[Expired]

Don't feel like reading all of these posts.. but I'm going to reply anyways.

Bro was in JROTC for about two years and came home bragging to me about being the only one in there that can do 8-10 pullups in a row.. Keep in mind he is much more fit than me, and was in orienteering so he ran a lot, and did tons of push-ups/crunches.

Went jogging to the elementary to go around the track a few times and feel healthy. Weigh 155 and I had never done a pull-up in my life.. Ended up doing 10 in a row and felt pretty good about myself.
I guess it might be the way you are built?? He has always been the smaller one, and I have a naturally bigger upper body, who knows??
I usually only do push-ups, crunches, curl 20lb dumbbells, punching bag, and "pour out the milk" with dumbbells. (Occasionally, probably once every two weeks.)
I think in order to do pull-ups you need to work out what a lot of people seem to call your "dragon wings"?? Must be a thing with all these kids in karate and bullshit.. The muscle to the outside of your shoulders on the side of your body almost.

-Nathan

[Zephyr15]

Originally Posted by BayAreaE92

I can do ~50 pull-ups pretty easily

That's just crazy talk.

Originally Posted by Neurorad

Personally, I think most people lift weights to inflate the ego, unless you need to do it for your occupation (policeman, soldier, firefighter, construction), for your sport (softball, soccer, rugby, javelin, etc.), or to help recover from an injury.

I stick to aerobic exercise to keep my heart, lungs, and muscles strong. I feel it's more 'contemplative' as well, chilling out for 30-60 minutes. Lifting weights will not keep me healthy. I have no chip on my shoulder - it would only weigh me down.

There is an overwhelming amount of evidence contrary to your position. Lifting is merely one facet of a balanced exercise regimen. Wait...nevermind...maybe my ego just made that up.

[Bobby_Light]

Originally Posted by Neurorad

Personally, I think most people lift weights to inflate the ego, unless you need to do it for your occupation (policeman, soldier, firefighter, construction), for your sport (softball, soccer, rugby, javelin, etc.), or to help recover from an injury.

I stick to aerobic exercise to keep my heart, lungs, and muscles strong. I feel it's more 'contemplative' as well, chilling out for 30-60 minutes. Lifting weights will not keep me healthy. I have no chip on my shoulder - it would only weigh me down.

Not true. I'm not sure where you aversion to lifting weights come from, but your statements are inaccurate. Resistance training is definitely a very important aspect to overall health. Are you aware that muscle = metabolism? The more muscle on the body, the more calories you burn at rest. A muscular body burns calories efficiently. As you age, your body begins to atrophy as your activity level drops. To offset this, resistance training is a must in order to preserve the benefits of muscle. Ego has nothing to do with it and muscle doesn't "weigh you down." Look as those Olympic sprinters being weighed down by their muscular/powerful physiques. Ridiculous.

Cardiovascular training is a key aspect as well along with nutrition, but sticking solely to aerobic exercises is not the appropriate attack. Multiple factors combine to result in a truly healthy body. Diet, cardiovascular training, resistance training, hydration, and proper sleep are the main players. To neglect one of these would not give your body the proper balance it needs.

[Bobby_Light]

Originally Posted by Couch

+1

First I have to comment, Damn you and your avatar and name. I'm Bobby Light! Just kidding, gonna be my halloween costume this year. Rob & Big FTFW!!:

No doubt. "Bobby Light gonna do you right!" Would love to see that costume.

[JoeClothing]

Originally Posted by superman

What type of lifting fo you do. You are 5 foot 11 and 165 pounds. You honestly do not wiegh that much for your hieght. Im 5 foot 9 and 171, maybe 9-10 percent bf and can do pull ups no problem. Are you trying to put size on, strength? If you are really concerned, I would start with a machine that assists you with wieght, do like 10 reps. Than each week use less and less wieght for assistance from the machine. Basically at your gym they should have a machine that you can kneel or stand on. You decide how much of your own wieght you want the machine to help you with. So say you want 25 pounds off of you for the machine to help. You would choose that weight. The idea is that you would slowly work to being able to do it on your own. It is like benching, and each week putting on more weight. Im guessing from what you say, you don't work out like a powerlifter or a bodybuilder, but more to stay in shape. I find alot of people do their running, which is good, but don't hit the weights the way they should. The more muscle you have, the faster metabolism you will have. Also never mind the other benefits. Would you say that you don't strength train like you should?

Chris

Well, here's the deal. I play a lot of golf and I prefer not to have a ton of muscle mass. Flexibility mixed in with a descent amount of strength is what I work towards. The idea of using the pull up machine is good....I will start to work that into my routine.

I have descent lower body strength, but for whatever reason ever since I was young I have had a weaker upper body. I can tell that I am gradually getting stronger in the upper body with my workouts. About 3 months ago I started doing pushups by turning one of those half balance balls upside down. When I first started I could do about 5. Now I am up to 25 per set. Doing this has really strengthened my core and helped with my balance.

