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Unpopular opinion : Assisted pullups can help build a better back than weighted/body weight pullups alone. Don't be shy of incorporating this in your routine! Using the assisted pullups machines doesn't make you weak. The strongest lifters use it as a 'tool'.

83,881 views • 4 months ago •via X (Twitter)

93 Comments

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

Hehe, lol.

Simon Fit's profile picture
Simon Fit4 months ago

@ghostofemmanuel real, more controlled volume beats ego avoiding a machine because of how it looks

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

@ghostofemmanuel So true! It's funny how we've embraced machines in all other spheres but are loath to incorporate them in the gym.

Серенький волчок's profile picture
Серенький волчок3 months ago

что за хуйню я прочитал сейчас.....

Sai Lohith V's profile picture
Sai Lohith V3 months ago

In my current gym it’s not available but a year when I doing in public gym I used it to learn pull ups. I say with this we can do good progress with greater stability and ROM..

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

Yes! People are commenting this machine is for girls lol. Ego costs progress.

Sai Lohith V's profile picture
Sai Lohith V3 months ago

Yes many things people believe as girls subject like training glutes, hips but these are peak human things

Md. Asaad Sayed 🪽's profile picture
Md. Asaad Sayed 🪽4 months ago

Ahem... lat cables

Rishab Mishra's profile picture
Rishab Mishra4 months ago

Purists hate this one trick!

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

Yeah. But we should be open minded about training. Everything is a tool in the end! Nothing makes you weak or strong. They are there to help us 😆

Rishab Mishra's profile picture
Rishab Mishra4 months ago

Oh I’m with you all the way

Rishab Mishra's profile picture
Rishab Mishra4 months ago

😂

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

😛

Canned Coffee's profile picture
Canned Coffee4 months ago

Get the full stretch at the bottom and full contraction at the top

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

Yes! Which sometimes isn't possible in the last few reps of weighted/bodyweight pullups.

Canned Coffee's profile picture
Canned Coffee4 months ago

Yes and it creates great metabolic stress in the muscle which is drivers of growth

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

Yes 💪🏻

Alan Neveu's profile picture
Alan Neveu4 months ago

Yes but why is that machine not actually assisting?

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

To begin with I did body weight reps. Then I added weight for assistance.

Pump Cover King's profile picture
Pump Cover King4 months ago

When you pull with me. We start warming up bodyweight 3-7 wide 3-7 medium 3-7 close Then a weight of your choice 3-7 3-7 Then the heaviest weight you can pull 1-5 1-5 1-5 Then its body weight again. I’ve never in my life used the assisted pull up machine. It’s for girls

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

Haha. I'll take the extra gains at the cost of it being a 'girly' movement according to you.

Pump Cover King's profile picture
Pump Cover King4 months ago

Extra gains? Again I’ve never used the Machine a day in my life Brother. You aren’t getting No Extra Gains that I’m not getting and you don’t pull more weight than me. Stop using the Women’s Equipment 😂 I Pull-Up 260lbs/118kgs I weigh 68kgs

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

So you mean +50 kgs? You did 1 rep of that?

Pump Cover King's profile picture
Pump Cover King3 months ago

Sure bro, that’s 2 reps plus 3 and that’s after the program I showed you. So I already did hella pull ups. I don’t know my max because I don’t 1 rep max. It’s gay! 🤭😂 now stop using the assisted pull up machine! You taking equipment away from Women smh 😭

Nuck Chorris aka Metallicus TBDN Man🌙 ⚛️Ⓜ️'s profile picture
Nuck Chorris aka Metallicus TBDN Man🌙 ⚛️Ⓜ️4 months ago

The key is the essentric movement here . Slow. Crazy activation.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

Yup. Crazy anabolic 😆

Nuck Chorris aka Metallicus TBDN Man🌙 ⚛️Ⓜ️'s profile picture
Nuck Chorris aka Metallicus TBDN Man🌙 ⚛️Ⓜ️4 months ago

😄😄😄😄

James Sutton's profile picture
James Sutton4 months ago

Wish i had one of these machines (a band isn't safe). I use pulldowns and a few pullups... just trying to avoid ripping a shoulder from its socket.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

Yes if it's some old injury or if it hurts then it's probably not worth it. Nothing is worth sacrificing longevity.

