Originally Posted by
Dov
For most people starting with a full body weight exercise for upper body muscles is like starting bench press with body weight, or in shooting terms starting a new shooter with 12 gauge magnums or 44 magnums instead of something that is a reasonable starting point.
It is just a bad idea IMO, its simpler & cheaper not better.
With Lat pull down machine or similar you can start with a light weight to get feel for the exercise and good technique.
For someone that has been training seriously for some time there are arguments to be made about high weight low rep for gains, but that is more akin to a master shooter using a hard kicking gun on occasion to find and remove slight weaknesses in technique. Not the place one should start with.
Getting a weight that is light enough with lat pull down machine, or enough assistance with pull up/chin up so you can do 10+ reps comfortable for the first warm up set will be lot better path to success for someone new to the exercise or even for those who used to do the exercise that haven't done them for long time due to health/injury/life.
Not only is it easier on your body, but you will see noticeable gains sooner, which really helps with motivation. I think you will actually see faster gains that way until at least first or second plateau as well. Your also far less likely to injure yourself with that approach.
For people new to exercises or returning after some time I like 3 to 5 sets with first set being 14 to 16 reps that's pretty easy for warm up. Going slow and focusing on technique.
Gradually increasing the difficulty with each set per workout while reducing the reps.
I also strongly urge people to keep a workout diary/log, its a PITA but it will provide lot of benefits.