I Did 50 Pull-Ups Every Day for a Week — Here’s the Impact on My Upper Body

As a personal trainer with a growing practice and commitments outside the gym, I try to maximize my time in the weight room. This summer, I set my sights on a back transformation, aiming to sculpt lats that demand attention.

It wasn’t going to be a conventional transformation, I told myself. I wanted to do something extreme to test my limits. After thinking long and hard about the exercises I could do, I settled on pull-ups. Why is that, you ask?

The seven-time Mr. Olympia champ Arnold Schwarzenegger warmed up with 50 pull-ups on upper-body days. Pull-ups stimulate nearly every muscle group in the upper body, including the upper back, biceps, abs, and shoulders. Plus, there’s a primal satisfaction to the pull-up that few exercises match.

A research found that athletes who could perform a pull-up had significantly greater strength, strength-to-mass ratio, and strength-to-fat-free mass ratio than those who could not. (1)

I wanted to outdo Arnie. Instead of just the upper body days in my PPL (push, pull, legs) routine, I decided to do 50 pull-ups a day for seven straight days. In this article, I share everything I’ve learned, including the physical changes, the mental battles, and the hard-earned lessons that came with this challenge.

Setting the Stage: My Pull-Up Setup & Technique

There are multiple pull-up variations, so I figured it was better to address the nuances of my technique. So here is everything you must know:

• I went with the military pull-ups, which involve keeping your body in a straight line throughout the range of motion (ROM).
• Since this is a strict pull-up variation, I broke the 50 pull-ups into five sets of 10 reps.
• I used explosive concentrics, coupled with controlled three to five-second descent on each rep, to maximize time under tension (TUT) and bias hypertrophy.
• I employed a neutral (palms facing each other) grip and used lifting straps.
• My chin was above the bar at the top of my ROM, and I fully extended my elbows, shoulders, and lats at the bottom.
• I usually hit mechanical failure (where form starts to break due to fatigue) close to the sixth or seventh rep on the third set, after which I used momentum by engaging my lower body.

If you thought I was rushing through the 50 reps, you now know that was not the case. I wanted to maximize adaptations for each rep.

Challenges of Doing 50 Pull-Ups: A Day-by-Day Breakdown

I’ll be honest: seven days of 50 strict full ROM pull-ups was no joke. Maxing out on pull-ups, along with my regular programming, tested my body and mind in ways I didn’t anticipate. Here is the day-by-day no-holds-barred summary:

Day One

My motivation was sky-high as I approached the pull-up bar on Day One. The adrenaline rush made me believe I would fly through the 50 pull-ups and then crush my push (chest, shoulders, and triceps) workout.

By set number three, my lats and biceps were on fire, but it was nothing unmanageable. I used the rest-pause technique on the two final sets to complete the 10 reps.

I ended the first day of the challenge on a high. Thanks to the biceps and back pump, I looked like a tank (at least in my own mind) toward the end of the training session.

Day Two

This day was even more special as the 50 pull-ups tied in perfectly with my pull (back and biceps) day. I slowed down the negatives even further to make my lats scream, arched my back on the way up, and held the contraction at the top for a second before descending.

I stretched my lats and biceps after each set to flush out the metabolites and promote recovery.

Day Three

This was the day I started wondering if I had made a programming blunder. My back workouts are brutal enough, and adding two days of strict pull-ups on top of that made matters worse. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) hit me like a truck.

“Can I really do this for five more days?” I asked myself as I walked toward the cable pulley machine, home to my favorite pull-up bar.

I did make it through, although it took me around 10 sets total this time. What’s worse? I had no energy left for the first exercise of the leg day — squats. Day Three was undoubtedly the most challenging — physically and mentally — of this challenge.

Day Four

I use the fourth day of the week for active recovery, where I usually do 30 minutes of cardio and some abs and calves. However, I decided to start the workout with 50 pull-ups, as I doubted I would have enough energy to get through them after half an hour on the treadmill.

Midway through my sets, fatigue set in, and I had to really dig deep to complete the 50 pull-ups. However, the sense of accomplishment afterward was immense, making the effort completely worth it.

Day Five

After the much-needed recovery time, I was psyched to go at it again, and I felt like a total badass. My grip strength was noticeably better — pull-ups felt smoother, and the muscle contractions were much better.

Day Five made me feel like my body was adapting, and I was ready to push it further.

Day Six

As I walked into the gym, I realized I only had two more days to make it count. I used a picture-perfect form to maximize muscle stimulation. For the last two sets, I abandoned the pull-up bar for the assisted pull-up machine to eliminate the possibility of using momentum and ensure my lats were doing most of the work.

Day Seven

My lats were slightly tender going into the challenge’s final day, which coincided with my leg-day workout. But as I rubbed chalk on my hands and straps, I knew it was purely a mental game at this point.

