Proven program, faithfully implemented
The Fighter Pull-Up Program
Pavel Tsatsouline's Fighter Pull-Up Program is a one-month pull-up specialisation for someone who can already do a few and wants many more — five ladder sets a day, five days on and one off. ⚠ The whole month is written in advance and does not ease off: fall short of a day and the next one is unchanged. Start on the 5RM table if you can do five, the 3RM table if you can do three.
About the program
Created by: Pavel Tsatsouline — The Fighter Pull-Up Program (tables as rendered at kbnj.com).
How you can run it
The Fighter Pull-Up Program runs two ways, and you pick which one when you start it — Iron Forge builds the sessions to match. All two run 5 days a week.
- 5RM — start here if you can do five
- 3RM — start here if you can do three
How it's built
The shape of the program — sessions, sets and rep scheme. Iron Forge fills in the exact weights for you from your maxes. Shown below: the 5RM — start here if you can do five layout — see “How you can run it” above for the rest.
The ladder
Day 1
- Pull-up — 1×5, 1×4, 1×3, 1×2, 1×1
Day 2
- Pull-up — 1×5, 1×4, 1×3, 2×2
Day 3
- Pull-up — 1×5, 1×4, 2×3, 1×2
Day 4
- Pull-up — 1×5, 2×4, 1×3, 1×2
Day 5
- Pull-up — 2×5, 1×4, 1×3, 1×2
How Iron Forge runs it
How it works
One exercise, five sets a day, five days on and one off, for a month. Each day is a descending ladder: an all-out top set, then a rep fewer on each set after it. The next day adds a rep to the last set, and over five days that extra rep walks up the ladder until the whole thing shifts and the top set gains one.
⚠ Where to start — and it may not be day 1
The programme is written from a five-rep max. If you can already do more, Pavel's instruction is to start at the day whose TOP SET matches your current max — day 7 if you can do six, day 13 for seven, day 19 for eight, day 25 for nine. The app generates the table from day 1, so skip forward to your day and carry on from there. If you can only manage three, take the 3RM programme instead: it is twelve days and its last day hands you onto the 5RM ladder. ⚠ One note on the day numbers: the app labels each week's sessions Day 1 to Day 5, while the published table numbers calendar days 1 to 30. Week N's Day P is the table's day (N-1)x6 + P — so week 2's Day 1 is the table's Day 7.
⚠ It does not ease off
The whole month is written in advance and nothing here reacts to what you log. Fall short of a day's ladder and tomorrow is still tomorrow's row — you will be told the day came up short rather than have the next one quietly lowered. That is the programme's design, not an oversight: the table is the plan.
Rest days walk through the week
Five on, one off, which is a six-day cycle against a seven-day week — so your rest days land on days 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30 and never on the same weekday twice. Laying it on a fixed weekday pattern would be a different programme.
After the month
"In the end of the month take two or three days off and then test yourself." Your new max is where the next run starts.
The Fighter Pull-Up Program in Iron Forge
FAQ
- Do I really do pull-ups five days a week?
Yes — that is the specialisation. The volume is low per session (five ladder sets, most of them well short of failure) and it is one exercise, which is what makes daily frequency survivable. It is a month-long block, not a way to train forever.
- What if I can do more than five pull-ups?
Start at the day whose top set matches your max — day 7 for six, day 13 for seven, day 19 for eight, day 25 for nine. The table is generated from day 1, so move forward to your day and work from there.
- What if I cannot do five?
Take the 3RM programme. It runs twelve days from 3,2,1,1 and its last day is 5,4,3,2,1 — the 5RM programme's first day, so it hands you straight onto the main ladder.
- What happens if I miss the reps on a day?
Nothing changes in the plan. The month is written in advance and does not ease off; you will be told the day came up short. If it happens repeatedly you started too far up the table — go back to the day that matches the max you actually have.
- Should the first set be to failure?
Pavel calls it an all-out set, and on day 1 of the 5RM programme that is exactly your five. The app prescribes the printed number rather than a rep-out, because the table states the count — treat the top set as hard but honest, not as a max attempt every day.
- Can I add weight?
Not while you are running this. The progression is in the reps and the ladder; adding load on top of a table built for bodyweight changes the programme into a different one.
- Can I do anything else alongside it?
Pavel's own framing is that this is a specialisation — the pull-up is the priority for the month. Keep other training light enough that it does not compete with it, particularly pulling and grip work.
- Why do my rest days keep moving?
Because the cycle is six days and the week is seven. Five on, one off means the rest day advances by one weekday each cycle. That is the programme as published.
Start The Fighter Pull-Up Program for free today.
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