There isn’t a secret or magic trick to increasing your pull ups, but it isn’t as difficult as many people believe. You may think that I’m another coach who can’t relate to your situation, but I can. I still remember when I was struggling to do 2-3 pull ups.

I struggled because I didn’t train for them, and when I did train for pull ups, I didn’t train properly.

I fear many people are making the same mistakes I made. I want to share how you can skip the frustration and master the pull up.

Your Training Should Match Your Goals

The majority of the fitness industry is all about HIIT, cardio, bodybuilding, or training until you puke.

I’m not a fan of this, not because there’s anything wrong with these training styles but because these methods get the most exposure. There are so many different ways to train, but your training should always match your goals.

The goal here is to increase the number of pull ups you can complete consecutively, and those methods I mentioned don’t work.

When I was learning to do pull ups:

• I did it the common way of 3 sets of 5-10 reps.
• The aim is to do 3 sets of 5 reps.
• Then every week or two, you increase the reps 3×6, 3×7 until you reach your goal.
• What generally happens is that in the first set, you can probably do five reps, but after that, you will struggle even to do 2-3 reps.
• That’s what was happening to me, and I would also keep hitting plateaus—stuck at the same reps for a while.

If I could do it all over again, I would use a technique called Grease The Groove (GTG). This is how I teach my clients to get their first pull up and to increase the amount they can do in a row.

Grease the Groove for Better Pull Ups

For example:

• Let’s say you can manage just about four reps in a row.
• Throughout the day, you’ll do multiple sets (4-7 sets) at 50% of your max, which is two reps.
• If one rep is your max, then do multiple sets of one rep.
• Rest for a minimum of one hour between sets.
• Perform this 4-6 days a week.

After two weeks, test your pull ups to see how many you can do in a row.

Learning a new movement pattern is just like learning a new skill.

The more you do something correctly, the better you get at it. By doing the reps at 50% intensity, you limit fatigue, and you’ll focus more on the correct technique.

It won’t feel like you’re doing much, but your body is learning the movement. Frequency and consistency are kings when it comes to learning.

In a week, you’ll accumulate a lot of reps.

You can do this in addition to your regular training but if you’re not recovering between sessions, then reduce the workload.

Pull Up technique:

Get Your First Pull Up

If you can’t do a pull up yet, you can still use this technique. In addition to your regular pull up training of 2-3 times a week, do GTG with these exercises. Focus on one for two weeks, rest for a week, and then do GTG with the other exercise.

Jump Negative Pull Ups:

• Jump up as much as you need to pull yourself up.
• Try and go slow when coming back down.
• At first, you might drop straight down, but as you get stronger, you will be able to go slower.
• If the jump is too much, jump from a box to assist you.

Isometric chin-ups:

Jump up and hold yourself at the top of the pull-up. Try to keep your chin over the bar.

You Can Handle Your Bodyweight

Some of you might think that you were never meant to do or will never be strong enough to do pull ups, but you are. Put the negative thoughts and feelings aside and do the work.

Pull ups are a natural movement that your body is well capable of doing.

Train your pull ups frequently throughout the week, and focus on the proper technique. Otherwise, you will only be cheating yourself. Be patient, and you will master your pull ups. You can use GTG to improve other exercises as well.

The post How to Boost Your Pull Ups in 2 Weeks appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The Beginner Pull-Up Program is designed to help you achieve your first strict pull-up. If you already have a pull-up or two, this program will help you progress your strength toward longer sets and more advanced pulling movements.

This program is broken into 5 weeks, each focusing on a different aspect of the pull-up. Each week brings a new sequence of exercises to be repeated 3-4 times in the week. These are 15-20-minute pull-up specific programs meant to supplement your normal regimen.

See the rest of the series here:

• Hanging and Shoulder Activation
• Flexed Hang and Ring Rows
• Negatives and Increasing the Loading
• Volume and Variety

Part 5 – Pull-Up Scaling Options

We have thus far built a strong pulling foundation, but it’s now time to train the full movement. While the first 4 weeks of this program have increased your pull-up strength, you might not quite yet have the strength to achieve a pull-up. Even if you can perform a pull-up or two, scaling options will allow you to train the full movement with enough volume to further increase your strength.