I do mix about 45 minutes of weight training in daily with the cardio and have been doing that for a few years now. Unfortunately while I have gotten a little stronger in the upper body it could definitely be better. I think I asked about the pull ups because that seems to be a good barometer for how strong you really are.

[JoeClothing]

Thanks for the advice on using the machine. I have used it the last 3 days and I can already tell that my body is starting to get a bit more acclimated to doing dips and pull ups.

[Neurorad]

Originally Posted by Bobby_Light

Not true. I'm not sure where you aversion to lifting weights come from, but your statements are inaccurate. Resistance training is definitely a very important aspect to overall health. Are you aware that muscle = metabolism? The more muscle on the body, the more calories you burn at rest. A muscular body burns calories efficiently. As you age, your body begins to atrophy as your activity level drops. To offset this, resistance training is a must in order to preserve the benefits of muscle. Ego has nothing to do with it and muscle doesn't "weigh you down." Look as those Olympic sprinters being weighed down by their muscular/powerful physiques. Ridiculous.

Cardiovascular training is a key aspect as well along with nutrition, but sticking solely to aerobic exercises is not the appropriate attack. Multiple factors combine to result in a truly healthy body. Diet, cardiovascular training, resistance training, hydration, and proper sleep are the main players. To neglect one of these would not give your body the proper balance it needs.

My statement, I believe, is accurate, that most people who lift weights don't do aerobic exercise. Ideally, an exercise program would include both, as well as stretching for flexibility. I agree, all worthless without proper nutrition.

I laugh at the personal trainers at the gym who are working with customers on the Nautilus-type equipment. Increasing muscle mass is a small part to losing weight. I guess the trainers don't get paid if the customer is just on a treadmill, elliptical, or bike.

Aerobic = burn calories
Anaerobic = slightly increased metabolism from slight increase in muscle mass, but the trainer has to earn a paycheck

No offense to any personal trainers; I've spent an incredible amount of time thinking about this. I'm sure any PhD's in exercise physiology here would agree.

Again, MOST people who do strength training ignore aerobic exercise, at least at all of the gyms I've belonged to. Most young guys do it for ego-building.

[Taittinger]

Walking on a treadmill or climbing a stair master does not require a trainer to accomplish, unless one is an infant. Trainers spend more time with weights and machines because people do them wrong. If you walk on a treadmill wrong you have more problems than exercise.

[superman]

Thanks for the advice on using the machine. I have used it the last 3 days and I can already tell that my body is starting to get a bit more acclimated to doing dips and pull ups.

Yeah it should definately help you out. Here is the thing, see people think size means strength alot, which is noty true. You can work your muscles to be strong but not really put on that size. I have personally made my strength increase alot by barely putting on size and strength. Also to put on muscle you need to eat more than you burn. So if you burn 3000 calories a day, than you need to eat more than that a day to gain size. You could easily work with the muscle you got, and get it stronger. Also maybe try adding 5-10 pounds. That may help you alot with strength, but not give you that huge look, especially at your height. you may want a trainer to help you, tell him what you want. You could say I want more strength and not too much size, and they should know what to do. From what I have seen, training facilities have more experienced trainers than gyms, but are more expensive. Than again I live in southern New Hampshire, so where you live may be different.

Chris

Chris

[Couch]

Originally Posted by Neurorad

My statement, I believe, is accurate, that most people who lift weights don't do aerobic exercise. Ideally, an exercise program would include both, as well as stretching for flexibility. I agree, all worthless without proper nutrition.

I laugh at the personal trainers at the gym who are working with customers on the Nautilus-type equipment. Increasing muscle mass is a small part to losing weight. I guess the trainers don't get paid if the customer is just on a treadmill, elliptical, or bike.

Aerobic = burn calories
Anaerobic = slightly increased metabolism from slight increase in muscle mass, but the trainer has to earn a paycheck

No offense to any personal trainers; I've spent an incredible amount of time thinking about this. I'm sure any PhD's in exercise physiology here would agree.

Again, MOST people who do strength training ignore aerobic exercise, at least at all of the gyms I've belonged to. Most young guys do it for ego-building.

Well in college my health professor, with a phD, would disagree with you. He did go off on his dislike of personal trainers on campus and at your typical gyms. He said he's seen so many "licensed" trainers who couldn't even do proper motions when showing people how to lift weights.

Of course cardio is great to get a FULL workout. But when you are someone like myself, with a high metabolism, you do not need cardio as much to get the heart rate going.

