Put the Pull Back in Your Pull-Up

Pull-ups might be the hardest body weight exercise that exists.

Not only does it challenge your back, arms, and shoulders, but the demand on your core is significant. Once you’re holding onto that bar and your feet leave the floor, gravity begins pulling your entire body down from your hands. Your torso is now being stretched and lengthening by your own body weight, constricting your abdomen’s free space, leaving your lungs struggling to fill up with air against the weight of your own body and gravity pulling everything down and tight.

I’ve considered for a while now that maybe one of the reasons people struggle with doing pull-ups is not just the lack of strength in being able to perform a pull-up, but from the panic signals being sent to their brain when the lungs suddenly begin to struggle to get oxygen. There are not many exercises that place this type of demand on your body and mind. So, we’ve come up with a routine to address building up both the physical strength needed to do a pull-up, as well as the mental fortitude needed to control yourself in that position.

Negative Pull-up

A good way to get started is by practicing the negative part of the pull-up, a.k.a. the lowering down part. This will get you more familiar and comfortable with your pull-up position while building up strength. You can use a Smith Machine or an adjustable squat rack and set the bar at shoulder height. From here get your hands just wider than shoulder width apart with your feet on the ground. Using a 5 count, slowly lower yourself down toward the ground, trying to use your legs as little as possible to support you. Once at the bottom use your arms and legs to stand back up again, and try to repeat for 10-12 reps, or as many as you’re capable of doing.

Seated Pull-up

Another good way to get better at pull-ups using a modification with a Smith Machine or squat rack is to do pull-ups from a seated position on the floor. This will be a more traditional form of pull-up except that you will primarily be lifting only your upper body weight. Adjust the height of the bar so that you can sit cross legged underneath it and you can reach up and grip the bar at arm’s length away.

Some key points to remember.

You want to follow a straight path up and down from the bar. The bar should line up over the top of your chest or just under your collar bone. And when you pull yourself up to the bar, you should follow that straight path up to the bar. You want your torso and your elbows to stay as vertical as possible. When you pull you should not have your elbows flaring out behind you, but pointing straight down toward the floor, and your hips should stay under you as well, not pitching out in front of you so you feel like you’re leaning back. This is where your core strength and control will come into play. Again, aim for 10-12 reps here or as many as you’re capable of doing.

Lat Pull Down

A very straight forward but effective way to build up basic pull-up strength is by doing lat pull downs, which basically mimics the movement of a pull-up. Try doing both the traditional wide grip, but also the closer, underhand grip, like doing a chin-up, to build up biceps as well. This obviously requires access to a lat pull down machine. But the principles are the same. Keep yourself and your elbows vertical and pull the bar to the top of your chest, just under your collar bone with your elbows tucked to your sides. Keep your shoulders from rounding forward and think about your shoulder blades pulling down and together in the back. This exercise will not do a lot for your core but it will most definitely build up your back, shoulder, and arm strength.

Rows

Another tool in your toolbox for getting stronger in general that will aid your pull-ups is doing any type of row. Seated row, TRX row, inverted row, bent over row, cable row, etc. The act of positioning and stabilizing yourself and accessing your back and arm muscles is key to being able to do pull-ups, but it’s also extremely important for back strength in general. Just remember to put your focus on your back muscles. Your shoulder blades and back muscles should be engaged and moving as you do rows, otherwise you’re just using your arms and basically doing a weird bicep curl. Posture and position are going to be key with all of these. Do not try to “over pull” so your elbows are way back behind you and your shoulders are rolled forward. Focus more on the pull starting from the back of your shoulders, and when you finish your shoulder blades should be pulled together and your chest and shoulders should be up and open, with the effort being on the muscles of your back.

Part of getting comfortable with your pull-up position is going to simply be getting used to the feeling of gravity pulling on you from that bar, so practice gripping and hanging from the bar. See if you can hang there, but then retract your shoulder blades down and together and engage your grip.

So rather than “hanging” from the bar you are actually holding yourself in position with control.

This is where you can practice breathing in the tight space of your abdomen as well has learning to control the small but deliberate movements of your shoulder blades. This will increase your grip strength but also get you more comfortable with that feeling of gravity dragging your torso down making it harder to get a good breath.

