Should you do pullups everyday?

Discussion in 'Health and Fitness' started by DSDbronson, Sep 28, 2005.

  1. DSDbronson

    DSDbronson Master of Sports & Women

    I've heard from an army sgt that all the pullups you see the armed forces doing on tv is bull and that it's not even a real requirement because it's so dangerous. I got that from him when I was talking to him about Superfit(Gracie/Strom book) that has you doing situp and pushup variations everyday but only doing pullups once a week if that. I was just listening to my CombatGrappling cd and they're talking about doing them every day like crazy. Just got through reading an article on the Clubbell site about making the "army" 6 count into an 8 count workout for a great whole body workout, inlcuding pullups, and doing it every day or every other day I guess. I'm wondering what you guys have heard on this and what does the science teacher have to say about this whole pullup thing.
     
  2. slipthejab

    slipthejab Hark, a vagrant! Supporter

    Pull ups (palms away from you) and chin ups (palms towards you) are both great exercises. They offer a lot off bang for the buck.

    Not sure what you've been watching on TV... but yes, generally in the military they do quite a few pull ups. It's a fairly good measure of what your average fitness is like.

    You might have noticed that in most gyms there is usually no line for the pull up bar. :D That's because they require hard work. :eek:

    I'm not sure how your army sgt. mate figured they were so dangerous though. Anything in life can be dangerous. More people have been killed slipping in the shower than were killed by a pull up. :D

    Like any exercise they require good form... otherwise you can run the risk of injury. But again... that goes with any form of exercise.

    Pullups can be done anywhere... and there are a gazillion variations. Give 'em a try you might be surprised how few of them you can do. :D
     
  3. DSDbronson

    DSDbronson Master of Sports & Women

    This guy just retired from the military and says it's bull about them being gungho about pullups so I'm sorry if I just don't take your word over his. You do a search on the hazards of pullups then I'll start doing pullups everyday even though I'm training for MMA/Jujitsu competition and Gracie's Superfit doesn't suggest anymore than doing it once a week. The Clubbell trainer article really made it seem like they just bust their butts everyday with pullups. I work at a Greyhound Bustation in NorthWest Florida(base every 45 miles, National Guard station every 10) so I see a couple dozen guys fresh out of bootcamp or on leave everyday. THE MILITARY DOES NOT DO PULLUPS. They do run 42 miles in 56 hours though with 3 hours of sleep each night as a boot camp final. That's something that they do do but from what they say no pullups. I know you heard it on GladiatorTraining's Cd and Sonnon's site but no, don't hurt yourself. Do a search on it and take my word for it on the military side.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2005
  4. slipthejab

    slipthejab Hark, a vagrant! Supporter

    suit yourself. :bang:
     
  5. DSDbronson

    DSDbronson Master of Sports & Women

    Ok, sure. From what you're saying you and the military do them like gungho so why shouldn't everybody else. Umm, that's just funny. :D

    And I want to add that in Gracie's Superfit Royce uses the pullup bar to do Kneeups and Towel Pullups but never extends his hands that far above his body(hands actually on the bar) to pull the rest of his body up. :eek:
     
  6. Shadow_of_Evil

    Shadow_of_Evil wants to go climbing...

    THE MILITARY DOES NOT DO PULLUPS.

    Uhm no...they do.
     
  7. Tyranith

    Tyranith New Member

    I absolutely love pullups and chinups. I have one of those extendy-bar things which fits in your doorway (hopefully above head-level) as a chinning bar. They really work wonders for your large back muscles (latissimus dorsi), and also help a lot for pretty much all your back muscles, and even a bit on your triceps.
     
  8. Johnno

    Johnno Valued Member

    I think pull-ups and chin-ups are great excercises. They work a number of different muscles.

    But as for doing them every day, I think it's like any other excercise: you need time to recover. I've always worked on the principle that after strenuous excercise you should give your muscles a day to rest, so if you are working out every day then work a different set of muscles on alternate days.
     
  9. Tyranith

    Tyranith New Member

    Once you start finding pull/chin-ups a bit easy, stick a dumbell between your legs, knees forward slightly so the plate rests on your calves, and lift :)

    I can get about an extra 30kg strapped to me and still do 5 or so pull-ups. Considering that's about half my own weight, I don't consider it particularly bad :p

    What I really need to work on at the moment are my pecs. I just started doing dips and elevated pressups. I can tell they're working really well already :)
     
  10. DSDbronson

    DSDbronson Master of Sports & Women

    Ok, so what I'm getting is that people think the military loves them and that they personally love them. Not really what I was looking for. Ask a few guys coming out of boot camp or going on leave somewhere and you find out they don't. Sorry! Just because you say they do doesn't mean anything to me. Get it. And just because you say you do pullups and chinups enthusiastically is not really doing anything for me either.
     
