Nice bro. I haven’t done pull ups in agggeessss, I’ll have to have a play around with some of these techniques. Growing my arms is one of my main goals right now 💪🏻
I’m 65 and I have had two major shoulder surgeries on my left shoulder and I have a bad right shoulder ever since I switched to neutral pull-ups. I have not had any shoulder issues. My shoulders don’t bother me like they did doing regular pull-ups and I can still do some kind of form of pull-up, I think switching from regular pull-ups to neutral pull-ups is a smart idea for anybody over the age of 60 especially if you’ve had shoulder issues so far so good I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Thanks for posting this great video.
Another brilliant video. Hey man, not that you don’t already probably know, but just wanted to say that I think you’re a powerful and effective communicator, the way you explain and teach is detailed, hands on, and simple to understand. Reassuring and experienced guidance is hard to find and very much appreciated. Can’t wait for the book! (Please include an audio version!)
@@Jstuckey hey thank you I really appreciate that! I've spent a lot of time working on that over these last few years, everything from trying to improve the writing to practicing speech drills everyday so I'm glad it's showing through!
@@Jstuckey so excited the author copy should be shipped out soon then I just have to check it over and it won't be long after that! That's a great idea I'll have to see if I can work on something like that! If not right away then somewhere a little down the line. I'd probably try to book some real studio time for that. My current setup is just a mic in the closet with shirts draped on the walls haha, works okay but could be better!
@@teodorstojkovski4948for writing it's mostly been just constantly trying to do better every time for a long time. I've read something like 'your first 100k words won't be good, but you have to try to make them good, and eventually you'll start writing quality stuff" or something along those lines haha. For speaking it's a lot of articulation and vocal warmup drills, just stuff I took off youtube. I think more than anything it's just working at it, more than any specific drills being important. One thing I started doing recently that's actually ridiculously and unexpectedly effective is to read stuff with a pen between my teeth. It sounds so dumb, but it works like magic, I'll try to find a link to a vid of it
Neutral grip pull ups have stood the test of time. I pay attention to the exercises the meatheads in the gym in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s still do. If they can do them, make or maintain progress and it makes their joints feel good it’s a perfect exercise in that aspect. Much like how many older lifters will eventually switch to a high bar and hip width stance squat. Good video!
That's a smart way to do it! I've actually been really surprised by how much volume I've been able to do with these. High rep circuits with neutral grip pullups 4-5x a week for months and no overuse issues at all so far!
@@foretell6819Depends on one’s individual hip structure, but generally speaking, no. It’s shoulder width apart. You should go to Catalyst Athletics YT library and look up the videos ( they are under 3 minutes and very thorough) for finding your optimal squat stance.
Im a heavy guy (240lbs) pullups have always been a challenge for me. I started doing 10-20 sets of 2-3 pullups EMOM style and it has greatly improved my arms, back,shoulders along with making everything else just alittle easier.
@@thestonecircle it gets really tough. But, when I specialized in it, I would do it 2x a week on my barbell days. The other days are bodyweight circuits with sandbag and farmer carries.
@@bassmuscle101it might seem counterintuitive as a heavy guy, but you should aim for daily pull ups. You don't need a ton, I aim for 3 sets daily with a few reps in the tank each set. That got me to 11 pull ups at 300lbs. If I ever take a few days off my pull ups regress rapidly.
I just want to say thanks, I started sandbags around 4 months ago. I'm 17 150 lbs, and I just did 150 lbs shoulder sandbag carry. It's really the first time I've felt strong on lifting anything. Thanks for the tips and motivation!!!
I recently switched from Pronated pull ups and Chin ups to Ring Neutral Grip Pull ups and not only it is painless, I felt my upper back and lats being worked more unlike the regular bar pull up and chin up where I can only feel my arms. What a goated exercise!
Neutral grip pullups are far superior than any other grip. This might sound like a hot take but what it really comes down to is the most muscle recruitment and ability to push past failure because of that. This also is the healthiest variation for pullups when on a fixed bar. If you want to enhance longevity on the joints even further, performing them on the rings is undoubtedly the king. I'm glad you're living proof of a segment of this. If it isn't too much to ask, I'd love for you to test this out on the rings next to know what YOU think about it! I had my fair share of years of experimentation per grip at a time and I'm 100% sure you will arrive at the same conclusion I have. All the best!
Hey heck yeah neutral grip is the best!! I used to train a lot with ring pullups, the only reason I don't now is because my ceilings are so low I had to attach the pullup bar to this power rack upside down, so with the added rings my knees hit the ground at the bottom of every rep. When I move out of this place I'll definitely be getting back into ring stuff!
@@thestonecircle I see! I'll be following your progress I'm genuinely interested with this kind of deal where you stick to one movement pattern and squeeze out every adaptation and information out of it. You seem to be getting sick results so stay injury free and continue to enlighten us!!!
A fun thing to do once and awhile is do weighted N.pullups (heavy) 2-3 rep max for 10-12 sets around 30 sec rest. Then drop the weight and crank out regular pullups. With your brain dialed into the weight you launch up or do a muscle up easy.
Any kind of close grip pull-ups build the biceps like no other, a penitentiary routine for arms is a close grip chin up then tricep dips superset 20 sets till failure.
Great video. Pull-ups/chin-ups are some of my staples. It's no stretch to estimate I've done close to a million throughout my life. It's not super often, but from time-to-time I'll throw neutral-grips into my workout. I never considered the benefit of bars vs rings as you framed it. Definitely gonna need to implement that more. As someone who has done so many pull-ups for so long, there are three primary elements that I would suggest playing around with once you've mastered the basics. 1. Explosiveness: this can be very valuable for power and athleticism in particular and will definitely provide carry-over to sandbags. It might not be as intuitive as plyometric pull-ups, but can still be done to great effect. Just control the eccentric, which brings me to number two. 2. Tempo: playing around with speed can be a great means of improving control and endurance. There's certainly a time and place to go fast, but also to go slow. 3. ROM: one of my more killer workouts is my 1.5 pull-ups complexes. I don't have a good name for it that's not a misnomer, so bear with me. You do 1-6 full range-of-motion pull-ups (depending on your level; I usually do 4 or 5); then alternate half-way up followed by another full ROM for the same reps; next alterating all the way up, half-way down, back up, then full ROM, and repeat for the same reps; finally a finally set of full ROM. All of this without dropping. It's a fun little challenge that should make you stronger and increase endurance. There are other means of enhancing pull-up strength and endurance, of course (weighted, greasing-the-groove, etc.), but this comment's already way too long. 😅 Anyway, loving the videos, my dude. 😎👍🏻
Oh, two last things (I know I've already rambled a ton). By coincidence, I actually did a little neutral grip pull-up challenge yesterday. Maybe I'll upload it sometime. Second: I love how you perform tucked pull-ups. I rarely see people do them, but they can be a great alteration for pull-ups. 👍🏻
Nice I'd love to see it! The tuck has been a nice way to mix things up lately! Really stresses that bottom position, lets me know quick if my shoulders are as mobile as they should be haha
Ha man, thanks for all the great videos, keep it up. I v been lifting sand bags for 6 weeks now thanks to you and my body has transformed already, it bloody wicked I love sandbag. I am lifting 75kg up to shoulder quite well so got 100kg bag and lots of work to do, looking forward to it. Thanks again. Peace
Over time Neutral Grip has become my favorite pullup variation. My shoulders feel best with it. I never thought of it as having carry over to sandbags, but ever since I got humbled by the 250 lb bag I now have a new side quest 😤😂 I agree man, the brachialis is an epic muscle and I feel powerful the more I develop it. It was something I really tried to emphasize when I did a few training blocks focusing on arm wrestling.