No Resistance Bands

Avoid the common pull-up scale of using a resistance band suspend from the bar. While this method can serve to introduce very new beginners to hanging and the pull-up range of motion, it can just as easily forestall further progress.

Resistance bands provide progressive resistance; the force that they apply is directly proportional to the amount they are stretched. This means that they provide much more assistance while fully stretched at the bottom of the rep than they do at the top. If the band gives just enough assistance to initiate the rep in the bottom, it will not assist enough to properly top out. Similarly, if the band-aids appropriately at the top out, it will make the bottom of the rep far too easy to be of benefit. These issues only grow as fatigue builds late in reps and sets.

Proportional Assistance

You will progress much quicker by avoiding the resistance bands and using a form of proportional resistance. This means using just enough assistance to complete the reps while maintaining a hollow body and smooth navigation of the entire range of motion. Provide enough resistance that you do not stall out or break form, but not enough to make each rep too easy. You will obviously require more help as you fatigue, but regardless of how much help you receive on each rep you will reinforce a strong position and full range of motion.

Check out the video for 3 different methods of providing proportional assistance.

Beginner Pull-Up Program – Week 5

Block 1

*Rest as needed between sets

Using best scaling option available:

Block 2

4 rounds:

The post The Beginner Pull Up Program: Scaling Without Bands appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

This program is broken into five weeks, each focusing on a different aspect of the pull-up. Each week brings a new sequence of exercises to be repeated 3-4 times in the week. These are 15-20-minute pull-up specific programs meant to supplement your regular regimen.

See the rest of the series here:

The Beginner Pull-Up Program is designed to help you achieve your first strict pull-up. If you already have a pull-up or two, this program will help you progress your strength toward more extended sets and more advanced pulling movements.

This program is broken into five weeks, each focusing on a different aspect of the pull-up. Each week brings a new sequence of exercises to be repeated 3-4 times in the week. These are 15-20-minute pull-up specific programs meant to supplement your regular regimen.

See the rest of the series here:

• Hanging and Shoulder Activation
• Flexed Hang and Ring Rows
• Negatives and Increasing the Loading
• Scaling Without Bands

Part 4 – Adding Volume and Variety

The first three weeks of this program have built a solid base of pulling strength and mechanics. The work in this week’s program will challenge that base with a significant amount of volume. The first several weeks have prepared you well to both handle and thrive on the challenges this week.

In the first block, perform pull-up negatives to failure. Only hold two seconds at the top, just long enough to establish control before beginning the 3-5 second lower phase. Repeat these until you can no longer maintain the controlled hold at the top or the 3-5 second descent.

The program this week concludes with several different ring row variations meant to bring variety to the pulling loading that your shoulders see. It’s beneficial to give your shoulders a more balanced workout when adding significant volume to pull-up loading.

The program concludes the jumping pull-ups to add a bit more low-resistance volume to finish.

As with last week, repeat this work only three times this week, being sure to take a full day of rest between sessions.

Beginner Pull-Up Program – Week 4

Block 1

*Rest as needed for quality

*Failure = cannot maintain above time schemes

Block 2

Two rounds:

*Place feet for ten rep minimum each set

Block 3

* Bar 6-8 below max vertical reach

The post The Beginner Pull-Up Program: Adding Volume and Variety appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The Beginner Pull-Up Program is designed to help you achieve your first strict pull-up. If you already have a pull-up or two, this program will help you progress your strength toward longer sets and more advanced pulling movements.

This program is broken into five weeks, each focusing on a different aspect of the pull-up. Each week brings a new sequence of exercises to be repeated 3-4 times in the week. These are 15-20-minute pull-up specific programs meant to supplement your normal regimen.

See the rest of the series here:

• Hanging and Shoulder Activation
• Flexed Hang and Ring Rows
• Adding Volume And Variety
• Scaling Without Bands

Part 3 builds directly on the work from the previous 2 weeks. We use similar movements but increase the loading with more difficult variations, higher repetitions, and longer holds. If you have not yet watched and performed the program from the first two weeks, you might find this week to be overly challenging. The program this week is meant to solidify the benefits of all of these foundational strength elements.

If you have a developed foundation of pull-up strength you may find that you can begin here in Week 3.

This week’s program utilizes higher amounts of eccentric (lengthening or lowering phases) loading. Eccentrics can be deeply taxing on your tissue. This means that they bring great benefit but also need to be trained wisely. I recommend a full day off between these sessions to ensure you are optimally recovered before repeating. Perform this program only 3x this week and be sure to take a full rest day between sessions.

