can I build biceps with just a pull up bar?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

long story short, I cancelled my gym membership and will have to make do with just an iron gym chin up bar for now.

my stats - 5'11" 180# lean (probably 10-12% bf)
my gym habits a month ago, were 2-3x a week. i was doing 1.5x bw on bench, 1.75x bw squats, 2x bw DL.
I can do 20 clean pull ups non-stop.

obviously i'm not looking to pack on a ton of muscle in my arms, but will I be able to at least maintain or gain slight size/strength?

i plan to do 100 reps total every other day, with mixing up the grips.

[pauldun170]

yes

[SociallyChallenged]

That should be fine, but definitely shouldn't be the only thing you do while you don't have a gym membership. Look into things like the front and back levers, one-arm chin-up, and complete various other body weight resistance movements.

[alkemyst]

Chin ups are more effective to build biceps than a pull up IMHO.

[Koing]

Originally Posted by alkemyst

Chin ups are more effective to build biceps than a pull up IMHO.

Indeed.

If you can hit 20 properly they should be a decent size anyway. I'd mix it up a bit. Try and do them weighted. Put some water bottles/ weights in a back pack and do them like this. Try doing slow reps on the way up and on the way down as well.

The front lever stuff is also fun to do.

Koing

[MarkHunt]

Yes you can but it is not going to be enough for maximum results.

[BlahBlahYouToo]

i've done 3 workouts so far with just the bar. i did palms facing me, away, facing each other, mixed grip, and threw in towel pullups to engage the forearms.
doing about 120-130 reps per workout.

i'm getting a healthy sore in my bi's and lats, but don't know if I'm actually packing muscle on the guns.
going to add some weights this week.

[Baked]

120 to 130 per workout? 20 clean w/o stopping? I'm gonna need to see some pics of your entire body front and back, because I find it hard to believe with your stats you can do that. Video of you doing a set of 20 pull-ups non-stop will help as well.

[SilthDraeth]

Keep in mind that humans are built for endurance naturally, going for power over endurance is going against nature a bit.

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally Posted by SilthDraeth

Keep in mind that humans are built for endurance naturally, going for power over endurance is going against nature a bit.

This is a ridiculous comment. We are able to perform at higher levels on the animal spectrum in the endurance field, but that does not mean we don't have effective systems for speed, power, and strength. And what does "going against nature" here even mean? Don't train at all because we're not as effective as other animals? No, that means train MORE to be BETTER so you suck LESS. That statement is like saying people don't have wings so flying is going against nature. No, it's called we compensate via action.

And in today's age, endurance is a particularly useless skill in all honesty. Yes, it grants many health benefits, but so does power training (HIIT, strongman training, circuit training). In addition, most things in life that matter significantly require short bursts of anaerobic, non-endurance activity. Oh, late for the bus? You're not gonna start your 15min mile pace to get there. Someone trying to fight you? Fights end in under 60s in most situations. I hate when people downplay strength and power. It's one of the most applicable systems we have for survival. If we had to hunt our food down and run for 6h to get it, then endurance would clearly be at the top of this list. But considering the invention of the supermarket was quite a long while ago, I'm gonna say that endurance exercise is less useful as a direct tool to interact with your environment that being strong and fast.

[alkemyst]

Originally Posted by SilthDraeth

Keep in mind that humans are built for endurance naturally, going for power over endurance is going against nature a bit.

Did your PE coach tell you this so your parent's would drop the lawsuit against the school?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally Posted by Baked

120 to 130 per workout? 20 clean w/o stopping? I'm gonna need to see some pics of your entire body front and back, because I find it hard to believe with your stats you can do that. Video of you doing a set of 20 pull-ups non-stop will help as well.

Not all Americans are fat and out of shape, contrary to popular belief.
I have nothing to prove to you or anyone on this board and could not care less if you believe me.
E-cred lol.

Oh and keep in mind 120 reps does not mean 6 sets of 20. Towards the end I'm doing like 5 reps.

And an unexpected benefit?
My abs are sore as fuck. Feels awesome.

