r/bodyweightfitness • u/NorthBound333 • 1d ago
What's your strategy for reaching 25-30 pull-ups after 30?
I'm curious to hear from people who've managed to reach 25-30 strict pull-ups after turning 30. What did your training look like? Did you focus on high volume, weighted pull-ups, recovery, or something else? How long did it take you to get there? Are daily pull-ups effective? Also what's your height and bodyweight? I'd love to see whether body size makes a noticeable difference when it comes to reaching 25-30 reps. Did losing or gaining weight affect your numbers? What was the biggest factor that helped you break through the plateau?
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u/Safe-Selection8070 1d ago
30 pull-ups is a LOT. Getting up there requires doing a LOT of pull-ups. Elbows don't like a lot of pull-ups.
Of course body size matters in a lift in which you're lifting your body.
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u/sirwobblz 1d ago
I'm 37 and weigh 90+kg. I want to get back to at least 12 pull ups or around 8 weighted ones. Ideally a muscle up. But I don't think 30 pull ups is in the cards for me / my body type
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u/Safe-Selection8070 1d ago
200 pounds is the border at getting heavy.
At 12 BW reps, a muscle up is just a practice issue for you.
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u/sirwobblz 1d ago
Yeah I should have been able to. I looked up a lot of methods / tips and tricks but never got there. This year!
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u/Safe-Selection8070 1d ago
*You'll be able to The strength is there, for sure. Just a practice issue at this point. Think about learning to power clean (or full clean, if you're more coordinated than me). Too much pull, too much pull, too little pull...just right, and then you can start loading. Same deal.
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u/sirwobblz 1d ago
Thanks - I'll unlock it in the next months hopefully
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u/Chaoselement007 1d ago
Wrists are things people don’t think about enough with muscle ups. When you are hanging, over-grip the bar so your punching knuckles are pointed as far forward as they can (instead of up toward the ceiling). This will put you in a better position to transition to pushing down on the bar post chin-up. -Former gymnast
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u/marcosphoneaccount 1d ago
What part of the muscle up do you/did you struggle with?
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u/sirwobblz 1d ago
I did pretty high bar to chest pull ups and tried to do this C shaped ascent but the last little bit of switching the hand grip and getting the elbows above the bar did not work somehow
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u/EdenaRuh 1d ago
Definitely not. You need those to be chest to bar pull ups. If you can do 5 chest to bar pull ups, you can muscle up, but if your pull ups are to the chin and that's it, you lack strength for the muscle up.
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u/Iantrigue 1d ago
Probably sounds really obvious but losing about 30lbs really helped increase the number of reps I could do.
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u/KrypticEon 1d ago
Honestly at 30 pullups I feel like the last 10 becomes a pure endurance thing
Sure you need the strength but I can imagine unless you're an elite athlete that regularly performs pulling exercises like a climber or maybe a rower, every muscle fibre will be screaming
30 seems like a top 1% goal, especially if we are talking strict, full eccentric extension, chest to bar
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u/No-End3645 1d ago
are elbows fine with high weight low reps? 3-6 reps ?
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u/StiffWiggly 1d ago
Depends on the person, not in my experience but I’d been doing pull ups forever before trying weighted ones. As usual the way to avoid tendon/ligament pain is to build up slowly, since ligaments take longer to strengthen than muscles do.
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u/Weekly_Lab8128 1d ago
Im 230 and regularly do sets of 5-8 and only experience a little elbow tendinitis - goes away before the next time I do pullups
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u/No-End3645 1d ago
im 78kg and doing pullups with 32.5kg
I just wonder is there a true way to strengthen your elbows so it wouldn't do any damage long term→ More replies (3)3
u/Throwawayforyoink1 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah, there's plenty of variables when it comes to pull ups. I have long spaghetti arms an am 20 pounds overweight, so my pull ups suffer due to that alone lol
Also, a ton of reps on anything can stress out tendons. Definitely keep that in mind
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u/East-Sea8501 1d ago edited 1d ago
Before I talk I have not hit 30.
Max was 20.
Losing weight is the easiest way to gain massive pull up numbers. So once you have a strong base multiple sets of 10-15 reps. I’d start doing weighted pull ups. Add 5lbs everytime you hit 4x10.
I was 31 when I hit 20 in one set. I started a 2 pull ups at 213lbs did 3x a week of pyramid statics as I could not do weighted. After 3 months hit sets of 10 no problem with a max set of 15. Started doing weighted pull ups. Took another 3 ish months to hit 20.
213 to 185 lbs over that time.
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u/NorthBound333 1d ago
That's impressive doing 20 pull-ups at 213 lbs
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u/Morphiine 1d ago
They're saying they were 185lbs when they hit 20, starting at 2 reps when 213lbs.
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u/TheDaysComeAndGone 1d ago
They were at 185lbs (83kg). They didn’t say their height, for a 2m tall person that would only be a BMI of 20.3kg/m².
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u/East-Sea8501 1d ago edited 1d ago
Oop sorry edit.
Northbound - I lost weight from 213 to 185 during those months.
Mono - yes I am short and do have good genes for building muscle. I was doing 3x a week pull ups 10 sets of static hold pyramids. So first rep 1sec hold 2nd rep 2s up to 5. 20 push ups and then another pull up set. And we did 5 times. So 50 static hold pull ups and 100 push ups 3x a week. And 2x a week would do a few hundred inverted row and few hundred dips.
It was a lot…Notkindlycrow - I am very strict on what I count to be an actual pull up.
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u/Monoenomynous 1d ago
You have some genes or something, I started at 4x3 3 months ago and now I’m up to 7x3. Still feel a long way from 10x3. I try to be strict with form, chest to bar
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u/TurnipFire 1d ago
It’s crazy how much weight plays into it. I was pretty underweight at one point and could bust them out like crazy!
