The Pull Up: Unlocked
By Kyle Boggeman, MS, CSCS, TSAC-F
The Training Template
Max Day
Hypertrophy Day
Volume Day
Sets: 3 (Max Effort)
Rest: 5:00+
Sets: 5 (70% Current Max)
Rest: 3:00 Strict
Sets: 3 (Ascending Ladder Sets)
Rests: 0:30 Strict
Fitness Prerequisites- Healthy enough for exercise
Equipment Requirement- Rings
Schedule- 3 non-consecutive days per week.
About The Program
“The Pull Up: Unlocked" is a program based off of “Pull Up Mastery”, which has been a very
successful approach for achieving increased pull up performance. “The Pull Up: Unlocked” is
intended to drive increases in muscle mass in the pulling musculature and improve general
work capacity. This increase in muscle mass and work capacity will improve strength potential
and body composition, giving you the hardware needed to do the pull up. This stands in stark
contrast to the common approach of using isometric and negative pull up reps. Working with
supra-maximal efforts, loads that exceeds your 1 rep max, is an inefficient and potentially risky
strategy for an unprepared beginner, who lacks the muscle mass needed to develop high levels
of strength from this type of training, as well as the connective tissue development to tolerate
high intensity without excessive injury risk. This is especially true when these exercises are
performed at high volumes to drive increases in muscle mass. While muscle mass is the key
component for pull up performance, isometrics and negatives are the wrong tools for building it
in beginners.
In the vast majority of people, pull up performance is limited by body composition, meaning the
lack of muscle mass or the presence of excess body fat (or a combination of the two). A
strategy around improving this component of your fitness will have the greatest impact on our
ability to unlock your ability to perform the pull up. The tools you use to do that make all the
difference in how effective your efforts will be.
Program Details
Day 1 (Max Day)- The first session of the training week requires that you perform 3 max effort
sets of ring rows. In this case, “max” means the most reps you can perform with the best form
you are capable of. Keep your body planked out and stable during the movement, keep your
chest high, squeeze the shoulder blades together at the top of each rep, control the lowering
phase, and lower all the way down until your arms are fully extended. Terminate the set when
your reps fail to meet this quality standard.
Rest times between max sets should be at least 5 minutes.
Day 2 (Hypertrophy Day)- The training rep target for “Hypertrophy Day” will be determined by
your best performance on your last max day. You will take 70% of your best set (rounding up if
needed) and perform 5 sets at this rep count. The same rules apply in terms of form quality and
technical standards.
Rest times between sets should be at least 3 minutes.
Day 3 (Ascending Ladders)- A ladder is a series of sets, each increasing in reps. Ladders
provide an opportunity for you to perform a large amount of high quality reps while periodically
approaching high effort sets. It is important to make sure you take a strict 30 second rest
between sets.
To perform the ladder, start with a single repetition, rest 30 seconds, then perform 2 repetitions,
rest 30 seconds and perform 3 repetitions. Continue to increase the reps per set by 1 until you
are confident that you will no longer be able to complete the next set, or you fail to complete
the target rep count, after which rest 30 seconds and start over at a single rep, then repeat the
process. The process of going from 1 rep to your top set counts as a single ladder. You will
perform 3 of these.
A typical ladder day might look like this...
1. 1/2/3/4/5/6 (struggled on 6th rep, probably could not complete a 7th set)
2. 1/2/3/4/5/4 (failed on 4th rep of the 6th set)
3. 1/2/3/4 (seriously struggled on 4th rep of the 4th set)
As you progress, you will be able to go higher in the ladder, but more often than not, you will
see an increased consistency across your ladders. You can also gauge progress by taking a
look at the total reps you are able to achieve between all 3 ladders during the workout.
Adjusting the Rings
For this program to be effective in terms of driving adaptation while managing injury risk and
fatigue, we want the rings adjusted to a height that allows you to achieve a “max” between 8
and 15 repetitions. Raising the rings makes the row easier, and lowering the rings makes the
row harder. Once you have lowered to the point were your back is just barely off the floor, you
can further increase the difficulty by elevating the feet.
Progression
Once you have the rings positioned to where your “max” is between 8 and 15, you will keep
them in this position for ALL your training days until your max exceeds 15 repetitions. When
this happens, lower the rings 8-12” and perform the program until you are able to exceed 15
reps for a max at the current height. Continue to lower the ring 8-12” every time you are able to
exceed 15 rep. Once you have progressed to the point where you can’t lower the rings
anymore without resting your back on the ground, continue progressing by elevating your feet
8-12” at a time, every time you are able to exceed 15 reps in your max.
“Trying” Pull Ups
Once you have progressed to the point where your back is getting close to the floor, once or
twice per week you can attempt a pull up. Don’t worry about what the form looks like, just see
if you can do a pull up. If you can, then once or twice per week, just “practice” a few single
reps. If you cannot achieve the pull up when you try, continue to attempt a pull up once per
week while you continue to progress through harder row variations. You will find yourself
getting closer and closer every time, and eventually you will get it, at which point you can
“practice” a few single reps once or twice per week. When you feel like you could perform 2
reps, give it a shot, and once you can achieve 2-3 pull ups, you can “practice” single
repetitions “grease the groove style”, performing 4-6 singles per day, spread out over the
course of the day, periodically testing your performance, perhaps every 2-4 weeks. Continue to
progress the ring rows, while “practicing” the pull up, until you can perform 5 good repetitions,
at which point you will be ready for “Pull Up Mastery”.