Gigs's profile picture
Gigs4 months ago

I would need to do 30+ reps on that thing to come close to failure. Im sticking with weighted

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

You start with weighted pullups, then do these. It's a tool to go beyond failure.

𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕣 ⚜️'s profile picture
𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕣 ⚜️4 months ago

If done right, they are forced reps, a built in spotter.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

Yup! Going beyond failure as Yates would like to say 😆

Vishal Max's profile picture
Vishal Max4 months ago

Rule 1: Don't be shy about being weak in the gym.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

That's true. But let me tell you the strongest guys in the gym are doing this 😆

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

@VishalMaXz Calisthenics is different. It's difficult to do pullups when you're 150 kgs of pure muscle. These guys can DL 400 kgs lol. But pound for pound they are not as strong as leaner calisthenic guys. They shine in absolute strength.

martin's profile picture
martin4 months ago

Podés ser puto pero no podés ser trolo

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

Lol. Typical gym bro. Ok, stay uninformed.

martin's profile picture
martin3 months ago

Déjate de joder, amigo. Mira la pavada que estás haciendo. La técnica como el orto y encima en una máquina de minita(?)

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

Technique? What's wrong with that. Let's see your pullups, discount Don Quixote 😆

martin's profile picture
martin3 months ago

Estás rebotando las piernas contra un banquito, flaco. Mis dominadas? No hice asistidas ni cuando empecé a los 15 años. Mis alumnas hacen ahi. Obviamente con mejor técnica que la tuya.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

Haha, sure Martin.

Nikola Budor's profile picture
Nikola Budor4 months ago

Plus there's nothing in the world quite like when that rubber band slips of your foot in the bottom position of your assisted pullup.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

Shoulder can seriously get hurt from the sudden weight transfer 🥹

Nikola Budor's profile picture
Nikola Budor4 months ago

Not to mention the pain in the, ahem, small joints.

Travesty's profile picture
Travesty3 months ago

I’ve always been on the fence with assisted pull-ups. Cheating/jumping up and doing a slow controlled eccentric also works wonders. If you do cheat with slow eccentrics for a few weeks, you can go from no reps to a couple reps real fast

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

But the same can be done with an assisted pullups machine for more benefits and almost no downside.

Travesty's profile picture
Travesty3 months ago

They have a Cybex assisted pull-up/ dip at my gym. I’m too tall for it so I’m biased. I just do sets of 4 with my 285lb fat azz.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

Hehe, fair enough! This machine is a challenge for really tall men.

DJ in MA's profile picture
DJ in MA4 months ago

💯 Single most important machine in the gym.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

I'd say there are other great machines as well. But I get what your point 🤝

⬣ Pulsechain.com ⬣'s profile picture
⬣ Pulsechain.com ⬣4 months ago

I do body weight 4 sets of 10-12 depending on day and recovery. If I’m strong enough warming up with 10 I do weighted for sets of 6 I sometimes end doing assisted with -25pounds as a burnout.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

Perfect routine. That's intelligent programming. Unlike a lot of men here in the comment section that think this machine is 'girly'. 😆

Throw Away's profile picture
Throw Away4 months ago

Good machine if you can’t do real pull-ups

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

I can get 15+ pullups if I want. That's what the post is about. Keep the lifter ego aside and use it to unlock new growth 😆.

Throw Away's profile picture
Throw Away4 months ago

This is bad advice. If you can do 15 pull-ups with good form, you should be doing weighted pull-ups, not a bunch of trash volume on the assisted pull-up. Nothing to do with ego

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

So I did weighted pullups * 8 (+20 kgs) - 1st working set Body weight pullups * 13 - 2nd working set Third working set with assisted pullups machine. Now I don't do this all the time. Just for 4 weeks. Because adding this volume costs a lot of recovery!

Throw Away's profile picture
Throw Away3 months ago

The third set is just trash volume. Better off doing 2 weighted sets then a third set of regular pull-ups to failure

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

I kind of agree. I'm a 2 set guy as well. But here I include this third assisted pullups set post my weighted/bw pullup sets. Lower lats have grown.

