assisted pull up machine, yay or nay?

[haus55]

This is not for aesthetics, it is strictly to be able to do pullups and chinups. I have heard conflicting advice from people at the gym im at. I can only do 2 chins and 2 pulls with my body weight. Will the assisted pull up machine help me or just help me to be able to do assisted machine pullups? How many reps, sets, etc? Thanks in advance.

[dparm99]

If you can't do bodyweight pullups then yes, I would use the assisted machine. Gradually reduce the amount of help you're getting from it until you can do a decent number of bodyweight ones.
3 sets of 8 - 12 reps would be a good start.

[Dunno_lol]

you can use a chair and do negatives too

[Bostongeorge617]

I started on the assisted machine. I started with a counter-weight that allowed me to do 10 reps. I had a goal of going up one pin higher every two weeks, which seemed pretty plausible to me. After the pull-ups, I then did the rest of my back routine, which also had the lat pulldown machine. After a few months, I had graduated to non-assisted. I now do weighted pull-ups. So it is definitely one method out of several that will work.

[Brandon_Cantu]

If you cant do body weight pull ups then i guess you have no choice but to use the assisted machine, but if you are able to do bodyweight then do it

[400Lb Gorilla]

well since you can do 2 start your pull/chin up sets doing as many as you can for the first set or 2 then go to the assisted machine. or just keep doing as many as you can for 3 or 4 sets then go on to the rest of your workout. your number will increase steadily over time.

[ucsumma]

Assisted machine is fine, just use it as a tool to get to body-weight and not as an end into itself (goal shouldn't be to perform X number of "assisted" pull-ups).

[Ironlife]

I dont like the assited pull ups machine much at all really, but thats personal opinion to the mechanics of the exercise..i would say each time you do pull ups even if you can only do one or two, try beat that next session and build up the endurance/strength.
The assited pull ups dont always carry over to the real deal.

[pezking7p]

I've been using the assisted pull up machine for a few weeks. I think it definitely feels different than unassisted, and -20 lbs on the assist machine isn't really the same as just reducing your body weight by 20lbs, because you will probably be pulling yourself up faster than the weight is pulling down for many of your reps, so it has more of a tendency to help you through weak points in your reps rather than actually reducing the weight you're repping.

That being said, 3 weeks ago I was only doing 4-5 unassisted pullups, and I just did 8-9 the other day, so they have definitely helped me move forward. In another 4-5 weeks I'll be off the assist all together and moving towards weighted pull ups.

[400Lb Gorilla]

I dont like the assited pull ups machine much at all really, but thats personal opinion to the mechanics of the exercise..i would say each time you do pull ups even if you can only do one or two, try beat that next session and build up the endurance/strength.
The assited pull ups dont always carry over to the real deal.

yeah but you work out in a prison in Mexico. you dont like any machines if i recall correctly

[Ironlife]

yeah but you work out in a prison in Mexico. you dont like any machines if i recall correctly

Correct, they can be useful but.. i dont like them.

[gomez26]

doing either pulldowns or assisted chinning will be a good enough tool with enough carry over to make it worth it & eventually use your bodyweight. once your muscles become strong enough u simply learn a new skill. big deal. it'll take u 1 or 2 sessions. dont believe tools who claim ur movement pattern will be permanently traumatized.

still, a good approach is to do a couple sets of 2 reps bodyweight after warmup then keep going for sets of 8-12 assisted etc.

This is not for aesthetics, it is strictly to be able to do pullups and chinups.

unaware?

[haus55]

thank you to all for the info

[BleedCardio]

I dont like the assited pull ups machine much at all really, but thats personal opinion to the mechanics of the exercise..i would say each time you do pull ups even if you can only do one or two, try beat that next session and build up the endurance/strength.
The assited pull ups dont always carry over to the real deal.

x2 on this.

[dizzay20]

do em until u can do BW pullups.

[missmauimac]

I started on the assisted machine. I started with a counter-weight that allowed me to do 10 reps. I had a goal of going up one pin higher every two weeks, which seemed pretty plausible to me. After the pull-ups, I then did the rest of my back routine, which also had the lat pulldown machine. After a few months, I had graduated to non-assisted. I now do weighted pull-ups. So it is definitely one method out of several that will work.

hey guys, i'm new. i was searching "pull ups" on google and came across this thread. i'm gonna try this and wean myself off the machine... i currently do 15x3 sets of assisted pull-ups and i hold myself up for 15 seconds after each set. but my goal is unassisted!!!

