Does the Door Gym Pull Up bar work?

[kamper]

Height of the door frame is only an issue with some of the earlier bars. The newer ones that have more attachments, stick out further from the frame so the only issue would be your ceiling height.

I'm not understanding something about this. My bar is actually inside the door frame (had to get one that screws into the posts, since the ceiling is so low that there's no room above the frame for one of these removable ones to grab) but I don't have any issues with hitting the frame with my head. Maybe it's because I can't get high enough?

 

[skace]

I'm not understanding something about this. My bar is actually inside the door frame (had to get one that screws into the posts, since the ceiling is so low that there's no room above the frame for one of these removable ones to grab) but I don't have any issues with hitting the frame with my head. Maybe it's because I can't get high enough?

I assume you'd have to put it lower to do that, so I'd probably touch the floor kneeling if mine was setup that way..

 

[chusteczka]

My NJROTC instructor in high school mentioned to do a pullup every time I passed the pullup bars. It takes repeated effort to gain the ability to do pullups. They are definitely not easy. The normal routine of taking a few days between pullups for recovery is not needed since we do not really "burn" or "tear" the muscles involved. The body is heavy and the reps are few. Therefore, the more often we do the pullups, the better.

I run to the nearby park and do pullups on the monkey bars. Then I throw my feet up on one of the rungs so I hang in a position similar to an upside-down pushup position, so I can pull my body weight with a different set of back muscles.

I am still learning these movements and am definitely not an expert at them.

 

[clemsyn]

I love pull ups, chinups and face palm pull ups with my Iron Gym. It slowly cut some fat off my gut and my back is pretty impressive. It also developed a bit of my shoulder, chest and had great impact on my biceps. BTW, my grips are also dang impressive. I only do my pulls ups indoor since wifey considers doing it outdoors as a show-off.

The only problem I have are the wide grip pull ups. It hurts my left shoulder and I can't do it from a full hanging position, I only go down about 1/2 since I get a sharp pain if I go down more. With chin ups, face palm and narrow grip, I have no issues with.

I'm increasing my reps to 15 (doing 12 right now) and it is not easy but will-power does it for me (no creatine or protein bar, just lots of meat and fruits). Goodluck in your Iron Gym. It is my only exercise at the moment and save me money from the Gym. Maybe I'll try to do some running once my allergies get better to trim off some of the fat

 

[KlokWyze]

Love my pull up bar. Couldn't do a single full pull up for awhile, but after consistent work I can now do 9 full pull ups, wide grip without any aid. I do have to double check form though and keep my swing under control. I swing worse on chin ups though....

 

[BlackTigers]

The normal routine of taking a few days between pullups for recovery is not needed since we do not really "burn" or "tear" the muscles involved. The body is heavy and the reps are few. Therefore, the more often we do the pullups, the better.

So when I max out my squats, does that mean I can do them 10 minutes later because my muscles aren't torn?

The bar is heavy and the reps are few, btw.

 

[darkxshade]

What do ya'll reckon is a better goal for pullups, should I go for quantity @ bodyweight or should I go for strength(weighted at low reps)?

Doing grease the groove, basically I do a set everytime I gotta go to the bathroom. I do typically from 5(workdays)-10(weekends) sets/day.

One thing I found which is a bit irritating is that I get sore(DOMS) everyday as a result of doing pullups which is a pain in the ass.

 

[kamper]

What do ya'll reckon is a better goal for pullups, should I go for quantity @ bodyweight or should I go for strength(weighted at low reps)?

[brikis]What are your goals?[/brikis]

Doing grease the groove, basically I do a set everytime I gotta go to the bathroom. I do typically from 5(workdays)-10(weekends) sets/day.

One thing I found which is a bit irritating is that I get sore(DOMS) everyday as a result of doing pullups which is a pain in the ass.

How long have you been doing them for? That usually goes away after a week or two at most of doing a new exercise.

 

[darkxshade]

For pullups, no goals really... which is why I'm not sure which aspect I should be going for. Both being able to do more and pull heavier are both desirable to me.

Been doing GTG for about a month.

 

[brikis98]

If you have no goals, then it doesn't matter what you really choose... However, you'll probably find that your progress slows dramatically after passing ~20 consecutive pull-ups. The advantage of weighted exercises is that you can precisely alter the load by adding as little as 1-2lbs, which might let you make progress for a longer time.

Oh, and the point of GTG is to let you do a large volume of the exercise without overwhelming your body's recovery abilities. If you are constantly sore and the soreness isn't going away after a month, then you might be doing too much and your body isn't able to recover fast enough.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

My NJROTC instructor in high school mentioned to do a pullup every time I passed the pullup bars. It takes repeated effort to gain the ability to do pullups. They are definitely not easy. The normal routine of taking a few days between pullups for recovery is not needed since we do not really "burn" or "tear" the muscles involved. The body is heavy and the reps are few. Therefore, the more often we do the pullups, the better.

I run to the nearby park and do pullups on the monkey bars. Then I throw my feet up on one of the rungs so I hang in a position similar to an upside-down pushup position, so I can pull my body weight with a different set of back muscles.

I am still learning these movements and am definitely not an expert at them.

