20+ Pull-Ups Program
So you want to get to 20 pull-ups? 30 pull-ups? 40+!? And your max is only 1? Maybe 5? Hell, maybe even none. We’ve all started somewhere. Personally, when I started to do pull-ups, my max was 8. But, I went from being able to do 8 in one set, to being able to do 40+ in one set (my personal max has been 43 – once you start doing more than 30, little things start to effect you more than just strength, such as hands slipping off the bar, or pull-up bar thickness variations when switching gyms, etc – these are topics I’ll cover in the future. They’re not important at this stage in the game). Right now, you just need to do more pull-ups. This program is designed to get you 20+ pull-ups. Whether you are taking a fitness test (FBI, DEA, military, etc), you’re male or female, or you’re just looking to get better at pull-ups (20+), this is the program for you. I’ll cover 30+ & 40+ pull-ups in a more advanced blog post.
Now, I keep reading questions like, “Why aren’t my pull-ups going up? I do them 1x on back day for 4 sets.” NO! I never found this to work at all when it came to pull-ups. Never, never, never. Not even close. Instead, what worked for me was super-setting pull-ups between each set, multiple times. You want to do more pull-ups in one set? Then you need to do more pull-ups, period. I also am not a fan of programs that say, “by day 15, you should be doing X number of max pull-ups, and by day 30, Y number” – no! This type of rigidity never really worked for me. Why would it? We are all different and progress at different rates. I also am against programs that are structured to go to failure on pull-ups every time. No! That doesn’t work either. This program is designed for several quick, easy-ish sets, several times a week. By doing this, some weeks, your max may increase by 2-3. Other weeks, it may increase by 1, or stay the same. No matter what though, this program will get you more and more pull-ups in the long-run (20+), I promise you that. You will also see amazing back gains doing this (as well as arms). One of the requirements of the program is testing your max pull-ups once a week. Try to use the same pull-up bar when you do this test, just to keep things consistent. Otherwise, for your super-sets, you can use anything (rings, wide grip, narrow grip, etc – just make sure they are pronated grip pull-ups).
Here’s the overall structure. It’s broken down weekly:
1) 1 Weekly test of max pull-ups (do this on your first day at the gym for the week)
2) Multiple sets of pull-ups (8) at least 3x a week (if you go to the gym 3 times a week, do the program 3x. If you go to gym 5x a week, do the program 5x, etc. If you go to the gym 5x a week and are finding yourself gassing out during this program and prefer to do it 3-4x a week, that’s fine, just do not do it any less than 3x and do not do it any more than 5x. The sweet spot for me was 5x, but your mileage may vary).
a. What this means is, if you are doing leg day and you’re doing 4 sets of squats and 4 sets of calf raises, then in between each set of both exercises, you’re going to walk over to the pull-up bar, and do one of your sets of pull-ups. You will repeat this 8 times. Yes, this also applies to back day too. No, you won’t “overtrain” – I’ll cover this at the end of this blog post.
First, identify your max number of pull-ups you can do to start. And remember, the Weekly Rep Count is done every time you are at the gym (minimum 3x to a maximum of 5x).
Max Pull-Ups: 0, 1, or 2
Weekly rep count: 8 sets of 1 rep (negatives – so put your hands on the pull-up bar, jump up so your head is above the bar, and slowly let yourself down, as slowly as you possibly can each time. That’s 1 rep)
Max Pull-Ups: 3, 4
Weekly rep count: 8 sets of 1 rep (do negatives when you begin to tire out, but do your sets of 1 rep first)
Max Pull-Ups: 5
Weekly rep count: 8 sets of 2 reps
Max Pull-Ups: 6, 7
Weekly rep count: 8 sets of 3 reps
Max Pull-Ups: 8, 9
Weekly rep count: 8 sets of 4 reps
Max Pull-Ups: 10
Weekly rep count: 8 sets of 5 reps
Max Pull-Ups: 11, 12
Weekly rep count: 8 sets of 6 reps
Max Pull-Ups: 13, 14
Weekly rep count: 8 sets of 7 reps
Max Pull-Ups: 15, 16
Weekly rep count: 8 sets of 8 reps
Max Pull-Ups: 17, 18, or 19
Weekly rep count: 8 sets of 9 reps
Max Pull-Ups: 20
Weekly rep count: 8 sets of 10 reps
Now, onto the FAQ:
Am I expected to increase my weekly max every week?
This isn’t linear. You’re going to have bad weeks and you’re going to have good weeks. For me, this got me to 20 over several months, but it was trial and error structuring the program when I was going through it. You will probably get there faster (or you might get there slower, it doesn’t matter. The point is, you will get there. You’ll get 20+ pull-ups).
If I do this 3x, 4x, or 5x a week, won’t I be overtraining?
No. I have done this every week for the past 5+ years. Yes, it is tiring, and yes, it is challenging, but getting to 20+ pull-ups is not an easy feat to begin with.
Will this affect my other exercises? E.g. if I do this between bench sets, won’t my bench numbers suffer?
It shouldn’t. Some people will argue that you are greatly fatiguing your muscles – I disagree. If your max pulls-ups is 10, and thus, your weekly rep count is 5, doing 5 pull-ups between each bench press set will not have a material affect on your bench numbers. You’re not going to failure on these pull-up sets.
I’m getting tendonitis or my hands hurt. What do I do?
Tendonitis and hand pain are two different things here. You shouldn’t be getting tendonitis – do your reps in a controlled manner. I see a lot of folks jump on the bar and swing around like they’re performing at Cirque du Soleil. No man! Don’t do that – do these reps slow, and controlled. If your hands hurt (so the skin on your hand is producing calluses), you need to give it time before the calluses fully form. You’ll get them on your palms, right under your fingers, and below the second knuckle. If you aren’t a fan of calluses, then definitely consider a pair of gloves.
My hands are slipping because I sweat a lot. What do I do?
Chalk-up! I always preferred the liquid chalk because some gyms didn’t allow regular chalk. I didn’t find that my hands were slipping until I started to get into the high 20s for pull-ups, but if you sweat a lot or if your pull-up bar is moist for whatever reason, I definitely recommend chalking up. Link below:
Concluding thoughts — be patient. 20+ pull-ups is incredibly, incredibly difficult and a huge physical feat. Once you get there though, you’ll feel accomplished (and will likely want to do even more). This program will get you to 20+ pull-ups. Getting to 30+ and 40+ are two different beasts altogether, and I’ll write up two separate guides for that. For now, let’s get 20+. Reach out if you have any questions.
Shane
