Okay, let’s talk about this Mike Armstrong pull-up training I went through. Heard some guys talking about it, supposed to get your numbers up, so I figured, why not give it a whirl? My pull-ups were kinda stuck, you know?
Getting Started with the Routine
So the whole deal involves a few things. First off, push-ups. Like, right when you get up. Three max sets. Seemed weird to do push-ups for a pull-up program, but hey, I just followed along. Didn’t think too much about it, just got down and did them most mornings. Some mornings I definitely didn’t want to, felt sluggish, but I tried to stick with it.
Then came the main part, the pull-ups. This wasn’t just banging out sets every day. It was structured, five days a week, each day different. Sounded complicated at first, but once I got into it, it was pretty straightforward.
The Daily Grind
Alright, so here’s kinda how the pull-up part went, day by day, from what I remember doing:
- Day 1: Max Sets. This was simple enough. Just do five sets of pull-ups, trying to do as many as possible each time. Rested like 90 seconds between sets. Felt like a solid start to the week.
- Day 2: Pyramids. Okay, this one was tough. You start with 1 rep, rest a bit, then 2 reps, rest, 3 reps… keep going up until you can’t complete the next number. Then you come back down. Like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, (fail 6), then 5, 4, 3… Brutal sometimes, especially near the top. Rest times were short too, like 10 seconds per rep in the previous set.
- Day 3: Training Sets with Grip Variations. This day felt more manageable. You figure out a number you can do for multiple sets, say 3 reps. Then you do 9 sets of 3 reps. The trick was switching grips – first 3 sets normal overhand, next 3 close grip, last 3 wide grip. Rest was like a minute between sets.
- Day 4: Max Training Sets. This day felt like it dragged sometimes. You just do as many sets as you can of your ‘training set’ number (the one from Day 3). You keep going until you basically can’t do that number anymore for a set. Rest was about a minute again. Some days I got way more sets than others.
- Day 5: Repeat Toughest Day. This was usually the pyramid day for me, because man, that one smoked me. But you just pick whichever day felt the hardest that week and do it again.
Weekends were off, which was nice. Gave the arms and back a break.
Sticking With It (Mostly)
I tried to be consistent. Really did. Wrote down my reps, kept track. Some weeks were better than others. Life happens, right? Missed a day here and there, sometimes felt weak, sometimes felt strong. The morning push-ups became routine after a while, just another thing to do like brushing teeth.
Progress wasn’t like a rocket ship. It was slow. For a few weeks, felt like I was just spinning my wheels, doing the same numbers. Then, maybe I’d suddenly get one extra rep on the pyramid, or squeeze out another set on Day 4. Little victories, you know?
So, Did It Work?
Yeah, it did. No magic pill, still took effort, but my pull-up numbers definitely went up. I went from struggling to get maybe 8-10 clean reps to hitting closer to 15-18 consistently after doing this for a couple of months pretty solid.
Was it the best thing ever? Hard to say. It worked for me at the time. It’s demanding, takes discipline, especially with the five days a week plus the morning push-ups. You gotta really want those extra reps to stick with it.
Overall, a decent experience. Put in the work, saw results. That’s usually how it goes, right? If your pull-ups are stuck and you want a structured plan, maybe check it out. Just be ready for the grind.
