Post by jonathan on Feb 10, 2005 22:54:28 GMT -5
The Monkey Maker: Developing Absurd Pull-up Power By John Allstadt, RKC
In my last article I discussed a few of the tension and muscle recruitment techniques that one can use to considerably increase their pull-up power. With just a few minor tweaks in form to an already simple exercise, you can easily increase your pull-up numbers by 10-20+ pounds after just a couple of workouts. And if you combine these high-tension techniques with sensible set and rep schemes and several months of consistent training, you will be pleasantly surprised at your strength gains.
Within a few months to a year, you should come to a point where you can do a minimum of a couple of sets of 5 pull-ups with a 50 pound plate hanging between your legs. You now have two options. Option 1: continue on your path of standard pull-ups. For many people, this is a perfectly acceptable path. You can develop tremendous strength and a huge wingspan using good old-fashioned pull-ups, a weight belt, and a heap of weight. However, if your pull-up ambitions are on the obsessive-compulsive side, I would suggest Option 2: Develop absurd pull-up power. How do you do this? The Monkey Maker. Yes, I realize it’s a ridiculous name, but its also an appropriate name, because a lot of hard work on the Monkey Maker will give you the pull-up power of a Chimpanzee.
The Monkey Maker
The idea behind this system is simple. Alternate two heavy pull-up days with a day or two of rest between them. On one pull-up day, perform heavy weighted pull-ups or chins for 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps. Make them heavy and close to failure, but do not hit failure. I highly recommend switching your grips around on the heavy pull-ups. Each heavy workout switch between curl grip chins, regular pull-ups, parallel grip chins and towel chins.
The other pull-up workout is where things get interesting. On these days you will perform a pull-up movement designed to increase speed and explosive power. As the weeks go by these special pull-ups will become increasingly more difficult, and of course more fun. Don't make the mistake of trying to progress at a set pace, take your time and really master each exercise before moving on to the next one.
Special pull-ups
1. Speed pull-ups: Using a regular pull-up grip, pull yourself up to the bar as fast as humanly possible. Perform a fast but controlled negative, and at the bottom of the pull-up switch gears like a flash and pull yourself up again. Pausing at the bottom of the exercise will defeat the purpose, so really try to explode out of the bottom as quickly as possible. Perform 8-10 sets of 2-3 reps, 45 seconds between sets, BODYWEIGHT ONLY. When you feel that your pull-up speed has improved significantly, try the next exercise.
2. Ballistic pull-ups: Same idea as the Speed pull-ups, except that at the top of the pull-up you will actually release the bar for a split second, catch it, perform a fast but controlled negative and explode out of the bottom for your next repetition. If you do it right, the shock of catching the bar will prime your muscles in a big way for your next rep, making it even more explosive than the first. As with the speed pull-ups, perform 8-10 sets of 2-3 reps, 45 seconds rest between sets. CAUTION: If you do not have enough speed and explosion yet to release the bar at the top, you will know it! Don't kid yourself by doing the movement half-assed. Go back to Speed pull-ups for a while and improve your speed and explosiveness before attempting the Ballistics again. When you are a master of Ballistics, move on to...
3. Muscle ups on the pull-up bar. This movement is an ugly beast! Pull yourself up as fast as possible, and as your chin goes over the bar, give a quick flip of the elbows, a quick push up, and you will be in the finished position. Your bodyweight will be supported by your palms pushing into the bar, just like the finished position of a parallel bar dip, only on a pull-up bar. Unlike the muscle up on rings (a tremendous exercise in its own right), which is an exercise in tension, the muscle up on pull-up bars is all about a huge explosive pull and a quick flip of the elbows. When you can do 8 sets of 3 muscle ups with 45 seconds rest between sets, your pull-up strength will have increased tremendously, and it will be time to attempt one of the toughest and most result producing exercises you will ever do.
4. Monkey Jumps. This is the King. The end all be all. Master these and you will have developed more upper body pulling power than is necessary for virtually any life situation. First, you will need the proper apparatus, a set of inclining monkey bars. The exercise itself is simple: Facing away from the bars, you pull yourself up with such an explosion that you literally leap to the next bar and catch it. Then leap to the next bar, then the next one, etc. Try 8-10 sets, terminating each set before you miss a rung on the Monkey Bars. I first read about this idea in a book by Alan Calvert, in which he describes a professional strongman who used Monkey Jumps to develop the most phenomenal pulling power Calvert had ever come across; eventually this man got to the point where he could leap up several rungs of the Monkey bars at one time..... and he finally developed the ability to leap up them with EITHER HAND!! When you can do that, give me a call. I've always wanted to meet a real live mutant.
To Sum it all Up
Minimum pull-up ability of bodweight+50lbs for 2 sets of 5 reps. One heavy day, 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps. One special pull-up day, 8-10 sets of 2-3 reps, 45 seconds rest between sets. Rest one or two days between pull-up sessions. And that is it. Welcome to the Monkey Maker!