It's so hard to top it, feels awesome on the joints, builds the arms in the best way, what's not to like! YES that's the best kind of side quest, I have no doubt if you decided to go for it you'd do some really crazy things with sandbags!!
Nowadays, i mostly do conventional deadlifts, barbell squats, bench press and weighted neutral grip pull-ups, the best choice i did for my fitness life. Sprinting too. The ultimate combination.
Thank you for your contribution. I frequently got tendonitis from overhand pull-ups and switched to neutral grip quite a while ago. I don't dare to even try to go back to overhand grip because it also seems to mess with my carpl tunnel issues (on both hands).
Great video bro I watched till the end before commenting lol. I do think the neutral grip pullup is the most underrated variation among the basics (pronated and supinated/chins) but honestly I think it's actually the best among the three. Safer on the joints, wrists, and gives the most emphasis on the lats (one of the drivers of the V taper aesthetic) and maybe some little arm work too.
Heyy OG here! Thanks for sticking around all this time! I think it makes a big difference taking the time to respond to everybody. It's a good time investment but seeing all the awesome transformation stories, I feel truly honored!
Serenilite Flexible Resistance Bar For “tennis elbow” really helped me . They come with a print out of exercises and I still use them as part of my warm up. For reference I’m 6’2” 245 and rep chins with 2 plates. These things are cheap and cleared me up. Cheers.
Another awesome video! 1:32 I think so, too. My theory (strictly bro science, though) is that heavy weights set the best stimulus for growth but don't foster the supply with oxygen and nutrients via the blood so much, while on the other hand moderate weights, lifted for relatively higher reps, may set a less intense growth stimulus (at least per time unit there is less mechanical tension) but stimulate the blood flow and hence the nutrient supply way better. 4:18 Ok, I definitely need a stronger bear hug. So I really could do with a fixed neutral grip pull up bar, because just like with rings, with my round slings I can't really squeeze my forearms together. Thank you for this absolutely logical training hack 👍
I think if it hasn't already it won't be long until that theory is tested and found accurate! That contraction can actually get pretty intense! Nice for the little extra edge
If you have planche aspirations, I recommend learning supinated back lever first, and also training dumbbell Zanetti press, or if you lack a bench, you can do a variation from the floor that actually isn't any easier. It depends on your body, but generally if you can Zanetti press 33% of your body weight for a few reps, you can hold a supinated back lever. A bit less is necessary for a pronated back lever.
@@thestonecircle If you can Zanetti press 40 to 70% of your bodyweight (it's different for different people), you can Maltese, so somewhere between the back lever number and this should be planche. Back lever, planche, and Maltese are variations of the same thing, using the same muscles, and the dumbbell Zanetti press simulates all of them. A Maltese is just a really wide planche. When it reaches maximal wideness, it becomes a Maltese. Likewise, if you're good enough at back lever to do straight arm touch back lever, you're almost holding a Maltese right there. You can think of back lever as a planche progression, especially the supinated version, which is more difficult and has more carryover
Nice dude I watched this video a month ago could only do 5 neutral grip chin-ups from a dead hang ofc, and now I got it to ten. My goal is to get to twenty and then start doing them weighted
Been using the local park monkey bars for neutral grip pull-ups, absolutely helped avoid shoulder issues 👍 Plus it has great carry over to other grips.
I like to alternate pullup grips, many years ago i got golfers elbow bad from a ton of chin ups, and hurt my shoulder doing heavy pullups. Neutral does feel the best, and seems the safest to "spam" more of overall. Still love how badass pullups feel.
@@thestonecircle yeah after seeing this i feel more confident using it a lot more, i prefer vertical pulls far more than horizontal, but after that "injury" i was always worried doing too much again.
@Protein-Man awesome I'll go look for you! I'm honestly kinda bad at keeping up with insta but I do my best haha, it will be nice to have another friend over there!
video suggestion: how to avoid lumbar hyper extension and extend more at the hips when lifting a sandbag. I mean the hoicking moment, when you extend as if you wanted to load the sandbag on a platform.
For my forearms, since this week, I’m doing towel chin ups, DB hammer grip with fat gripz and farmer walk with fat gripz. Also doing 5 min rice bucket workout once a week (since couple of months). Very low in weight still, but that’s great, since that means I’ve a lot more room to grow my forearms.
If you did not want your arms to look big (eg, most women), which pull-up variation would you do? If grip strength is a bigger concern, you could do them holding onto a towel or T-shirt thrown over the bar w/ a vertical grip. If you want to get that squeezing action, place them a few inches further apart and pull towards the center as you do your pu. I wouldn't be surprised if there is an ideal starting width for the towels and how much to pull to the center. That can be achieved by having a visual marker so you can see how much you are pulling the towels to the center. Another harder way of focusing on grip is to get some PCV pipe (I like 1" ID) 6-10" long, drill a hole through one end, put paracord through it and hang from them vertically as you do your pull-ups like the "wind chimes" in America Ninja Warrior (you may want to have multiple pipes w/ diff inner diameters. Eg 0.75', 1", 1.5", 2")
The neutral grip is my strongest pullup variation, but for some reason, I was doing them less in the past few months. I always include some fat grip pullups in my warm ups because I'm hyperfocused on forearms. I do them with false grips as well. I suggest you get rings because it's easier to practice false grips on them compared to straight bars. I can hold a good fat grip false grip dead hang for 30-40 secs. I have pretty strong wrists now. I also do arm wrestling style exercises for forearms so they're really getting a lot of love. Tho I'm not satisfied with my measurements, I can't deny the visual changes in my forearms. My extensors are better compared to my flexors, so I wanna bring em up. My biceps are lagging relative to my forearms now lol
Forearms are always worth building! Yeah rings and false grip go together for sure, necessary for a lot of the advanced moves too. It does feel more natural using a false grip on rings, that added difficulty on straight bars really adds to the challenge!
love neutral grip pullups, I got a bar on the roof of my building where I dont like the feel of the bar itself, but the supports that attach to the bar are about shoulder width and perfect for that crushing together action. One thing Ive been playing with is behind the neck pullups in this style, which weirdly lights up my delts. Have no idea why, it would be funny to grow side delts with pullups though
Shoulder width neutral grip sounds so nice! I'd like to get a pullup bar with multiple neutral grips at some point, I think that extra width would have to be even more similar to a bear hug. Haha that would be pretty awesome, I've done a few behind the neck pullups and felt it in the side delts too, I need to get back to doing them :D
Hello, I discovered your channel recently, and I'm loving the content. From calisthenics circuits to sandbag training, I'm really interested in this methodology. I've been in the military for about 7 years, and although I've always trained, the food and rest part has always been something I've struggled with. Do you have any suggestions on this? I'd love to see a video with your opinion
Hey glad to have you here! I'll have a full video coming out on sandbags/calisthenics circuit training in the next month! I did make a video on diet but it doesn't give much practical advice related specifically to training if I'm honest haha, I'll link it if you're interested but I just focus on eating whole foods and it works great! th-cam.com/video/o8reg5F1ON0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=MaeDJGIW_urT7w5k
my fave type of pullup, but i use a more narrow handle. it might be hard to rig up but if you can put a par/pad/strap in front of your forearm that prevents it from being anything but parallel, itll stress the brachialis and bicep alot more. just forces an even longer moment arm at the elbow when the elbow is open 90°/ when the upper arm is parallel to the floor.
@@thestonecircle its best to just do it on a door or ledge so it forces the arm position. i want to build a pullup bar that allows for different grips but with the forearm locked vertical because it makes it harder for the lats AND the arms
I did something similar to this a while back. Try setting up the standard safeties in your power rack so that one is at the top, and the other is towards the lower forearm/elbow. I used a p*ssy pad or my elbows got scuffed up. Preacher pullups are what I called them. Fair warning, these are super hard and I didn't go super far below parallel on them. Thinking back it might've even been prudent to start on the floor with the feet elevated to pump out high reps.
