how many pull-ups - avg./typical U.S. // fit 50-yr-old man ??

[DuracellBunny]

This is good stuff. I was ignorant of the square cube law until now.

If you want to see an easy demonstration, look at spiders. The bigger a spider is, the thicker it's legs are in proportion to it's body. If the larger species of spider had the same proportions as the smaller ones, their legs wouldn't support their own weight.

[Mark1T]

If you want to see an easy demonstration, look at spiders. The bigger a spider is, the thicker it's legs are in proportion to it's body. If the larger species of spider had the same proportions as the smaller ones, their legs wouldn't support their own weight.

Except Grand-Daddy Long-Legs Spiders. However, they obviously don't lift

[DuracellBunny]

Except Grand-Daddy Long-Legs Spiders. However, they obviously don't lift

They go the other way and make the body really light

Humans know this subconsciously. If you look at somebody at a distance, you judge their height based on their proportions, as we know that taller people tend to be narrower compared to their height. People that lift are thought to be shorter at a distance or from photos and people get a shock as they get closer.

[BJE]

Something else to consider is that taller men tend to have longer arms as well and the longer the arms the greater the leverage disadvantage. A short man should have it easier when doing pull-ups than a tall man. Probably why gymnasts are generally short.

As far as weight is concerned, adding weight should help equalize things. I'm doing weighted chin-ups rather than pull-ups, which of course are somewhat easier, but I'm 6'3", 175lbs so when I add 70lbs weight to my chin-ups it's as though I weigh 245lbs. So I would expect that a man of my height who weighs 245lbs should be able to do as many as me if he has the upper body strength that I have.

However most of the 245lb. men I know are that weight due to fat mass rather than muscle mass. Therefore they can't do chin-ups.

[Palmac]

No joke, I've seen this twice now in the space of a few weeks.

I can dip my own body weight + 40kg for 5 reps but have a 1RM squat of 110KG. Yet I've seen a couple of "bigger" guys who were squatting 170KG+ but performing weight assisted dips -35kg

Body weight exercises are a a great measure of relative strength surely?

Yes! I personally think that mixing in some body weight movements to any program is a good move. Chins, dips, pulls, hand stand presses (supported), push ups. How much more do you need? In the summer its great to get outside and train.

[congore]

Size and height does play into pull/chin ups, but the biggest factor is just doing them. I run 5x10 chin/pull (I vary each set) between 5x10 ring dips as assistance work once a week. I'm 6 feet and 204 lbs. as of last Sunday morning. Biggest issue with pulls/chins is that most don't want to put in the work to build them up. You put in the pain, then you get the gains.

[chriswatton66]

Which type of pull up, though, any?

I ask because reverse grip pull ups are relatively easy (and close grip even easier), but wide grip pull ups where the back of the neck reaches the bar are much more difficult..

[ElrondHubbard]

Which type of pull up, though, any?

I ask because reverse grip pull ups are relatively easy (and close grip even easier), but wide grip pull ups where the back of the neck reaches the bar are much more difficult..

I see no need to go to the back of the neck. What I do is 3 sets of moderately wide grip overhand pullups followed by 2 sets of close-grip chinups. I take each set to failure. I feel like for me, it distributes the activation of both the lats and the biceps more evenly. I do them 3 times a week, first day with 35 lb plate, second day body weight, third day back to 35 lb plate. It's very slow progress, but I am improving. YMMV.

[Twox2]

One more data point. I turn 62 in March.

After three sets of seated cable pulls, I throw in one set of overhand pull-ups. I can typically do 8 or 9 depending on muscle fatigue and how little (or much) rest between sets. I was curious how many I could do "fresh" since it had been years since I tried. I got 13, but I think I could do a little better if I did a little warm up. Maybe 15...

When I was in college I could do 22+. I'm about 5' 8" and less than a buck fifty, so I probably have an advantage...plus, I've lifted since age 15 with a couple year break in my forties. We'll see how long I can keep this going...

[Jason193]

I'd imagine the average would be very close to 0.

