Why couldn’t I do a single pull-up?

[pokerfaceblonde]

@pablob Your muscles aren't strong enough, also they aren't used to work together. Do bodyrows. Increase the angle as you keep getting stronger. When you can do bodyweight rows almost from horizontal, then try doing pull-ups.

 

[villianmade]

@pablob Being tall and heavy will make the first one a bigger hurdle. But not that much bigger. Look at the Recommended Routine, or Convict Conditioning, or Primal Blueprint, or any of dozens of other bodyweight progressions; you'll find multiple suggested progressions for getting to your first pull-up.

Assisted, partial, negative only etc. You may not pump up and down like a 5'4" 130 lb gymnast, but you CAN get to pullups for reps before long.

 

[pablob]

@villianmade Thank you

 

[lesmana]

@pablob I think others have said this, but the best way to build up the specific muscles used for pull-ups is to do negatives until they’re strong enough to do an actual pull-up. Start on a stool, or chair so you’re able to grasp the bar at pull-up height, then lower yourself as slow as you can. Keep this up until you can easily hold your body weight, and lower yourself slowly, then switch to pull-ups.

 

[on_a_mission_]

@pablob Your pull muscles are weak. That's it.

Look at the RR for regressions and try them until you get one you can do. Then go from there, ideally with a grease the groove type program.

 

[etant]

@pablob A tricky part can be figuring out which muscles to use.

It's an uncommon movement for most people, and I have seen folks have a tendency to tense up everything.

One strategy is to jump into it, and then hold yourself up. If you can't hold yourself up at all, it's just undeveloped muscles. If you can hold yourself up, try relaxing various muscle groups. See which ones are actually essential.

It's easy for people to just say stuff like "use your lats" but I dunno about you but when I started I had no idea what the hell using my lats felt like or how to consciously use them.

 

[samuel2357]

@pablob Personally I just did lat-pulldowns and barbell rows until I was able to do one but I just saw this was /r/bwf.

I would suggest doing Australian Pull Ups until you find those easy, and if you can’t do negatives yet, I think we have to work on those first. If you don’t have the strength to control the descent, you don’t have the strength to control the ascent.

We can start with holds, can you hold yourself at the top position for a while? Keep going until you can get to 15 seconds, and then try negatives. You’ll be surprised how fast you can progress

 

[dawn16]

@pablob Like many others have said, it sounds like you need to focus on them more and push (safely) into failure with them. I’ve learned its better to fight the weight all the way down and not just drop it, you’re still working the muscle.

Part of it could be genetics or how you’ve naturally used your body over the years. Just means you have to try harder. And again, do it safely, slowly over time and consistently.

I actually had the reverse problem when training, I could build up to 50 full pull ups per workout, usually hitting about 5-10 if I hadn’t been training. But my shoulders and back are more naturally stronger for some reason. Plus I am lean, 6’ @ 160lbs but was 6’ @ 140 for years due to years of cross country and track, and again, genetics. But ask me to do a push up and I would struggle harder, my chest is naturally more weak.

Keep at it, go slow, isolate the areas more and fight it all the way down (and up!)

 

[icemodeled]

@pablob What's your routine? How long have you been training? You're obviously not strong enough.

 

[bubby348]

@pablob When i started i was only able to pull myself up a few inches. I am very skinny, so i dont have much fat. But it took me about 2 months to get my first pull up. Just did negatives and band assisted pull ups!

 

[inconditusunus]

@pablob Everyone’s different but what worked for me in achieving my first pull up was doing negatives and also having a friend spot me. It really is all about training and having a few days rest. It took me about 3 weeks of training only 1 day a week to achieve my first pull up, so you could probably progress even quicker if you trained 2-3 times a week.

Once you get your first pull up you just build from there, always ending in negatives. It’s a long process but you’ll be rewarded in the end. Also make sure your doing the full range of motion, it’s a lot harder but will make you much stronger by hitting all the areas that need to be strong in order to pull up, no point cheating yourself.

