Get me to 1 standard pull up. [33/F 5'8 177lbs]

[heavensuitcase]

@sylwianka Assisted pullup machine is the best in my opinion as well. If you have access to one this is absolutely the way to go.

 

[klsmo3]

@lightangel Try putting a chair beneath you ala: Chair assisted pull up This has helped me really get a leg up.

Also, maybe doing some rows and other back strengthening exercises would help build up that minimum needed.

 

[heavensuitcase]

@lightangel Negatives are good.

Lat pulldowns are good.

Chinups (this is what you're calling reversed pull-up) are good.

Assisted pullups are good.

Being on a bulk and progressively overloading these helps. If you're cutting it is going to be hard to develop strength, although it will lighten the target load.

Kipping is bad. Especially if you don't have someone qualified carefully helping you with form. And especially if you lack sufficient strength to do a normal pullup.

 

[lightangel]

@heavensuitcase When you say overload, what's that mean?

 

[heavensuitcase]

@lightangel Increasing the weight or reps. http://bretcontreras.com/progressive-overload/

 

[gbhar]

@lightangel If you can do a controlled negative, then negatives are great. If you can't lower yourself slowly and steadily, keeping your back engaged, you will get hurt.

Band assistance is good too. I think inverted rows are awesome and easily scaled. You can start with the bar higher and lower the bar as you get better. You can also bend your knees so that you aren't pulling up as much of your body weight.

 

[mrm]

@lightangel I used a chair for a one legged assist for months. One day I realized I was fine without it. I barely put any weight on it, it was partly mental for me.

 

[lulubec]

@lightangel Great question! I'm 32/F and have the same goal. Lots of good information here.

 

[heavensuitcase]

@lulubec Lots of good and lots of very bad information here, unfortunately. Hopefully you can spot which is which.

 

[silentbob634]

@lightangel This is the assistance band I used to get myself up to one pull-up: http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Fitness-Pullup-Exercise-Equipment/dp/B00BFCWA1E/ Worked really well. Their instructions said that once you can do 15 with the assistance band, you're ready to do one full pull-up without it, and they were right.

 

[godsnightshift]

@lightangel

 

[speedyone]

@lightangel Assisted pull ups and wide grip lat pull downs are good. Since you can already do most of a chin up, keep working on that.

Also, you might not be engaging your lats properly. There can be a tendency to try to lift yourself primarily with your arms. Whenever I do pull ups or chins I think about trying pull my elbows down to the floor--I find that helps target the lats. Assisted wide grip pull ups might be your best bet. The wide grip really helps target the lats.

That said, losing that last bit of weight is key. 30 lbs when doing a pull up is huge.

 

[lightangel]

@speedyone Yes, engaging the lats is so hard for me, all the rows I do seems likes tris and bis

 

[ingodislove]

@lightangel You can use a swedish ball as an "assist"...allows you to push with your legs to give you that extra boost. I do it all the time when I'm running out of gas and want to crank out a few more pullups (male)

 

[ximay]

@lightangel I hope this helps. I used this to add numbers to my pull ups.

http://torcache.net/torrent/BB956DF48FF534088752694F3BA6FBC5C71F8553.torrent?title=[kickass.to]al.kavadlo.raising.the.bar.pdf

 

[africaman]

@lightangel If you want to do a pullup do lots of chair assisted pull-ups.

 

[kingdomwitness]

@lightangel First off, congrats on the weight loss! 37lbs in 6 months is pretty impressive!

The legit pullup has been a goal of mine this year. I'm a bit different physically (M/6'4"/195lbs) but have been training a similar length of time.

You said you are doing cable pull downs? How are you placing your hands on the cable bar? The wider the grip, the more you are going to engage of your lats in my experience.

Are you currently doing any tricep exercises? The triceps are a major stabilizer of the pull up. What exercises do you do, and how has your progress been so far?

Also, your rapid weight loss has probably hurt your muscle development some. If you want to prioritize this goal, you will need to make sure you get enough calories to ensure your muscles are growing. How many is that? Try to maintain a neutral weight for a while and make sure you are going up in volume in all your muscle exercises.

Good luck!

 

[lightangel]

@kingdomwitness Thanks! Yeah, the weight loss has been pretty rapid which isn't ideal for muscle development. I'm back down to college weight, but I'm not as strong as I was in college. Which is partly because I don't lift as much, and probably partly because of the weight loss.

I eat at a deficit, but I get plenty of high quality protein (100-120g per day), I'm generally targeting 1600kcals a day. My TDEE is about 1900. My goal for right now is to continue losing weight (but minimize/avoid any muscle wasting).

The lat pull down machine, I've actually been doing it like I'd do any actual pull up. So, that's a good tip to widen the hands.

I haven't been focusing on triceps at all, I do a few tricep extensions, maybe some skull crushers, but it definitely has not been a focus and I don't consider them strong, so that's a good point too.

Lats and triceps.

 

[tdcochran25]

@lightangel This might help, although it depends on your development. Not too long ago I was in the same boat. Lots of negatives (get yourself above the bar, and slowly lower yourself down in stages if possible). Jumping pullups.

Also work on that upper-body. Rows and lat pull-downs.link Even push-ups seemed to help me.

 

[lightangel]

@tdcochran25 That kipping video is great. Really good explanation on how to give yourself momentum up.