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!