Pull-ups number decrease significantly

[bergignon]

Hi !

I have been training pull ups for a few months, and i tested my max on a bar recently and I hit 9, which is very good for me especially because I was wearing pretty heavy clothes which make me think I can do around 11-12 normally.

The thing is that the way I train my pull ups is 4x4 ( getting to 4x5 was at 4-4-5-5 before this whole mess ) with 5 pounds added. Everything was going fine until I plateaued for a week or two. Around that time I know that I was doing a lot of pull ups on my rest days too which definitly was very bad for my recovery but I still doubt it explains why the problem lasts till now.

Last week, I was getting frustrated because my pull-ups and dips both plateaud, when other movements were all progressing super fast. I was told to deload which I did. Over the week I trained twice and cut the volume and intensity in half.

Today I came back and guess what, every single movement feels amazing, even my dips which were plateauing, except for the pull ups. I barely did 2x5 with no weight.

So I made a post about all of this on another website and people told my yeah check your nutrition and sleep and bla bla bla and everything is in check. I know because of the fatigue I might have accumulated with all the pullups and no rest I might have been overtraining that movement a bit but right now I don't know what to do. I'M thinking to stop pull ups for a week right now but I have no idea what to really do. By the way I train full body one day out of two and generally come back stronger every session. Every movement is 4x5 and 3 minutes between sets.

I am 14 and a guy and I weight 112lbs for 5'5/5'6 ( I know I'm underweight but I started out at 90lbs )

Thank you in advance for the advice and sorry for the length of the post

EDIT : Forgot to mention that I have been training outside on rings which is a big change since I worked out inside with a pull up bar before

[TolerantLactose]

Ring pull-ups are more difficult than with a bar.

You've gained 22lbs.

Pull-ups are hard to progress at the best of times.

[bergignon]

Ring pull-ups are more difficult than with a bar.

You've gained 22lbs.

Pull-ups are hard to progress at the best of times.

Yeah but why is it that when I first put my rings I would do around 10 unweighted. Should I take a break from them to let my body fully recover ?

Also sorry if I sound rude English isn't my first language

EDIT : I also tried my max on the bar and I could do 6

[TolerantLactose]

It may be that that first time was a really good day. Or that you were really excited because it was your first time on rings. Or today was a really bad day.

Honest answer: I don't know.

Real honest answer: It doesn't matter. Just keep going.

[SuffolkPunch]

You have basically honed your neural efficiency to a point that it might be hard to improve further...

You may find it hard to get much further without making a conscious effort to gain muscle in your lats and biceps.

To do that, just do more sets without constantly hitting failure. Do that 3x a week or so.

Most importantly eat some protein rich foods - enough to gain weight. This sounds contradictory - but some of the best people at pullups are pretty hefty guys

[bergignon]

It may be that that first time was a really good day. Or that you were really excited because it was your first time on rings. Or today was a really bad day.

Honest answer: I don't know.

Real honest answer: It doesn't matter. Just keep going.

Ok so I think what I'll do is start at 2x5 and add a set until I hit 4x5 then at that point put the weight again.

[bergignon]

You have basically honed your neural efficiency to a point that it might be hard to improve further...

You may find it hard to get much further without making a conscious effort to gain muscle in your lats and biceps.

To do that, just do more sets without constantly hitting failure. Do that 3x a week or so.

Most importantly eat some protein rich foods - enough to gain weight. This sounds contradictory - but some of the best people at pullups are pretty hefty guys

So you think I should train hypertrophy ? I heard that it can be beneficial for strength training. Should I try a 3x8 rep scheme or something like that ? If so, for how long and should I do it for all my movements ?


On the nutrition side for exemple I just ate a three eggs + two slices of bacon with cheese and two toasts for lunch

[bergignon]

So you think I should train hypertrophy ? I heard that it can be beneficial for strength training. Should I try a 3x8 rep scheme or something like that ? If so, for how long and should I do it for all my movements ?


On the nutrition side for exemple I just ate a three eggs + two slices of bacon with cheese and two toasts for lunch

In the end all I want is to get back to my normal pull up strength because IDK why I am stuck at 50% power

[bergignon]

I do think rings are a lot harder, should test the difference between rings and normal

6 on the bar i use to do 9 . All i want is to know what to do to fix it

[SuffolkPunch]

So you think I should train hypertrophy ? I heard that it can be beneficial for strength training. Should I try a 3x8 rep scheme or something like that ? If so, for how long and should I do it for all my movements ?


On the nutrition side for exemple I just ate a three eggs + two slices of bacon with cheese and two toasts for lunch

Yes.

But that doesn't automatically mean a specific rep range. It just means you do more volume - by which I mean more hard sets. The rep count doesn't matter - in fact you have no choice with pullups if a set of 5 is already hard for you. You just take each set to 1-3 reps before failure - and keep track of the total sets you do in a week.

[bergignon]

Yes.

But that doesn't automatically mean a specific rep range. It just means you do more volume - by which I mean more hard sets. The rep count doesn't matter - in fact you have no choice with pullups if a set of 5 is already hard for you. You just take each set to 1-3 reps before failure - and keep track of the total sets you do in a week.

Ok sorry for being annoying but in that case how could I go back to my previous strength and get back to the two digits pull ups

EDIT : Like I know some of the basics of training but I am still very unexperienced and I haven’t quite got to the place where I can correctly listen to my body and know what’s best for me and my recovery. All I know is that I can’t have lost strength and I don’t know what’s holding it back

[bemegc]

Gaining strength and mass doesn't happen in a linear fashion, and you definitely need to gauge your body and adjust to how you feel on a given day. You won't break PRs in every workout.
Until you learn to correctly listen to your body it will be trial and error to a large extent. That only comes with experience.