretty good, I can get 50 press ups, about 90 sit ups in two mins and getting about 6 pull ups. My pull ups and press ups will be fine I think by the time my running is up to scratch.

I do think though, that being thick set slows me down. When I first went for a run about 6-7 months ago before I started getting fit, I went with my mate who's more lightly built than me, we were probably equally unfit, but he was a lot faster, I think because of his shape.

Do you think I should do some long distance runs and keep to a slimming diet to try and lose weight to improve my runs? It's just most people on here seem to make much quicker progress than me, and I dunno if it's because of being thick set or just because I was so unfit and a bit overweight before I started.