 

[xamell]

@pablob To be frank, for YOU particularly, any calisthenics are going to be VERY hard. This has to do with basic physics - longer height means longer limbs. Long limbs means longer levers. Long levers means you have to exert a LOT more force on the short end of the lever (since your limbs are attached to your large muscle groups directly) to shift the longer part.

Your height is 6'4''. Some other guy with a height of 5'10 would be able to master their first pull-up WAY faster than you, like 2 weeks vs 2 months for you. And this is the same situation for all other elements.

Your options are: lose even more weight, or grow way more muscle. But if I were you, I would do both simultaneously. Maybe lose weight up to 165 lbs, and TRAIN HARD. Really hard. Also eat LOTS of protein - this is the only "natural" way to increase muscle protein synthesis without drugs.

But pull-up is not something impossible. I have a few friends that can do pull ups and even muscle-ups at 6'3''. So don't be discouraged, just train. It might take a year, but who said it is going to be easy.

 

[pablob]

@xamell I agree its gonna be a mission I think but worth it. if I can even manage 1 ill be happy to be honest

 

[tuomionp%C3%A4iv%C3%A4]

@pablob I am 6,3 and I think you might have been too skinny. I look skinny at 83 kg. Just do negatives for sometimes and the Australian pullups to progress with regular back and bicep exercises. It took me around 2 months to get my first (I used to be very weak). Also get your weight down at the same time. You dont need to lose weight to train for pullups tho. In fact negatives are harder and therefore more beneficial when you have a higher body weight since you gotta resist more so when you do lose weight you will find that the negatives became much easier and you might even be able to do a pullup.

Also when doing a negative always observe perfect form and try to do some scap shrugs as well.

The pullup bar you put in your doorway is not viable at our height btw since its too low and therefore much harder. So try to go to the gym or if not available go to a park with bars.

Good luck

 

[pablob]

@tuomionp%C3%A4iv%C3%A4 yh ur right to be honest about too skinny. I was chasing the abs haha but now ive kinda accepted if they don't come at that weight they probs won't for me, unless through a different route. thank you mate

 

[tuomionp%C3%A4iv%C3%A4]

@pablob Abs come at a low body fat % no necessarily a low body weight. If your % is high at a low weight it means you dont have enough muscles and are skinny fat. The most visible my abs have ever been was when I reached 85 kg after a year in the gym not when I was at my lowest of 78 kg. Just keep a decent diet or exercise like crazy or better do both. At our age its very easy to get in shape despite our diets depending on genetics so dont go crazy with your dieting.

 

[rect4389]

@pablob Do full body training and find out what it's wrong with you.

I had a similar problem with the push-ups, I reached a very low plateau and felt so difficult to add just a single more push-up in 2 month. Then after an injury at the back I started working a little bit on the back and shoulders, plus some more core. At the end of the month my maximum jumped of 4-5 push-ups.

I was so focused on arms and biceps and put everything else in a lower spot, huge mistake. Pull-ups require all the upper body to be done correctly, find out if some muscle are lacking power and bottlenecking your performance

 

[matthewp293]

@pablob Negative pull-ups and band assisted pull-ups are the key. You have to specifically train them. I had been training my push ups from only 1 push up (I was weak as fuck) to around 20 push ups BUT when I tried to pull up, I just couldn't do it. Best of luck in your training and work hard!

 

[dawn16]

@pablob I don’t understand, you lifted weights but you still couldn’t do a pull-up? You should start taking lifting seriously, like 3-4 times a week, try to hit all muscles throughout the week at least 1 time, and give it a couple months. While you do that, do some body weight push-ups, attempt pullups (use the assisted machine if you have to), and squats to practice getting better at it. Seems like you have been lifting all wrong and your diet might be trash. I suggest talking so a dietitian or someone who can help you have a more nutritious diet

 

[dawn16]

@pablob Trust me man, do your research. Lifting and diets are pointless without the knowledge. Youtube has a lot of information. Try not to follow that bro science high protein bullshit diet though. You can make gains with adequate protein and lots of fruits and vegetables. Try to eat a balanced diet rather than shoving protein down your throat