Beginner Pull-Up Program – Week 3

Block 1 – 3 rounds

*3 reps, 3 sec hold each

* Rest as needed between sets

Block 2 – 3 rounds

* Rest as needed between sets

The post Beginner Pull-Up Series: Negatives and Increasing the Loading appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

See the other parts of the series here:

• Hanging and Shoulder Activation
• Negatives And Increasing The Loading
• Adding Volume And Variety
• Scaling Without Bands

Part 1 aimed primarily to strengthen the beginning of your pull-up by working hanging and your ability to activate to initiate the movement. Part 2 aims to strengthen the top position with flexed hangs and the entire range with the scaled pull-up versions like the row and negative. We’ll build complete pulling strength by working varying grips as well.

Both the rows and negatives are quite taxing in high repetition. This video not only demonstrates the proper form of each but also outlines scaling options for both.

Ring rows are infinitely scalable by simply walking your feet in and out. Aim to find a foot position that enables you to finish the complete set while maintaining a perfectly straight body position and control of both the hold at the top and slow lowering phase. Remember that your foot position may need to vary for different grip versions and with fatigue in later sets.

When performing the negatives keep your focus on two key aspects: time under tension and moving smoothly. The program increases your time under tension with an extended flexed hang at the top of each negative. Negatives translate best to pull-up strength by making them a continual and smooth descent. It will benefit you more to perform them smoothly over 3-5 seconds than with pauses over a longer interval.

Beginner Pull-up Program – Week 2

2 rounds of:

* Rest as needed between sets

* 10-20 passive/active hang between each set of rows (optional)

* Rest as needed between attempts

* Box assist if you cannot hold flexed hang at least 5 sec or perform negative smoothly over at least 3 sec

The post The Beginner Pull Up Program: Flexed Hang and Ring Rows appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Photo by Bev Childress

The Beginner Pull Up Program is designed to help you achieve your first strict pull up. If you already have a pull up or two, this program will help you progress your strength toward longer sets and more advanced pulling movements. The program is broken into five weeks, each focusing on a different aspect of the pull up. Each week brings a new sequence of exercises to be repeated 3-4 times in the week. These are 15-20-minute sequences meant to supplement your normal regimen.

See the other parts of the series here:

• Flexed Hang and Ring Rows
• Negatives And Increasing The Loading
• Adding Volume And Variety
• Scaling Without Bands

Hanging and Shoulder Activation

Hanging does for your shoulders what squatting does for your hips. Just like a deep squat, hanging represents an essential human position. Like all other primates, our shoulder design not only allows for hanging, but requires it for optimal function. The best way to improve your overhead mobility while readying your shoulders for pulling is simply to hang.

Part 1 of the program begins with basic scapula (shoulder blade) mobility, then focuses on exercises to strengthen your ability to initiate a pull up from a dead hang.

Beginner Pull Up Workout – Week 1

4 rounds:

The post The Beginner Pull Up Program: Hanging and Shoulder Activation appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Challenges can come in many different forms, and everyone lives a different life full of different aspirations, mindsets, and setbacks. For some, just getting out of bed in the morning may be the toughest challenge of their life. For others, a challenge is something that requires training to beat, physical endurance to overcome, and unwavering tenacity. When all of these characteristics are combined, and when an individual or team puts forth their full effort, challenges can be met head-on and overcome. When this happens, challenges become a learning experience for those that have refused to quit in the wake of terrible odds.

The Pull Up World Record

It is this mentality that propels me forward each and every day. My life has been full of challenges, mental, emotional, and purely physical. Some have been set by others, some have been set by society, but I find the most rewarding challenges to beat are those set for myself. I am the only person in this world who knows and understands what I am truly capable of, and I try to test that limit by setting personal goals that, at first, seem impossible.

One such challenge that I set for myself was to become the world record holder for most pull ups performed in a 24-hour period. The following is an account of that challenge, the hurdles I faced along the way, and a reflection on what I learned about myself through the experience.