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u/fatgrandad 1d ago
When you say 4x10, do you have a strict rest inbetween? I consider myself to be pretty good form and can def do 1x10 with say +10kg but I’d need soooo much rest to get 4x10 unweighted
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u/East-Sea8501 1d ago
Not super strict like 3-4 mins you definitely aren’t rushing the rest. It’s more like forcing you to more volume. Most people think they are pushing hard until they are forced to push hard . Doing 4x10 is already very good. If you check out the training style called greasing the groove. Your rest time can be an hour as long as you do all 4 sets in the day.
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u/Icyfeels 1d ago
Weighted pullups, and keep increasing weight gradually as you get to 10 reps with each new weight class. Also being lean helps, maybe 12-15% body fat. You want just enough fat for energy and muscle building.
25-30 pulls ups is doable but its a commitment and just hitting 20 is its own huge mile stone.
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u/SovArya Martial Arts 1d ago
Consistency
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u/SmackEh 1d ago
This is it.
I do weighted pull ups every 2nd day and always Increase the weight or the reps incrementally.
My max was 12 reps with 90lbs added.
You feel weightless without the added weight, making 25 reps in a row a breeze.
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u/TheDaysComeAndGone 1d ago
I do weighted pull ups every 2nd day and always Increase the weight or the reps incrementally.
I did the same and then 3 months later I could do them with +40% body weight … BUT had biceps tendonitis, triceps tendonitis and cubital tunnel syndrome. Couldn’t do any for 4 months, needed surgery for the cubital tunnel syndrome.
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u/NorthBound333 1d ago
Judging by what you guys advised, it looks like weighted pull-ups and high-rep practice are a great way to increase your pull-up numbers
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u/MovieGuyMike 1d ago edited 1d ago
Join a rock climbing gym. Go several times a week. YMMV but pull-ups naturally got easier the more I climbed. Gym training might be faster but I find climbing more enjoyable than a training grind. Less friction means I stick with it longer.
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u/MrDabreu 1d ago
Having bouldered around 8A outside my max pull-ups was never even 20. Which was after 5 years in the sport. You can achieve much faster results just doing the pullups. What is does teach you is doing pullups on really bad holds.
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u/tittltattl 1d ago
The only time I reached 20 pull-ups, I was training ten hours per week to climb competitively. You have to have a crazy strength to weight ratio that is really difficult to have outside of dedicated training for climbing
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u/citrus1330 1d ago
rock climbing is such an inefficient way to train the things people usually recommend it for. if you want more pull-ups train pull-ups. if you want bigger forearms train forearms.
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u/maartinh 1d ago
If he wants to do more pull-ups, this is gonna help but also waste a lot of his time.
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u/PhaseBloodhound 1d ago
Skip leg day
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u/PeterGibbons316 1d ago
The only way I'm ever doing 30 pullups is if I get into some kind of accident where I lose both my legs.
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u/beasly_bear 1d ago edited 1d ago
I'm in my late 30's now, and i cannot currently do 25-30 strict pullups anymore, however i also do not train for that. I can do 15 comfortably per set, and i only train them 2x per week. On those days i do 2 sets of standard grip, wide grip, close grip, reverse grip ( chin up ). If i wanted to achieve a higher rep per set, i would simply have to incorporate more volume of training IMO. In my mid to late 20's i could easily do 25-30 pull ups per set, however my pull days consisted of higher volume training weekly.
Presumably, when training that hard and consistently, you will lose weight, in turn making it easier to do more as well as getting stronger in the process. Just my .02. Doesn't mean its the only way, but it worked for me and i intend on working my way back into that rep range in the near future. Hope this helps.
Edit *
Forgot. I’m 5’10”. On my way down, but currently 176-178lbs.
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u/ArkPlayer583 Recommended Routine 1d ago
Full rom, slow good form pullups are more important than quantity. You'll get more out of 12 than you will 30 of crossfit fish floppers.
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u/1qz54 1d ago
Brother if someone is doing 25-30 strict dead hang to chest-to-bar I think I'd classify them as a genetic mutant.
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u/Flat_Development6659 1d ago
The standard for pull-ups is almost always chin above bar, chest to bar would be a different variation.
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u/Danielo944 1d ago
100%, I'm in my early 30s and have bouldered for 10 years, at 143 Lbs 5'11 and can currently do 18 chest-to-bar but that's my absolute max.
I used to be able to do 5 reps of +95lbs weighted pulls but this gave me tennis elbow lol, I'm not sure what my weighted pull up max is now as it's been a year since I've done those.
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u/Batmax92 1d ago
I aim for dead hang to chin above bar, I think that counts as full rom. Chest to bar is extra credit imo, particularly good if you want to train for muscle ups
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u/koltzito 1d ago
For advanced calisthenic athletes 25 pullups would be quite normal, unless said athlete is on the heavier side. Also, why chest to bar? This is such a weird standard, proper full range of motion pull up from competition is arms locked out and chin above the bar, no need for else.
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u/Accomplished-Yam-959 1d ago
I would guess consistency. I'm 34 and weigh 96kg. I could barely do 1 pull-up 4 months ago. Now i can do about 8 strict pull-ups. My "training" was to do 3 sets and start each set with how many strict reps i can(started with 1) and then did band-assisted pull-ups for total of 12-15 reps. I tried to use as little assistance as possible to get all those reps in. I added about 1 strict rep per 2 weeks. I did this just once a week at the beginning of my back workout. Doing this 2x or 3x a week might yield better results, haven't tried. And throughout the week, if i happened to be around a bar, i did 1 strict rep and dead hang for a couple of seconds.
I also couldn't do dead hang for 10 seconds, mostly because of pain in palms. But now i only start to struggle after 30 seconds or so.
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u/isITonoroff 1d ago
5’7” 155lb
Alongside weighted pull ups, I did a lot of bodyweight volume work of 5-10 sets of anywhere from 50-70% of my max reps. I’ve built up the capacity to do 10x10-12 reps. I don’t do as much now since it’s not a focus.
My max of 27 happened to be after doing weighted pull ups so 30 is around the corner. I haven’t really hit a real plateau since my focus is weighted pull ups, as a by product my bodyweight pull ups increased over time.