In my last article I discussed a few of the tension and muscle recruitment techniques that one can use to considerably increase their pull-up power. With just a few minor tweaks in form to an already simple exercise, you can easily increase your pull-up numbers by 10-20+ pounds after just a couple of workouts. And if you combine these high-tension techniques with sensible set and rep schemes and several months of consistent training, you will be pleasantly surprised at your strength gains.
Within a few months to a year, you should come to a point where you can do a minimum of a couple of sets of 5 pull-ups with a 50 pound plate hanging between your legs. You now have two options. Option 1: continue on your path of standard pull-ups. For many people, this is a perfectly acceptable path. You can develop tremendous strength and a huge wingspan using good old-fashioned pull-ups, a weight belt, and a heap of weight. However, if your pull-up ambitions are on the obsessive-compulsive side, I would suggest Option 2: Develop absurd pull-up power. How do you do this? The Monkey Maker. Yes, I realize it’s a ridiculous name, but its also an appropriate name, because a lot of hard work on the Monkey Maker will give you the pull-up power of a Chimpanzee.
The Monkey Maker
The idea behind this system is simple. Alternate two heavy pull-up days with a day or two of rest between them. On one pull-up day, perform heavy weighted pull-ups or chins for 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps. Make them heavy and close to failure, but do not hit failure. I highly recommend switching your grips around on the heavy pull-ups. Each heavy workout switch between curl grip chins, regular pull-ups, parallel grip chins and towel chins.
The other pull-up workout is where things get interesting. On these days you will perform a pull-up movement designed to increase speed and explosive power. As the weeks go by these special pull-ups will become increasingly more difficult, and of course more fun. Don't make the mistake of trying to progress at a set pace, take your time and really master each exercise before moving on to the next one.
Special pull-ups
1. Speed pull-ups: Using a regular pull-up grip, pull yourself up to the bar as fast as humanly possible. Perform a fast but controlled negative, and at the bottom of the pull-up switch gears like a flash and pull yourself up again. Pausing at the bottom of the exercise will defeat the purpose, so really try to explode out of the bottom as quickly as possible. Perform 8-10 sets of 2-3 reps, 45 seconds between sets, BODYWEIGHT ONLY. When you feel that your pull-up speed has improved significantly, try the next exercise.
2. Ballistic pull-ups: Same idea as the Speed pull-ups, except that at the top of the pull-up you will actually release the bar for a split second, catch it, perform a fast but controlled negative and explode out of the bottom for your next repetition. If you do it right, the shock of catching the bar will prime your muscles in a big way for your next rep, making it even more explosive than the first. As with the speed pull-ups, perform 8-10 sets of 2-3 reps, 45 seconds rest between sets. CAUTION: If you do not have enough speed and explosion yet to release the bar at the top, you will know it! Don't kid yourself by doing the movement half-assed. Go back to Speed pull-ups for a while and improve your speed and explosiveness before attempting the Ballistics again. When you are a master of Ballistics, move on to...
3. Muscle ups on the pull-up bar. This movement is an ugly beast! Pull yourself up as fast as possible, and as your chin goes over the bar, give a quick flip of the elbows, a quick push up, and you will be in the finished position. Your bodyweight will be supported by your palms pushing into the bar, just like the finished position of a parallel bar dip, only on a pull-up bar. Unlike the muscle up on rings (a tremendous exercise in its own right), which is an exercise in tension, the muscle up on pull-up bars is all about a huge explosive pull and a quick flip of the elbows. When you can do 8 sets of 3 muscle ups with 45 seconds rest between sets, your pull-up strength will have increased tremendously, and it will be time to attempt one of the toughest and most result producing exercises you will ever do.
4. Monkey Jumps. This is the King. The end all be all. Master these and you will have developed more upper body pulling power than is necessary for virtually any life situation. First, you will need the proper apparatus, a set of inclining monkey bars. The exercise itself is simple: Facing away from the bars, you pull yourself up with such an explosion that you literally leap to the next bar and catch it. Then leap to the next bar, then the next one, etc. Try 8-10 sets, terminating each set before you miss a rung on the Monkey Bars. I first read about this idea in a book by Alan Calvert, in which he describes a professional strongman who used Monkey Jumps to develop the most phenomenal pulling power Calvert had ever come across; eventually this man got to the point where he could leap up several rungs of the Monkey bars at one time..... and he finally developed the ability to leap up them with EITHER HAND!! When you can do that, give me a call. I've always wanted to meet a real live mutant.
To Sum it all Up
Minimum pull-up ability of bodweight+50lbs for 2 sets of 5 reps. One heavy day, 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps. One special pull-up day, 8-10 sets of 2-3 reps, 45 seconds rest between sets. Rest one or two days between pull-up sessions. And that is it. Welcome to the Monkey Maker!