Hi Cody! I am a new follower of your training and for shure your channel has great content and inspiration too! Maybe you can make a topc of handle with health issues and pain in your training!? I think you can share a lot of good information because you train on a daily basis. Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge here. Take care.
Hey glad to have you here! I can try to think of something, I've always tried my best to prevent most things before they happen, I might have some ideas!
Hey thanks! In my experience anything above 15-20 reps with pullups ends up being more of a special skill than a representation of general strength, and I rarely went above 10 reps per set during this time. I trained using calisthenics circuits so I was able to hit failure with lower reps, I have a few videos on those too! I did test it recently though just to see and I was able to do 20 chest to bar so I'm pretty happy with that!
Great video Cody, but I have a question regarding the legs position in the video. Is this some variation of the hollow body hold? I see you keep your knees pretty high. Does it help you to maintain stability of the position during the pull motion? Is it harder to brace when you keep your legs like this? Does it have its own name?
Hey thank you! I like to use different leg positions to change up the exercise. The hollow body hold variation is the strongest by far imo and should let you do the most reps. The variation with my knees tucked is a variation on an l-sit which makes the exercise hit the lower lats a bit more, really works your overhead mobility, and works great with this low to the ground pullup bar I have. I think it would be called a 'tuck L-sit pullup', basically just an easier version of a full l-sit pullup :)
I think they're great! I've been doing a lot more 'tuck l-sit' pullups lately just because it's easier with my current setup, but the full version is tough!
I personally think they are S-tier, in terms of a "bang-for-your-buck" exercise. Especially with even a one second pause, both at the bottom and at the top, the strict form is pretty much forced. I give them two thumbs up.
@StraitjacketFitness probably the only pullup variation where that pause at the bottom is almost more difficult than the pause at the top! So much tension!
Interesting. I just started doing neutral grip pull ups due to my wrist having an old injury that makes the other grips hurt alor more. Its a much easier variation for my elbows as you mentioned too. I am getting pretty strong quickly but then again i am carrying around a bit of extra weight too. Only issue i run into is i want to do them every single day and some times i dont make as much progress due to not healing enough..lol.
I think I'm gonna try this out for now, as I screwed up my shoulder with pronated grip and currently feeling a little bit of Impingement on my left rotator cuff..
how far apart are the middle two bars that are perpendicular to the normal bar (the ones that you're holding onto here 0:01 ). btw i'm trying to make a custom pullup bar and i need a good blueprint to give to the welder so any tips or advice from anyone would be helpful.
There's 10 inches of space between them! That sounds awesome, the only thing I'd change is I'd like to have a wider grip, possible twice as wide in addition to this one
thanks for the information. I think every guy subconsciously knows not to mess with a guy with large and vainy forearms. I able to do more neutral grip pull more than the traditional hand position.
I think wrist and hand size are the big show of power . You are small thin guy ad you could build massive bicep forearms after years of training but you cant do much with wrist and hands size
Hey, any recommendations for squat racks with pull-up bars like the one you have? My current rack only has a straight bar and the molding pattern on the door frames at my current place makes using a doorframe pull-up bar unstable.
@@thestonecircle Thanks, I was browsing Amazon, and was wondering if you had this one, but just flipped the top bar. For reference, could you tell me the width between the parallel pull-up grips? I don't want to risk getting something too narrow.
If you don’t mind can you tell me how to train with elbow tendinitis? When curling sharp pain unless I do hammer curls and neutral grip pull ups right side def strong just not sure how to properly train without doing more damage or increase unbalanced thank you for your time very very helpful
One thing that's helped me a lot is doing insane amounts of light weight Band curls before every workout, overhand, neutral, and underhand fir a good hundred reps each. Also massaging the area around the elbow helps a lot. Mostly though I'd just find what you CAN do in the meantime and focus on that. If you can do hammer curls I'd just prioritize those while you recover
What pants are you wearing in the video? They look comfortable. I'm looking for natural fibers(preferably linen, cotton, or wool) that allow great range of motion but with simple design. Does anyone have suggestions?
I always wonder when looking at this, there seems to be a lot of momentum needed to assist with getting the bags up, does it come with risks of back injury or is it advisable for someone who struggles with a pre-existing back injury to partake in this kind of sandbag training or is it better to just stick to the pull ups and more standard gym weight training such as barbells/dumbbells, cables and machines in that instance?
Been trying to work on neutral grip pull ups but can only do like 5 bodyweight neutral grip pull ups so far, and supplement with a lat pull down machine in the gym trying to increase the weight while keeping the form good as someone who has struggles with degenerated discs in the lower spine
I can't say for sure if sandbag lifting would be good for someone with back issues, but I can give a few thoughts! 1. I don't believe sandbags are any more dangerous than lifting barbells. 2. I've had a lot of people in the comments say getting stronger with sandbags made their backs feel better. 3. My back feels really sturdy after all the sandbag lifting, but I didn't have any preexisting back issues so I'm not sure how it would've gone if I did
Mostly just for the variation. I do a lot of basic bodyweight calisthenics circuits and adding some extra variety like that keeps things interesting and changes the stimulus enough to make it feel different, even if it's technically the same exercise :)
Have you found a way to actually prevent the fat grips from rolling? I just have a pullup bar you hang in a doorway with the foam grips. While I get the benefit of the “extra challenge, It feels like tryna ride a unicycle on a trampoline. It’s just making an already difficult thing much harder to practice
I know what you mean, I have to stay completely 100% focused or they roll instantly, and usually they do after a few reps anyway. I'd like to try with the regular fat gripz at some point, these are the extremes and they're really wide. For those few reps that I can manage do do it right they feel awesome though!
Neutral grips are good because they place maximal stretch on the lats. However, many if not most neutral grips are too close together and place excessive stress on the medial epicondyles of the elbows. In my experience, Neutral grip pull-ups are probably the fastest road to tendinitis unless you are fortunate enough to have neutral grip bars roughly shoulder width apart which unfortunately are difficult to find. I would never specialize in 1 grip, a sentiment I have heard echoed by many pull up experts.
I've heard the recommendation to rotate grips frequently, and I've also lived by/given that advice myself for a long time. While I still believe it's beneficial to rotate grips, just to vary the stimulus, I've done only neutral pullups nearly daily for a really long time now and have had 0 signs of overuse. The neutral grip helped me to heal my tendinitis
@@thestonecircle interesting, I strongly suspect that this is because of the spacing of your neutral grip bars being roughly shoulder width apart which allows for optimal elbow flexion with minimal lateral stress on the joints. For me, using a hammer to develop pronation/supination ability (which also serves to increase rotation resistance) saved my elbows. I had intermittently reoccurring medial epicondilitis until I started hammer training on a regular basis. I do really like neutral grip pull ups due to that stretch I had mentioned. I also appreciate your understanding of the principal of specificity and how this forearm position translates to sand bag lifting. I’d really like to stop deadlifting and switch entirely over to sand bags as I feel it’s more transferable to lifting an actual heavy object in daily life. Thanks for the reply
I've been using this fitness reality cheap rack from amazon for a couple years now and its awesome, especially for under 300! It has some options for attachments but I havent tried them myself
@@thestonecircle Thanks but that was not what i had in mind. I consider a rack an investment and needs to meet certain criteria for me. I am willing to pay the premium so long as it's a quality product, possibly made in the USA and battle-tested!
Is reaching failure from 12-15 reps different in stimulation than heavy weight and like 8 reps. Ive been reaching failure with heavy weight and around 8-10 reps and it is good but when I tried do above 15 reps and reach failure, it felt extremely difficult during failure and the burn is intense, add to that more pump. So is it just more lactic acid or the higher reps are actually simulating comparatively?
