Mastering the Pull-Up
For those who have seen my Instagram page, you probably know that I like pull-ups. Pull-ups are one of the best bodyweight, compound exercises and you can basically do them anywhere, as almost every gym, track, and park has a pull-up bar. However, pull-ups are an advanced exercise and they are extremely challenging—especially for women, who tend to carry the majority of their body weight and muscle in their lower body. Although, this is not to be discouraging; I truly believe that everyone can master a few pull-ups or more with proper form, the right exercises, and enough practice. When I started weightlifting 2.5 years ago, I could only do one pull-up. Now, I can do almost 20 consecutive pull-ups. Whether your goal is 30 pull-ups or one, here are some of my tips to improve your pull-up.
The Proper Pull-Up Form
To perform a proper pull-up, hang from the bar with a regular pull-up grip (meaning you can see the front of your hands, not your fingers). To pull yourself up, imagine firing from your lats and your back, not your biceps or forearms. Your arms will participate in the movement, but the movement should begin in your back and towards the top of the movement, your arms will be more engaged. Pull yourself up until your chin is above the bar. That is one rep. As far as consecutive pull-ups go, there is a lot of debate about how far you have to go back down for a strict rep. In general, it is a strict pull up as long as the angle of your upper and lower arm is greater than 90 degrees before you pull yourself back up again.
The Right Exercises to Complement Your Pull-Up
If you can’t do any pull-ups yet, don’t give up! There are other things you can do to complement and improve your pull-up strength without actually doing strict pull-ups.
Assisted pull-ups: I am personally not a fan of the assisted pull up machine; I don’t think it actually imitates the proper movement of a pull up (basically it just doesn’t feel like doing a pull up does, I find that people do not engage their lats first while using it). Instead, have someone hold your feet or legs to offset some of your weight and try assisted pull-ups that way. This is what I did when I started, and I find that it feels most similar to doing a pull-up on your own. If you don’t have someone to help you, use rubber bands.
Heavy lat pulldowns with good form: Heavy lat pull downs also imitate the feeling of a pull up and strengthen the major muscles in your back, especially your lats. In my opinion, this is one of the exercises most frequently done incorrectly. To engage your back first and foremost, grab the bar slightly wider than shoulder width, sit up very straight and slightly lean back. Again, firing from your lats, pull the bar down to your chest. Don’t round your shoulders. A cue that works for me is thinking about pulling the bar almost at an angle towards your chest, not down in front of your face. (that’s where I see the most slouching.) Mix up your reps and sets; try 4 sets of 8, 5 sets of 5, and even 3 sets of 15 reps.
Basically any back exercise: Obviously I dedicated a lot of writing to the lat pull down because I think it’s the most important, but if you want to do pull-ups, you need a strong back. And if you want a strong back, you need to do a lot of different back exercises. Lat pull downs with varied grips, barbell rows, dumbbell rows, and seated cable rows are all great options.
For the advanced, weighted pull-ups: I started increasing my reps when I incorporated weighted pull-ups into my routine. You will need a belt and a plate (and a stool if you’re short). Complete these in sets until failure. They should be very challenging— like 5 reps max.
Practice Makes Perfect
The most important aspect to mastering the pull-up— like just about everything else in the gym— is PRACTICE. Like every day. I still do a few sets of pull-ups every time I’m in the gym. My pull-ups are probably my strongest point and that’s because I practice them often. (Honestly I need to take my own advice and apply this to my squat.) If you cannot do a lot of reps yet, do 4 sets until failure— even if that means you’re doing 1-2 reps per set. You will be surprised at the progress you make when you set a goal and devote yourself fully to it.
Alex