Most of you probably remember back a few months ago when the New York Times wrote about how women can’t do pullups. I didn’t get involved in all the smack talking that was going on, but obviously I knew the article was wrong.
I’ve done pullups and chin-ups on and off (mostly on) for the past several years. I generally follow some type of training program and set goals for myself, but since my RKC in April 2012, I have been a little, shall we say, vague with my goals.
A few months ago, my husband was helping me write a training program and asked, “What are your goals?” My response was that I wanted to get better at pullups. He pointed me in the direction of Pavel’s Fighter Pullup Program [This program was designed by an unknown Russian author; I just popularized it.—PT] and I knew this was a perfect challenge for me. I set a goal to be able to do twelve pullups after completing the program in thirty days.
Using this program I nearly doubled my max pullups.
How the Fighter Pullup Program Works
You start with an all-out set and then cut a rep in each consecutive set for a total of five sets. The next day, add a rep to the last set. Then add a rep to the set before that, etc. The system is designed to be followed for four weeks.
If you can already do between 6 and 12 reps, start the program with the first day your personal record shows up. For instance, if your max is 6 pullups start with Day 7; if your max is 8 start with Day 19.
I definitely overdid it by starting on Day 7 instead of Day 1. I knew toward the end of the first week that I had overestimated where I was at so, I decided to start at Day 7 again. I figured that would make it almost like I started at Day 1. (Good excuse, right?)
The 5RM Fighter Pullup Program
Day 1—5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Day 2—5, 4, 3, 2, 2
Day 3—5, 4, 3, 3, 2
Day 4—5, 4, 4, 3, 2
Day 5—5, 5, 4, 3, 2
Day 6—Off
Day 7—6, 5, 4, 3, 2
Day 8—6, 5, 4, 3, 3
Day 9—6, 5, 4, 4, 3
Day 10—6, 5, 5, 4, 3
Day 11—6, 6, 5, 4, 3
Day 12—Off
Day 13—7, 6, 5, 4, 3
Day 14—7, 6, 5, 4, 4
Day 15—7, 6, 5, 5, 4
Day 16—7, 6, 6, 5, 4
Day 17—7, 7, 6, 5, 4
Day 18—Off
Day 19—8, 7, 6, 5, 4
Day 20—8, 7, 6, 5, 5
Day 21—8, 7, 6, 6, 5
Day 22—8, 7, 7, 6, 5
Day 23—8, 8, 7, 6, 5
Day 24—Off
Day 25—9, 8, 7, 6, 5
Day 26—9, 8, 7, 6, 6
Day 27—9, 8, 7, 7, 6
Day 28—9, 8, 8, 7, 6
Day 29—9, 9, 8, 7, 6
Day 30—Off
At the end of the month, you should take two or three days off and then test yourself. It is not unusual to up the reps 2.5-3 times. In other words, you are likely to end up cranking out 12-15 reps if you started with 5.
I started with a max of somewhere around 6 pullups. Here’s a video with my results after the program. (I took two days off and then tested.)
My Results: I Nearly Doubled My Max Pullups
I was surprised the program was manageable, even though I was doing pullups almost every day. Obviously, the program was both mentally and physically challenging, but once I started and got the big first set out of the way, it was easy to convince myself to finish since each set was less reps than I had just done. The exception was that last day in each week where you have to do two all-out sets. Ouch! I only skipped a few extra days (maybe three total) and, honestly, I felt really good for the majority of the month.
This program came close to helping me double my max number of bodyweight pullups. It’s amazing what a little (okay, a lot) of dedication can accomplish. Obviously, this isn’t a program for those who have a bad case of workout ADD, but remember it’s only thirty days and it sure does feel worth it when you bang out that long set of pullups at the end.
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