Can You Do the 10-in-10 Pull-Up Challenge?

Pull-ups are one of the most classic exercises for training general upper body strength for climbing. They’re great for building pulling strength, power, and power endurance depending on how you execute the pull-up and design the workout. Weighted pull-ups are useful for building power and strength. Power pull-ups (i.e. explosive fast pulls) are perfect for building power. “Every minute on the minute” pull-ups are a fun way to improve power endurance in the pull muscles.

“Every minute on the minute” pull-ups are just what they sound like: you perform a specific number of pull-ups every minute for a certain number of minutes. The number of pull-ups you perform each minute and the number of minutes you perform the workout can be customized depending on your strength level. As you increase the number of pull-ups you have to do each minute, you’re not only having to perform more reps, but you’re also getting less time to rest before your next set. The ultimate form of the exercise is to perform 10 pull-ups on the minute for 10 minutes. That’s 100 pull-ups in just 10 minutes!

Before we get to the workout protocol, let’s first touch on proper pull-up form and safety considerations for the exercise. There are lots of different pull-up variations, but in this article, we’ll focus on the conventional pull-up.

Pull-Up Form

Before trying this exercise, you must ensure that you are using proper form. It can be a good idea to film yourself from multiple angles to ensure that your technique looks good. If you experience pain in the shoulders or elbows regularly when performing pull-ups, consult a climbing coach or physiotherapist to diagnose what’s wrong.

Start your pull-up by standing under the bar. The bar should ideally be a height that you can reach without jumping up. Grab the bar with your palms facing away, arms slightly wider than shoulder width. From a relaxed hang, engage your upper back, pulling your scaps down and reducing the distance between your ears and arms. To then pull your body upwards, use primarily your lats. Keep your core engaged and your elbows in line with your body—they should not wing out. A helpful tip to prevent winging is to think of bending the bar or driving through your pinky fingers.

The goal should be to clear your chin above the bar without stretching your neck and face upwards. Rather than focusing on your chin, it can be helpful to think about bringing your chest to the bar. Also, do not buck your hips or legs (known as “kipping”) to give you momentum to clear the bar.

After holding the pull-up at the top for a second, you should lower your body slowly, taking care not to shock load the elbows or shoulders. For a demo of a conventional pull-up see the video below by Movement for Climbing:

Safety Tips

Some safety considerations are extra important when doing “every minute on the minute” pull-ups in a very fatigued state:

1. Warm-up thoroughly beforehand using some assisted or unweighted pulls (in addition to the other mobility and stability exercises you typically use in your warm-up).
2. Use a bar that is the appropriate height for you. You should not be jumping to catch the bar to start the exercise. If the bar is too high, use a stable structure to stand on to reach the bar comfortably. You don’t want to trip and fall off a wobbly stool or box.
3. Lower down with control. You don’t want to shock-load your elbows or shoulders. To help prevent this, don’t go into a straight arm position at the bottom of the pull-up—keep a slight bend in your arm.

Training Routine

There are lots of different training protocols for “every minute on the minute” pull-ups. If you’re new to the exercise, first experiment with a lower number of reps and minutes. Try 2 or 3 pull-ups per minute for 5 minutes. If that feel’s very easy, try the exercise for the full 10 minutes. If that still feels very sub-maximal, try 4 or 5 pull-ups per minute for 10 minutes.

Remember, adding a rep makes the exercise considerably more difficult as it note only increases the total number of reps but also reduces rest time. If you are unable to perform any level of the exercise at bodyweight, try removing weight by using a resistance band or pulley system.

Perform the “every minute on the minute” pull-up exercise once per week on a power endurance training day. As you progress over the weeks, add reps to the 10-minute protocol.

You can watch Lattice Training’s Ollie Tor attempt the 10-in-10 challenge in the video below.