Why couldn’t I do a single pull-up?

[carolynd2012]

@pablob Short Answer: You'll never get good at pull-ups if you don't do them. No matter how many muscles you currently have or how much fat you have. It's more about training the pullup rather than trying to lose weight.

 

[curry3023]

@pablob Why? it's because you don't train pull ups. Start training them daily and you'll notice a difference. It's the same reason why bodybuilders lose to pro arm wrestlers in arm wrestling. The same way goes when armwrestlers can't bench us much us body builders.

 

[aurora16]

@pablob You have to work up to it. You aren't just going to magically be able to do one just because you lost some weight.

 

[pablob]

@aurora16 trying to lift a weight that is 30+kg lighter is obviously gonna be easier, that was my logic

 

[ijk9999]

@pablob Pull ups are way easier for skinny guys due to lesser weight, yes. You probably have either weak biceps, lats, back or something that's holding you back. I like bodyweight fitness because you can do it anywhere, but lat pulldowns will help a lot more than negatives imo.

 

[luannie]

@pablob

Do I need to lose weight or is it all about the training?

Both. You need to lose weight, so you're not lugging around 50 extra pounds and jumping right into de facto weighted pull ups, but you also need to get a lot stronger.

 

[eid]

@pablob You can't just lose weight and expect to be strong in calisthenics. You gotta train up to the pull-up alongside losing weight to be efficient with your use of time and avoid losing too much muscle on your cut. You do this by using resistance cables to perform assisted pull-ups until you're strong and light enough to perform unassisted pull-ups with good form.

 

[josephhernandez]

@pablob I started my journey 6 months ago (25/m). I could hardly do 2 when i started. I watched many YouTube videos and the most helpful i found in my case was build core strength. So i started slow with planks everyday then Australian chin ups also called as reverse row. Then to chin up. Now i can do 13 chin ups at max effort and 8 pull ups.

 

[australian]

@pablob You're just not strong enough. That's it. Don't overthink it man.

 

[dawn16]

@pablob I came from the opposite side to you. I was very very weak and skinny (60kg) and I'm pretty sure there was a point I could barely do a pull up. Well now I'm doing sets of 10. Like others have suggested already, I used bands, started with two bands so I could do a decent number between 5 and 8, then over time could remove a band and then remove them entirely.

I've also heard good things about negatives, but I haven't tried that myself.

Good luck.

 

[pablob]

@dawn16

 

[kathrynjones]

@pablob It’s the long arms.

 

[pablob]

@kathrynjones I think its a factor too

 

[kathrynjones]

@pablob This is my struggle as well. The only way I’ve ever made any progress is to use the widest grip possible.

 

[yun126]

@pablob Try working up to them with easier progressions; australian pull ups, jump negative pull ups, also hanging scapula shrugs are great. I always wondered why i couldn't do a muscle up until i trained for it for 3 months consistently

 

[lynsquid]

@pablob How did you get down to 79kg and then up again to 100?

Are you doing these temporal diet things where you eat weird for a short amount of time?

Also noone can naturally do a pull up, no natter their weight. You need training.

 

[pablob]

@lynsquid the weight changes were in a word unhealthy. I basically lost it all by not eating enough at all which was bad. then more recently been a much healthier phase of eating a normal amount pretty much and exercising a fair amount, boxing cycling etc but now im just eating shit again. my diet is a much bigger issue to be honest but I find it so much easier to eat healthy when im exercising

 

[kein1]

@lynsquid I was a runner in highschool and never really trained my upper body at all and I could do a few pullups naturally so that's definitely not true. If you're active and skinny you can do a pullup

 

[xamell]

@lynsquid

you get down to 79kg and then up again to 100

Probably Yo-Yo dieting...

noone can naturally do a pull up

Well, not true

Since I could do 8 in a row when I weighed 93kg at 177cm (5'10).

Without any specific training. Just could do that since school despite being overweight.

 

[lynsquid]

@xamell You dont need specific training. Youd be surprise what things you actually trained just by doing whatever you do all day.

Yeah Id assume hes dieting, eating how he ate before, dieting, eating like he ate before.

He should make permanent changes. Smaller portions until hes at a weight he wants to stay and then eat as much as he needs.