Josh99CL

Disclaimer** I'm not a huge guy but im decently strong for my weight so don't think I'm trying to sound bad ass or anything in this story.

So I get to the gym last night and start doing my routine it was chest/back for me today so I warm up and then start chest pressing some dumbbells. I rotate those with chin ups with the forward grip that works the back to start.

I walk over the multi-bars and jump up and start repping off and there are two guys next to me on the assisted machine doing pull ups weight assisted. The guy looks over at me and then to his buddy and is like "I could do that too if I weighed 130lbs... I look over and I'm like try 155 (I'm 5"8' so that's a decent weight trying for 160 anyway...) I get done with my set and the guy looks at his buddy again and is like I haven't weighed that since I was 14. I look back and I'm like "What's your excuse going to be when I push more weight off my chest than you?(which I was) and that was basically the end of it. These guys were like 5"11 maybe 6ft and just looked kind of average.

I'm not normally cocky or anything and aren't really big enough to be cocky even though I'm respectably sized I just hate jack asses. It wouldn't have been a big deal if he didn't sound like an ass which I could tell from his tone he was just trying to be shitty.

Garkon

It's called making excuses for your shortcomings. People always make up reasons for not doing pull ups. It's easier than actually making an effort to improve. A buddy of mine is mine is 6'2" 220lbs and he does pull ups, though not as many as me at 160, but that's to be expected. Whats they're excuse? Don't let it bother you, though i doubt it is. There's always gonna be shit talkers.

Josh99CL

Na it didn't bother me at all. Especially later when I was about 6-7 feet away chest pressing more weight on dumbbells then they were on the smith machine.

I saw them looking at my weight and they never said another word.

...but yes as far as pull ups go your upper body is lacking unless you can do reps of at least 5. I wouldn't be content unless I could at least do that.

The guy I lift with is 5"10' 175~ and does just as many as me hes insane though.

Doom878

Regardless if you were stronger or weaker, dudes don't need to talk shit where you can hear. It's a sign of disrespect and makes the guy look self-conscious and weak. I probably wouldn't have said anything and just let my lifting speak for itself.

incredulous1

haha nice. you shouldve started a fight and thrown a dumbbell at their faces though!

slowaccord

my brother whos a fatass is always bragging about how much he kan bench even though he kant do a single pullup hahaha

MoneyPit

iTrader: (1)

this sucks...
i'm 6'4" 210, in good shape, and i suck bad at pullups. i can push weight for days, but no pullups. been that way since i was young

rtlltj

I was one of the kids who was always in the 1-2 pullups club. Now I do sets of 10 pullups no problem and I'm 6'3 210. When I do pullups at the gym the guys who think they are too big look at me funny. If your goal is to increase pullups anyone can do it.

Doom878

Is it commonly hard for tall people to have difficulties to do pullups? I've always heard that shorter can bench more due to limb travel distance.

Josh99CL

Word, I'm definitely not discounting that it's more difficult the more you weigh and the longer your arms are. I just wouldn't be content with my upper body unless I could at least rep off 5+ over 4~ sets.

GIBSON6594

I never understood how a couple inches of travel distance would make benching easier

Josh99CL

There is a reason why most of the high end competitive lifters are shorter. Smaller travel distance to complete a rep.

If you've ever seen the video of the world record bench press it was like 1150lbs or some shit and the guys chest was so huge he only had to move the bar like an inch to complete a rep =).

Mike86

I'm 6'2" 195 lbs can barely bench my weight (205lbs) but can do 25+ pull ups easy. I've always sucked at bench but can curl 65 lb dumbells and do tons of pullups. Oh and I eat pretty high protein low fat/carb and work out 3-4 times a week

Doom878

Your pulling (curls, pullups) is superior to your pushing. Were you a wrestler or something?

Josh99CL

I just sounds like you've focused on that area more :/

Mike86

my arms have always just been naturally strong, never wrestled really, just for fun messin around sometimes. I have a really hard time building up my chest, trust me I work it out plenty, but I've been at a plateau for a long time

Josh99CL

Strange, I've made faster gains in my chest than just about anything else but I'm 5"8' so I don't have real long arms.

I would suggest chess pressing dumbbells flat/incline and see how that treats you if you haven't done it. Dumbbells for stabilization which is always a good thing.

Mike86

Yeah I usually mix up my chest workouts and use a mix of bar, dumbells, incline, flat, declince, pectoral flys, pushups, you name it. Part of my problem is that I have a slender body type which means narrow frame and long arms, so it all works against building my chest up. Also it's almost impossible for me to bulk up, I can eat like a pig and not gain a pound.

Josh99CL

Word on the weight thing. When I first started lifting on a regular schedule I gained like 12 lbs real fast and I've been fluctuating like 1-2 lbs for the last 3 months even though I've gotten quite a bit stronger the weight hasn't moved.