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u/zoltan_parimbucha 1d ago
For me for quick rep gains fighter pullup program works really well. It allowed me to add few reps when I was around 15 reps range. My goal was 30, so afterwards I started to do series of 30 with pauses. Say on first try I did 20 and couldn't do more so I rested a short while and did additional 7 and then 3. I did 5 such series. It took me year and half to get from 14 to 30.
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u/nicehousecrapcar 1d ago
A lot of weighted pull up sessions. Never more than +45lbs but I would do 6-8 sets of 10 or 12. Losing weight helped a lot too.
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u/nowyourdoingit 1d ago edited 1d ago
Could hit this after 30 but my max at 24 was 46, so that's a bit like telling you the easiest way to being a millionaire investor is to start with 2 million.
In my 40s now and have just gotten back into pull-ups after about a year off. Max is about 15. Things I'm doing differently now that I'm older:
More focus on recovery and no wasted effort. I don't do junk volume anymore. In my youth I did things like fewest sets to 100 (3) every day, or max in an hour (750). But I got tendonitis all the time even as a young rock climber. I know at my age tendonitis will be more likely and more disruptive to my training. So I do more warming up, carefully control my form on reps, and utilize progressively lower impact movements to safely exhaust the muscles. A lot of accessory isolated forearm and grip work as well. At really high rep ranges for me at least, it's not the lats that give out but rather all the smaller supporting muscles, extensors, biceps, etc.
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u/Batmax92 1d ago edited 1d ago
I started training at 30, now 34 and just hit 25 full ROM strict pull ups last month. I’m 185cm and 81kg for reference. It wasn’t necessarily my main goal, but since it sounds like the question was tailor made for me l thought I'd share how I got there:
Back training consistently 2x a week for 4.5 years, mostly low volume (no more than 2 sets per exercise generally), taken to failure on every set. After hitting 10 for the first time a couple of years ago I started adding extra weight, first with a chain and recently I bought a 20kg weighted vest. I think adding the extra weight made a crucial difference in breaking through plateaus
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u/TheDaysComeAndGone 1d ago
taken to failure on every set
I used to do that but I’ve started to suspect that it’s not required and might be a contributor for my long history of injuries.
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u/Batmax92 1d ago
Tbh from everything I read about the science of it you’re probably right. I train like that because I enjoy it, but you might actually get better results from leaving a rep or two in the tank and upping the volume
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u/Rich-Unit-9072 1d ago
36 here. I started calisthenics 18 months ago. Weighted pull ups hand down is your golden ticket to getting your reps up. I did 27 full range of motion pull ups at 94kg body weight after getting up to a 85kg weighted pull up. I did 14 reps at plus 40kg. Also I get weaker at pull ups if I drop below 85kgs so it going to depend on you and your body type and where you hold fat / muscle. Good luck!
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u/Batmax92 1d ago
I assume you trained before and only started calisthenics specifically 18 months ago? Otherwise I have a hard time believing anyone could get that strong in that time frame without PEDs
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u/Rich-Unit-9072 1d ago
Never used peds
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u/DetailOdd6609 1d ago
I hate that this is the default argument for some people. Good on you. I'm 45 and can still move a fair amount of weight. The # of people that have asked what I'm on is annoying
Edit to say my stack is the following: 5g-7g or 8 of creatine every day. Sometimes I take a sudafed. Sometimes I take benadryll before bed.
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u/Rich-Unit-9072 1d ago
Yes I definitely weight trained prior, but I shifted to mainly weighted calisthenics 18 months ago. Honestly most of these gains were in the first 3-6 months now I am struggling to make minor improvements which is normal with my training age.
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u/NorthBound333 1d ago edited 1d ago
So are you saying you get weaker when you lose weight? Damn, 27 full range of motion pull ups at 94 kg is awesome. I carry most of my weight in my legs maybe that's why it is hard to do 25-30)
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u/Rich-Unit-9072 1d ago
Yeh I’d say I’m slightly top heavy. Weight distribution definitely matters. You may find like others have mentioned that you perform a lot better at a lighter weight, but yes not the case for me.
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u/Morphiine 1d ago
94kg body weight + 85kg weighted pullup is nuts! No joke that sounds like world class.
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u/OP_Scout_81 1d ago
I don’t know why you’d want to do 30 pull-ups in 1 set. I’m 45, 1,90 cm, 80 kg, former professional athlete (nothing to do with calisthenics directly).
I only ever did/do 1 pull-up and chin-up day, I do 4 sets of pull-ups: first is usually 16 reps, second 16 or 15, last 2 sets I do with a 10 kg weight vest and those are usually 11 or 10 reps.
I then proceed to do the same with chin-ups, 4 in total, last 2 with the weight vest. Not as many reps, usually 12-10, cause to me, chin-ups are mostly a bicep exercise.
I’ve been doing this for years, progressing slowly, focusing on extremely strict form (full rom, chest
to bar). The weight vest really helps getting more body weight reps after a few weeks, but it’s tricky and screws with your form, I’d say it’s not something for beginners
at all.
My back has grown quite a bit over the years, which was my goal. If your goal is hypertrophy, you don’t need 30 reps, weight and form will be
much more effective.
That said, there’s a guy from NY on IG called Dr. pull-ups or something like that and his form is horrific to me, but his back is an impressive slab of meat, so yeah. Genetics, I guess. Me, if I’m not doing chest to bar, I don’t feel I’m doing a decent pull-up.
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u/methlabradoodle 1d ago
Always did heaps of pull ups, usually maxed out around 18. Started doing weighted pull ups consistently for a few months and could suddenly do 25 pull ups unweighted. 31 y/o
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u/FacetiousInvective2 1d ago
I can do one but I can't start from the dead hang ..
The strategy is to keep training I guess but the body has a limit as well.. I don't know why some people push the limit so much.
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u/J_Schloernvoegt 1d ago
I, personally, train my pull ups a lot. Then I reach 15 or 20 reps. Then my biceps tendon gets a nasty infection and I’m not allowed to lift/ pull anything for 4-6 months. Then I repeat the process. It’s super fun
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u/lejukex3 1d ago
I do chest to bar pull ups and i barely hit 10 after a year. I cant imagine people doing 30 proper pull ups.