[HeavyMetalLover]

hey guys, i'm new. i was searching "pull ups" on google and came across this thread. i'm gonna try this and wean myself off the machine... i currently do 15x3 sets of assisted pull-ups and i hold myself up for 15 seconds after each set. but my goal is unassisted!!!

Just do assisted first. You'll get to the point of being unassisted eventually. Practice makes perfect!

[-Lucifer]

hey guys, i'm new. i was searching "pull ups" on google and came across this thread. i'm gonna try this and wean myself off the machine... i currently do 15x3 sets of assisted pull-ups and i hold myself up for 15 seconds after each set. but my goal is unassisted!!!

Use the machine, but try to do body weight chinups or pullups on your own as well. Cheat and try to do at least one rep. Then move on to the assist machine and crank out 8-10 reps.

[AGnity]

This is not for aesthetics, it is strictly to be able to do pullups and chinups. I have heard conflicting advice from people at the gym im at. I can only do 2 chins and 2 pulls with my body weight. Will the assisted pull up machine help me or just help me to be able to do assisted machine pullups? How many reps, sets, etc? Thanks in advance.

Since you are able to do 2 chins and 2 pullups with your bodyweight, I recommend you to do unassisted. 2 pullups will be your 1 rep. do 5-10 reps, 1 set as an accessory to your main lifts. If you feel tired, switch to chins mixed with negatives.

[ThePinsir]

also hit dem BB bent rows to build lat strength. keep at it!!

[Tyciol]

This is not for aesthetics, it is strictly to be able to do pullups and chinups.

The assist machine can help both.

I have heard conflicting advice from people at the gym im at.

What has been said?

I can only do 2 chins and 2 pulls with my body weight. Will the assisted pull up machine help me or just help me to be able to do assisted machine pullups?

The assist machine should be able to help you. For one, you can use it to warm up prior to doing your pull ups (whether you do it with prone palms-away or supine "chin up" palms-woard) and you can also do them after you are unable to do them anymore.

Since you are able to do 2 reps, you can keep doing them if you're afraid of losing them or something. I think if you just use some minor assistance to get up to a desired rep scheme, they won't be going anywhere.

How many reps, sets, etc? Thanks in advance.

This depends on what your goals are. If the goal is to be able to do pull ups, you said you've done 2 reps, so you've already met it. How many pull ups would you like to be able to do? Whatever that number is, set that as your minimum on the assist machine, and aim for a higher number. So say you eventually want to be able to do 20 BW pull ups, use enough counterweight on the machine so you can do that many reps, and stay on that resistance level until you can work up to... let's say 30. Then, substract some of the resistance (so you get less assistance) and keep working up to that again.

My guess is once you can do 30 with 10lbs of assistance (or however little the minimum is on those things) that 20 reps with BW would seem easy.

[CntryDwllr]

I just found this post. I was at the gym this morning and one of the staff were showing me some of the equipment. One was the Assisted PU Machine. I walked by it how many times and never had any idea what it was.

First he showed me the regular PU station - knowing I can't do 1 by myself, I brushed it off (there were about 10 other built guys around and completely intimidated). He mentioned the Assisted Machine, and I asked to see it.

OMG - thank god there's this thing!!! I felt IMMEDIATELY better about 'training' for a Bodyweight PU. I will be using this machine for a little while until I can do a couple BWs...

I will now be doing several more reps with the assisted until I can do a lower number.

[anonymous]

I use it as a warm up and I also throw in a couple of sets with less help since I prefer it to pulldowns, but at the moment I'm too heavy to do them on my own.

[cativo]

Love that machine, many different grips,great finisher I think. Good stretch and a really concentrated squeeze at the top, all form. Drop shoulders and focus on the lats throughout the entire movement. Great sets with that thing every time.Totally works well for me.

[sowilson]

And if you don't have access to the machine you can use bands for the assist. Assisted pull ups are real popular among football linemen. Between trashed shoulders and very heavy bodies most linemen are hard pressed to do a lot of pull ups (if any).