How Do You Learn to Do a Pull-Up?

Pull-ups aren't just a highly effective exercise – they look rather good too, once you can do one.

"I can't do a pull-up."

You'll no doubt recognise yourself or your friends in that sentence. And it's entirely normal: most of the population can't manage a full rep of a pull-up or chin-up.

Let's look at why so few people can.

First, the anatomy of the back muscles, which is where you'll be putting your focus as you train for pull-ups.

• Trapezius
• Rhomboids
• Teres major and minor (not shown, deeper muscles)
• Latissimus dorsi
• Infraspinatus (not shown, deeper muscle)
• Erector spinae (not shown, lower back)

A well-developed back brings plenty of benefits across the muscles above. The ideal physique for men, for instance, involves a broad back, to which the latissimus dorsi (the lats) contribute a great deal. That's what forms the V shape, as some like to call it.

Why can't I do pull-ups?

Below are the most common reasons you can't manage a pull-up or chin-up:

• Eye contact: technically, it's important not to focus too hard on the pull-up bar. You'll automatically position yourself further from it, which makes the movement harder to perform.
• Underdeveloped latissimus dorsi: at the start of your pull-up on the pull-up bar you're using your lats above all. If you can't pull yourself up, you can fairly quickly conclude that your lats could do with some attention. This is the most common thing to work on.
• Not enough core strength. You'll notice this particularly if you can't hang steadily in the middle of a rep. You shake. You swing from the bar, in effect.
• Arms and shoulders: if you can almost manage a full rep but can't quite finish it – by which we mean getting your chin above the bar on a pull-up or chin-up – then you need to put more focus on your arms and shoulders. If you train regularly this won't often be a problem, and you'll soon find that once you're doing a few pull-ups it troubles you very little.
• Bodyweight: the heavier you are, the more weight you have to pull up. So it stands to reason that someone with a low body fat percentage can pull up more easily than someone with a higher one.
• Grip strength: train, train and train again. It's a problem plenty of people struggle with, and pull-ups themselves are exactly how you develop more grip strength. Focusing on compound movements matters a great deal too.

Want to start training pull-ups or chin-ups? Then there are a few things to watch out for.
You'll need a pull-up bar, of course – discover our extensive range here.

The 7 most important tips for training yourself to pull up

1. Train heavy so you get stronger quickly. Keep your focus on a rep range no greater than 8.
2. Never train to failure. Make sure you could always manage at least one more.
3. Always train with good form. This follows on from tip 2. There are a remarkable number of ways to injure your back muscles, so watch out for it.
4. Train them often. You can happily add a few pull-ups to your training days – on back days, naturally, but shoulder, arm and abdominal days are ideal too.
5. Deadlifts are by far the best exercise for learning pull-ups quickly.
6. Use progressive overload (meaning that over time you increase the volume of the exercise, either by adding weight or by doing more reps).
7. Work out for yourself why you can't do a pull-up and adjust your training programme accordingly.

Exercises to help you get better at pull-ups

Your options are endless, but here are 5 exercises that in our view will help you fastest towards a proper full-rep pull-up.

• Deadlifts: number one by some margin.
• Slow negatives: hang from the bar and lower yourself as slowly as you can. It helps to put a chair or stool under the bar so you can get into the hang easily.
• Lat pulldown: ideal for developing that troublesome latissimus dorsi.
• Hollow hangs: an ideal core and grip strength exercise.
• Assisted pull-ups: you can do these in 2 ways – either with a resistance band or on a machine that lets you add weight to offset part of your own bodyweight.

Did you know you can do assisted pull-ups on the Inspire FT2 Functional Trainer too? The good part is that you can not only make them easier, but harder as well.
Is a multi-gym like that not for you after all? Then do have a look through the pull-up bars, chin-up bars and doorway trainers.

Questions or comments? Leave a comment below or email sales@nrgfitness.nl