Dr Arinze Mbanusi's profile picture
Dr Arinze Mbanusi4 months ago

This changed my perspective. I assumed assisted pull-ups took away the work, but they actually seem to help build the movement properly. Sometimes scaling isn't a step back it's how you move forward.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

@ojstrongmind Glad that you're viewing this with an open mind. Doing these doesn't mean we don't do bodyweight/weighted pullups. Maybe after your final working set of weighted pullups, incorporate these till brutal failure. The deep stretch is going to be MEGA anabolic 😆

Dr Arinze Mbanusi's profile picture
Dr Arinze Mbanusi4 months ago

Thanks! That's really helpful. Looking forward to trying it out properly, I may even document the journey here 🙂.

puregold's profile picture
puregold3 months ago

I love pull-ups. I can't wait to be good at them.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

Soon 😆 Do them twice a week. Not more.

kneel_b4_ZOD's profile picture
kneel_b4_ZOD4 months ago

I agree with you. This alongside assisted dips for the chest, triceps and deltoids.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

And we have a lethal combo 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

kneel_b4_ZOD's profile picture
kneel_b4_ZOD4 months ago

Ye sir. Trainers need to understand that its about movement patterns and resistance and not number challenges then it all clicks in together!

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

Yeah. An open mind helps everywhere, including the gym 😁

Michael Carrubba ☕️ 🇺🇦 🧼's profile picture
Michael Carrubba ☕️ 🇺🇦 🧼4 months ago

Whatever assistance you need to get a good 10/12 reps in. I love the movement and start with no assistance just to see how many I can do, not many! How many can you do AP?

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

Hey Michael! Yes that's the idea 😁 I get about 15 body weight pullups. Then I do these with assistantance.

Freeman⚓️💪🏼's profile picture
Freeman⚓️💪🏼3 months ago

I literally said the same thing today 😅I don’t know why people don’t realize it.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

Yeah. They keep calling it girly lol. Deny yourself excellent gains because of ego! Lol. So smart.

Freeman⚓️💪🏼's profile picture
Freeman⚓️💪🏼3 months ago

Exactly 🤣🤣

Jasm's profile picture
Jasm4 months ago

I'm a bigger guy, so will do 6-8 strict form (I tend to like neutral grip) unassisted, then finish off with 4+ assisted to failure.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

Neutral grip pullups are great 👌🏻 They recruit the brachialis and that being a stronger muscle as compared to the biceps brachii you can just do more reps. Good for your lats!

Robin doda | Outside the box Nutrition's profile picture
Robin doda | Outside the box Nutrition4 months ago

Absolutely. Another goated move is to execute them, after pullups. Your lats will burn 🔥

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

Yes but probably one burner set only weekly. The fatigue dug a hole in my recovery 🥵

Chris's profile picture
Chris4 months ago

Great for truly focusing on the lats

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

Yeah! Especially the lower lats 😆

ANDREW's profile picture
ANDREW4 months ago

Straight leg pull-ups, know folding the legs

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

The assistance pad is there so you can't straighten legs 😆

Raj Michaels 💪🏼's profile picture
Raj Michaels 💪🏼3 months ago

I've a shoulder injury reason I was not doing bodyweight pullups or weighted pull ups. But after reading this I can definitely try assisted pull ups.Thanks brodie

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

Yes, excellent for injury rehab 😆. How did the injury happen? You're welcome!

Raj Michaels 💪🏼's profile picture
Raj Michaels 💪🏼3 months ago

accident bro

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

Oh. Hope it gets 100% better soon.

WealthSquadMK's profile picture
WealthSquadMK4 months ago

I don't have a assisted pull machine at home so I use my different color bands.

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

Works 👍🏻Solid substitute.

Mr Vincent🇬🇧🇺🇸's profile picture
Mr Vincent🇬🇧🇺🇸4 months ago

The best backs are built with smart progression

ISHI UNFILTERED's profile picture
ISHI UNFILTERED4 months ago

tomorrow is back day for me ....will do it

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua4 months ago

@AFitTrader

Anthony's profile picture
Anthony3 months ago

Ok let me know when it starts working lol

AP Joshua's profile picture
AP Joshua3 months ago

Been working very well for years mate.

Carl Sequeira's profile picture
Carl Sequeira4 months ago

🤝✅

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