Should be at least 5.

I'm 45 at 203Lbs and I can do about 2 sets of 12.

As I slowly approach the big 5-0 - I'm curious to know what my answer will be when I'm there!

[Mark1T]

I'd imagine the average would be very close to 0.

Should be at least 5.

I'm 45 at 203Lbs and I can do about 2 sets of 12.

As I slowly approach the big 5-0 - I'm curious to know what my answer will be when I'm there!

Nothing should change if your training does not change. You might get stronger.

[wilson987]

I'm 57 years old, have been weight training for 14 years. I weigh 240 pounds and can do 12 sets of 10 body weight pull-ups in 30 minutes - start the next set every 2.5 minutes. Being strong and fit at this age is all about discipline, consistency, form, eating right, and most importantly avoiding injury.

[jogle66]

I'm 65 years old 5'9" 185 pounds, I do pull-ups on my aerobic days. Yesterday I did 180 good pull-ups and ran 3 miles in 40 minutes. I've been training forever.

[GnomusMaximus]

Lots of posts in this thread so sorry if these are up. i love Kilgore's stuff.

http://www.lonkilgore.com/freebies/m...ards_small.pdf

[drudixon]

Something else to consider is that taller men tend to have longer arms as well and the longer the arms the greater the leverage disadvantage. A short man should have it easier when doing pull-ups than a tall man. Probably why gymnasts are generally short.

As far as weight is concerned, adding weight should help equalize things. I'm doing weighted chin-ups rather than pull-ups, which of course are somewhat easier, but I'm 6'3", 175lbs so when I add 70lbs weight to my chin-ups it's as though I weigh 245lbs. So I would expect that a man of my height who weighs 245lbs should be able to do as many as me if he has the upper body strength that I have.

However most of the 245lb. men I know are that weight due to fat mass rather than muscle mass. Therefore they can't do chin-ups.

No, gymnasts are shorter due to the exponentially greater torques required to complete a flip, revolution etc due to the larger circumferences of each maneuver being larger.

I wrote a whole long thing on why kipping is bad with math and physics.

[Cantplankwell]

I think Im the stat you are looking for;

At 48 175lbs I could not even do 1 . I wanted to get stronger after my miserable experience at a spartan race struggling with anything requiring overhead strength, could not pull myself up over the 6' or 8' wall, or do the ring swings, or hand over hand on the horizontal ladder.

I am 50 now. I can do maybe a couple of sets of 1, since Now I am an novice weight trainee for the last several months.

I have dicked around since I started training for the last 18 months trying different things, like crossfit, oly lifting etc but nothing focused on my lack of upper body strength.

I am giving the 531 a try, I am doing chins and pull ups on a couple of my days as my accessories. I need to focus on this.

[jamest2k]

I'm 49 and 185lbs. Can do three sets of 10, but hate doing the third set. Most people I see in the gym are using weight assisted machines, even young guys.

Great back exercise, no doubt

[DarrylCalgary]

Greetings -

I was wondering ...

How many pull-ups do you think the average 50-year-old American male can do?

And how many pull-ups do you think a fit 50-year-old male should be able to do?

In part idle curiosity, but mostly trying to set a reasonable target for myself.

Thanks,

- Richard

Definitely 0.


When I started doing P90X at 49 I could do 6 and before 90 days were up I was doing 17.

BUT, I never got good at maintaining that over 30 minutes.

First time 17 and went down from there. After 30 minutes I was likely back to 6-8.



At some point I stopped for a number of years because it hurt my elbow too much.



Three weeks ago I started doing them again after a 3-4 year break and I do 8-10. Again ... don't have great endurance with them but I'm also not pushing it. Tennis pain sucked.

[DarrylCalgary]

I'm 65 years old 5'9" 185 pounds, I do pull-ups on my aerobic days. Yesterday I did 180 good pull-ups and ran 3 miles in 40 minutes. I've been training forever.

180 - that's bloody insane!!!!!!!!!!