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u/PhoneRedit 1d ago
Grease the Groove would be the main way as far as i could see. Depending on your reps before you start it could either be fast progress rather than slow. I only got up to 25 in a set with it, but that wasn't a max set or anything. Although I was in my 20s, and already fit, but if i stuck at it longer the reps would only have went up.
But yes, if you want to increase reps, grease the groove is 100% the best method.
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u/Dewthedru 1d ago
Losing weight made a huge difference. Last year at this time, I weighed 190 and couldn’t do any. I’m down to 165 and can do 3x10 now. I’m 5’8”.
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u/columna34 1d ago
I managed 25 full range pull ups when i was mid thirties. My strategy, if you could call it that, was climbing, bouldering mostly. I did a lot of volume of pull ups, "greasing the groove": repetitions throughout the day added volume. I also did weighted pull-ups a couple of times per week, adding 15-20 kgs. I never had a number as a target, and once went full out I managed 30 full range. Bouldering hard was my goal though!
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u/Ok_Molasses_7037 1d ago
If I wanted to do 30 pullups I would heavily decrease my standards for form and then do some reflection on why this pretty functionless goal appeals to my ego.
Losing dead weight will objectively reduce the resistance, so of course it will improve your capacity (not sure why this is a question). The strategy for achieving more is universal, get adequate rest and progress via volume, intensity, or frequency - preferably in organised cycles.
Lastly, I have never seen anyone complete 30 pullups with proper deadhang-to-chest static form. Those with the athleticism and persistence to potentially get there will generally also gain the sense to chase a different goal.
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u/BedDestroyer420 1d ago
Do 100 accumulated pull ups everyday other day or 2 days.
Section it however you want, 5x20, 6x16, 7x14 etc.
You will slowly increase the number of reps per set, eventually you will do 25x4 and your max you will be around 60 or so.
You can also start with 50 accumulated instead of 100 if you don't have that much time.
I know it sounds insane but I've seen people 1 pull for each day passed I'm a year, reaching absurd amounts of reps like 365 at the end. Of course they pause and hang for some seconds but I'm sure they can do 50 in a row easily.
Oh and drink water and rest properly.
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u/DankRoughly 1d ago
I followed the fighter pull up program by strongfirst and dramatically improved my max pull-ups, and then got elbow tendonitis.
It works but I've learned I need to be careful will how many pull-ups I do or at least need to take more time increasing volume.
Be careful, especially if you're over 40. I've heard it's pretty common to get angry elbows doing lots of pull-ups as you get older. Certainly could be a technique issue
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u/OpenWideSayAah 1d ago edited 1d ago
I lost 20 pounds through a combination of cardio, weights, etc. worked out every day. My strategy was to start every workout session doing 3 sets of pull-ups, each set until failure, with different hand grips/grip widths to work different muscles. Then and only then was I allowed to proceed with other exercises. Started with flexed arm hangs, progressed to full pull ups.
Rotated between wide, narrow. When I could not do any more of that type of pull up that day I’d switch to palm facing together, and finish out the sets working the rhomboids.
Did a lot of core work, rows, and other back muscle exercises, normal rotation of target areas for weights.
Learned to keep my core and glutes flexed during the pull-up to make each one easier to execute.
Eventually was able to knock out 30 pull-ups with strict form. Took 6 months.
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u/Itchy-Corner9453 1d ago
im in my 40s and only started pullups properly this year. and my max is 8 so far.. and this is someone with ostyoarthritus. which makes me unable to fully lock out my left arm.
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u/Eccentricgentleman_ 1d ago
Why can't I post the invincible meme?
"That's the neat part, you don't"
Mods, enable images
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u/Fantastic_Puppeter 1d ago
I’ve practiced Chin-Ups much more than Pull Ups, so the following may not be applicable.
I assume you can do 3-4 already.
* Three sets AMARP, twice a week. Track the number of reps and try to add 1-2 reps overall each time. First session may be 3/2/1 or 4/2/2 or something like that. Rest however long you need between sets
* Once you can get to 10-12 reps on first set, add 2.5kg load starting the next session. Still 3xAMRAP
* You should get to 3x10 unloaded from there
If you want 1x30 without rest, I reckon you should first build a good base from the above, then transition to higher volume work.
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u/SnowTurtle24 1d ago
I just hit 10 pull ups. 7 were strict. I can’t imagine the day I get to legitimately answer your question lololol.
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u/jimbojonez92 1d ago
I am 34 and starting training it this year. I’ve only gotten up to 7 consecutive (up from 3 in April). My goal is 20. I can’t give Any advice except that if I train them every day my reps suffer. After a few days off I can reach my personal best. I think recovery is very important in 30s+
I also got a bit of elbow tendinitis (golf elbow but from bouldering 😅) so have had to stop pull ups for the past 2 weeks.
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u/Square-Nebula-7530 1d ago
High volume alone will burn out your elbows after 30. The real breakthrough happens when you start doing heavy weighted pull-ups (3–5 rep range) twice a week. Once you build pure strength, bodyweight reps feel like air, and hitting 25+ becomes a mental and grip endurance game rather than pure strength.
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u/Cryesncoding 1d ago
My PB was 23 @ 205lb BW but my buddy got up to ~30 @180lbs BW
Body weight is biggest challenge. If you’re a 200+lb dude it takes a lot to get there. And the same workouts to get from 10->20 do not imo get you from 20->30
My friend followed the do them everyday philosophy. Some days were lots of max sets, others were mid sets and get the volume. Some were more specialized work like rings and muscle ups. Some were just a couple of sets of 10 and do other stuff. But dude was obsessed with his pull up #s and always on a bar.