In terms of muscle growth it's usually pretty much the same, but some people do respond better to one rep range over another. You're right that burn does make it feel a lot different than lower reps! If you work with that rep range more you should adapt to the burn pretty quick, but as a new stimulus it definitely feels tough at first
I just started gym a week ago and i'm right now sticking for bodyweight excercise only so tried pull ups, but i didnt even get one right. So thought of trying neutral grip pull ups and with support of ground. It went great but the next day my biceps and inner elbow are killing me, it is swole af and i cant even straighten it without feeling pain. Is it something i should worry about? What should I be doing now?
Hey congrats on getting the pullup! Can't say for sure if this is what it is for you, but for me doing pullups after not doing them for a while can cause the same thing, that muscle soreness can be intense! Some good rest usually helps me, and after a few session the soreness stops happening
Hey it's the ironmind tough as nails adjustable 300lb capacity bag, I have it linked in the description if you prefer going through amazon, but they have it on their website too!
@amthedarknight hey typically 20-40 minutes is good for an intense calisthenics circuit. Since I've been training every day mine have been a little shorter lately usually around 15 mins
I’ve specialised in neutral grip pull ups since I was 17. The best lat builder in my opinion. Get some added weight….game changer. Just hit 40kg added weight @190lbs body weight. Very pleased
I started the n grip pullups today im 6'1 202 and i couldnt get one on the doorframe bar so i tried the static hold for like 30 s feet foward- how should i progress
My pull-ups have always been bad but I know I can improve them. I went from 3 pushups to 100, I just don’t know how to get my pull up’s to kick off for reps.
100 in a set that's really impressive! I highly recommend greasing the groove for the pullups if you can, 1-2 reps every time you pass a pullup bar all day everyday for 2-3 weeks, then take a full week off from pullups and retest, usually that leads to a good improvement!
hi good man.. i am kind of beginner . i can only do 5 pulls up max at first set and then 3 3 3 3 may be 2. can you help me how to increase reps or a pull up programme ??
Nothing beats greasing the groove imo! Just do 1 or 2 reps whenever you pass a pullup bar throughout the day for a couple weeks, take a week off then retest your max, usually it's quite a bit more than when you started!
@@peterto-xz1guyou can do both if you want to! I just recommend varying the grips if you can to avoid any possible overuse issues from so much volume.
Nice bro. I haven’t done pull ups in agggeessss, I’ll have to have a play around with some of these techniques. Growing my arms is one of my main goals right now 💪🏻
Heck yeah all the volume with these really did the trick!
@@thestonecircle “less is more” - pencil necks
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. More is more” - Eric Bugenhagen
@StopTheDamnTape hahah just full of golden tidbits, out the wazoo!
neutral grip pullups are gold! especially where rehab, prehab AND progress are concerned!
For sure! Really glad I had this grip available when that tendinitis hit, definitely helped me get through it!
I’m 65 and I have had two major shoulder surgeries on my left shoulder and I have a bad right shoulder ever since I switched to neutral pull-ups. I have not had any shoulder issues. My shoulders don’t bother me like they did doing regular pull-ups and I can still do some kind of form of pull-up, I think switching from regular pull-ups to neutral pull-ups is a smart idea for anybody over the age of 60 especially if you’ve had shoulder issues so far so good I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Thanks for posting this great video.
Thanks for sharing your experience, glad the neutral grip has been working for you!
Another brilliant video. Hey man, not that you don’t already probably know, but just wanted to say that I think you’re a powerful and effective communicator, the way you explain and teach is detailed, hands on, and simple to understand. Reassuring and experienced guidance is hard to find and very much appreciated. Can’t wait for the book!
(Please include an audio version!)
@@Jstuckey hey thank you I really appreciate that! I've spent a lot of time working on that over these last few years, everything from trying to improve the writing to practicing speech drills everyday so I'm glad it's showing through!
@@Jstuckey so excited the author copy should be shipped out soon then I just have to check it over and it won't be long after that! That's a great idea I'll have to see if I can work on something like that! If not right away then somewhere a little down the line. I'd probably try to book some real studio time for that. My current setup is just a mic in the closet with shirts draped on the walls haha, works okay but could be better!
@@thestonecirclecan you mention some things that you have worked on to improve that, or share some tips.
@@teodorstojkovski4948for writing it's mostly been just constantly trying to do better every time for a long time. I've read something like 'your first 100k words won't be good, but you have to try to make them good, and eventually you'll start writing quality stuff" or something along those lines haha. For speaking it's a lot of articulation and vocal warmup drills, just stuff I took off youtube. I think more than anything it's just working at it, more than any specific drills being important. One thing I started doing recently that's actually ridiculously and unexpectedly effective is to read stuff with a pen between my teeth. It sounds so dumb, but it works like magic, I'll try to find a link to a vid of it
@@teodorstojkovski4948th-cam.com/users/shortsm-sSBsxHbHY?si=ER8ifa2mmaxkiKfe
Neutral grip pull ups have stood the test of time. I pay attention to the exercises the meatheads in the gym in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s still do. If they can do them, make or maintain progress and it makes their joints feel good it’s a perfect exercise in that aspect. Much like how many older lifters will eventually switch to a high bar and hip width stance squat. Good video!
That's a smart way to do it! I've actually been really surprised by how much volume I've been able to do with these. High rep circuits with neutral grip pullups 4-5x a week for months and no overuse issues at all so far!
Is hip width basically a narrow stance squat?
@@foretell6819Depends on one’s individual hip structure, but generally speaking, no. It’s shoulder width apart.
You should go to Catalyst Athletics YT library and look up the videos ( they are under 3 minutes and very thorough) for finding your optimal squat stance.
Im a heavy guy (240lbs) pullups have always been a challenge for me. I started doing 10-20 sets of 2-3 pullups EMOM style and it has greatly improved my arms, back,shoulders along with making everything else just alittle easier.
Nice that's a lot of heavy volume I'm not surprised at all you've seen some good gains! Even one pullup at 240 is more than most could do
@@thestonecircle it gets really tough. But, when I specialized in it, I would do it 2x a week on my barbell days. The other days are bodyweight circuits with sandbag and farmer carries.
@bassmuscle101 heck yeah that's an awesome setup, hitting all the bases there!
Same, 2 weeks ago i did 50 pull ups 1 or 2 at a time.. 2 days ago did 60, 20 sets of 3
@@bassmuscle101it might seem counterintuitive as a heavy guy, but you should aim for daily pull ups. You don't need a ton, I aim for 3 sets daily with a few reps in the tank each set. That got me to 11 pull ups at 300lbs. If I ever take a few days off my pull ups regress rapidly.
I just want to say thanks, I started sandbags around 4 months ago. I'm 17 150 lbs, and I just did 150 lbs shoulder sandbag carry. It's really the first time I've felt strong on lifting anything. Thanks for the tips and motivation!!!
Hey that's so awesome congrats!! 17 already carrying 150 on the shoulder, you have so much potential keep it up!
I recently switched from Pronated pull ups and Chin ups to Ring Neutral Grip Pull ups and not only it is painless, I felt my upper back and lats being worked more unlike the regular bar pull up and chin up where I can only feel my arms. What a goated exercise!
Hell yeah neutral ring pullups really are goated!
Neutral grip pullups are far superior than any other grip. This might sound like a hot take but what it really comes down to is the most muscle recruitment and ability to push past failure because of that. This also is the healthiest variation for pullups when on a fixed bar. If you want to enhance longevity on the joints even further, performing them on the rings is undoubtedly the king. I'm glad you're living proof of a segment of this.
If it isn't too much to ask, I'd love for you to test this out on the rings next to know what YOU think about it! I had my fair share of years of experimentation per grip at a time and I'm 100% sure you will arrive at the same conclusion I have.