In order to gain a better contextual understanding of the above feat, here is an excerpt from the Navy Times’ coverage:

The 28-year-old petty officer shattered the Guinness World Record for most pullups with 5,804 in 24 hours on Sept. 27 at North End Fitness in Oak Harbor, Washington. On his second attempt, he even upped the ante by wearing a 30-pound pack… Mixing feats of strength with fundraising, McCastle has raised thousands of dollars for veterans’ organizations… “I wanted to add the extra pack to represent their burden that they carry,” he said. “They don’t take that pack off. They carry it with them for the rest of their lives.”

Simply put, I challenged myself to perform the most pullups by anyone in a 24-hour period, both to challenge my physical endurance and to challenge others to donate their money to a worthy cause.

The First Attempt

But I was not able to overcome this challenge immediately. I had attempted the challenge several months before, and came nowhere close to finishing it. That attempt left me mentally anguished and disappointed in my lack of physicality.

But then something truly inspiring happened. I realized that my physicality was only a part of who I am, and not the whole identity that I had previously attached myself to. My family, friends, unit, and even several strangers who knew about my exploits commended me on my effort and gave me positive feedback that helped me regain my mental and physical composure.

Furthermore, I was paying closer attention to the feedback that my own body was giving me. What I found was that, after closer inspection, I needed to work on my cardio more, instead of constantly doing pullups all day. This would ensure that the oxygen I was breathing in was being used as efficiently as possible. The more oxygen you have in your body, the more endurance one has in the long-run. So I refocused my training and went at it hard for the next 10 months.

The Feedback From Failure

While the training and concentration played a significant part in me overcoming the challenge the second time, I believe it also had to do with failing hard the first time. Growth only occurs in a state of discomfort. That initial failure removed me from my comfortable, ordered life, and thrust me into a state of complexity and uncertainty, where outcomes are unpredictable, which in turn forced me to adapt and grow.

At first, I was disheartened, but I learned to use my first attempt as a learning experience for the second time around. Failing the first time put me in the mindset I needed to have to overcome the challenge on the second attempt. Not that “no” was in my heart the first time, but it was not even in my peripheral vision the second time. There was no “attempt” this time around; only success.

Looking back on the challenge, there were several moments that taught me a lot. During the final hours, which were by far the most difficult, I found that I could feel my body reacting better to my training than it did the first time around. While it was still difficult, I noticed it was slightly easier than the first time, and my breathing was much more steady and meaningful.

The biggest takeaway was that failing at something does not immediately make you a failure. What makes you a failure is not doubling your training, not doubling your concentration, and not doubling your work ethic to conquer the challenge in the future. Choosing to do those things in the wake of failure transforms what was once thought impossible into something manageable or bearable.

Finally, I learned that even when I think I am dialed in, there is always room for improvement. I can always be in a better mindset. I can always be more optimistic. I can always try harder to make my actions meaningful for others. Coming away from this challenge, I was certainly not unscathed. But I am in a far better place, now that I have proven to myself and the world that I can achieve anything I put my mind to.

You can show your support for Mike’s labors on behalf of veterans by donating to his Veterans Suicide and Retreat Fund.

The post No Failure, Only Feedback appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Pull ups can be thought of as the squats for the upper body. Everyone knows they need to do them, but few do them correctly. They are tough, require whole-body strength, and take a whole lot of practice to perfect.

So why bother with the pull up?

Neglecting to include some form of the pull up in your program will do your physique an injustice. The aesthetic rewards of pull ups include building a V-taper, which brings your shoulders out wide and makes your waist look smaller. But you will also gain a few key strength benefits, like the ability to manipulate your own bodyweight, and a stronger back to facilitate other main lifts such as squats and deadlifts.

You need pull ups in your life. It’s great to lift big with bench presses, rows, and curls, but let’s stop neglecting your pull up power and strength. It’s time to grab the bar and start to develop real-world pulling strength and squash your reliance on the pull-down machine once and for all.

Below is an eight-week training plan to increase pull up performance, strength, and power. It won’t be easy, and you’ll have to start from the ground (literally). But rest assured, you’re about add a new dimension to your fitness.

Stronger Pull Ups: Weeks 1 and 2

If you’re the type who struggles with pull ups and can barely eke out a single rep with decent form, this program will start you from zero. You will start with a beginner-level rep total, rest times, and overall volume and frequency. Consider this your break-in period if you’re new to the pull up game.

Avoid the use of wrist straps as much as you can. These will give you a false sense of strength and will prevent you from developing your own natural grip strength. If you need additional help add in a few sets of wrist and reverse wrist curls.