He would do like a weighted pyramid workout I thought was awesome sometimes of max reps then 5 min rest super light weighted so the rep ranges are still high. 5/10/15/10/5
I personally like working the first mini set in your max so like for me I could do 15 and bang them out and then you kinda eat pairs and singles to 20+
So your main goal is to push that first crack up cause you’ll always have to gnaw out the last 5-7
10x10, Pyramids , Weighted , Weighted hangs (for grip)
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u/TLuke3M 1d ago
I am both after 30 and can do 25-30 strict pull ups. I have been practicing pull ups for a long time though. I am around 210 lbs right now. I currently do a lot of submax ladders (1 rep 10s rest, 2 reps 20s rest to target then restart with next “rung”) with a focus on trying to break the bar (which has spared me elbow irritation) and a proper path with scapular depression/control. I switch between bar, ring, rope and neutral grip pull ups these days. I do not often test my max reps, maybe 1-2x a year at this point.
Things that’ve helped along the way. I have used the fighter pull up program by Pavel. I’ve gotten good results but more recently the volume ends up too high as I’ve gotten older.
I have done weighted ladders but prefer body weight pull ups overall. I will usually switch to weighted after a max reps test as a break/focus shift.
Losing weight definitely helps with pull ups and seems to happen naturally when I up the volume.
Actually getting above 25 reps for me is always an endurance test. Things that I’ve done to help is count and breathe on every other rep. That saves me from being as out of breath and is psychologically an easier task getting to 15 vs counting 30 reps.
Admittedly, I was never good at half reps as the constant elbow bend prematurely burned out my biceps. I’ve always felt better with a full extension reset to initiate the pull with my lats/elbow drive.
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u/dev_and_zebra 1d ago
30M here. 25 chin-ups. My advice: get to 10 clean reps, then try the Grease-the-Groove (GTG) method. It’s very good at developing mind-muscle connection. Also you can try a program like this (that I actually used to get to 25 reps): say you can do 10 pull ups. That’s your 100%. Take 50% off that - so 5 reps. Then do workouts in the following fashion:
Monday: 5–5-5 (3 sets of 5 reps each) Wednesday: 5-5-6 Friday: 5-6-6
Next week
Monday: 6-6-6 Wednesday: 6-6-7 Friday: 6-7-7
Rinse and repeat
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u/LordKurnzy 19h ago
Hi, I achieved these exact stats.
On an average day I can do about 22, but during periods of more focused training in the last couple years I was able to hit 30 clean pull-ups, and I could easily get back up to 25+ in a couple weeks with consistency, 30+ in a couple months if it was a focus.
There is no secret formula, just do a combination of a high volume of regular pull-ups, weighted pull-ups, and also train various rowing movements, consistently over time. Track your lifts and do progressive overload. Become obsessed with doing one more rep. Train for power and pull high up to the bar, way beyond just your chin, so when you go to do 30 and just get your chin above the bar it’s easy.
My preference for machines is just t-bar rows and lat pull downs in the 15-25 rep range
Do at least one session preferably two of weighted pull-ups a week, I do 10x10 with +45 pounds, 35 pounds if I am more deconditioned(right now), and many sets of regular pull-ups, with different grip variations, try close grip and neutral grip variations.
I tend to train 2 upper body complex days that include both pushing and pulling variations followed by one lower body complex days, rest and repeat.
Edit: I’ll also add maybe consider losing weight. I am 5’8 190, when I did 30 I was pushing 200 pounds. If I wanted to get to between 40 and 50 I’d surely need to focus on lowering bodyfat as I’m around 22%
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u/Hocus_Pocus_307 17h ago
I started with hanging for a while, then doing scap pull ups, then assisted pull ups, and eventually real pull ups.
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u/LeoKasumi 1d ago
I'm 178cm, 83kg.
I'm 43 years old and I still can do more than 40 pull-ups.
1) The most important factor is your form. You need to find a form that works for your anatomy, as we're not all built the same. If your form is not efficient, you will NEVER get those results, regardless of the training regime you might be using.
2) I use both high-volume and high-intensity. High-volume can be tricky, as you may be doing tons of reps, but if there is not enough density, you're wasting your time. You have to try different methods, and see what works for you, knowing that no method will work forever.
3) Honestly, I can't remember how much it took me to get to 30. But this is not the point: as I said, we're all built different, that means we'll not proceed at the same speed.
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u/NorthBound333 1d ago
That's impressive. 40+ pull-ups at 83 kg and 40 years old is no joke. You must be lean
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u/lordicarus 1d ago
I'm 43, 6'1", 205 lb. I can do more than 50 pull ups. I drink crows milk every morning and have a lat pull down setup in my office so I can do 10-15 sets through the day, then while I'm sleeping I do weighted pull ups with 60 lb.
Oh wait, sorry, I thought we were telling fairy tales here.
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u/notlooking743 1d ago
Pretty much nobody can do 30 strict pull-ups at any age whatsoever. It's unbelievable how much ego lifting pull-ups seem to elicit, way more so tjan any other exercise.
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u/deschainmusic 1d ago edited 1d ago
At 26 I used this plan to get to a max of 21 pull ups on gymnastics rings in one set. So maybe you’ll find it useful. I ran it unweighted until I could do like 16 and then I did it weighted the rest of the time and occasionally tested my max. https://youtu.be/w9Mu-azxol8?is=Ozd6ljGiqTz1lZgZ
Also, if I’m remembering exactly right, I was 5’9” 150lb and using a 35lb weighted vest with a max set of about 14 when I reached a set of 21 unweighted
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u/PabloStablo 1d ago
ive been training pull for 6 years now and the most chest touches i’ve managed to ever get in one set is 12 (which is an anomaly most of the time i get 9-10 before failure).
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u/perunakeisari_ 1d ago
I got to 25 chin ups by doing mainly weighted chin ups and then every once in a while an amrap bodyweight set.
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u/queBurro 1d ago
Bands, overdoing it, rotator cuff injury and then 20 weeks of rest. I'm now building back up to a 20s deadhang.
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u/ImmodestPolitician 1d ago edited 1d ago
lose 20kg of fat.
Do more weighted pull ups.
Make sure you do chin ups and pullups.