[Lamont Burns]

Originally Posted by SilthDraeth

Keep in mind that humans are built for endurance naturally, going for power over endurance is going against nature a bit.

Correct, except only the complete opposite of what you just said is true.

[spamsk8r]

Weighted chins will get you sick guns. Do them like you would do squats or deadlifts: heavy. I would probably shoot for 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps, based on your current stats. If you hit the full 12 reps on each set, increase the weight next time. Pretty simple and effective progression, IMO.

[SilthDraeth]

Originally Posted by Lamont Burns

Correct, except only the complete opposite of what you just said is true.

Really? I admit to being less informed than quite a lot of the members here.

But this article would seem to agree with me. Note: I didn't track down and read their sources.

http://discovermagazine.com/2006/may/tramps-like-us

Also, after reading the other replies, I guess my comment did come across as pretty damn dumb but it wasn't meant to imply we can't train for power or anything.

It just seemed the OP was doing a set of exercises that he had already reached a plateau as far as "power" was concerned, and had just been building crazy endurance.

Originally Posted by SociallyChallenged

This is a ridiculous comment. We are able to perform at higher levels on the animal spectrum in the endurance field, but that does not mean we don't have effective systems for speed, power, and strength. And what does "going against nature" here even mean? Don't train at all because we're not as effective as other animals? No, that means train MORE to be BETTER so you suck LESS. That statement is like saying people don't have wings so flying is going against nature. No, it's called we compensate via action.

And in today's age, endurance is a particularly useless skill in all honesty. Yes, it grants many health benefits, but so does power training (HIIT, strongman training, circuit training). In addition, most things in life that matter significantly require short bursts of anaerobic, non-endurance activity. Oh, late for the bus? You're not gonna start your 15min mile pace to get there. Someone trying to fight you? Fights end in under 60s in most situations. I hate when people downplay strength and power. It's one of the most applicable systems we have for survival. If we had to hunt our food down and run for 6h to get it, then endurance would clearly be at the top of this list. But considering the invention of the supermarket was quite a long while ago, I'm gonna say that endurance exercise is less useful as a direct tool to interact with your environment that being strong and fast.

Thanks. I definitely value your very informed advice here. I didn't mean to imply that humans can not train or build power. I should have expanded my thoughts like my points above the text I quoted from you.

[alkemyst]

Originally Posted by SilthDraeth

Really? I admit to being less informed than quite a lot of the members here.

But this article would seem to agree with me. Note: I didn't track down and read their sources.

http://discovermagazine.com/2006/may/tramps-like-us

Also, after reading the other replies, I guess my comment did come across as pretty damn dumb but it wasn't meant to imply we can't train for power or anything.

It just seemed the OP was doing a set of exercises that he had already reached a plateau as far as "power" was concerned, and had just been building crazy endurance.

That article really doesn't prove the statement you made, it only supports human endurance allows it to beat all other animals over long distance.

[SilthDraeth]

Originally Posted by alkemyst

That article really doesn't prove the statement you made, it only supports human endurance allows it to beat all other animals over long distance.

The main point of my comment was about humans being built for endurance. Obviously I misspoke about the other part as pertains to strength training, which I thought I addressed in the reply you are replying too.

So I agree with you.

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally Posted by SilthDraeth

Really? I admit to being less informed than quite a lot of the members here.

But this article would seem to agree with me. Note: I didn't track down and read their sources.

http://discovermagazine.com/2006/may/tramps-like-us

Also, after reading the other replies, I guess my comment did come across as pretty damn dumb but it wasn't meant to imply we can't train for power or anything.

It just seemed the OP was doing a set of exercises that he had already reached a plateau as far as "power" was concerned, and had just been building crazy endurance.



Thanks. I definitely value your very informed advice here. I didn't mean to imply that humans can not train or build power. I should have expanded my thoughts like my points above the text I quoted from you.

I didn't mean to sound like an ass or embarrass you, but I've heard things like this before and it misleads people. Yes, compared to animals our size (for example chimpanzees or gorillas), we are not strong, but we can train to be better.