Pullups are a nemesis. Rows will progress well at times. I looked at my workout app and realized that accounting for weight changes (mostly loss), I haven’t improved in over a year. I do much better with low reps for compounds. I’ve done 3x5-7 at RPE 8, 4-5x3-4 at RPE 7, and even 8+ reps to no avail.
I workout at home and don’t have to do them since rows are improving, but they have become a challenge. Any ideas?
I was thinking maybe a top set with backoff sets like I’m doing with bench and sq. Maybe even lower reps.
Or I could do PEDs (Pullups Every Day) but I’ve really got my fatigue management dialed in.
I would hate doing AMRAP for something like 10 minutes.
Any other bright ideas? More sets at lower RPE? I don’t care about hyper trophies, just want them to improve in any way. Thanks.
P.S. Pullups are the only exercise I do that regularly makes me (a little) sore, if that even matters.
Hey Jeff,
Thanks for the post. May I ask what program are you running currently? Also, what do you mean by:
I’ve done 3x5-7 at RPE 8, 4-5x3-4 at RPE 7, and even 8+ reps to no avail.
I’m running my own powerbuilding program (hope it’s OK to ask this here).
I’ve tried a typical 3 sets of 5-7 reps all at RPE 8 or so. I’ve also tried increasing the weight and the sets to 4-5 [even 6] sets of 3-4 reps at (lower) RPE 7 or so, and even tried sets of 8+ reps even though I normally don’t respond to higher reps very well. Sorry that was confusing, especially since I put sets and reps backwards from you, now that I look at it.
How long did you run this and were you able to increase weight at all? I assume you were only doing this once per week?
Yes, once a week. I do rows once a week on another day. I’ve tried each of those variations in sets and reps for a few months at a time. I’ve switched back and forth, but realized over time, accounting for bodyweight changes, they haven’t improved at all (no real weight added–I wasn’t paying a lot of attention).
I ‘spend’ most of my volume on BP/chest. The back stuff is just accessories, but as mentioned, the pullups have become a challenge I want to overcome, but not to the point of being like a street lifter or anything.
I gotcha.
Perhaps a little thought experiment here. If you were coaching me, and I said I hadn’t seen much progress on the squat, and I had tried doing 3 sets of 5-7 reps @ 8 and 6 sets of 3-4 reps @ 7 1x/wk, what would you tell me to do?
Oh brother*. I actually started thinking along the same lines yesterday during my workout. I would tell you that it may not be enough, and that you may also want to try more than once a week. I would also say to do accessory exercises, but that seems out of place for pull-ups.
I suppose I could add some after I do rows, but again, my fatigue management is really dialed in.
I wonder why rows improve relatively well and why pull-ups are so obstinate?
*I say oh brother because I don’t want this to become a full-blown quest, but just a challenge. You may influence me that way, though.
What kind of exercise are you doing for rows? I suspect the newer the exercise and/or the lighter it is relative to your BW and/or the more body english that can be used are all contributory factors compared to pull-ups/chin-ups.
I do think that most exercises that have been trained/are trained need a decent training load to improve further. Whether you want to accomplish that via more frequency, more sets (with the same frequency), or other options is up to you, but that’s where I’d place my money.
I do regular one arm DB rows or chest supported (on a low inclined bench at home), and both are fantastic for me. I alternate about every year. I’ve actually tried to ‘loosen up’ my form on the 1ADBR, but I’m so used to being pretty strict.
Thank you for the input. I will increase one way or another, and may need to try various variables over a good enough period of time in doing that.