And to say that MOST strenght trainers are ignoring aerobic excercise is a falacy. You may not see them do so. Most do their aerobic excercise when they first enter the gym for 15-20 minutes. Which is the perfect amount, especially if you're bulking. Or they are doing their aeorbics only on the days they work legs. Or they run in the park on the weekends. Just because you don't see them doing so, doesn't mean they are skimping on cardio.

You have to remember that everyones body is different. What works for one, might not work for another.

[JoeClothing]

Originally Posted by superman

Yeah it should definately help you out. Here is the thing, see people think size means strength alot, which is noty true. You can work your muscles to be strong but not really put on that size. I have personally made my strength increase alot by barely putting on size and strength. Also to put on muscle you need to eat more than you burn. So if you burn 3000 calories a day, than you need to eat more than that a day to gain size. You could easily work with the muscle you got, and get it stronger. Also maybe try adding 5-10 pounds. That may help you alot with strength, but not give you that huge look, especially at your height. you may want a trainer to help you, tell him what you want. You could say I want more strength and not too much size, and they should know what to do. From what I have seen, training facilities have more experienced trainers than gyms, but are more expensive. Than again I live in southern New Hampshire, so where you live may be different.

Chris

Chris

Thanks Chris!
For the last 5 years I have been 150 pounds. When I turned 30 all of a sudden I started putting on weight. Good weight in my opinion since I eat well and exercise 3/4 times a week. Currently I am 163 and my ultimate goal is 170 and no more.
Strength and flexibility are what I am trying to achieve, along with a little more definition in my upper body. I am thinking at some point I will look into a personal trainer for a little extra help in these areas.

[whytboy]

i remember i couldnt do even one pull up then in high school i joined cross country and track and like a season later i was doing 4 sets of 10 with ease...i guess start running regularly 5-6miles a day

[san~man]

A pull up is not a "mass builder," it's more designed to increase width and that V-tapered look to a back.

[ScBlacksunshine]

I hope one day I can at least do one pull-up at the gym....it sucks just being able to only lift the bar

[i_go_to_rutgers]

I didn't read anybody's responses but the only reason you are unable to do PULLUPS is that you have developed unfunctional strength (if you work out). First off, you ever see those guys that sit there for hours curling in the mirror and admiring their biceps? Well, those are the type of guys that have no functional strength at all....they lift solely for looks instead of function. A bicep is a tiny muscle yet these guys spend hours upon hours trying to curl numerous amounts of weight. Point of my rant? You should be doing exercises that are your "best bang for your buck" ie. compound exercises. Majority of my workout only consists of compound work since it creates functional strength. I'm one of those guys that actually hangs weights for my pullups and dips.

Another reason you can't do pullups is that you probably do not work your back where most of the strength for this exercise comes from, especially your lats. I do pullups/chinups twice a week. One day I'll do 4 sets of pullups and the next time I'll do 4 sets of chinups; there are two days off in between to give my back some rest.

My only advice to you is that you should look into compound exercises if you want to get big and strong.

examples: (if you don't know something then go on youtube and search)
Pullups/Chinups
Thrusters
Lunges
Deadlift
Squats
Push Press
Bench Press
Farmer's Walk
Dips
Rows using barbell

Good Luck.

Here is my first time posing my back so it sucks. I need to learn how to do it properly but you get the gist. I've only been working out since July but I have not taken a week off yet.

[Revlis]

A lot has to do with body type as well, in relation to how "easy" it is to do Chin-ups.

Taller guys, with more mass and longer arms will have a lot harder time than the 5'8" guy. Simply more mass moving further.

But like a lot of things practice makes perfect. I think I can manage 2-3 chin-ups usually, but with a damaged shoulder and 6'1" 240lbs I consider it a small victory. I don't spend a lot of time on em' but it's a great exercise.

My Bro can do sets of 10-15 chin ups using just one finger from each hand, or three fingers from the other. He likes to climb, has the build for it, and practices...

[iPodAddict]

Cool to see a few of folks on the boards that do know what they're doing and providing valid advice...

Everyone's body reacts to "loads" differently. Some need to pre-exhaust certain parts of the body first in order to attack the real target. Some need to get their heart-rate going by cycling for 10-15 minutes prior to weight lifting. It honestly takes about 6 months to find out what STARTS to work for you if you don't magically stumble upon it by accident.

Why 6 months? Because the first month or so, you'll be reading up on all kinds of crazy advice people will give on what works for THEM. After a month of that, you start to get used to the routine and then find that you're not getting the same kind of "response" that you originally had. Then you read some more and start getting a little creative or ask around. By the third month you start creating your own pattern. After 3 months you start to see results.

From here you start your path of real body building.

People don't say patience is a virtue for no reason. It takes time, just perservere through.



Now onto the pull-up topic:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ridgely9.htm

This has EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about pull-ups/chin-ups.



Edit: for those that are looking to change things to get bigger or hit a plateau... check out the PRRS system.

http://www.prrstraining.com/hires.htm