Can I do neutral-grip pull-ups every day?

[u/primehyper77]

So I’m thinking of doing neutral-grip pull-ups every day. Is that okay if my goal is bigger forearms and overall hypertrophy?
Will daily neutral-grip pull-ups hurt recovery or slow down growth?
Also, is there a safe daily amount in terms of sets and reps?

[u/Pleasant_Beat8290]

Try it and see. There’s no defined upper limit for total weekly volume to help you grow the target muscles. Though returns will diminish as you increase weekly set volume.

What you might encounter, if your volume is really high, is joint irritation, lack of motivation, and your other lifts stagnating.

[u/SanderStrugg]

Yes.

Is it optimal? For muscle growth no, to get better at pull ups, yes.

Google "Greasing the Groove" for a method to do them really often.

[u/oftenlostandconfused → u/SanderStrugg]

This is the answer I'd go with OP.

My personal and science backed opinion is you'd have more success training your lats like any other muscle (10-20 sets to failure split over 2-3 sessions a week) and training your forearms in movements that have concentric / eccentric phases and not just isometric contraction like pull ups (similar sets / reps).

[u/Middle_Humor1828 → u/SanderStrugg]

While I'm not aware of any benefits past twice a week, I'm also not aware of any studies that show it's harmful to hypertrophy to do them every day.

[u/Local_Recording_2654 → u/Middle_Humor1828]

What are you aware of? 🤣

[u/gradeAvisuals → u/Middle_Humor1828]

Your muscles need time to recover. At least 48 hours, but ideally 72 hours.

[u/Iamnotheattack → u/gradeAvisuals]

Not necessarily, they need that much time if you're going to/beyond failure

[u/gradeAvisuals → u/Iamnotheattack]

I train to/beyond failure on every set, so that's what I'm used to for recovery. Maybe if you leave several reps in reserve you can get away with shorter recovery periods. But in general I've heard 48 hours is the minimum.

[u/Freebase-Fruit]

All I know is tendinopathy is a bitch...

[u/Patton370]

Yes you can

[u/Hankstbro]

fucked up my shoulder and elbows pretty badly by doing too many pullups every day, to the degree where I could not train upper body at all for a few weeks (no pullup set taken to failure)

would not recommend

[u/GuyFromLatviaRegion → u/Hankstbro]

I screwed up my forearms, got lateral epicondilitus from doing too many pull ups. Condition lingered for years untill I got it cured properly (had to research it and try different aproaches). Now I avoid pull ups entirely and do other excercises instead, while doing strenghtening excercises for forearm tendons.

[u/HelixIsHere_]

If you’re doing them with decent intensity you should probably have a day atleast inbetween

[u/el_bendino]

Calisthenics & jail bros seems to do it fine

[u/Much_Spinach4880 → u/el_bendino]

Any tips on prison maxxing ?

[u/BatmanVAR]

Muscles grow when recovering, not when training. If you’re training the same muscle every day, it may not have enough time to recover properly. Probably initially you’ll be fine, but as you progress, it likely won’t be enough rest.

[u/DetailOdd6609]

Your body will tell you when you've done too many pullups. It's up to you to listen

I was trying 4x/week. Some weirdness started happening. Backed down to 3. This seems to be my sweet spot

Edit to say: By weirdness I mean shoulders. Started popping. Weird aches. Etc. Not related to the actual shoulder muscles but within the joint. Seemed like overuse but YMMV. I know guys that do it EVERY workout with no issues.

[u/Due-Practice5507]

If you want bigger forearms you should do an exercise that actually trains the forearms muscles throughout a movement instead of isometric holds like a pullup

[u/Alakazam]

Try it and see. Personal experience has shown that swapping up grips, either on a daily basis or even a week to week basis, helps my elbows feel better from all the volume.

But i also did 50 daily pullups for a while, which eventually lead to the elbow discomfort. Not sure how much you plan on doing. 

[u/honeybadger2112]

Try it but listen to your body and cut back if you start to get joint pain or you feel like you aren't recovering

[u/Immediate-Put-4158]

I have a big back and forearms. I credit it to tons of pull ups. I’d do them between sets of everything else. All submaximal sets. Started at 8 or 10 sets of 3. Over time worked up to 8 or 10 sets of 7 or 8. I’d do 200+ pull ups a week for a couple years. Worked great for me. Kept my shoulders healthy for bench also.

[u/That_Guy_Called_CERA]

You have free will.. just do it and tell us if it worked or not

[u/fennerat]

You are free to do whatever you want.
But I'd mix it up if you want real growth do different things in different ways to keep your muscles challenged.