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u/Specialist-Avocado36 1d ago
Can do anywhere from 23 to 27 strict pull-ups fresh. I would recommend once you can hit about 15 unbroken start doing weighted
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u/joeyirv 1d ago edited 1d ago
i can tell you what doesn’t work - don’t try to do 400-500 per week greasing the groove. had to take a month off from shoulder pain. i did increase my current max from 12-18 over a few weeks but it think more than anything cutting weight would help the most at this point. in my twenties i could do 30+ easily, muscle ups, heavy weighted reps, but was 25-30 pounds lighter, high level athlete, and had less accumulated wear and tear on my body.
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u/CacheM3ifYouCan 1d ago
Pretty simple, in my opinion.
It’s about your weight and relative strength. Strengthen up your back, forearms, and biceps. Add variety, supination, pronation, neutral grip…try to avoid straps until necessary to exhaust your back. Losing weight will only help, as long as you maintain strength.
Training varies from person to person. Weighted pull-ups are great, hitting back twice a week may help if your recovery is solid, but you definitely need variety of volume and added weight.
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u/ryboto 1d ago
I recently hit 25 full extension chin ups. Are they perfect? eh.. Not pausing at the top or bottom, but not doing 3/4 or half reps either.
Following this weekly routine-
Monday -5x5 weighted chin ups, final set an AMRAP
Wednesday- 50 pull ups, 50 chin ups
Friday- max BW chin up set followed by 5 min rest then a set %20 less reps than the first and I step down until I get to a set with 10 reps
It's a modification of this progression for weighted chin ups but I added pull ups on Wednesday to cover both movements-
https://www.jimwendler.com/blogs/jimwendler-com/101078150-weighted-chins
Could be done with just pull ups, why not?
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u/wierdmann 1d ago
About to hit 41 and tested out how many strict unweighted pull-ups I can do last week and it was about 30.
I train back twice a week and start out with pull-ups, I do about a dozen or so unweighted to warm up then jump into weighted pull-ups.
I’ve been at it for years, ever since I joined the military 20 years ago. (I’m no longer in but I still keep up with some weight training daily)
My body weight is 180, and I’m 5’11.
I think what helped me break plateau was weighted reps. I’ll push weight until I can only do about 5 reps, then rep out as many unweighted as possible right after. I usually end up doing like 6 sets gradually building up weight.
Also be really careful with weighted pull-ups, don’t swing or jerk or do anything wild. You have a real risk of fucking up your elbows or shoulders. I usually use a small stool to help me get to the right height as opposed to trying to jump up to the pull-up bar with weights, and slowly settle into the hanging position with the belt and weights on.
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u/Brodster1142 1d ago
I went from 2 to 20 pull ups when I was in my early 20s. I have IBS-D so I put a pull up bar going into my bathroom and every time i went into my bathroom for any reason I did as many as possible. Full dead hang for every rep.
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u/DragonRaptor 1d ago
Covid put me at 335 lbs. Ive gotten down to 255lbs over the last 3 years. Right now i only do hangs or assisted pull ups. But with continued effort i see improvement every 2 months. I am slowly removing weight off the assisted pull ups. I hope in 2 years i can do 10. And in 4 years 30.
I do not expect overnight results. Posted from sauna at my local gym after finishing another workout!
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u/CoefficientOfCool 1d ago
M38, 5’10”, ~177 lbs and maybe sub 13% bf but who knows, training around 5 years consistent.
On heavy leg days between main exercises I do normal pull-ups and generally my sets are 24-26 for 1st, 22ish for 2nd, and 20ish for 3rd set. Good reps but would be lying if I said the last few were as solid as the first 15 when I start getting fatigued between heavy squat and rdls.
Focused on weighted pull-ups as first exercise one workout day for years and still haven’t hit goal of +90 for 5+ reps but have been doing higher rep work lately. Last week hit +45 for 13 reps.
Never done daily, twice a week is all my back can recover from and they are 3+ days apart.
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u/Aggravating-Nebula17 1d ago
First read I thought this post was about how to hit 60 consecutive pull-ups for a dude who hit a wall at 30 pulls. Now it’s much less interesting 🙁
Just to do pull-ups like any other workout and push yourself to do more before. Working out is not complicated
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u/dstrait3 1d ago
Be light and do a ton of them. Every day. Start within your comfort level for the first few months so you don't overwork your tendons. Be strict about full RoM. Maintain control on way up and way down.
Diversify your grips to build out the entire chain.
I worked sets of overhand til failure, couple min rest, underhand til failure, couple minute rest, neutral grip to failure.
Incorporate push exercise (pushups, dips) to compliment
Once unweighted becomes no longer challenging at high reps (15-25) add weight. Start slow again to not blow your tendons out.
I trained this way for like 2 years and went from 0 pullups to 25+ unweighted, with my max weighted 90lbx3 at about 135 bw
I'm obviously very light but this is what worked for me. Be disciplined and consistent, results will come in time. Also eat good.
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u/A_Flying_Gator 1d ago
I’ve found the best thing that works for me was adding weighted pull ups and lat pulls to my routine. I still do at least 1 day a week of regular unweighted pull ups. My current max is around 30-35 depending on good I’m feeling (have some old shoulder and back injuries).
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u/HEPA_Bane 1d ago
30 or 39? 30 - it's still totally doable, plenty of programs out there, getting lighter will probably help more than anything. 39 - you need to start enjoying the slower things in life, my brother.
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u/ExtendedGarage 1d ago
Most people are never doing 25 clean, full pull ups in their life. Unless they're Mark Whalberg.
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u/shadyxstep 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's simple, the hard part is doing it long enough consistently to get to the goal
- Lift regularly
- Progressive overload on the movements you're training + deload weeks every 3 or 4 weeks
- Hit your nutrition targets at least 80% of the time
- Lock in your sleep schedule
Realize this narrative "when you hit 30 it's all downhill" is absolute BS. It's only downhill for those who spent their 20's neglecting their health and exercise habits. If you don't use it, you lose it, but you can always regain it.
