Chins and an overtraining ?

[hellboy]

Is it possible to overtrain just one muscle group?

The reason I ask is this. Somedays I can do 3 sets of 5 bodyweight chins. But somedays I can barely get 3 on my first set and the following sets are the same (3). I don't understand it. None of my other lifts fluctuate like this at all. All my other lifts go up somewhat regularly in either weight or reps. But chins just fuck with me big time.

I've tried doing them once a week. I've tried doin em 3x a week. Sometimes I can do 3's and sometimes I can do 5's and I swear it pisses me off because I never know what it's gonna be and I can never do MORE. And doing MORE is what it's all about.

And the freaky thing is that I actually do see progress in cable pulldowns. I am gradually adding weight and reps to these and getting stronger in the motion.

Should I try adding weight to the chins - even though my reps are still low? Maybe sets of 1-2 with a 20lb dumbell between my knees will help some?

I'm up for any ideas.
Thanks

hb

 

[Mike_Rojas]

Has your body weight gone up?

 

[coolcolj]

I find chins pretty stressful - love hate exercise for me

 

[BrockF5]

I'm sort of the same way, I'm trying to do 3 sets of 5 reps with bodyweight(210) right now I might end up doing 5-5-4. About 2 weeks ago I did 5-5-5 with the very last rep being very hard, last workout was 5-5-4. But also when I did 3x5 i got the urge to do an extra set thinking that might speed up gains, and I think it actually made me regress. I'm doing them twice a week. Interested to see what you guys think can be done to help chin progress.

 

[gmanlax7]

i do them pretty much everyday
low rep sets of like 5 or 6

 

[Warpath]

I'll get like 12 the first set, 10 the second and 6 the third, maybe it just means I need more muscular endurance.

 

[psychedout]

I think chins are a poor measure for overtraining...

How is the rest of your back workout?? If your loosing strength there, then you may be overtraining -- if not, your good to go.

 

[revexrevex]

Try switching your grips... have like a 3 way rotation.... narrow..... wide..... and then wide with palms facing you.. and back to narrow, when you will complete the cycle your reps should increase

 

[erowana]

Try to do weighted pullups with a 40 pound dumbell between ur ankles doing them the same way as you would without weights. With about 2 minutes rest in between. I find it works for me. I started doing them 4 weeks ago after I got sick of lat pulldowns which wasn't improving my pullups. And now after 4 weeks, my pullups has gone from 24 to 30 . I just do the weighted pullups once per week , 3 sets to failure.

 

[Devastation]

what you do the day before could be influencing your chins.