• To start, you will train pull ups at least twice per week, on non-consecutive days.
• Start with 10 total reps of pull ups. Your goal is to get to your total each session no matter if it takes you one, two, or 10 total sets.
• Rest one to two minutes between sets. This will decrease later in the program.
• If you are also performing resistance training during the week, make sure you are performing the big lifts such as barbell, dumbbell, and T-bar rows, high pulls, and rear deltoid and trapezius exercises. These will help increase strength and power in your pulling and provide better stability in all areas of your back.
• Keep the biceps work to a minimum. Too many gym bros perform way too many sets of biceps work. Go with one or two (max) basic moves such as barbell and dumbbell curls and that’s it. Don’t overdo it and start to create a weak link in your pull up chain.
• Always use proper form and technique. This means keeping an upright and arched back while pulling up, and avoid swinging (kipping) at all costs. Additionally, try pulling up your body with your elbows rather than your biceps. This will ensure that your back will pull with more power and strength, instead of relying on your arm strength almost exclusively.

Stronger Pull Ups: Weeks 3 and 4

For the next two weeks, you will increase frequency and total reps, while decreasing your rest time between sets. By now you should start to see some changes in strength and performance. You should be able to get a few reps per set, and have the ability to perform each set a bit more comfortably.

• Increase your total volume to 20 reps.
• Increase your frequency to three times per week.
• Keep your rest time between sets at a strict one minute. This will increase your intensity and create a great deal of momentum in your progress.
• Keep your form in check. This is no time to get sloppy.

Stronger Pull Ups: Weeks 5 and 6

For the next two weeks, you will follow the same pattern as before: Increase volume and frequency, and decrease rest time between sets. You can also start to play around with different grips and widths for the pull up. This will challenge your muscles in new ways, and help keep you from getting bored.

• Increase your total volume to 30 reps per pull up session.
• Increase frequency to four times per week. For example, you could hold your sessions on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of each week.
• Decrease rest time to 45 seconds between sets.
• Try different grips such as wide-grip, close-parallel grip, shoulder-grip and chin-up style (palms facing you).

Stronger Pull Ups: Weeks 7 and 8

The final two weeks will challenge you physically and mentally. By now you are accumulating quite a few reps several times a week, with very little rest between sets. You should also start to become more and more proficient at performing with good technique.

• Increase your total reps to 40. Ideally these should be completed within four or five sets.
• If you can, increase frequency to five times per week.
• Try to reduce rest time to around 30 seconds.
• Continue utilizing different widths and grips.

Stronger Pull Ups: Commit to Conquering the Pull Up

After the eighth week, you should have developed considerable pull up power. You will also have acquired the side effects of this program, such as increased shoulder strength and stability, extra back width and thickness, and a sense of whole-body strength.

Those with more body mass will have a tougher time performing pull ups, regardless of composition. If you’re in the muscled-up category, just gut through it, develop more strength and power, and do your best. On the other hand, if you’re on the not-so-desirable side of the body fat fence, you will do well to shed some excess pounds to make this program easier.

Don’t let the pull up bar intimidate you. Take the above eight-week challenge, and reap the rewards from some serious, honest hard work.

Cranky shoulders after all that pull up work?

The Shoulder Cure Exercise

The post 8 Weeks to Mastering Pull Up Power appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Say No to Bands for Assistance

One of the biggest reasons I am against the use of bands for beginners is that they provide inconsistent assistance. Bands assist most in the bottom of the movement and least in the top. Imagine someone is spotting you on a bench press and he yanks on the bar for you in the bottom position. At the top of the press, he is off checking his phone. The banded pull up is similar in how it assists people.

This inconsistent assistance prevents beginners from gaining strength as quickly as they could. I call it band purgatory. People start using bands and a year later they are still stuck. A better option is to do a jumping pull up followed by a slow negative movement. The negative or eccentric portion will build your strength much quicker.

Say Yes to Bands for Resistance

As you advance, you might have difficulties in the top part of the pull up. We can use bands to change the load and build strength in the top position, which is where most people are weakest. If I attach light bands to the ground, I challenge the top portion of the pull up and force you to be more explosive.