Grip Strength

If you notice that grip strength is more than a small issue for you try doing a couple of sets of Farmer Carries in between other exercises. These are pretty straight forward. Grab a pair of heavy dumbbells, and with a straight back and engaged arms, shoulders, core, and hips simply carry them around the gym until your grip begins to give. When it does just put the dumbbells down, give your hands and forearms a quick rest and then do it again. These can be worked into any exercises and be used as an active recovery until your grip strength improves.

Assisted Pull-ups

Lastly you will need to begin practicing your actual pull-up by using a resistance band for assistance. By this point you should be comfortable with the form of your pull-up and have attained the grip strength necessary to hold yourself on the bar. Find a band that provides enough support where you can do between 5 and 15 reps. Attach the band to the bar and use a box, step, or bench in order to safely get your foot into the band before you step off and practice your pull-up. Once you get comfortable with these it’s time to get rid of the band and try a full body weight pull-up, and by this point you should notice a significant increase in your strength and your ability to perform a pull-up. Thanks for reading, and please follow up with any questions!

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Core Strength and Crunches

When basic crunches aren’t enough for your workout routine let’s look at some alternatives that will optimize your core strength and increase your balance and ability to generate power.

*And if you want to do crunches, think about your back staying straight and sitting up onto your tailbone.

By now you probably know that your core is more than just your abs.

It’s the trunk of your body that both stabilizes you and also allows you to rotate around with control. And applied correctly your core also braces your spine to protect it from any unsafe movements that could harm your central nervous system. Another thing I think is important to understand about your core is that it is the foundation that all of your extremities attach to. So while your legs allow you to run, and your arms are swinging a golf club around, these extremities attach to the trunk of your body and need its support in order to move effectively. These extremities are attempting to generate power when they do certain things, whether it’s kicking a ball, swinging a bat, or throwing a Frisbee; and the strength of your core will determine how much power they can generate and then transfer to your movement.

Planks

A staple of core strength is going to be a plank. Whether it’s performed with your hands on the ground or your forearms on the ground, a plank is a straightforward way to assess core strength. But once you’ve gotten control of your plank it’s important to start implementing the variations that will keep you getting stronger and also from getting bored. Side planks, performed on one arm or hand and with the hips facing out instead of down, are a great way to kick up the challenge level and add balance into the equation. From here you can then try tapping your hip to the ground to see if you can maintain your balance and control while moving. Try tapping your hip to the ground twice and then holding a side plank for two seconds, with a goal of being able to do this ten times on each side.

Dead Bug

Dead Bug is a great flip on the traditional plank for people who are beginners and can’t maintain a plank, but also for people who struggle with stabilizing their back and keeping it from arching or rounding. Appropriately named for the way dead bugs tend to look, you lay on your back with hips and knees bent to 90 degree angles. With your arms pointing up to the sky, hold an object against the front of your knees; a stability ball, a big pillow, whatever you can get your hands on and hold against your knees. Maintaining your back flat against the ground, extend an opposite arm and leg out away from the ball as far as you can control them before bringing them back up to the ball and switching sides. A good goal here is to be able to do this 20 times on each side.

Cable Rotations

If you have access to a cable machine then you can work on generating power as we mentioned earlier in more specific movements. In the same way you would swing a golf club or baseball bat, doing cable rotations will help you increase core strength and generate power in your movement. You will want to start off standing perpendicular to the cable machine, both hands gripping the handle and holding it at arm’s length in front of your chest. Keeping the handle out in front of your chest will help ensure that the emphasis is on your core and isn’t being taken over by your arms and shoulders. It helps to imagine that you’re in a glass tube, so you can’t rock forward or lean backward, you can only rotate around. Your goal here is to rotate your torso around pulling the cable with it and then controlling it back to the start position. Pick a weight that will allow you to do 20 to 25 reps on each side, each one mimicking the way you would swing an object, focusing on your ability to generate strength and power in that rotation.

There are probably hundreds of ways to train and strengthen your core, with crunches being just one of them. Just remember, core strength is about control and stabilizing, so you can protect your spine but also generate force. If you want to do crunches, think about your back staying straight and sitting up onto your tailbone. Rounding your back, the way most crunches are performed, is the opposite of how you want to train your body. Like always, know what you’re trying to do, focus on the muscle groups you’re trying to use, and don’t sacrifice your form and ability to keep yourself stable just to get in a few more reps. Quality over quantity will win out every time.