SirenSong61,

I also cannot do chin ups or dips worth anything. I just read the article in this week's Testosterone Mag by Domenic Micheli, "Pull-Up Strength: The Missing Link." I thought it helpful; I'm going to try the lat pull-downs as he instructed.

BTW, congratulations on what you've accomplished these past two years. That takes a lot of dedication.

Good Luck.

~Bug.

three things REALLY HELPED me:
1. parallel grip pull ups
2. heavy lat pull downs
3. kip pull ups


For dips, a little time on the dip assist machine is worth it I think, but focus on not using the machine and just doing one or two reps with a full descent and extension and eventually you'll build up (just keep working your chest and triceps with other exercises too)

If you do partial reps and start out doing multiple sets and try to work your back and arm muscles you should have no trouble with pull-ups. You will need to strengthen your shoulders for dips so I would recommend push ups.

For dips you can do bench dips. You get the same range of motion as regular dips and you can place weights in your lap as you build strength. Then you can start doing a few sets of regular and switch to bench dips once your muscles are fatigued.