by human vegetable » Sun Jun 13, 2010 6:58 pm
[quote]It seems like a distant dream when I used to be able to do 12 pullups.

Pullups are all about being skinny or being crazy strong. Which category do you fall into?
Baldy, not quite sure whether this is directed at me... I'm 6'2'', about 175 lbs, BF hovering around 10%. I hope that makes me "lean" rather than skinny.
But what I'm definitely not is "crazy strong". For the last couple of years, I have trained mostly with bodyweight movements (sometimes added weight). Still, my loads are modest compared to what strength-oriented lifters use, and also I'm not able to churn out hundreds of pushups/bodyweight squats etc.
For me it only takes a few weeks of focused work to get my pullup count up to about 15 reps, but however hard I try (added weight, grease the groove, rest pause) I seem unable to progress any further.
It seems to me that max reps in the pullup are a highly individual matter, depending not just on body composition, but also bone structure/leverage which may ultimately limit your possibilities. Therefore, comparing reps with other trainees is pretty pointless, just use our own past performance as a yardstick.