  11. inthespirit

    inthespirit ignant

    Yeah, pull ups/chin ups are a great exercise. Just wanted to mention a few things. In my opinion the best way to do them is not to bend your knees, but to straighten out your legs in front of you. This makes you tense your abdominals and all the other muscles involved more, in turn this puts you in a position similar to an "iron bridge". The fact that you have to move and breath at the same time is also very useful. This method allows you to simultaneously do foundation for "iron shirt" training, though in a more external context. Try it out if you already have not, you will notice you can absorb more and heavier body blows.

    Also, in my old flat I used to have my pull-up bar in a doorway, and occasionally I used to hit the bridge of my nose on the top of the doorway, so there is another "iron-nose-bridge" training for you. :D

    Sadly though, in my new flat, which is basically a box, the door frames are so small that they don’t fit my pull up bar.. :cry:
     
  12. DSDbronson

    DSDbronson Master of Sports & Women

    http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,Smith_081805,00.html

    Like I said, most people who go into the military will never have to worry about pullups. People going into the special forces only need to worry about being able to do 10-20 max and that's it. I'd imagine that's because in the Special Foreces you're that many more times likely to run into a situation where your life depends on hanging on a bar or pulling yourself up from that bar. 100 situps in 2 minutes and 100 pushups in 2 minutes sounds like working on those pretty regular through the week. 10-20 situps with no time limit in mind sounds like giving pullups a go once a week or something.

    The US Military is anything but gungho about pullups. And they're not alone. I just want to hear from you guys why you think this is.
     
  13. inthespirit

    inthespirit ignant

    Don’t know about US military, but in Russia pull-ups are part of the training for conscripts.
     
  14. inteq9

    inteq9 165lb of TROUBLE!

    Who cares what the military does to exercise.

    If you want to train exactly like them, go join up.

    Its quite foolish to brush off pullups just because the army doesn't do them. Pullups are one of the top two upper body exercises (next to bench press or shoulder press).

    You can do pullups almost every day if you work hard every other day and only pump out a couple (1-5 maybe) on the days in between.

    If you don't want to take the word from people who exercise regularly, go look it up then.
     
  15. Wynnston

    Wynnston Member

    What he said. If the US military approach is so important to you go ask them why they don't go gung-ho over them. Why are you so bothered about pull-ups anyway?

    If you want to approach the topic with an open mind, read the threads in the Health & Fitness forum on why compound exercises like pull-ups and chin-ups are a good thing and also why you should give yourself a day's rest between many exercises - like pull-ups.
     
  16. DSDbronson

    DSDbronson Master of Sports & Women

    Like I said, I'm not asking how great they are. I'm taking that there are a number of enthisiasts who can say a thing or two about that. I want to know before I put my body at risk why the US Military and others think the risks are to great. Really, I just want to know if anybody on here knows that. If someone else wants to start a thread on how great pullups are they're welcome to that and I'll read that thread to. Let's start this thread over on the second page. It's funny :D how many people replied to this and how nobody here seems to have a clue about the dangers. I bet most people on here still really deep down feel the US Military is gungho about pullups but it's top secret because they do 8-20 for the test in the Special Forces. :D Really, I'm happy doing towel pullups once a week seeing that nobody that's gungho about them gets anything about risk being involved. I'm all the more content. You've said enough, really.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2005
  17. inthespirit

    inthespirit ignant

    So what are the dangers of doing pull ups?
     
  18. DSDbronson

    DSDbronson Master of Sports & Women

    testical shrinkage, that's why the US Miltary wont go near them, they need bigger balls than the rest, j/k
     
  19. inthespirit

    inthespirit ignant

    Wow... in that case I'm glad I can't attach my pull-up bar.. :D

    na, seriously.. you keep mentioning these dangers, now either I'm being thick, or they were not mentioned anywhere in this thread.. so for my testicles sake pelase sumarise these dangers for me..
     
  20. DSDbronson

    DSDbronson Master of Sports & Women

    If they're minimal and just about correct form then I'm a lot more interested in doing pullups than I let on. I want to be gungho about pullups but how can you be gungho when the Military's not. I don't know what the dangers are. I've found nothing in yahoo or google searches yet. All I know is strenuous means strain and I don't want to strain something like a testicle.
     

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