Why couldn’t I do a single pull-up?

[zachthedj]

@abbarrane I realize this is 2 years old, but just for the record if you are doing pull-ups (as in raising your head above the bar) it is physically impossible to not use your lats. If you were only using your biceps you would not even come close to clearing the bar.

 

[frhi]

@abbarrane Any advices for me? I do a lot of pullups but just with arm strenght, I dont feel any lat activation and I cant go to the gym right now in my country to practise with the machine. Do you think theres an specific body movement that changes the effort from arms to lats? Like going with the elbows backwards or to the outside or something?

 

[abbarrane]

@frhi Sorry for the late reply. Overhand and neutral grips are gonna use less biceps. I would try those. On top of that I suggest just hanging from the bar and practice with your body weight. Don't even do a pull-up. Just go from a deadhang and then engage your back by trying to pull your shoulders down and back. If doing it right it will sorta puff your chest up when the bar is in front of you. If you're wide grip it will kinda just rotate your back around. U should feel this in and around your shoulder blades. I suggest doing these for reps. That's what I did with the lat pulldown. I didn't actually do lat pulldowns. I just sat and retracted my back muscles.
Do around 10 of these before doing pullups Everytime u go to do them. It will train you to start your pull-up in this way. Over time it should build your back

Someone else posted this video ^

That's what I mean.

 

[xxipkerzixx]

@frhi Two cues that might be useful:

1. Drive your elbows towards the ground.
2. Pull from the back of your armpits.

 

[fengyuwei]

@pablob It’s 100% the training.

I am 6’ 1” and 260 lbs, and can reliably bang out 20-22 pullups at a max effort. Now granted, this is because I’ve trained them for years, but that is my point Pullups require a lot of lat strength, and losing weight is not going to change that. What it will do is make it easier to get to the point where you are strong enough to perform a pullup.

I recommend you start with negative pullups. Grab ahold of the bar and either jump or stand on a box or chair to get your chin over the bar, and then slowly let yourself down. Aim for at least 5 seconds if you can. Do sets of those until you can perform at least a couple pullups and a stretch.

Some people like banded pullups, but I personally don’t think they help in the long run.

 

[jfortizzle]

@fengyuwei Im 109kg and can do 5 pull ups and still have some in the tank so definitely training, but the heaver you are the more training needed