Pull up question

[Neilfenstein]

I started last week and have added my log to the progress tracker and have just completed my second day one.

I have never been able to do many if any pull-ups so I do a little jump and pull the rest of the way, I then lower myself as slowly as I can. I mix this with 3 body rows.

I found body rows too easy as I was resting my feet at the bottom of the door frame to make sure I didn't slip. Today however, I put my heels the other side of the frame so I was pulling more vertically upward. This is better it feels like I doing a lot more.

Is the pull-up thing I am doing enough to count as 1 rep or must I do 3 of these as they are also considered as subs? If I should do 3 what is better?
1) Carry on using just the harder body rows on L1.
2) Do my "Semi pull ups" but move up a level so I do more push ups and squats as I will be able to do less rounds due to the harder pull ups.

I will add my progress so far in the other section but to help with the answer to this question,
L1 D1 - 22 reps (about half and half pull-ups/body rows (3 for each pull-up I would have done))
L1 D2 - 5.16 with a reasonable rest period between sets (not counted) again mixed body rows.
L1 D3 - 4.30 Body rows

Today I did L1 D1 and did 25 reps.

Many Thanks in advance.

Neil.

[Ruli]

welcome to SF neil - i'll trust you'll enjoy the program as much as what i do.

unfortunately i cannot answer you on your body row/sub question, as i have never done them. one thing that you can consider though is doing chin-ups (if you're not doing them already, in which case my advice will not help.)

a chin-up is when you grab the bar with you palms facing towards your body.
a pull-up is when you grab the bar with your palms facing away from your body.

if you are doing pull-ups as described above, try chin-ups - it's way easier and you mind find that you'll actually be able to do it.

if you're already doing chin-ups, then unfortunately i cannot help you.

[Viking Dan]

Try doing negative pull ups for that part of the circuit. Get into the top and lower yourself for a 10 count. Each neg counts as 1 rep.

When you find these easy, start doing *strict* full pull ups and switch to negatives only when you can't finish the numbers for the round you're on.

[volleyball_man]

Mix it up. Don't do negatives very often or you'll over train. I ended up with severe elbow pain from these. Just keep going and test yourself now and then to see if you can do it. If you have a lot of weight to lose, this will help. After I took off my 50lb vest of fat - pullups became WAY easier

[Neilfenstein]

Thanks for the help guys.

I have done my second full week last week, check my logs for more details (went snow boarding in between) this was at level 1.

I completed day one with 27 reps and I was quite surprised that the three times I have done day one I have improved each time. I am doing 3 body rows for each pull-up this is done using a towel over my Powerbar door pull up machine thing, with my feet about foot the other side of the door this allows me to keep the angle more horizontal but still pull myself to my chest (I watched the cross-fit body row tips videos to make sure I was doing the best version I could with my set up).

I managed with body rows to do D3 in 4 mins. I was going to level up and do level 2 today but I after reading the last post on here I am not sure whether to stick with L1 until I can do a 'Proper' pull up or if the increased level will help me lose weight and get stronger to do the pull up quicker. What is your advice what did you do did it work?