The Pull-up Potpourri Routine

Want to work on your pull-ups and widen your lats? The following is a pull-up/back specialization workout called the "Pull-up Potpourri Routine."

The Potpourri Routine is a forgotten bodybuilding workout that predates the invention of sets. It is the 1920's version of German Volume Training and was a favorite of John Grimek. In potpourri training, you perform 10 exercises for a muscle group, but only one set per exercise.

The Potpourri Routine works best as a muscle specialization workout.  So if you wanted to bring up the size of a muscle group lagging in size, you could apply this 10 exercises/1 set each method to a muscle group.

The Potpourri Routine lends itself well to pull-ups, since there are so many variations of the movement.  Here's how a Pull-up Potpourri Workout would look:

  1. Archer pull-up
  2. High pull-up
  3. L-sit pull-up
  4. Commando pull-up
  5. Wide grip pull-up
  6. Wide grip chin-up
  7. Medium grip pull-up
  8. Medium grip chin-up
  9. Close grip pull-up
  10. Close grip chin-up

Keep sets for all other muscle groups down to three.  Perform the Pull-up Potpourri Workout once every 5-7 days for a 3-4 weeks.  Then follow a low volume decompression program.

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