As I finished the 50th pull-up, I felt like my body had gone through a war, but it was a war I had won!

I had set myself a goal, stuck to it, and emerged stronger — physically and mentally.

Physical Changes After the 50 Pull-Ups a Day Challenge

Let’s cut to the chase, folks, and talk about the results of this challenge.

Here’s a breakdown of the good, the surprising, and the “holy crap, is that a muscle?” moments:

Before & After Measurements:

Eyes can lie, but a measuring tape doesn’t. Below is a low-down on how my physique changed after a week of doing 50 pull-ups:

Arms

My pythons were up a solid half-inch from 16.5 inches to 17. I wasn’t hoping for this, as I had opted for the neutral grip pull-ups, which bias the brachioradialis muscle. I am pretty sure I could have added more muscle tissue in my arms if I had chosen the underhand grip (chin-ups).

Back

I was pretty excited about my back gains. Measuring my chest circumference revealed a full inch of growth in width, expanding from 41 to 42 inches — a clear indicator of increased lat size.

Shoulders

Full-ROM pull-ups engage all three deltoid heads. My shoulder size did not change much, but there was definitely an improvement in the capped look. The rounded shoulders combined with the wider back have definitely improved my upper body aesthetics.

Strength Gains

My strength gains were quite evident. I can now perform 50 pull-ups (5 x 10) using a full ROM without stopping for rest between sets. That’s not all; I also noticed a significant improvement in my overall rowing strength.

Muscle Definition

I’m writing this article almost 15 days after I completed the pull-up challenge and eight weeks into a body recomposition program. I notice a massive improvement in my muscle definition. My muscles didn’t just get bigger; they got crispier.

I also want to address an often-overlooked benefit of pull-ups — better body posture. I stand taller now with my shoulders pulled back and my chest proud. Hanging to a bar should be a must for people who spend most of their day hunched over a computer screen.

Remember, these gains shouldn’t be viewed in isolation. Muscle recovery and growth require solid training, diet, and recovery programs. As you already know by now, I am following a high-volume PPL training routine, which involves hitting each muscle group twice weekly. Plus, my diet is pretty much on point — I’m eating two grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

My balanced diet fueled the growth from the five sets of pull-ups I did every day. I’m sure my results wouldn’t have been this good if I slacked in any area.

Key Takeaways From Doing 50 Pull-Ups a Day

Here is an overview of the lessons learned from this experiment:

The Good

My lats, biceps, and shoulders feel noticeably stronger and healthy. Pull-ups are among the best exercises to improve overall functionality and can lead to better performance in everyday tasks like lifting groceries or putting things in the overhead cabinet.

I also developed a better mind-muscle connection, thanks to the 350 slow, controlled pull-ups I did over the week. It undoubtedly carried over to other back exercises.

Doing 50 pull-ups daily also improved my muscular endurance. If you’re trying to improve your work capacity, I highly recommend adding endurance training to your daily routine.

The Bad

If you think nothing bad can come from doing a bodyweight exercise every day, you are absolutely mistaken.

I felt immense muscle soreness on the third and fourth days of the program. It also hampered my forearm and grip strength, hindering my performance in dumbbell walking lunges and RDLs.

Furthermore, doing the same exercise daily significantly increases the risk of overuse injuries. Varying your training routine is crucial for long-term muscle health.

“While this type of challenge can yield impressive results, it’s crucial to approach it with caution,” said Dr. Sarah Thompson, a physical therapist who specializes in sports injuries. Overuse injuries are a real concern, so prioritize rest and recovery.”

The Ugly

You cannot escape calluses if you sign up for a daily push-up challenge. Although this is not a dealbreaker for most people, you should keep it in mind. Plus, doing the same exercise every day can make your training program feel boring and redundant, increasing the risk of burnout and missed workouts.

This challenge reinforced my belief that even small, daily efforts can lead to significant results, and mental fortitude is just as important as physical strength during a physical transformation. The human body is incredibly resilient and adaptable.

Conclusion

Doing 50 pull-ups a day for a week pushed my upper body to its limits, revealing strengths I didn’t know I had and weaknesses I needed to address. Do I see immense changes in my body? Honestly, no. But it’s not the pull-ups’ fault. One week is a relatively short period, and there are several moving pieces here, including the diet, training variation, and recovery.

That said, I’m pretty sure I will see drastic changes in my physique if I continue this challenge for a month. But that is an article for another time.

If you plan to do a seven-day pull-up challenge of your own, I highly recommend it, as it is a crash course in adaptation, recovery, and resilience. Don’t forget to share your experiences (or questions) in the comments below.

References

1. Flanagan, S. P., Vanderburgh, P. M., Borchers, S. G., & Kohstall, C. D. (2003). Training college-age women to perform the pull-up exercise. Research quarterly for exercise and sport, 74(1), 52–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2003.10609064

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