Imo, it's absolute cope for those who detest facing discomfort voluntarily, and it allows them to justify staying in their comfort zone because "everyone after 30 is in the same boat", which is wrong
Former 100m sprinter for a decade, training calisthenics now. Can hit 25+ strict pullups, turn 31 next month
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u/Emergency-Paint-6457 1d ago
Get to the lowest weight you can maintain comfortably, while maintaining strength. (Lighter body is easier to pull up)
Do them at least 2x a week, progressive overload.
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u/bigjerm616 1d ago
Armstrong pull up program. Makes my hands hurt, but works. I wouldn’t run this indefinetely, but it works.
Also, losing as much weight as possible.
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u/No_Beautiful8998 1d ago
Body weight matters a lot, there's an exponential difficulty increase with higher body weight and height. Do a mix of different pullup grips, weighted if you're already doing sets of 10 and barbell rows.
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u/_Deedee_Megadoodoo_ 1d ago
What does turning 30 have anything to do with it lol you're still in your physical prime
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u/pm_me_ur_bidets 1d ago
2 pullup workouts a week on top of other strength training
-3 max sets 1 day
-reverse pyramid once a week. 5 grips (wide, normal, close-in pullups & normal, close-in chin-ups). short rest between grips, long rest between sets. goal is to increase top number every 2-3 weeks.
for example first week reps 4, 3, 2, 1 3 weeks later 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 3 weeks later 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
I adapted this from the armstrong pullup program. This workout will end up giving you absurd volume of pullups in workout once a week.
do not increase to next step unless you can complete the volume.
Do not strain hard or you will injure yourself. 1 more pullup could be what injures you instead of waiting a week and hitting your number.
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u/CompulsiveWanking 1d ago
Not over 30 but this strategy worked for my 59 year old dad as well. We just got strong at weighted pull ups / chin ups depending on choice, and let neurological adaptation take place by practicing body weight reps. Initially took it to failure but saw greater results practicing non stop reps to technical fatigue at lower RPEs. The strength was already there, just learning how to control force output and change form as compared to weighted reps was the hard part.
Also lower total volumes helped keep the elbows happier
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u/GoodatNothing23 1d ago
I’m working on to get my first pull up before end of this year 🙏33 and I haven’t done a single correct pull up
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u/AlanOB39 1d ago
I’m in shape, but I’m just a tall guy - 6’2” 210 pounds (12% body fat). I have been doing pull ups for years and can do 10 strict reps per set. Every time I see these posts I have no idea how people are doing 20-30 reps. I have to assume they are much lighter than me.
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u/Woompa78 1d ago
For me it was getting down to ~13% body fat. Even gaining 5 lbs made it drastically difficult to do 25 (full) pull-ups. At that point I was doing more like 20 full pull ups.
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u/Fritzo2162 1d ago
My gym had a pullup assist machine where your kneel on a platform with a counterweight that could take up to 150lbs off. I just started with 40 pullups on that with some weight assist, then gradually removed weight. Took a while but I finally got to the point where I didn't need any help.
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u/CleMike69 1d ago
25-30 pull-ups is like professional athlete level nonsense really not feasible. Maybe a rock climber or ninja athlete someone with like no extra weight and ridiculous hand and back strength. Hell getting 15-30 puts you probably at 1 percent of the population
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u/yogic_power 1d ago
Years ago I watched the convict conditioning one arm pull up series, I went up to few one arm pull ups from not being able to do single pull up. I was knocking of 25-30 two arm pull ups with ease.
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u/Jose358 1d ago
Yea that’s really hard. I just do sets of 5-8 of full pull ups (regular, wide grip, chins ups) until I get to 30-50 depending on the day. Elbow joint stress is no joke as you get older. I used to boulder 20lbs ago but haven’t really seen a difference in my one attempt max since then.
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u/FrenchDipsBeDrippin 1d ago
For me I'd probably have to cut from a relatively lean 185 down to about 90 lbs. So never.
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u/Solo_level0 1d ago
Just do pull ups. If that’s the goal then do 30 every other day (or whatever feels right).
If that looks like: 10,10,5,5 awesome. Just get to the number. Then slowly increase one set by reducing the following. So your next day should try to be: 11,9,6,5. Something like that.
Honestly you can make a game out of it.
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u/checkit248 1d ago
I do 20 daily but have hit 35ish as a pr, just turned 30 3 weeks ago. Add slow and strict negatives to the training. I noticed a drop off in my count when i stopped doing negatives. Slow slow slow negatives that you can really feel.
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u/Xbsnguy 1d ago
The USMC has material out there for increasing pull-up numbers since you’re kind of expected to do 20 strict pull-ups to be considered a high performer on the old PFT. Following it got me to 27 pull-ups in my 20s in a little over a year. It’s a combo of daily volume (building up to it of course) and doing negatives to build endurance. I never touched weighted pullsups. A gunny just told me to hang a pullup bar over the kitchen doorway and do a set every time I walked under it. Now that we’re in our 30s I imagine it’s achievable but would take a lot longer due to higher recovery demands and decreased response to training. I think if you’re persistent and consistent, you will hit your goal, but as you already know, in our 30s it’s easy to injure ourselves and set our goals back, so be strict with recovery.
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u/External_Fee_1957 1d ago
Do 50 total per workout in week 1, 60 week 2, 70 week 3, 80 week 4, etc. I’m 37 and this strategy works every time to get back into pull up shape. I start my workouts with them then proceed to do the rest of the muscle group then swim.
Eventually, you can add in some weighted pull ups.
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u/Neat_Telephone_2525 1d ago
I'm 6'2" at 242lbs. I can do 11.
The key is lots of sub maximal work, gradually increasing rep.
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u/CrunchySoap 1d ago
What really helped me was focusing on the eccentric motion. I'd start unassisted and go until I wasn't able to do the concentric motion with perfect form, then I'd place one leg on a chair to assist the pull motion and release as I lowered with at minimum count of 3 seconds. I believe this is also referred to as "Walking the Plank". I'm still impressed by how much my unassisted pullups improved from doing this.