1. Tie the bands to pins at the bottom of the rack or loop them through kettlebells to secure. You will want two bands, one each side of where you will be doing your pull ups.
2. Pull your arm and head through the band on one side and do the same on the other side to create a harness around your upper body.
3. Perform a pull up, making sure you are explosive at the top to counteract the increase in band tension as you ascend.
4. If it’s too easy to get to the top, you can use heavier bands or add weight.

This exercise is not for everyone. If you can do a strict pull up but you have problems at the top, this movement could be for you. For people training for the Iron Maiden or Beast Tamer (pull ups with a 24kg/48kg kettlebell), adding bands can help with the finish of the movement. You should find much more explosive strength after removing the bands.

Further Reading

The Proof Is in the Pull Up: 10 Tools for Getting Better at Pull Ups – Melody Schoenfeld is extremely strong. Any advice from her on strength training is great advice.

5 Drills to Help You Achieve Your First Pull Up – Andrew Read always provides informative articles with real world applications.

Related articles: 

• Use Eccentric Movements to Build Strength and Improve Flexibility
• 2 Programs to Build Your Pull Ups
• 6 Tough Challenges to Test Your Strength and Athleticism
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo courtesy of CrossFit Empirical.

The post Say Yes to Banded Pull Ups (But Not for Assistance) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

You may have inadvertently gotten yourself hooked on these little strips of rubber with the best of intentions. But I’m going to explain the three reasons you need to break this habit, and how doing so will help you and your pull ups be stronger in the end.

RELATED: 10 Ways to Repair and Strengthen Your Pull Ups

Bands Provide Inconsistent Assistance

The intent of banded pull ups is a good one. It provides assistance to the athlete so he or she can get the chin or chest to the bar. It is a cheap alternative to the expensive machine that provides a counterweight applied to the person’s legs or knees to assist him or her (sometimes called a Gravitron machine). But as the cliché goes, you get what you pay for.

The banded pull up is like a spotter that is sometimes overly attentive and at other times not paying attention at all. Imagine someone spotting you on a bench press and at the bottom position, he yanks on the bar for you. At the top position, he is off checking his phone. The banded pull up is similar in how it assists people.

“The banded pull up is like a spotter that is sometimes overly attentive and at other times not paying attention at all.”

The Solution – Get a Spotter

If you want to perform assisted pull ups, get a spotter. A spotter will be able to provide more optimal assistance by giving you enough assistance in your sticky spots so you can finish the movement and gain strength. In many group classes, it might be difficult to have spotters, but a team workout where one member is working and the other is spotting could be an alternative.

Bands Should Only Complement the Resistance Curve

In compensatory acceleration training of the squat, the athlete uses bands attached to the ground to provide greater resistance in the top part of the exercise where the movement is easier. With this technique, we learn to accelerate through our lifts, which helps us lift heavier things. In banded pull ups, we are doing the opposite by giving assistance in all the wrong places. 

RELATED: Compensatory Acceleration Training: Speed Up Your Strength Gains 

The bottom of the pull up is where we need to start from a dead stop. We have no momentum and our leverage is at its worst. Sounds like a perfect place to help, right? Well, yes – but only if you don’t want to build strength. The places we struggle are where we build the most strength. The bottom of a banded pull up is like a jumping device for babies. It might be entertaining and fun, but it might not be the optimal way to build strength.

Many people are as happy as infants when they start doing banded pull ups. But you should treat them like a highly addictive drug and stay away.

The Solution – Do Jumping Pull Ups

You can break through strength plateaus by getting stuck in the toughest positions. We do box squats or pause squats to practice being stuck in the bottom. Thus, I would suggest jumping pull ups, which simply involve jumping up on the bar and slowly lowering yourself down. The key is in resisting on the way down.

“A more advanced person could do pauses at his or her sticky points. This controlled and slow descent will build pull up strength much faster than bands.”

In a workout, you can figure out how long each descent should be and shoot for time on the way down as the goal (e.g., each round will have five reps of two seconds on the way down). Don’t count reps where you don’t hold for the specified time. It will be much better for you in the long run if you don’t rush on the way down. A more advanced person could do pauses at his or her sticky points. This controlled and slow descent will build pull up strength much faster than bands.