All the best!
Hey heck yeah neutral grip is the best!! I used to train a lot with ring pullups, the only reason I don't now is because my ceilings are so low I had to attach the pullup bar to this power rack upside down, so with the added rings my knees hit the ground at the bottom of every rep. When I move out of this place I'll definitely be getting back into ring stuff!
@@thestonecircle I see! I'll be following your progress I'm genuinely interested with this kind of deal where you stick to one movement pattern and squeeze out every adaptation and information out of it. You seem to be getting sick results so stay injury free and continue to enlighten us!!!
Good for build lats and superior muscles of the back?
@@luanfreitas2303 yes
A fun thing to do once and awhile is do weighted N.pullups (heavy) 2-3 rep max for 10-12 sets around 30 sec rest. Then drop the weight and crank out regular pullups. With your brain dialed into the weight you launch up or do a muscle up easy.
@dieselryder78 nothing more fun than high sets with some heavy weight!!
Its pretty fun, do a few heavy sets, and the next bodyweight set makes it feel like youre weightless.
Also feel the muscle more at the end of the set.
Totally agree bro.
This exercise, combined with narrow grip t-bar rows have made a huge difference to my back game.
Great video.
Hey thanks man! Those T bar rows are OP too for sure!
I started doing Neutral Grip pullups so I could keep doing them while I was rehabbing tennis elbow, and now they're the only pullup I ever want to do
Heck yeah sounds like we had a similar experience!
Any kind of close grip pull-ups build the biceps like no other, a penitentiary routine for arms is a close grip chin up then tricep dips superset 20 sets till failure.
Hell yeah that high volume!!
Great video. Pull-ups/chin-ups are some of my staples. It's no stretch to estimate I've done close to a million throughout my life.
It's not super often, but from time-to-time I'll throw neutral-grips into my workout. I never considered the benefit of bars vs rings as you framed it. Definitely gonna need to implement that more.
As someone who has done so many pull-ups for so long, there are three primary elements that I would suggest playing around with once you've mastered the basics.
1. Explosiveness: this can be very valuable for power and athleticism in particular and will definitely provide carry-over to sandbags. It might not be as intuitive as plyometric pull-ups, but can still be done to great effect. Just control the eccentric, which brings me to number two.
2. Tempo: playing around with speed can be a great means of improving control and endurance. There's certainly a time and place to go fast, but also to go slow.
3. ROM: one of my more killer workouts is my 1.5 pull-ups complexes. I don't have a good name for it that's not a misnomer, so bear with me. You do 1-6 full range-of-motion pull-ups (depending on your level; I usually do 4 or 5); then alternate half-way up followed by another full ROM for the same reps; next alterating all the way up, half-way down, back up, then full ROM, and repeat for the same reps; finally a finally set of full ROM. All of this without dropping. It's a fun little challenge that should make you stronger and increase endurance.
There are other means of enhancing pull-up strength and endurance, of course (weighted, greasing-the-groove, etc.), but this comment's already way too long. 😅
Anyway, loving the videos, my dude. 😎👍🏻
Oh, two last things (I know I've already rambled a ton).
By coincidence, I actually did a little neutral grip pull-up challenge yesterday. Maybe I'll upload it sometime.
Second: I love how you perform tucked pull-ups. I rarely see people do them, but they can be a great alteration for pull-ups. 👍🏻
Hey thank you glad you liked it! These are all great suggestions, I'm a huge fan of the explosive pullups myself!
Nice I'd love to see it! The tuck has been a nice way to mix things up lately! Really stresses that bottom position, lets me know quick if my shoulders are as mobile as they should be haha
Ha man, thanks for all the great videos, keep it up. I v been lifting sand bags for 6 weeks now thanks to you and my body has transformed already, it bloody wicked I love sandbag. I am lifting 75kg up to shoulder quite well so got 100kg bag and lots of work to do, looking forward to it. Thanks again. Peace
Hey that's so awesome!! I love hearing this, good luck with that 100kg!
Over time Neutral Grip has become my favorite pullup variation. My shoulders feel best with it.
I never thought of it as having carry over to sandbags, but ever since I got humbled by the 250 lb bag I now have a new side quest 😤😂
I agree man, the brachialis is an epic muscle and I feel powerful the more I develop it. It was something I really tried to emphasize when I did a few training blocks focusing on arm wrestling.
It's so hard to top it, feels awesome on the joints, builds the arms in the best way, what's not to like!
YES that's the best kind of side quest, I have no doubt if you decided to go for it you'd do some really crazy things with sandbags!!
Nowadays, i mostly do conventional deadlifts, barbell squats, bench press and weighted neutral grip pull-ups, the best choice i did for my fitness life. Sprinting too. The ultimate combination.
Perfect combo!
Good work, haven't done pulling movements for a few weeks need to start. Good motivation and good video as always.
Hey thank you! I think these are a great way to go!
5:58 the thickness of the neck
Great work
Keep Improving it
Thank you! Always training neck at least 2-3x every week!
Neutral grip is my go to. Most comfortable for me, at first as a rehab, but now to not aggravate shoulders
It's been the same here! Started focusing on it because of the elbow, now I just stick with it because it's so good
Agree with you 🤝
Neutral grip pull ups are the same as hammer curls.
So effective!
Interesting observation
Thank you for your contribution. I frequently got tendonitis from overhand pull-ups and switched to neutral grip quite a while ago. I don't dare to even try to go back to overhand grip because it also seems to mess with my carpl tunnel issues (on both hands).
Hey glad you liked this one! I feel the same way, don't really care to do much of the other grips anymore because neutral just feels the best
Great video bro I watched till the end before commenting lol. I do think the neutral grip pullup is the most underrated variation among the basics (pronated and supinated/chins) but honestly I think it's actually the best among the three. Safer on the joints, wrists, and gives the most emphasis on the lats (one of the drivers of the V taper aesthetic) and maybe some little arm work too.
Hey thanks for watching! Definitely my favorite at the moment, so effective!
Good stuff. As an armwrestler, I do mostly neutral pull ups.
Thanks! I've heard they're awesome for that
Same
Cody i gotta say your chanel is popping off! Just look at the amount of comments
Heyy OG here! Thanks for sticking around all this time! I think it makes a big difference taking the time to respond to everybody. It's a good time investment but seeing all the awesome transformation stories, I feel truly honored!
Awesome!💪💪 Those biceps dude!
Thanks man! All the pullups and sandbag stuff has made a massive difference!
Serenilite Flexible Resistance Bar For “tennis elbow” really helped me . They come with a print out of exercises and I still use them as part of my warm up. For reference I’m 6’2” 245 and rep chins with 2 plates. These things are cheap and cleared me up. Cheers.
Thanks I'll look that up!
I’ve trained mma for 5 years, I do neutral grip mostly as it stimulates the muscles I use when I’m Blocking punches I find.
Hell yeah that makes me like them even more
Very underrated channel!
Hey thank you!
Neutral grip is 👑
For sure!
Another awesome video!
1:32 I think so, too. My theory (strictly bro science, though) is that heavy weights set the best stimulus for growth but don't foster the supply with oxygen and nutrients via the blood so much, while on the other hand moderate weights, lifted for relatively higher reps, may set a less intense growth stimulus (at least per time unit there is less mechanical tension) but stimulate the blood flow and hence the nutrient supply way better.
4:18 Ok, I definitely need a stronger bear hug. So I really could do with a fixed neutral grip pull up bar, because just like with rings, with my round slings I can't really squeeze my forearms together. Thank you for this absolutely logical training hack 👍
I think if it hasn't already it won't be long until that theory is tested and found accurate!