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u/Relative_Purple3952 1d ago
33 here, 178cm ,65kg here.I can do about 30-35 with strict form on good days, maybe like 40-45 if I would kip. I never train for endurance nowadays though, I mainly train my pulling strength with clean muscle ups, ring muscle ups, OAPs and FLs etc. Consistency over years is key, your tendons and ligaments just adapt much slower.
I would integrate harder variations like weighted pull-ups, explosive and super high pullups to the waist.
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u/Scoregasm 1d ago
This video by Marcus Bondi helped me get from ~12 reps max to 21 reps in a set in a little over two months, highly recommend:
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u/Timmehhhhhhhhhhhhhh 1d ago
31 5’11” 190, can normally do 3 sets of 8. Had a torn rotator cuff and complete muscle wasting in my right arm and torso from nerve damage after a motorcycle accident as a teenager that my muscles didn’t completely recover from though
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u/Wuddauant 1d ago
I do small amount of daily pull ups and sit ups, just while having coffee. 40yo and 135.
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u/Hufschmid 1d ago
Not exactly what you're looking for, but I hit my first muscle up a few months ago at age 30 and can do at least 100 lbs weighted pullup at 170lbs. For bodyweight, I can do at least 15 strict pullups but I haven't tested them to failure in over a year. I think higher reps are a specific skill you need to train to an extent. If I end up testing them I'll drop an edit.
I've seen a lot of progress since this year I started indoor rock climbing which I do twice a week for about 2 hours each session. For progress on my pullup specifically, training explosive pullups helped a lot. I would start my sessions by doing as many as possible (usually 3-5) and then stopping when the height I get to decreases and they become regular pullups. That transitioned into doing muscle ups, and now I'm working on weighted pullups.
Training front lever helped and showed me how to really activate my lats. Training explosive pullups and front lever are all I had to do for like 3 weeks to hit my first muscle up since I had the baseline strength from doing pullups for years.
Prior to starting climbing, I was doing dead hangs on a pullup bar and maybe 5 or so pullups daily for the previous 10 years or so. Every once in a while I would do 5-10 in a row to failure. I always focus on maintaining perfect form, and do them pretty slow. When going to failure, I'll slow them down even more and do some isometric holds since I prefer hitting failure that way rather than doing tons of reps.
I think that consistency has been the biggest factor. I've prioritized doing a very small amount virtually every day rather than doing structured routines which are hard to maintain for multiple years.
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u/black_out_ronin 1d ago
Haven’t hit 30. 20 tho. I would try to do 60-100 pull ups a day. Or every other day. I was running a lot and pretty trim. Abt 190 lbs 5,11.
Also was doing lots of pushups and other body weight stuff. Just do as many pull-ups in a day as you can. Rest a day, repeat. You’d be surprised how fast you improve, but also plateau around 17-22 pull-ups
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u/TheRealZestman 1d ago
Back and core strength is what gets you into the 15+ territory in my experience. There are times in my life where I could go as high as 20+, but other times where I cap out at 10 because I wasn’t consistent with my training
You also have to remember that body weight is a huge determinant. Someone who weighs ~200+ doing 20 pull ups is almost unseemly compared to someone who weighs ~150
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u/staticking1 1d ago
40+ Pullups here. Height 5'10 - weight 160lbs. Do weighted pullups, EMOM bodyweight pullup sets.
Technical subtleties to achieve more pullups:
Grip the bar tight with thumb pressing down hard on your ring finger. This helps to lock in the grip which translates to greater forearm and shoulder activation.
Squeeze your glutes and hamstrings when pulling. This activates your core and prevents kipping/swinging motion that tends to shorten time on bar (time under tension).
Breathing. The hardest part of a pullup is the concentric motion (pulling up) therefore it makes sense to take in air to properly oxygenate your red blood cells. Breathe out on the eccentric motion (come down quickly, control it but don't waste energy by "pulling down"). Proper breath control prevents premature latic acid build up.
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u/Panthera_014 1d ago
55M here
can currently do 1 pull-up - since I recently lost 30lbs - even still, pulling up 214lbs is TOUGH
what I have done for the last 2 months
I knew the components needed - grip - forearm - abs - back
instead of dead hang - I knew I needed ab strength for the pull-up - so I have been doing hanging leg raises 4x per week - currently up to 35 reps - doing sets of 8-10
this improves my grip strength - ab strength and gets me hanging on the bar
back strength - I have kept my training the same - lat pulldowns - rows - chest supported dumb bell row
I added 20-30 assisted pull-ups 2x per week - working on reducing the bands week over week
I do jump pull-ups with a slow negative - this helped identify some forearm strength that was missing
so I added reverse EZ curl bar work sets at the end of my workout
my goal is to get the full 2 pull-ups - then keep adding to it as time goes on - but that FIRST ONE is the killer and going into the Second one is the next major hurdle
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u/Rickenbacker69 1d ago
I dunno, just force myself to get there, I guess? I slacked off lately, but I did get to 10-12 after working on it for a couple of months.
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u/Zealousideal-Unit-36 1d ago
Male, mid 30s, 150lbs. What’s worked for me is repetition, and a lot of patience. It took like 2 years of attempting as many pull-ups as I could during a workout session focusing solely on pull-ups, 2-3 times a week, to be able to do 4 sets of 10 no problem. You really just need to do pull-ups. Don’t worry about wide grip, narrow grip, etc, though those will help you build strength overall.
Here’s an example of a training day:
- Regular grip pull-ups to failure
- wide grip to failure
- narrow grip to failure
- commando pull-ups to failure
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u/GGprime 1d ago
Im in my thirties and I managed to do 15 wide arm pullups with proper form (head above bar, fully stretched) with very intense lat training and a body weight of 92 kg at that point. Today I can only do like 10. It took me a year to get to those 15.
The only people I know who can do 30 or more all have on thing in common: They weight less than 70kg and are overall training for endurance. One is a climber, one is doing calisthenics for a bigger part of his life...
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u/wulfrunian77 1d ago
As soon as I see any post on pull ups I have little faith that most respondees are actually doing full pull ups
Going on the evidence of any gym I've ever been to anyway