Relationship of lat-pull repetitions and pull-ups to maximal lat-pull and pull-up strength in men and women.

To determine the relationships among selected shoulder pulling strength and endurance maneuvers, college men (n = 35) and women (n = 23) were evaluated for 1-repetition maximum (1RM) lat-pull (LPmax), 1RM pull-up (PUmax), lat-pull repetitions-to-fatigue using 80% of 1RM (LPreps), and pull-up repetitions at 80% of 1RM (PUreps). PUmax was determined by adding to or counter-weighting the body mass to achieve one repetition. Men and women performed the 1RM with significantly more weight relative to body mass in the PUmax (1.16 +/- 0.15 and 0.73 +/- 0.09, respectively) than in the LPmax (0.93 +/- 0.17 and 0.55 +/- 0.11, respectively). The correlation between LPmax and PUmax was higher in men (r = 0.78; p < 0.01) than in women (r = 0.44; p > 0.05). Women performed significantly more PUreps (10.5 +/- 2.2) than men (8.1 +/- 1.9) but were equivalent to men in the LPreps (10.0 +/- 2.4 and 9.9 +/- 2.5, respectively). Men performed significantly more LPreps than PUreps, whereas the women were equivalent. Body composition components (lean body mass [LBM] and %fat) affected LPmax and PUmax to a greater degree in men than in women. Maximal strength performance in each lift in each sex could be predicted using the analogous muscular endurance exercise or body composition components.