Russian Fighter Pull Up Program – UPDATED 2022 – A Complete Guide

Pull-ups have a lot of benefits. They can fit into most workout routines or plans as long as you have the right equipment. They’re great for building core strength, arm strength, and even shoulder strength.

It’s easy to just say “just do pull-ups” though. If you don’t do them effectively, then you’re just wasting your time. The Russian fighter pull-up program is designed to give you a structured approach to pull-ups that shows results.

So, how do you get started with this pull-up program? Our complete guide to the Russian fighter pulls up program will give you full instructions, tips, and more to help you master this workout routine.

 

Russian Fighter Pull Up Program – A Complete Guide

Getting started with the Russian fighter pull-up program, let’s start with the basics. Where does the name of the program come from?

This pull-up plan is named for the endurance it requires to complete, and for the results, you can expect. Russians are known for being one of the hardiest people on the planet. This is thanks to growing up in a harsh, cold climate.

The average Russian person could probably rugby tackle a bear and live. The Russian military, and fighters then, have that strength of body, that strength of mind, and that willpower times about 100. The best among the Russian military, the Spetsnaz, do some crazy stuff for their training.

This Russian pull-up program is designed to emulate those qualities, in a way that’s accessible to the average person. You’re not going to be screamed at by a drill sergeant if you can’t do this exercise plan. The only accountability you have is from your self-discipline.

Arguably, this makes the program harder. The actual plan of workouts is intensive but having the mental fortitude to keep up with it will be arguably more difficult than the test of strength. Completing it will help fortify your mind-muscle connection.

So, what exactly does this Russian pull-up plan entail? The plan is a 30-day gauntlet that has a prescribed pattern of reps to do each day. You work out for 6 days per week, then rest for one. At the end of each monthly cycle, you take a few more rest days.

The goal is that, by the end of each month, you should be able to do a higher max rep than before. You can continue to repeat the program to increase the max reps you can do.

Understanding the Russian Pull Up Program

The Russian fighter program of pull-ups is deceptively simple. There’s no trick to the pull-ups; you just do them. But the gradual increase in reps is designed in a specific way that throughout the program, you’ll be progressing sustainably.

To understand the Russian pull-up program, let’s look at some of the benefits of pull-ups themselves. As mentioned, the key areas that you build with pull-ups are the shoulders, the arms, and the core.

However, doing a pull-up in the first place requires a lot of strength in these areas already. They’re great for building, but you can’t do them as a baby’s-first-exercise kind of thing.

There are a lot of dynamics involved in doing a pull-up. You have to have good grip strength. You have to have the strength to pull up your weight. And you have to be able to lower yourself back down safely.

Once you’re at the level where you can do a pull-up, the only real way to get better at them and be able to do more reps is to keep doing them.

You can try to build each area individually, like doing dedicated core strength workouts and maybe even strength training to build muscle strength…but you’re missing out on one key thing with this: technique.

The Russian fighter pull-up program is designed to cement your pull-up technique and give you the required strength to increase your rep count.

Russian Pull Up Routine – Getting Started

So yes, just doing a single pull-up is pretty difficult for a lot of people. To do the Russian pull-up routine…you’ll probably want to be able to do a pull-up. If you can’t, don’t worry – there’s a progression path.

The best pull-up progression exercises will focus on teaching you the form you need to hold a pull-up, as well as making sure you have the required strength in all muscle groups.

One of the first progressions is the dead hang. This is focused on building your grip strength. Doing a pull-up without grip strength can make you much more likely to injure yourself. A dead hang just involves grabbing onto the pull-up bar and letting your body go limp.

 

Pavel Tsatsouline Pull-Ups – What you Should Know?

If you want a further adaptation of the Russian Fighter Pull-Ups, you can try Pavel Tsatsouline Pull-Ups. Tsatsouline is a legendary Russian fitness instructor who designed the high-intensity SPETSNAZ training that Russian forces go through.

His pull-up program is much stricter and has more rules to it than the basic Russian fighter program, so we’d recommend this guide to the routine. It’s a great evolution of the Russian fighter style of routine.

Russian Pull Up – Rest Between Sets

For the Russian Pull-up routine, it’s recommended that you rest on specific days and then at the end of the month. However, there’s been some debate about resting between sets you do on the same day.

The answer to if you should rest between pull-up sets will depend on your skill level. Some people have found success with resting for hours between each set. This allows you to spread the workouts throughout the day.

It’s a good option provided you have the time to spread out a workout this long. If not, a rest time of around 10-30 minutes between each set will help you refresh and refocus.

 

Russian Fighter Pull Up Program – Closing Thoughts

The Russian fighter pull-up program is one of the most cohesive and sustained workouts plans you can do for unlocking your full potential when it comes to pull-ups. If you’re looking to do consistent reps, it’s one of the best programs you can try to help you improve.