Almost done with stage 6, and no chin-up

CaraBeth · 06-08-2009, 10:38 AM

I admit that I really wanted to be able to do a chin-up after stage 6. I did my fourth workout A on Saturday, so I'll be done with the remaining 3 workouts (B-A-B) by the end of this week. Sadly, I can't do a chin-up. I can do the negative chin-ups for 20+ seconds, but I confess that I never actually added weight because my gym doesn't have a belt I can use and I didn't look into buying one. For the underhand grip pull downs, I used 105lbs in workout 4 (with the 15second rests), but that's still almost 30lbs from my body weight. (I had managed to bump up the weight for the last few reps to 110 and even 115 in the workouts with longer rest periods, but the with 15 second rest I was all set with 105!)

Did anyone repeat stage 6 in order to be able to do a chin-up? Do you have any suggestions for exercises to add that might help? Or should I just move on to stage 7 and come back to this at some point?

Aoife · 06-08-2009, 11:27 AM

You could just work on the pullups.
http://www.stumptuous.com/mistressing-the-pullup

Flyingdogs · 06-08-2009, 01:46 PM

*bookmark* - excellent article.

CaraBeth · 06-08-2009, 01:51 PM

!hanks! Maybe I will just move along but try to add in some of those exercises (I know, some of you are snickering, "she thinks she's going to add exercises on to stage 7?! bwhahaah she doesn't know what she's in for.") We'll see. I would love to be able to do a chinup someday!

galya · 06-08-2009, 03:52 PM

You know, you can add weight by placing a small dumbbell between your feet/ankles, you don't need a belt. Some people grab a DB between their knees, too.
In my experience, using resistance bands to learn how to do chins or pullups has been the best so far. Your gym might have bands that you can hook on the bars, or just grab your own band at resistancebandtraining .
You can use a heavy mini band or medium band to start.

newdawn · 06-09-2009, 06:59 AM

I also really wanted to do the chin-up and didnt' make it by the end of Stage 6. Still can't do it. I am similar to you in stats. 130#, could do the negative for over 20 seconds and lat PD 95lb. It's something for me to continue to work on and it's good to have goals to keep you motivated. I thought I'd work on it during Stage 7 on cardio days too. But I could barely do cardio on cardio days during Stage 7 b/c Stage 7 is quite "cardio" in itself. I'm onto NROL original now, so we'll see. I'm off to check out the recommended article.

p.s. I used a backpack to put the weights in for the negatives.