did 10 sets of 12-15 pullups at the gym.. WOW

[stevesmi]

I haven't really done pullups in a while... but I talked to this guy at my gym who NEVER does curls and his arms are huge. he is the strongest and biggest guy at the gym by far. he will spend his pulling split days doing pullups.

so i did them yesterday to see what would happen... next day my upper abs, my lower biceps, and my lower shoulder/upper back are in ruins.

I do enjoy curling though with free weights, just to watch my bicep development take shape every week, but now my goal is to improve my pullups.

 

[Judo Tom]

I made the switch a while ago after doing a crossfit workout that had 100 in them. I noticed soreness where I never had it especially in parts of my back. Also felt great in the arms and really hit the lower bicep area. It really has helped my back and arms a lot. If you want to hit the bi's even more try them on rings or just do them while holding/hanging from a towel. Works the grip nice and will hit your arms more as well.

Good Luck.

 

[stevesmi]

yeah that is what happened with me, I have soreness I've never had in places I never knew even existed.. I don't even know the names of these muscles that I am sore in today lol.

i've got at my gym all kinds of grips on our pullup area that you can grab.. I will admit the wide grip I found tough, so I will need to work on that next time.

I used to run with a former ironman who was 62 and the dude ripped off 42 pullups in a row in front of me one time, you would of thought I would of been hooked after that.. but now that I know how good they are with bicep development I am gonna attack them hard

 

[Judo Tom]

yeah wide grips are definitely challenging. I dont like them lol... one of my favorite are the ones where the handles are close together and facing you. This has a really long range of motion and hits the arms hard... like the ring version.

There are literally 100's of different pullup exercises you can do like standing sideways under the bar and taking a dead lift style grip and then pulling your head up one way then the other.. you can also take any grip and pull your head towards one of your hands then switch.

they are all cool and fun but i like sticking to about 3 different grips and of course weighted ones as well.

Pull ups are in my workout today and now i cant wait!

 

[SouthernLord]

I do almost zero direct bicep work. My arms are not huge, but in proportion to my body and lean. I'd rather have a set of lean and vascular 17" arms versus a soft pair of 20" arms.

I kill the chins. My chin volume fluctuates weekly. Some weeks I'll do 5x5 weighted followed by 50-60 bodyweight chins using different grips a few days later. Some weeks I'll hit 100+ reps of body weight chins spread out over the week.

Weighted chins destroy my abs too.

 

[stevesmi]

^^^ yup my upper abs feel like I was stepped on by an elephant.

awesome stuff.

I've been neglected my pullups for too long.. shying away cause of my forearm issues, I have tendon problems from playing football years ago.. but they really didn't bother me as much as i thought they would, they actually bother me more doing machine curls.

 

[the_alcatraz]

I COMPLETELY disagree with all this "no direct arm work needed" philosophy. You will never get to your arm growth potential with no direct arm work. I have 19" arms and 16" forearms. I'm only 5'8" and under 200 lbs. You think I can get arms that big without doing direct arm workouts? I do curls with 100 lbs dumbells....full sets. I do hammer curls with 140 lbs dumbells. You need to hit the arm hard if you need to push beyond barriers that doing deadlifts and pullups wont get you there.

 

[stevesmi]

^^damn traz... 100 pound curls, you are a beast.
i take it your injury is healed up you crazy leb, its probably still there but you are probably just pushing through it.

i won't stop curls, I just enjoy them too much... but I am gonna attack the pullups hard from now on, as long as my forearm tendons do not flare up.. I have tendonitis that comes and goes as it pleases so i have to be careful, getting massage therapy today to help.

 

[the_alcatraz]

Haha...I'm not pushing it now. I am doing curls with lowe weights right now...still injured pretty bad. Taking some time off basically focusing on legs right now.

I HAD tendinitis before I started arm wrestling. Arm wrestling healed me.

 

[ExtraMile]

I COMPLETELY disagree with all this "no direct arm work needed" philosophy. You will never get to your arm growth potential with no direct arm work. I have 19" arms and 16" forearms. I'm only 5'8" and under 200 lbs. You think I can get arms that big without doing direct arm workouts? I do curls with 100 lbs dumbells....full sets. I do hammer curls with 140 lbs dumbells. You need to hit the arm hard if you need to push beyond barriers that doing deadlifts and pullups wont get you there.

doing little bicep work may not work for you but I have heard bodybuilders with 20" arms (and lean) who don't curl.

Plus look at the big lean powerlifters who don't curl much or at all and none have massively undeveloped biceps.

No disrespect man but you should realise we are all different and what some people swear by doesn't do shit for others

P.S I wish I could do loads of chins like Steve and SL... I suck at them lol