That contraction can actually get pretty intense! Nice for the little extra edge
If you have planche aspirations, I recommend learning supinated back lever first, and also training dumbbell Zanetti press, or if you lack a bench, you can do a variation from the floor that actually isn't any easier.
It depends on your body, but generally if you can Zanetti press 33% of your body weight for a few reps, you can hold a supinated back lever. A bit less is necessary for a pronated back lever.
Hey thanks for the recommendation!
@@thestonecircle If you can Zanetti press 40 to 70% of your bodyweight (it's different for different people), you can Maltese, so somewhere between the back lever number and this should be planche.
Back lever, planche, and Maltese are variations of the same thing, using the same muscles, and the dumbbell Zanetti press simulates all of them.
A Maltese is just a really wide planche. When it reaches maximal wideness, it becomes a Maltese.
Likewise, if you're good enough at back lever to do straight arm touch back lever, you're almost holding a Maltese right there.
You can think of back lever as a planche progression, especially the supinated version, which is more difficult and has more carryover
Nice dude I watched this video a month ago could only do 5 neutral grip chin-ups from a dead hang ofc, and now I got it to ten. My goal is to get to twenty and then start doing them weighted
Heck yeah awesome progress!!!
Been using the local park monkey bars for neutral grip pull-ups, absolutely helped avoid shoulder issues 👍
Plus it has great carry over to other grips.
Heck yeah!!
I like to alternate pullup grips, many years ago i got golfers elbow bad from a ton of chin ups, and hurt my shoulder doing heavy pullups.
Neutral does feel the best, and seems the safest to "spam" more of overall. Still love how badass pullups feel.
I agree completely! The other variations are still awesome, but I've been able to get away with so much volume with the neutral grip
@@thestonecircle yeah after seeing this i feel more confident using it a lot more, i prefer vertical pulls far more than horizontal, but after that "injury" i was always worried doing too much again.
Bro, i love how you always keep content fresh
Thanks man! I should have known, a video about pullups, Protein Man is sure to make an appearance! 😁
@@thestonecircle of course. Btw i started following you on IG!
@Protein-Man awesome I'll go look for you! I'm honestly kinda bad at keeping up with insta but I do my best haha, it will be nice to have another friend over there!
video suggestion: how to avoid lumbar hyper extension and extend more at the hips when lifting a sandbag. I mean the hoicking moment, when you extend as if you wanted to load the sandbag on a platform.
That's a really interesting idea! I have a video in mind that comes really close to that, might try to figure out a way to incorporate that too
Neutral grip pull ups also make you a beast on a armwrestling table
That's an awesome point!
Dude you work so hard. Great job
Hey just doing the best I can! Thank you :)
For my forearms, since this week, I’m doing towel chin ups, DB hammer grip with fat gripz and farmer walk with fat gripz.
Also doing 5 min rice bucket workout once a week (since couple of months).
Very low in weight still, but that’s great, since that means I’ve a lot more room to grow my forearms.
Sounds awesome!
great video, keep em coming.
Thank you!
If you did not want your arms to look big (eg, most women), which pull-up variation would you do?
If grip strength is a bigger concern, you could do them holding onto a towel or T-shirt thrown over the bar w/ a vertical grip. If you want to get that squeezing action, place them a few inches further apart and pull towards the center as you do your pu. I wouldn't be surprised if there is an ideal starting width for the towels and how much to pull to the center. That can be achieved by having a visual marker so you can see how much you are pulling the towels to the center.
Another harder way of focusing on grip is to get some PCV pipe (I like 1" ID) 6-10" long, drill a hole through one end, put paracord through it and hang from them vertically as you do your pull-ups like the "wind chimes" in America Ninja Warrior (you may want to have multiple pipes w/ diff inner diameters. Eg 0.75', 1", 1.5", 2")
Hey for sure I love towel pullups! I'd say pronated would probably be best if the goal is reducing arm involvement
You are incredible at talking about this stuff
Thank you I really appreciate that!
The neutral grip is my strongest pullup variation, but for some reason, I was doing them less in the past few months. I always include some fat grip pullups in my warm ups because I'm hyperfocused on forearms. I do them with false grips as well. I suggest you get rings because it's easier to practice false grips on them compared to straight bars. I can hold a good fat grip false grip dead hang for 30-40 secs. I have pretty strong wrists now. I also do arm wrestling style exercises for forearms so they're really getting a lot of love. Tho I'm not satisfied with my measurements, I can't deny the visual changes in my forearms. My extensors are better compared to my flexors, so I wanna bring em up. My biceps are lagging relative to my forearms now lol
Forearms are always worth building! Yeah rings and false grip go together for sure, necessary for a lot of the advanced moves too. It does feel more natural using a false grip on rings, that added difficulty on straight bars really adds to the challenge!
Excellent content 🔥🤘🏼
@@Wo1fLarsen Hey thank you!
@@Wo1fLarsen good to hear from you 🙂
@@thestonecircle 🤘🏼had my 12 year old son bear hug carrying a 50# bag out and back. He loved it!
@@Wo1fLarsen hell yeah that's badass!
Looking great and solid wisdom
Thank you glad you liked it!
love neutral grip pullups, I got a bar on the roof of my building where I dont like the feel of the bar itself, but the supports that attach to the bar are about shoulder width and perfect for that crushing together action. One thing Ive been playing with is behind the neck pullups in this style, which weirdly lights up my delts. Have no idea why, it would be funny to grow side delts with pullups though
Shoulder width neutral grip sounds so nice! I'd like to get a pullup bar with multiple neutral grips at some point, I think that extra width would have to be even more similar to a bear hug. Haha that would be pretty awesome, I've done a few behind the neck pullups and felt it in the side delts too, I need to get back to doing them :D
Hello,
I discovered your channel recently, and I'm loving the content. From calisthenics circuits to sandbag training, I'm really interested in this methodology.
I've been in the military for about 7 years, and although I've always trained, the food and rest part has always been something I've struggled with. Do you have any suggestions on this? I'd love to see a video with your opinion
Hey glad to have you here! I'll have a full video coming out on sandbags/calisthenics circuit training in the next month! I did make a video on diet but it doesn't give much practical advice related specifically to training if I'm honest haha, I'll link it if you're interested but I just focus on eating whole foods and it works great! th-cam.com/video/o8reg5F1ON0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=MaeDJGIW_urT7w5k
my fave type of pullup, but i use a more narrow handle. it might be hard to rig up but if you can put a par/pad/strap in front of your forearm that prevents it from being anything but parallel, itll stress the brachialis and bicep alot more. just forces an even longer moment arm at the elbow when the elbow is open 90°/ when the upper arm is parallel to the floor.
I'm intrigued haha, I'm trying to picture exactly how it works
@@thestonecircle its best to just do it on a door or ledge so it forces the arm position. i want to build a pullup bar that allows for different grips but with the forearm locked vertical because it makes it harder for the lats AND the arms
@@penumbramine Okay yes now I remember you mentioning that! I need to find a good ledge, sounds awesome
I did something similar to this a while back. Try setting up the standard safeties in your power rack so that one is at the top, and the other is towards the lower forearm/elbow. I used a p*ssy pad or my elbows got scuffed up. Preacher pullups are what I called them.
Fair warning, these are super hard and I didn't go super far below parallel on them. Thinking back it might've even been prudent to start on the floor with the feet elevated to pump out high reps.
@@Wayf4rer sounds brutal!
In my first/second year of lifting I mainly did close neutral grip because of shoulder issues. Made big bicep gainz.
@@Wayf4rer Such an effective exercise!
Hi Cody! I am a new follower of your training and for shure your channel has great content and inspiration too! Maybe you can make a topc of handle with health issues and pain in your training!? I think you can share a lot of good information because you train on a daily basis. Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge here. Take care.