Get Rid of the Bands

The third reason is a sub-reason of the last one. If you are not creating strength in the right part of the strength curve, then you will have a difficult time getting off bands. Many people talk about a progression of going from greater resistance bands to lighter bands. But our body takes a long time to adapt to the dead weight at the bottom of the pull up and the bands are an inefficient way to build strength. As a result, I have seen many people a year into their training still doing pull ups on bands.

The Solution – Grease the Groove

As a person attempting your first pull up, more volume can be helpful. A greasing-the-groove type of program might be perfect for some. Every hour or so, do a few jumping pull ups with a slow descent. If you can’t do them throughout the day, do them everyday. A low daily volume over frequent days adds up to impressive gains.

Ring Rows Are a Better Alternative for Beginners

Ring rows are great for a beginning athlete. The movement is easily scaled by moving the feet forward or backward and/or bending the knees. 

In many aspects of CrossFit and other conditioning programs, we do a lot of pressing movements (overhead presses, bench press, push ups). The pull up winds up being one of our only pulling movements. The pull up is great, but it is also good to change the angle of the pull to build up the muscles of the back, the rotator cuff, and around the scapula. I recommend ring rows or some type of bent-over row for everyone in order to create balance in muscular development and to support shoulder health.

Another similar option is to place a bar in the rack. You can then do pull ups with your feet outstretched in front to provide assistance (i.e., a nice tight plank with the feet taking away some of the weight of the body). Some people also know this as an Australian pull up (because you’re “down under.”)

“I recommend ring rows or some type of bent-over row for everyone in order to create balance in muscular development and to support shoulder health.”

Wrap Up

As the saying goes (I may have it slightly wrong), friends don’t let friends do banded pull ups. Bands are like drugs. Please don’t get hooked on them.

The only time a band would be appropriate is if the bands are attached to something on the floor and are providing resistance. That is a great use of bands as it gives the most resistance at the top of the movement and teaches explosiveness on the way up. 

But if your goal is to build strength for strict pull ups, I recommend ring rows and jumping pull ups with slow descents. These exercises will build strength much more quickly for the pull up.

REALTED: CrossFit Pull Ups: Which Came First? The Strict or the Kip?

Further Reading on Pull Ups

• Melody Schoenfeld wrote a great article on tips for getting better at strict pull ups.
• Amber Larsen, one of my favorite Breaking Muscle authors, wrote this piece on how bands hold people back.

Photos courtesy of CrossFit Empirical.

The post Successful Pull Ups for Beginners: Say No to Bands appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Don’t fall prey to the mistakes of progressing too fast, kipping before you’re ready, or skipping over the fundamentals. There are tons of strategies and methods of assistance to get your chin over that bar, but not all of them are helping you to get stronger.

Here we will learn where to begin and which alternatives are worth your time. Here are seven tips for achieving that beautiful, dead-hang pull up.

1. Work Your Mobility

Pullups begin as all movements do – with proper mobility. Work on being able to maintain a proper overhead position exactly as described in my article The Safest and Smartest Progression for Building Your Overhead Lifts. If you start with tight lats, chest, or spine you’re already in a compromised position. This will put more stress on your shoulder joint and spine. For a pull up, you must start in a deadhang position with active shoulders. Once you can hang in this position in a controlled manner, then you can start pulling motions.

If you are unable to achieve a proper active hang position, you can still start building strength while working on your mobility. Work on grip strength using heavy deadlifts along with farmer’s carries. Both will stress the forearm and hands in a similar way to a pull up. To begin building pulling strength, you can do bent over barbell or dumbbell rows. Both are effective at building pulling strength and require less mobility to perform correctly.

2. Get Some Hang Time

Once you open up the mobility to dead hang properly, then you need to start spending time on the bar. Dead hangs for time are an effective way to build shoulder stability and grip strength. Make sure you never let your form suffer during these.

3. Avoid Jumping and Rubber Bands

Jumping pullups and banded pullups are popular in the CrossFit world as a way to get in a workout, but I’ve found little success with these methods and little direct translation into actual pull up strength. Strict banded pullups can be decent for building strength, but during a metcon they get abused and people begin to kip, bounce out of the hole, and squirm in all sorts of ways to finish their reps. If you’re after metabolic conditioning, switch to rows, deadlifts, rowing, ring rows, or some other variation.

