Question About Pratical Programming For Novice

[whoisrhp]

I have seen Mark and other people in the forum talk about how chin-ups are superior to pull-ups in terms of bicep development. Would swapping out the pull-ups for chin-ups hinder my gains or end up changing the program? I feel like my bench press and press are stalling and I read that chin-ups work chest and biceps more than pull-ups would doing more chin-ups help with my stalling?

[MikeC1]

Hard to say. How many chinups can you do and what's your weight? It might help your bench and press to increase the number of chinups you do if you can't do very many. Or it's possible that the pullups are adding too much to your weekly workload and you should remove them completely so you can focus on just the bench / press and recovery for those. To answer your question, it probably matters little which of the two (chin vs pullup) you use in your training. If you are able to double your reps on either of those, it probably will help all your other upper body lifts.

[whoisrhp]

Hard to say. How many chinups can you do and what's your weight? It might help your bench and press to increase the number of chinups you do if you can't do very many. Or it's possible that the pullups are adding too much to your weekly workload and you should remove them completely so you can focus on just the bench / press and recovery for those. To answer your question, it probably matters little which of the two (chin vs pullup) you use in your training. If you are able to double your reps on either of those, it probably will help all your other upper body lifts.

As of right now my current weight is 140 pounds @ 5'6"


Press 140 x 5
Bench Press 197.5 x 5
Squat 292.5 x 5
Deadlift 315 x 5

I started with bodyweight chin-ups and pull-ups I was able to do 15 reps for the most part on first 2 sets then usually did about 13 reps on the last set

Right now im doing weighted chin-ups @ 35 pounds and pull-ups at @ 25 pounds

I do around 11 for first set 10 for 2nd set and usually around 8 reps for the last set

[MDR2]

Just do the chins.

[whoisrhp]

here's a video of me pressing 140 x 5 @ 141 pounds

[hamburgerfan]

I would just like to add that you are incredibly strong for someone your size.

[Carlos Daniel]

I would just like to add that you are incredibly strong for someone your size.

Can't argue with that. Is there some reason for you (OP, not hamburgerfan) not to gain weight?

[whoisrhp]

Can't argue with that. Is there some reason for you (OP, not hamburgerfan) not to gain weight?

This is actually my second time attempting SS the first time I started the program last year I injured my wrists doing power cleans I just recently started beginning of December at 133 pounds @ 5~6% bodyfat I was doing crossfit for 4 months prior. I started Weightlifting / Strength Training since the beginning of December 2010 , I have an event that I have to attend in 2 weeks so I been doing some extra cardio work outs on my rest days along with reducing my calories, I think im going to end up leaning out at around 137 pounds so that means i'll have put on a solid 4 pounds of muscle in 3 months. After the events over in 2 weeks I plan to bulk up again going to aim to get up to 150 pounds then cut down.

I also am trying to reach Elite Status on all my lifts in the 148 pound range.

[whoisrhp]

I would just like to add that you are incredibly strong for someone your size.

thank you bro!

[Carlos Daniel]

This is actually my second time attempting SS the first time I started the program last year I injured my wrists doing power cleans I just recently started beginning of December at 133 pounds @ 5~6% bodyfat I was doing crossfit for 4 months prior. I started Weightlifting / Strength Training since the beginning of December 2010 , I have an event that I have to attend in 2 weeks so I been doing some extra cardio work outs on my rest days along with reducing my calories, I think im going to end up leaning out at around 137 pounds so that means i'll have put on a solid 4 pounds of muscle in 3 months. After the events over in 2 weeks I plan to bulk up again going to aim to get up to 150 pounds then cut down.

I also am trying to reach Elite Status on all my lifts in the 148 pound range.

That's interesting, but you didn't quite answer my question.