[DarrylCalgary]

No joke, I've seen this twice now in the space of a few weeks.

I can dip my own body weight + 40kg for 5 reps but have a 1RM squat of 110KG. Yet I've seen a couple of "bigger" guys who were squatting 170KG+ but performing weight assisted dips -35kg

Bodyweight exercises are a a great measure of relative strength surely?

I have also been surprised to see dudes doing weight assisted pullups and I've seen them do other things that confirmed they were pretty fit guys.

[wilson987]

I'm 65 years old 5'9" 185 pounds, I do pull-ups on my aerobic days. Yesterday I did 180 good pull-ups and ran 3 miles in 40 minutes. I've been training forever.

That's awesome. Sounds like you're in the top 1%. I believe fitness is the key to enjoying life as you age. I'm stronger and in the best shape of my life ar 57. My goal is to still be able to bench 350 at age 60 and truly believe I will make it with the right strategy and discipline. Stay strong!

[TomB7777]

I just knocked out 25 wide grip pull-ups from a dead hang on my second set today. I did a warm up set of 12 a few minutes before that.
I'm 54 years old and this is the most consecutive pull-ups I have ever done without stopping. It really helps that I've lost 30 pounds since July.
Currently weigh 159 down from a max of 189. I usually start my back and biceps day with pull-ups,

[DavidinTexas]

Greetings -

I was wondering ...

How many pull-ups do you think the average 50-year-old American male can do?

And how many pull-ups do you think a fit 50-year-old male should be able to do?

In part idle curiosity, but mostly trying to set a reasonable target for myself.

Thanks,

- Richard

I'm 65 years old. I've been working out 2-3 times a week for about 15 years. Today at the gym I did unassisted dips and unassisted pull ups. Dips--three sets/15 reps each set. Pull ups--three sets/15, 16, 10.

[grubman]

I just knocked out 25 wide grip pull-ups from a dead hang on my second set today. I did a warm up set of 12 a few minutes before that.
I'm 54 years old and this is the most consecutive pull-ups I have ever done without stopping. It really helps that I've lost 30 pounds since July.
Currently weigh 159 down from a max of 189. I usually start my back and biceps day with pull-ups,

Will rep you...if you post a video!

At 48 I did 14 (wide grip, touching chest to bar) this morning just to see how many I could do un-weighted (usually I work in the 7-10 rep range). Of course, this was after legs, so I probably could have gotten out 1 or 2 more on the first set if I was fresh.

[gregmildenhall]

Well I just did 20 for the first time ever in my life. I turned 50 in January.

See it here goto my fb page fitn40nutrition

[OldFartTom]

Well I just did 20 for the first time ever in my life. I turned 50 in January.

See it here goto my fb page fitn40nutrition

At first, I was slightly puzzled/irritated to see such an old thread get bumped (although reading some of the old comments there's some interesting stuff there).
But then reading you've got to 20, well done!! Worth bumping an old thread for that one, big congratulations

Do you have any particular tips from your progress or anything that has worked best for you (variety of grips? high frequency?)
Plus, how long did it take you to get from say doing 5 to doing 20 ?

[SurfSteve]

I can do 20 if I cheat and do them like most guys but if I go all the way down I can only do 15. When I was in my teens I did 23, going all the way down. My arms were pretty scrawny back then and I was much stronger than I looked. Now a days the opposite is true... Part of getting old I guess.

[Gabbar99]

At first, I was slightly puzzled/irritated to see such an old thread get bumped (although reading some of the old comments there's some interesting stuff there).
But then reading you've got to 20, well done!! Worth bumping an old thread for that one, big congratulations

Awesome. And I found a video of his feat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZio278IKGI

[loopy51yr]

I do 4 sets of 5. I am 51 and I’ve got a 2 tears on my rotator cuff and damaged long head bicep tendon.

[gregrankin]

I'm 5'7", 158 pounds and 62 in April. My max is 15. So anyone willing to put in the work and is sufficiently motivated can ramp up the reps, no matter their age.