The Elusive Pull-Up

[klachen]

@twinmama Bookmarking! I have yet to do a proper pull up, it’s so intimidating and welp I just don’t have the lats to do it yet lol. Can’t wait!

 

[veteran1990]

@twinmama Thanks for this! Will help many who are struggling to know where/how to start, and hopefully inspire more folks to give it a try

 

[parabarb]

@twinmama Thank you so much for this detailed information, i didn’t know bands could be counter productive. Performing a pull up is actually my 2021 fitness goal!

 

[twinmama]

@parabarb They are great as accessory pieces. I see so many people only doing banded pull-ups, however, and then getting frustrated when they can't complete a standard bodyweight pull-up. Get those negatives in!! Can't wait to hear your success story

 

[charliedavidson]

@twinmama I thought I would never be able to do a pull up. I finally could do one in my thirties. Don't give up! Lateral pull downs helped a lot!

 

[anon103]

@charliedavidson Lat pulldown is short for latissimus dorsi (the back muscles), not lateral (a directional word meaning sideways)

 

[charliedavidson]

@anon103 Hahaha I thought that sounded weird! Thanks for clarifying

 

[anon103]

@charliedavidson No prob! They are both weird words to be honest.

 

[dawn16]

@charliedavidson Yeah, I'm surprised that lat pull downs aren't mentioned as a helpful accessory movement.

 

[twinmama]

@dawn16 added! Just slipped my mind

 

[dawn16]

@twinmama This is awesome and extremely helpful, thank you!

It feels ridiculous at this point but every single day for the last few years I walk up to our pull-up bar and tell myself today is the day I'm finally going to do this. I do so with full confidence and great expectation. Unfortunately I haven't been successful yet. But I've gotten close so I know I will get there eventually when things balance out. Great resource, thanks again.

 

[colindominic]

@dawn16 I like to pull a chair over to my bar and put my feet on it to assist if I’m not feeling particularly strong. It’ll either go almost directly under me, so I start in more of a squat position (easier) or a couple of feet in front so I’m in more of a pike position (harder).

 

[dawn16]

@colindominic I've done this. It does help a lot. It gives me what feels like the full range of motion which I assume is good for muscle memory. I've also used a 5-gallon bucket as it was easier to move around. I thought I'd eventually be able to kick it out of the way and just do one, but no luck yet. Good idea, glad you shared, thanks!

 

[colindominic]

@dawn16 I’ve been doing aerials for a few years now, and it took me just over 2 to get a pull-up. And that was with training my upper body strength pretty consistently. Everything will come in time, and honestly, it just made it that much more exciting for me when I achieved it.

(Also, everything started to click when I started regular physical therapy and was forced to work on some of the muscles that tend to get neglected in my regular workouts. It’s not a magic pill, but more like having the cheat codes to a video game. Still gotta do the work, but stuff just starts happening for you.)

 

[guitarfoto]

@dawn16 One thing that really helped me when I was at that point was to get a long tension band that I looped over my home pull-up bar (OP mentions banded pull-ups in addition to negatives and this is definitely what did it for me). It's like the equivalent of the assisted pull-up machine at the gym - if you loop your knee or foot in it - it will hold a portion of your weight. That let me get over the last hump of still lifting most of my weight in the exact movement but not alllll of my weight on the cheap by only adding the band to our setup. I pretty much was doing exactly what you described, just giving it a shot most days when I passed the bar. I'm up to 5 pull-ups (no band) as a female so nothing wild, but all just from adding in a couple a day whenever I walk by the bar at our place. Definitely going to try some of the other suggestions from OP to get more intentional on negatives. Good luck!!

 

[dawn16]

@guitarfoto I will certainly try your suggestion. Thank you! Great job sticking with it and getting there I'm sure I'll freak out when I finally complete one full pull-up. I'll throw a party when I do five!

 

[twinmama]

@dawn16 You're welcome! It's all about consistency. I promise it works, it worked for me

 

[petriebird]

@twinmama I love the way you wrote it up. Negatives were the key to being able to do a pull up for me. I was able to do a push up long before I could do a pull up. Push-ups help too!