How long b/f you could do a pull-up

[ambitiouspoetry]

How long did it take you to do at least 1 full pull-up &
what did you do to get there?

I'd like to hear from anyone but especially the smaller, weaker females b/c that's me (5'3" 102lbs).

 

[flyerfile]

@ambitiouspoetry 5'1 113 lbs.I wanna say about 6 months. I've been lifting for about 1 year and a half. I started doing assisted pull-ups with my boyfriend. He holds me by the waist and lifts me up. One day he decided to let go of my waist and then I magically rose up! It was seriously a magical moment. I'm always going to remember it . I can do 4-6 now.

 

[dawn16]

@ambitiouspoetry I started trying with 8 reps 2 sets on the assisted pull up machine with a supinated grip, gradually letting the machine assist me less and less. I also did negatives, as many as I could until fatigue - usually around 6/7. I did this 4 times a week for about 4-5 weeks before I managed my first pull up. Another week or so before I could do two, etc.

Now... onto chin ups!

 

[neverforget]

@ambitiouspoetry Rock climbing has helped me a lot in the arm strength department but what I specifically did to train for my first unassisted pull-up was controlled negatives with as long of a flexed arm hang as I could manage before I went into the controlled negative. I think it took me about 2 months before I could do a pull-up. It is now 2 months past that and I can do 5 consecutive pull-ups

 

[fluxthesecond]

@ambitiouspoetry I used the assisted pull up machine. After 12 weeks with Strong Curves I can do 2 without assistance -they aren't the prettiest. But it uses ALL of my arm strength to do it, and I'm mostly controlling eccentric muscle movement. AKA negative pullups.

I still train with the assisted machine. Today I did 5x5 @130lbs. My BW is 138lbs.

I definitely need more strength, but one of my biggest complaints is that my hands are teeny tiny and the bar to hold on to is too big, so my grip isnt 100%-more like 80%. Also, bc of my tiny hands, the padded part where you are supposed to hold is too far from me so Im just gripping the metal and there is a sharp spot at the welding that digs into my finger. : /

Gym equipment was not created equally.

 

[dawn16]

@ambitiouspoetry I have VERY long limbs and weigh in the mid 120s (5'7"). It took about a year of serious lifting before I could do an unassisted one, but once I could do one, I could almost instantly do 2-3.

 

[ambitiouspoetry]

I was not expecting this much feedback lOl... thanks everyone!

I should note I'm not trying to compare to anyone I'm just curious. But apparently the take away is everyone is different & it just depends.

I only started a real focused program last week. I tried doing negatives yesterday & it was horrible. I'm not sure if I should keep trying to do negatives since it's not good form.

Thanks for those that posted links. I will definitely look into the best one for me.

 

[denice65]

@ambitiouspoetry Lat pull-downs

 

[christain1]

@ambitiouspoetry I'm bigger than you, OP (5'7, 127lbs) but I have no upper body strength to speak of so I'm currently learning to do pull-ups. A few days ago was Day 1 of "Jo tries to do negative pull-ups", and it was a lot like falling. Today was Day 2, and that was also a lot like falling, but ever-so-slightly slower.

Aaaaaand now everything hurts.

 

[fortytwo]

@christain1 Jo! this was 5 months ago... progress update?

 

[dawn16]

@christain1 I've just added dead hangs (after reading lat pull downs aren't so effective and that dead hangs and negatives are better for training the muscles).
Just holding myself I'm thinking this is gonna take a LONG time! Also concerned about my grip strength as my hands lose strength even though I feel with my back muscles I could hang for longer.

So I feel you!

 

[jkid1548]

@christain1 I just wanted to let you know, you made me laugh out loud and also, feel less alone in this world. Thank you : )

 

[christain1]

@jkid1548 My comic misery loves company

 

[19hayden95]

@ambitiouspoetry I'm 5'4", 127 lbs. I started lifting in December and made pull up attempts in February. I could do 1 right away. I was up to 3-4 pull-ups and 4-5 chin-ups when I last tried. My grip tends to fail first.

 

[maryjones2k101]

@ambitiouspoetry Unfortunately I have no anecdotes for you, as I am currently training to do pull-ups (5'2", 125lbs here), but I found this great resource for getting to your first pullup!

That said, I know an assisted pull-up machine has been mentioned, but it's not the most effective way to build up the correct muscles you'll be using. You're better off starting off practicing dead-hangs (just hanging from a pull-up bar, work up to a minute), inverted rows, and negative pull-ups. All of these are detailed in the link and even though I can't do a pull-up yet, I can feel myself getting noticeably stronger and can hold my weight for longer on the dead-hangs. Work at it and you'll get there!

 

[darvad]

@ambitiouspoetry It took me a month of daily training.

Here's a great resource: How Women Can Do Pullups

 

[kyjojo]

@ambitiouspoetry I started lifting about 4 years ago and was at 5'6", 112lbs. I only did lat pull downs and the assisted pull up machine and couldn't do one pull up or chin up. About a year ago I made it a goal to be able to do 10 pull ups. I started out by doing a lot of negatives. When you do negatives make sure to go down really slowly! After about 4 months I could do 1-2, and now I can do 7 pull ups with good form! I usually do 5x5 pull ups and a set of negatives twice a week now. I really had to focus on doing pull ups/negatives more to get better at them. Good luck!

Edit: For reference, now I'm about 130 lbs.

 

[lightnthedark]

@ambitiouspoetry I just got a chin up yesterday after about six months of training that included lots of them but wasn't primarily chin up focused. I tried to do negatives for a while but mostly I just slowly decreased the assist weight on the assisted pull up machine.

I'm 5'2" and I weighed in at 140 in the morning. Started out at 155lbs, needing like eighty pounds of help to do a set of eight.

For reference, my bench max is 105 and my best overhead press is 65 lbs for a set of five.

 

[nofoou2]

@ambitiouspoetry What you define as a pull up ? Wide grip, parallel grip or a chin up ?

My female trainingpartner can do 2-3 chin ups and probably 1-2 parralel grip ones. She is lifting around 2 month now and is quite thin (maybe 165cm and 55kg).

 

[numenorian]

@ambitiouspoetry This has more to do with proportional arm length and previous upper body training than anything else.

If your arms are longer for your body, you'll have more issue. If, like many women, you have never trained upper body, you'll have more issues (less muscle mass/ lb, less muscle memory, and less familiarity with movement patterns).

If I'm going to be honest, I'm not sure there has been a time in my life where I couldn't do a pull-up. My arms are a little long for my body, but I'm 5 ft tall, so it amounts to an extra inch on each side, which is nothing. I did gymnastics on and off as a kid, and am upper body dominant naturally. When I decided to start working on them 2.5-3ish years ago, I used the neutral grip (the only one that is not really wide for a small person) on the assisted pull-up machine, with about 10-15 lbs of assistance. After a month, I decided to try them on my own, and had no issue getting several chest to bars (which is just what I always thought a pull-up was).

On the other hand, my favorite gym buddy, who is at least as strong as me, and puts up way more weight than I do on overhead squats, cleans, and jerks, has been struggling with them for a year. Her arms are long, and she doesn't have the base training though, so she's starting from scratch.

Bottom line: You might have to train your butt off, but you CAN and WILL get them if you work hard. There just really isn't a standard time frame.