Cannot chin/pull-up looking for alternative 40yo 310lb just starting barbell presc.

[markxnelson]

Hi,

I am a 40yo male, 310lb, I have just started doing the barbell prescription 40's program, about 4 weeks in. My last three workout's work sets were:

last: SQ 95x5x3, BP 75x5x3, DL 135x5
prev: SQ 85x5x3, PR 60x5x3, DL: 120x5
prev: SQ 75x5x3 , BP 65x5x3, DL: 105x5

I am starting to get near the point where I would want to start adding the chin ups/pull ups, but I cannot do even one, not even close. My question is: until I lose some weight and improve my arm strength, is there a reasonable substitute I could do instead of chin ups? Like maybe push ups/press ups; or sit ups/crunchs maybe?

Thanks a lot for the books and the forums, they are great.
Best,
Mark

[cutlet#]

Reasonable substitutes:
- Negative chins, band-assisted chins, or band-assisted negatives
- Inverted body weight rows
- Barbell rows

Reasonable exercises that aren't a substitute for chins:
- Push ups

Unreasonable exercises:
- sit ups
- crunches

Exercises I've not heard of:
- press ups

[markxnelson]

Thank you very much for the quick reply!
FYI "press ups" I was under the impression was another common name for "push ups"

[FatButWeak]

Mark:
I too was too fat to do pullups. You WILL need to lsoe weight.

Until then, just do the program as written. Once you can deadlift well over your bodyweight you will find that you have the hand, grip, forearm, upper arm and shoulder girdle strength to do a pull up. If your deadlift is at 135 your shoulders will rip out of the socket if a 310 person starts hanging from then. The deadlift, if dsone properly, works much of the same musculature, believe it or not. The first time i tried to do a pullup (I had lost weight to 240 from 230) I was pleasantly suprised. My deadlift was about 300 at the time.

Just keep doing the program as you have been. The sad truth is youre too fat and weak for pullups, but you wont always be IF YOU DO THE PROGRAM AS WRITTEN. If you start wasting time and fucking around with other shit, it will only slow your progress.

Godspeed.

[markxnelson]

Thanks FatButWeak, I am trying to stick to the program as written, if deadlifts alone will do the trick, and I dont need to add anything in place of chin ups, that will work for me. I have not really lost any weight since starting the program, maybe 5lbs, but I have noticed that my waist is at least an inch smaller, had to put a new hole in my belt to hold my pants up. I am not really focusing on trying to lose weight, like it says in the book, I am just trying to do the program, and hopefully at some point the weight will start to take care of itself as a side effect...

[Mugaaz]

Just use a pulldown machine until your chin strength / weight ratio improves to the point you can do chins. This board is overly obsessed with using bands and negative chins for training pull ups. I did machine pulldowns until I got strong enough to do chins, it works.

[Meshuggah]

Just use a pulldown machine until your chin strength / weight ratio improves to the point you can do chins. This board is overly obsessed with using bands and negative chins for training pull ups. I did machine pulldowns until I got strong enough to do chins, it works.

Yep. The strongest men on the planet never do chins or pull-ups.

[Dag]

Just use a pulldown machine until your chin strength / weight ratio improves to the point you can do chins. This board is overly obsessed with using bands and negative chins for training pull ups. I did machine pulldowns until I got strong enough to do chins, it works.

Beat me to it. Pull downs seem like the obvious, no brainer choice as a chin replacement. I'm in the minority here , I guess but I hate chins and don't do them. I CAN do them, I just don't.

[jwagner]

Yep. The strongest men on the planet never do chins or pull-ups.

Are you sure about that?

[murphyreedus]

Just use a pulldown machine until your chin strength / weight ratio improves to the point you can do chins. This board is overly obsessed with using bands and negative chins for training pull ups. I did machine pulldowns until I got strong enough to do chins, it works.

I do weighted chins, but I still like doing pull-downs too, and recently acquired a machine specifically so that I could do them at home. I haven't gotten the impression that there's an obsession here, and have seen lat pull-downs written of favorably by experienced people on these forums in the past. I think it's more that most people doing the program have access to a chin bar, but not everyone (especially home gym-ers) have access to a decent pull-down.