Getting strong through pull-ups ONLY?

[J.C.]

I was just wondering about this because there's a guy at my gym who only ever seems to do pull-ups (occasionally dips) and he's getting pretty good. I never see him do anything else but he's not particularly friendly so I've never spoken to him.

What's annoying is that I swear a few months ago we had about the same ability at pull-ups. I used to do a few sets of 4-5 and now I can do a few sets of 5-6. I suck I know.

However last time I saw him he was doing loads of sets of about 3-4 with an extra 25Kg+. I feel like I'm a lot stronger, and could squat, dead, bench etc more than him but my lack of progress at pull-ups is really annoying me. Do you reckon doing weighted pull-ups as soon as you can is a better way of getting good than trying to do extra reps each time? We're pretty similar builds. I'm a bit heavier (~200lbs) and a few inches taller at 6'4 but seriously, how is this guy doing this? What do you think of training programs based around weighted bodyweight movements? I know its the sort of training that special forces/police do.

- btw I know this is essentially yet another thread on how to get better at pull-ups. Sorry about that.

[Torrok]

do them more often. what is your routine like?

[J.C.]

My routine's pretty simple. A fairly solid program based around the core lifts, mostly 8-10 rep range. I'm happy with it at the moment while I finish a cut and do more running, although I'm going to go back to a 5x5 template in the next couple of weeks and do a bulk. I currently do pull-ups on monday, chin-ups on friday. Usually 2xfailure tho last monday I did 10 sets of 3.

Anyway, what I'm asking is how effective would it be to JUST do pull-ups? I mean it seems to be working for this guy and its a good important exercise for everyday strength. And would I make better progress if I started doing weighted pullups as soon as possible, even if it was for just a couple of reps at a time? I can't seem to get over about 6 decent reps here. Maybe some weighted ones will help me progress again.

[Sensei]

Almost every time I train, I'm only going to do 1, or 2, at most 3 exercises.

I don't think I'd ever do one exercise exclusively, but I've written templates and plans based around squats, pull-ups, and one or two kettlebell exercises. It doesn't take a lot of exercise variety to get strong.

If you can get 6 reps now, do pull-ups frequently - unless you just go waay overboard, doing some everyday will not hurt you at all and will almost certainly help. You will get better, quickly.

[J.C.]

If you can get 6 reps now, do pull-ups frequently - unless you just go waay overboard, doing some everyday will not hurt you at all and will almost certainly help. You will get better, quickly.

I'm going to make pull-ups a priority in my next strength phase. If I don't get better quickly you lose the title of sensei. ;)