Hey glad to have you here! I can try to think of something, I've always tried my best to prevent most things before they happen, I might have some ideas!
@@thestonecircle I realy appreciate your answer and wish you all! the best for book!
@sascha_pfeifer thanks so much! Final edits are done and the author test copy will be sent out soon, not long after that 🙂
That bearhug tip 🤌
Hey hope it helps!
Great video! I curious what was your max before the 6 months and after? Have you made any progression in the max repetitions?
Hey thanks! In my experience anything above 15-20 reps with pullups ends up being more of a special skill than a representation of general strength, and I rarely went above 10 reps per set during this time. I trained using calisthenics circuits so I was able to hit failure with lower reps, I have a few videos on those too! I did test it recently though just to see and I was able to do 20 chest to bar so I'm pretty happy with that!
First time I've heard this. Gonna try it. Your arms do look bigger.
Hey thanks! Good luck the neutral pullups with all the stuff added can be tough!
Looks like your grip is strong enough, try advancing close grip pullups to gironda pullup and swan pullup :)
You will feel it even more :)
Heck yeah I actually do those a lot too! Very tough but that contraction is great
@@thestonecircle Best for maintenance when we are short on time :)
Great video Cody, but I have a question regarding the legs position in the video. Is this some variation of the hollow body hold? I see you keep your knees pretty high. Does it help you to maintain stability of the position during the pull motion? Is it harder to brace when you keep your legs like this? Does it have its own name?
Hey thank you! I like to use different leg positions to change up the exercise. The hollow body hold variation is the strongest by far imo and should let you do the most reps. The variation with my knees tucked is a variation on an l-sit which makes the exercise hit the lower lats a bit more, really works your overhead mobility, and works great with this low to the ground pullup bar I have. I think it would be called a 'tuck L-sit pullup', basically just an easier version of a full l-sit pullup :)
Curious what you think about L-Sit pull ups. The stretch at the bottom for the lats is rather ridiculous, not to mention the stimulation for the core.
I think they're great! I've been doing a lot more 'tuck l-sit' pullups lately just because it's easier with my current setup, but the full version is tough!
I personally think they are S-tier, in terms of a "bang-for-your-buck" exercise.
Especially with even a one second pause, both at the bottom and at the top, the strict form is pretty much forced. I give them two thumbs up.
@StraitjacketFitness probably the only pullup variation where that pause at the bottom is almost more difficult than the pause at the top! So much tension!
L-sits are fukn gold. That pause out the bottom is brutal.
@@StraitjacketFitness💯👍🤘
Interesting. I just started doing neutral grip pull ups due to my wrist having an old injury that makes the other grips hurt alor more. Its a much easier variation for my elbows as you mentioned too. I am getting pretty strong quickly but then again i am carrying around a bit of extra weight too. Only issue i run into is i want to do them every single day and some times i dont make as much progress due to not healing enough..lol.
Hey awesome they've been working for you! I get that, I do them nearly every day myself haha
Thanks! 🙏✊
Glad you liked it!
I think I'm gonna try this out for now, as I screwed up my shoulder with pronated grip and currently feeling a little bit of Impingement on my left rotator cuff..
The neutral grip has been a huge improvement for me, I hope it works for you!
I have never once considered using a neutral grip pull up before, I just made an attempt and was able to do more than a wide grip pull up.
It's a strong grip for sure that's awesome!
neutral grip feels so easy
It just feels right!
how far apart are the middle two bars that are perpendicular to the normal bar (the ones that you're holding onto here 0:01 ). btw i'm trying to make a custom pullup bar and i need a good blueprint to give to the welder so any tips or advice from anyone would be helpful.
There's 10 inches of space between them! That sounds awesome, the only thing I'd change is I'd like to have a wider grip, possible twice as wide in addition to this one
@@thestonecircle is there a reason you want it farther apart? Like does it help train chest or something ?
@axzelk1253 just for some extra variation mostly! I like the closer grip but having 2 to choose from would be awesome
thanks for the information. I think every guy subconsciously knows not to mess with a guy with large and vainy forearms. I able to do more neutral grip pull more than the traditional hand position.
Forearms are definitely a show of power!
I think wrist and hand size are the big show of power . You are small thin guy ad you could build massive bicep forearms after years of training but you cant do much with wrist and hands size
Same! Also got my highest number of reps on neutral. I use monkey bars for neutral.
Such a great variation!
2:59
#TrapsaretheNewAbs
Words I lived by for a long time!! Actually that's still gotta be the best gym saying haha
Hey, any recommendations for squat racks with pull-up bars like the one you have?
My current rack only has a straight bar and the molding pattern on the door frames at my current place makes using a doorframe pull-up bar unstable.
This is the one I have it's great! a.co/d/cw4C83n
You can buy a neutral gip handles they can loop around the straight bar and give you an option for neutral pull ups which is what I did
@@thestonecircle Thanks, I was browsing Amazon, and was wondering if you had this one, but just flipped the top bar.
For reference, could you tell me the width between the parallel pull-up grips?
I don't want to risk getting something too narrow.
@@neowneow13that's an awesome idea, I've done something similar with a towel too!
@@pawelmalicki3217yeah flipped it to accommodate the low ceilings haha. There's about 10 inches between the bars
Also can you please recommend what changes can be done for better shoulders other than usual 2 times a week lateral raises.
Any type of overhead work, could be overhead pressing, could be pike/handstand pushups, doesn't get better than that though imo!
You're reading my mind, for several days i was thinking to ask why you use neutral grip pull ups only.
Figured it had been long enough I could make an honest vid about it!
If you don’t mind can you tell me how to train with elbow tendinitis? When curling sharp pain unless I do hammer curls and neutral grip pull ups right side def strong just not sure how to properly train without doing more damage or increase unbalanced thank you for your time very very helpful
One thing that's helped me a lot is doing insane amounts of light weight Band curls before every workout, overhand, neutral, and underhand fir a good hundred reps each. Also massaging the area around the elbow helps a lot. Mostly though I'd just find what you CAN do in the meantime and focus on that. If you can do hammer curls I'd just prioritize those while you recover
@@thestonecircle thank you bro you the man
What pants are you wearing in the video? They look comfortable. I'm looking for natural fibers(preferably linen, cotton, or wool) that allow great range of motion but with simple design. Does anyone have suggestions?
Hey I have these and they're awesome! grimfrost.com/products/wool-high-breeches-brown
I always wonder when looking at this, there seems to be a lot of momentum needed to assist with getting the bags up, does it come with risks of back injury or is it advisable for someone who struggles with a pre-existing back injury to partake in this kind of sandbag training or is it better to just stick to the pull ups and more standard gym weight training such as barbells/dumbbells, cables and machines in that instance?
Been trying to work on neutral grip pull ups but can only do like 5 bodyweight neutral grip pull ups so far, and supplement with a lat pull down machine in the gym trying to increase the weight while keeping the form good as someone who has struggles with degenerated discs in the lower spine
I can't say for sure if sandbag lifting would be good for someone with back issues, but I can give a few thoughts! 1. I don't believe sandbags are any more dangerous than lifting barbells. 2. I've had a lot of people in the comments say getting stronger with sandbags made their backs feel better. 3. My back feels really sturdy after all the sandbag lifting, but I didn't have any preexisting back issues so I'm not sure how it would've gone if I did
@@thestonecircle thank you bud, appreciate the insight 💪👊
Hi, when you do the ab wheel, why do you do 2 short 1 long reps? thank you
Mostly just for the variation. I do a lot of basic bodyweight calisthenics circuits and adding some extra variety like that keeps things interesting and changes the stimulus enough to make it feel different, even if it's technically the same exercise :)
Fucking great video man
Thank you!
what made you pick up sand bags
Originally I think it was the book 'Dinosaur Training'
Could you do a video about Gironda style pull-ups?
