How Many Chin ups is Good for a Man or Woman?

How many pull ups is good for a man?

15 or more chin ups/pull ups is good and 20 or more chin ups/pull ups is excellent for men.

For men, 20-25 pull ups or chin ups is an excellent standard.

This will likely take a focus of 4-6 weight training sessions per week, for 3-6 years or longer. Working on the pull up, chin up, or related exercises at least 2-3 times per week is necessary. To reach this level of excellence, men will need to have strong sleep and recovery, stress management under control, and a stellar diet.

15-20 pull ups or chin ups in a single set is still a really strong total for men.

Men can achieve this with 4-6 weight training sessions per week, for 3-5 years. They will still need to focus on good recovery, good nutrition, adequate sleep, and stress management.

How many pull ups is good for women

An excellent total for women is more than 15 pull ups in a single set.

Other sources may feel this is too high a standard for women. For example, both the army and navy physical fitness tests only require women to do a very small number of pull ups (maybe 3) or a flexed arm hang.

The US Marine Physical Fitness test gives women a perfect score on the pull up test if they do 11-12 pull ups, depending on their age. This test is more in line with women’s true capabilities!

Women WILL need to follow a structured training plan that really builds their upper body strength. They will also need to build their self-belief to get to 15 + pull ups in a single set. I have a great pull up/chin up program for women in my article Can Women Do Pull ups?

Personally, I can do around 17-23 pull ups. I have been weight training vigorously for 4-5 years. I train 5 times per week for 1-2 hours and I train the pull up, chin up and related exercises several times weekly.

I also follow a structured nutrition program. Good nutrition is especially key for women who want to be able to do pull ups and chin ups. The diet must provide enough energy and nutrients for training and recovery at optimal times of the day. The diet also has to allow the user to stay relatively lean, because pull ups are hard when you are fat.

Men and women both need to pay proper attention to training, recovery and sleep, stress, food and water.

Focusing on these key components will help you get to 15, 20 or more pull ups or chin ups in due time!