Ultimate pull-up routine : "Rambo Lats"

I am a big boy.
At 6'2" and 220 pounds, I have alot of mass to move around and yes, you can find me shopping at the big and tall outlets. I have been lighter than I am now, my lightest weight as an adult was about 204 lbs. This was just at the end of my first deployment overseas (okinawa) in 2000. My heaviest weight was about 260, and it was a nasty nasty 260 at that. That was about 2 and a half years ok.
At both these opposite ends of the spectrum my physical abilities tend to shift. At one time I'm quite the runner and swimmer then on the other end I am squatting just at 500lbs but unable to scratch my back or gracefully get out of a recliner. Despite any other factor though, at any weight I have always been able to do one thing : PULLUPS.

I mean full on, clean, Marine Corps dead hang pullups.
Right now I have 18 really solid, clean dead hang pullups, without jerking, flailing, grunting or kipping.
A good DEAD HANG PULL-UP is your hands on the bar a little more than shoulder width apart and the palms facing away from you. You hang with your arms FULLY extended then you use your body to pull your chin up and over the bar and then in a CONTROLED manner lower yourself back to the starting position.
Thats one.
Obviously if you kip or move fast, getting more reps is easy. So, if you can perform 15 very clean dead hang pullups, you can probably get between 20-25 at speed more if you know how to Kip, I do about 28 kipping.

The Marine Corps puts a high premium on pullups. Much more than other services do. And being an infantry Marine means even more pullups and being a Scout Sniper....anyway one has to do alot of pullups.

Now I have seen alot of pull-up workouts and different ideas and concepts about how to improve your pull ups, but the absolutely most effective and tortorous plan I ever encountered, I learned from my Lt. in Scout/Snipers and he called it "Rambo Lats", and lemme tell ya, he had em. We had just done a PFT (physical fitness test) and although I remember smoking both my LT. and my Staff Sergeant on the 3 mile run (I was running a 1930 3 mile back then) I only managed 9 pull ups. So Lt. being Lt. bestowed some Rambo wisdom on me.

The workout is as follows...

Start with the basic pull up grip. slightly wider than your shoulders.
Perform two sets of 7 reps.

Next, widen your grip out to about double your shoulder width.
Perform two sets of 7 reps.

Next, bring your grip in very close, the sides of your hands touching, palms still facing away.
Perform two ssets of 7 reps.

Next reverse your grip so your palms face you.
Perform two sets of 7 reps.

Next your palms should oppose one another, one facing you, one facing away and you pull up with your chest coming up to meet the bar, your head moving to either side.
Perform two sets of 7 reps.

Notes-
- Do DEAD HANG PULLUPS. Dont Kip, that is another exercise all together.
- If you cant do all the reps than do what you can. The other reps will come over a month or two.
- Do this routine 3 times a week. You can do sets of pushups in between the pull up sets of you are getting bored.
- Every so often, once every couple months, skip the workout and just do a PT test, max pullups in 2 minutes so you know your actually improving.
- Little athletic tape on the bar helps your grip on rainy days, cold days etc.
- I recommend doing this along with your other PT before your runs in the morning. I wouldnt mix it with weight training but you know your body better than I do....I hope.


In my experience you will notice your back and biceps toning up and getting tight and defined in just a couple weeks. This also translates into strength integrated body movement in sports, particularly boxing, wrestling, football, Judo and swimming.