I'll add it to my list and try to think of something!
@@thestonecircle nice 👍
Do you mind mentioning what rack you are using? Seems like a perfect size for my house
This is the one! It's great a.co/d/gItiAs4
@@thestonecircle Thanks man! Much appreciated. You've inspired me to step up my neutral grip game
@nathanc8399 no problem! It's so worth it good luck 🙂
has more neutral grip chin ups helped with palms facing you chin ups aka a regular chin up
Yeah definitely, I think any strength you can add to any pullup variation has carry over to all the others. Actually working on a vid about that!
@@thestonecircle cool man
Have you found a way to actually prevent the fat grips from rolling? I just have a pullup bar you hang in a doorway with the foam grips. While I get the benefit of the “extra challenge, It feels like tryna ride a unicycle on a trampoline. It’s just making an already difficult thing much harder to practice
I know what you mean, I have to stay completely 100% focused or they roll instantly, and usually they do after a few reps anyway. I'd like to try with the regular fat gripz at some point, these are the extremes and they're really wide. For those few reps that I can manage do do it right they feel awesome though!
Neutral grips are good because they place maximal stretch on the lats. However, many if not most neutral grips are too close together and place excessive stress on the medial epicondyles of the elbows. In my experience, Neutral grip pull-ups are probably the fastest road to tendinitis unless you are fortunate enough to have neutral grip bars roughly shoulder width apart which unfortunately are difficult to find. I would never specialize in 1 grip, a sentiment I have heard echoed by many pull up experts.
I've heard the recommendation to rotate grips frequently, and I've also lived by/given that advice myself for a long time. While I still believe it's beneficial to rotate grips, just to vary the stimulus, I've done only neutral pullups nearly daily for a really long time now and have had 0 signs of overuse. The neutral grip helped me to heal my tendinitis
@@thestonecircle interesting, I strongly suspect that this is because of the spacing of your neutral grip bars being roughly shoulder width apart which allows for optimal elbow flexion with minimal lateral stress on the joints. For me, using a hammer to develop pronation/supination ability (which also serves to increase rotation resistance) saved my elbows. I had intermittently reoccurring medial epicondilitis until I started hammer training on a regular basis. I do really like neutral grip pull ups due to that stretch I had mentioned. I also appreciate your understanding of the principal of specificity and how this forearm position translates to sand bag lifting. I’d really like to stop deadlifting and switch entirely over to sand bags as I feel it’s more transferable to lifting an actual heavy object in daily life. Thanks for the reply
i always start with regular pullups then chinups then end my sets with neutral grip
That's a good way to go!
I am looking for a high-quality rack that allows for a lot of pull up attachment options. Any good ones you'd recommend?
I've been using this fitness reality cheap rack from amazon for a couple years now and its awesome, especially for under 300! It has some options for attachments but I havent tried them myself
@@thestonecircle Thanks but that was not what i had in mind. I consider a rack an investment and needs to meet certain criteria for me. I am willing to pay the premium so long as it's a quality product, possibly made in the USA and battle-tested!
Did you pair it with Swiss bar bench?
I've done a little of that in the past but none for a while now. Awesome exercise though!
Man, do you think that variation is good for lats and superior muscle of the back?
Yeah it hits the lats pretty well!
@@thestonecircle not the deal for upper back muscles? Thank you so much!
@@luanfreitas2303 it works the upper back a bit too but definitely biases the lats in my experience!
@@thestonecircle thank you for directions man!
Is reaching failure from 12-15 reps different in stimulation than heavy weight and like 8 reps.
Ive been reaching failure with heavy weight and around 8-10 reps and it is good but when I tried do above 15 reps and reach failure, it felt extremely difficult during failure and the burn is intense, add to that more pump.
So is it just more lactic acid or the higher reps are actually simulating comparatively?
In terms of muscle growth it's usually pretty much the same, but some people do respond better to one rep range over another. You're right that burn does make it feel a lot different than lower reps! If you work with that rep range more you should adapt to the burn pretty quick, but as a new stimulus it definitely feels tough at first
I just started gym a week ago and i'm right now sticking for bodyweight excercise only so tried pull ups, but i didnt even get one right. So thought of trying neutral grip pull ups and with support of ground. It went great but the next day my biceps and inner elbow are killing me, it is swole af and i cant even straighten it without feeling pain. Is it something i should worry about? What should I be doing now?
Hey congrats on getting the pullup! Can't say for sure if this is what it is for you, but for me doing pullups after not doing them for a while can cause the same thing, that muscle soreness can be intense! Some good rest usually helps me, and after a few session the soreness stops happening
What kind of bag is that blue bag?
Hey it's the ironmind tough as nails adjustable 300lb capacity bag, I have it linked in the description if you prefer going through amazon, but they have it on their website too!
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:)
Hello there
I have a question
How long do your workouts last?
Thanks
@amthedarknight hey typically 20-40 minutes is good for an intense calisthenics circuit. Since I've been training every day mine have been a little shorter lately usually around 15 mins
I wasnt expecting the tendinidus. 😂
Haha it was really annoying
If u dont mind me asking how tall are you. You being 150 is absolutely insane.
5ft8, just really lean haha. Started out same height at 115lbs. My legs aren't the biggest which probably adds to it!
Are either bear hug or shoulder carries good for the upper traps?
Yeah definitely! The work is spread out over the entire back but the traps get hit nicely
@@thestonecircle thank you my man much appreciate it
I’ve specialised in neutral grip pull ups since I was 17. The best lat builder in my opinion. Get some added weight….game changer.
Just hit 40kg added weight @190lbs body weight. Very pleased
Hey congrats on the PR!
I started the n grip pullups today im 6'1 202 and i couldnt get one on the doorframe bar so i tried the static hold for like 30 s feet foward- how should i progress
slow negatives if you can, band assisted, and greasing the groove all work well!
I have actually found myself making much more gains with pull ups without the rings on a solid bar.
Nice it really works!
these are also alot safer on bicep ligaments and tendons
I believe that considering how much they helped when I had that tendinitis!
@@thestonecircle yeah man same. I replaced most of my bicep work with these, hammer curls and reverse curls
@albiecho03 it's obviously worked really well based on your profile pic, I can only hope to get arms like yours one day!
@@thestonecircle ill trade ya for healthy knees haha
My pull-ups have always been bad but I know I can improve them. I went from 3 pushups to 100, I just don’t know how to get my pull up’s to kick off for reps.
100 in a set that's really impressive! I highly recommend greasing the groove for the pullups if you can, 1-2 reps every time you pass a pullup bar all day everyday for 2-3 weeks, then take a full week off from pullups and retest, usually that leads to a good improvement!
@@thestonecircle not quite 100 in a set, but I can do 50 and 50 pretty much and I’ll try this
hi good man.. i am kind of beginner . i can only do 5 pulls up max at first set and then 3 3 3 3 may be 2. can you help me how to increase reps or a pull up programme ??
Nothing beats greasing the groove imo! Just do 1 or 2 reps whenever you pass a pullup bar throughout the day for a couple weeks, take a week off then retest your max, usually it's quite a bit more than when you started!
@@thestonecircle so after regular pull workout and i can do greasing the groove right ?? i can do both together . is that right ??
@@peterto-xz1guyou can do both if you want to! I just recommend varying the grips if you can to avoid any possible overuse issues from so much volume.
@@thestonecircle ok thank you very much
Kettlebell curls.
Sounds pretty cool! I've seen some guys do those with the kettlebell pointing straight out for that added leverage difficulty, looked tough
I'm 6'2 250 Pounds i started doing pullups 3 weeks ago . I could only do one good pull up now i can do 3 😅
Hell yeah that's great progress!