Pullups are a fairly strenuous activity on the body. If you're doing a pullup at body weight, you should compare that to doing bench press at body weight. Is that going to stress your muscles so that they need recovery? For most, it is. The reason you can do more pullups (or do heavier weight) is because you ARE creating microtears in the muscles, connective tissue, etc. If you do pullups throughout the day, then it's bit more broken up and the damage is progressively repaired by the body. However, if you do 3 sets of 10 in a sitting, you may very well need to take a day off to prevent stress injury. It's not like running where the load is so low that you could quite possibly do it every day. There is a much higher load and therefore a muscle lower failure point for stress injuries. Those just beginning a program involving pullups need to keep that in mind so as to not injure themselves.

 

[zCypher]

Some good info in here, I was also thinking about getting the door gym since I have a small place and don't feel like getting gym membership again. Back when I went to the gym, I started I couldn't even do 1 rep.. after a few days though I improved significantly. now as it stands, i will definitely suck, been sitting around too much doing nothing. anxious to get back into shape!

 

[kamper]

For pullups, no goals really... which is why I'm not sure which aspect I should be going for. Both being able to do more and pull heavier are both desirable to me.

Same for me. My plan is to keep on going with gtg as long as I seem to be making progress. I'd like to be able to do 20, although I'm a ways off still. Having never used weights, I'm not sure if I'd even find it enjoyable. Certainly less convenient than gtg without weight.

 

[KlokWyze]

Pullups are a fairly strenuous activity on the body. If you're doing a pullup at body weight, you should compare that to doing bench press at body weight. Is that going to stress your muscles so that they need recovery? For most, it is. The reason you can do more pullups (or do heavier weight) is because you ARE creating microtears in the muscles, connective tissue, etc. If you do pullups throughout the day, then it's bit more broken up and the damage is progressively repaired by the body. However, if you do 3 sets of 10 in a sitting, you may very well need to take a day off to prevent stress injury. It's not like running where the load is so low that you could quite possibly do it every day. There is a much higher load and therefore a muscle lower failure point for stress injuries. Those just beginning a program involving pullups need to keep that in mind so as to not injure themselves.

Thanks for offering info in contrast to that. Since incorporating pullups I've decided to do 3 sets every other day and have had regular improvement over the past couple months. It didn't make sense to me to have muscle growth without tear then rest periods....

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Thanks for offering info in contrast to that. Since incorporating pullups I've decided to do 3 sets every other day and have had regular improvement over the past couple months. It didn't make sense to me to have muscle growth without tear then rest periods....

No problem. If you follow the Grease the Groove (GTG) method, then things are a bit different since you're doing so few reps per set. However, like I said, if you do it in one big burst, you should take some time for recovery.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Where are you guys getting the door gym? I could use one at work.


I forgot how hard pull ups can be at first. I've been cranking out wide grip pull ups for so long I don't even think about it

 

[chusteczka]

In my personal experience, I have never experienced a burning in any other muscles similar to the intense burning that can be felt in the Quadriceps. Again in my experience, the only muscles that come close to the quad burning is the calves and the biceps. For this reason, it is normal to take a break of 3-5 days between leg workouts.

I have never felt burning in my back, shoulder, or arm muscles after pullups. Also, if I max out pullups one day, I can easily return the next day to do more pullups. If I max out my quadriceps one day, I definitely need the next day to recover. There is a difference in how these muscles behave and the recovery time they need. However, maybe this is just me since I exercise recreationally and am definitely not a regular at any gym.

If I max on pushups one day, I can return the next day to do more pushups. Although I am weaker and not able to do as many. In this regard, pushups are similar to pullups.

Even the Armstrong pullup routine advocates repeated daily exercises with five straight days of pullups to be followed by two days off. Of course, time off is needed for the back muscles to repair themselves but there is a difference from the leg muscles in recovery time. I attribute this difference to "the body is heavy and the reps are few" that I mentioned earlier.

With weight training, it is possible to precisely lift a specific weight to exhaust the muscles. The weights can then easily be changed to further exhaust the muscles for subsequent sets. For exercises based on body weight such as pushups and pullups, it is more difficult to exhaust the muscles with such precision. I have found this leads to a shortened recovery time. Maybe this experience is different for other people, I am not sure.

 

[skace]

Where are you guys getting the door gym? I could use one at work.


I forgot how hard pull ups can be at first. I've been cranking out wide grip pull ups for so long I don't even think about it

This is my current one and I'm pretty sure I got it from amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Total-Upp...1866843&sr=8-7

I like it because it sits very high on the door frame and is less likely to move around. It also has a lot of grips. Although I am starting to see some wear on the foam, similar to my previous one.

 

[ibex333]

I just want to add that I recently purchased the "Perfect Pullup" from newegg. At the low price it was selling for, I simply couldnt resist, even though I dont usually fall for such thigns.

Anyway, this thing turned out to be a real deal. I can really FEEL it giving me a great workout every time, and the rotating handle motion makes the exercise feel more natural. Sometime I dont turn the handles and just do pullups as I would be doing them on a regular bar. What's really nice about the Perfect Pullup is that it also allows you to do "Australian Pullups" which are a nice addition to anyone's workout.

Although the Perfect Pullup was very hard to install because of my appartment's solid steel doorframes and concrete walls, I am almost ready to forget all that, after being able to do an extra pullup already after week's training. ; )