20 sets of 5 for pullups, why did this work so well?
I experienced something last year but I can't explain it (and haven't tried to duplicate it).
Last year when doing crossfit I was exposed to the "murph" memorial day workout. (1 mile run, 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 air squats, 1 mile run (in 20 lb vest) I trained for it and did it.
Before training for it I could get maybe 9 pullups in a row, then 7 or less for additional sets. I've always sucked at pull ups.
In training for the murph I did 4 workouts: 25 sets of 4, then 20 sets of 5, then 25 sets of 4 (weighted), then 20 sets of 5 (weighted) over the course of a couple weeks. I used a timer and did a new set every 2 minutes (on the minute).
I noticed my pullup strength went up dramatically. After doing the murph I was able to do 15 pullups in a row. I had been dragging along slowly before then, maybe going up one pullup a week.
Is there a rationale' / case for sub-maximal loads lifted for sub-maximal reps but for many sets? Was it something special or was I simply so untrained that anything would have helped me?