Pullups are one of the most challenging workout moves that require serious strength. Think you've seen and done it all when it comes to fitness ? No matter how long you've been working out, there's always room to improve and challenge yourself.
Here's why pull-ups are so effing hard
Not to state the obvious or anything, but one of the main reasons pull-ups are so challenging is that they force you to lift your entire body weight using nothing but your upper body. If you weigh 150lb, you're lifting 150lb. If you weigh 200lb, you're lifting 200lb.
Pull-ups are much harder than push-ups. Pull-ups require pulling almost all of your bodyweight to the bar as your body hangs under your arms. During push-ups, the hands don't support all your weight as your feet are still on the ground and you're in a horizontal position (as opposed to a handstand position).
The average untrained man can perform approximately two to three pull-ups when they are between the stages of adolescence and adulthood, but will be unable to perform more than a single pull-up once they reach the age of over twenty-five years old. This is due to a sedentary lifestyle and increasing body weight.
At first sight, there is nothing unusual in doing 20 perfect pull-ups except that only a handful of people can. The amount of work and time to achieve this strength benchmark for pull-ups is enormous, as you will find out. But there is more about this than just doing 20 flawless pull-ups.
If you practice 1 or 2 reps with additional weight (10 or more pounds), bodyweight pull ups start to feel a lot easier. Your nervous system adapts quickly so that you can do more pull ups. Of course, you need to be careful. Don't train to failure.
Pull-Ups. Longer range of motion and more weight to pull means this will be more challenging than for someone of a lower bodyweight.
Here is a very common performance issue many of us have with regard to running better and doing more pull-ups -- that extra 15-20 pounds. It is no secret that being a few pounds lighter will make it easier to do pull-ups and will help you not to hurt as much while running.
In addition to working your back, pull-ups strengthen and sculpt your shoulders, forearms, and chest (pecs). When properly performed, they also engage your abs, including your deep transverse abdominis, making them a great exercise for targeting many of the major muscles in the body.
Though there has yet to be a large-scale census into how many people can actually perform a muscle up, comparing the difficulty of the exercise to the average number of pull-ups that the average western citizen is capable of shows that approximately less than 1% of all individuals are capable of pulling off this feat.
What do deadlifts, barbell bench presses, squats, and military presses have in common? They're all going to put you in a lot of pain (the good kind). These classic moves are also some of the hardest exercises to master.
2: Fails to target the lats optimally
While the pull-up does indeed involve the lats (as shown in the 2018 EMG analysis), it honestly isn't the best exercise meant for the lats simply because of its movement mechanics. At its core, it's a large, flat triangular muscle that wraps around your mid-back.
There are a lot of moving parts in the pull up and weak links can limit your progress. Take some time to work on the little muscles, keep your core strong, and practice the un-sexy core work to improve your pull ups.
However, fit and active men should be able to do at least 4 to 8 pull-ups in one set. Fit and active women should be able to do at least 1 to 3 pull-ups in one set. Any number above 8 for men and 3 for women is very good. You are in the highest percentile if you can do 12 to 15 pull-ups or more with good form.
There are no definitive guidelines, but the number of pull-ups that are generally considered strong is 12+ for men and 8+ for women. If you can do this many, you're considered an advanced athlete. However, you are still considered an above-average athlete if you can do more than 8 (for men) or more than 3 (for women).
If you do pullups like I just described, 20 in a row is a great standard to aim for. The vast majority of guys can't do that. If you get to 20 reps, it tends to be a game changer for your upper body strength. Whether your palms face in or out during each rep is more or less irrelevant in the grand scheme of 20 pullups.
Most parents switch to pull-ups for potty training at between 2 and 3 years old on average.
And if you can't do pull-ups, this may be why: Not being able to hold onto the bar through lack of grip strength. A lack of latissimus dorsi (large back muscle), spinal erector (lower back stabilizer muscles), abdominal muscle, and biceps strength. A lack of “mind-to-muscle” connection.
Pull Ups Burn A Lot Of Calories.
However, lifting weights and resistance training plays a role in burning calories, which makes fat loss easier. Since a pull-up uses so much muscle mass, it will also burn a lot of calories, contributing to weight loss and better body composition.
Good: 75-99 push-ups. Excellent: 100-110 push-ups. Extraordinary: 111 or more.
Doing 50 pull-ups every day takes a lot of muscular endurance or how long you can actively perform an exercise before becoming fatigued. This will translate especially well when you're doing other back exercises such as rows.