4. Build Strength

To get your first pullup what you want to do is build strength. This means operating at 80%+ of your max effort at a minimum. Ring rows are one of the most effective methods to build strength and are easily varied in intensity by changing your positioning. Mark your foot positioning each workout and begin to creep your body closer to parallel with the floor each time. This will increase the load by involving a greater percentage of your bodyweight.

Negative pullups are also effective at building strength. Start with a five-second controlled descent and build to longer durations of time. Eccentric work can be very taxing and leave you sore, so start conservatively and add on as your body tells you. Don’t combine a lot of eccentric pulling work and then a hard metcon involving similar movements.

5. Stay Focused

Remember the body can adapt well in one way at a time. It’s hard to increase strength and endurance at the same time. This is why we cycle our training and have times when we focus on strength and times when we focus on conditioning. If your goal is to do a pull up, then focus on getting that first one now, and then multiple reps later.

6. Resist the Kip

Don’t kip until you can do at least five strict pullups. Kipping is the translation of horizontal momentum to vertical force and allows you to do a greater number of pull ups. Kipping is more efficient, but it also loads the shoulder dynamically, putting more force on it. If you are unable to control your bodyweight, there is no reason to add momentum on top of that.

7. Climb a Rope

Another movement great at building pulling strength is rope climbs. Rope climbing with efficiency involves using your legs to hook the rope and push yourself higher. Your arms hold you in place as you bring your legs up. So for a rope climb you only need to be able to hang on, not just pull your way to the top. Therefore, this is a great tool for people still working on building their pulling strength. If you’re a beginner, though, remember to let your legs help you so you don’t just focus on your arms and get burned out.

Respecting the pullup, training for your current ability level, and listening to your body will yield long-term results. If you’ve never done a pull up, then it’ll take time to get there, but the long smooth road always beats the ups and down of overtraining and progressing too quickly.

More pull up performance enhancers:

• Successful Pull Ups for Beginners: Say No to Bands
• Keep Your Chin Up! 5 Pieces to Progress Your Pull Up
• 10 Ways to Repair and Strengthen Your Pull Ups
• Show Me What’s New on Breaking Muscle

Photos 1 & 2 provided by Miguel Tapia Images and CrossFit LA.

Photo 3 provided by CrossFit LA.

The post Coach, I Can’t Do Pull Ups: 7 Tips to Get You There appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In this article I’m going to give advice counter to at least 99% of what is out there. When doing pull ups, it is generally indicated to keep the shoulders packed down. That is, to not let them shrug up at the bottom of the movement. (This applies to chin ups and any other variation of the exercise as well.)

While I don’t think this is a bad idea, in that it will cause injury, I don’t think it’s the best thing you can do. I’ll get to why in a bit, but first, let’s discuss a related but separate note – the bend in the arms.

The Elbow: To Straighten or Not to Straighten

Some people say that you should not lock out your elbows when doing pull ups. The reasoning for this is that it is claimed it can cause injury. It can do that, in fact, but not really in the way most people think.

When a joint is fully locked out, the tension transfers off the muscles for the most part and onto the connective tissue, including the tendons, ligaments, and the bones of the joint itself. Just like muscles, the connective tissues can be made to become stronger. (In fact, there are specific ways of training that tend to hit these areas more than regular exercises do, but that’s a subject for another time.) But one thing that will be sure to keep connective tissues weak is to never lockout your joints. This became popular in bodybuilding for the purpose of keeping the tension on the muscles and not allowing it to come off of them during lockout.

The problem is that in doing this your muscles will become stronger and stronger (assuming proper strength training and recovery), but the connective tissues won’t because you’re not locking out. They never take on the strain of the weight, which in the case of the pull up is your body. This becomes a problem when you’re trying for a max effort and you get into this position you normally don’t train. Pop! Rip! That’s when injuries can and will occur.

For some people there may be physical limitations that stop them from achieving full lockout. In cases like these the exercise ought to be changed to reflect that. But if a person is just inflexible and can’t straighten his arm all the way that’s not an excuse to always stay this way. With proper progression over time you can build this flexibility, which will lead to a more injury-proof joint.

While not everyone will agree with this part about bending the elbows, the majority of qualified people would. (Please do correct me if I am wrong and you have other reasons why, as I’d like to hear them.)

Now onto the shoulder joint. Is it really all that different?

The Shoulder During Pull Ups

Left: Loose shoulders; Right: Packed Shoulders

First off, here is what I am not saying. I’m not saying to do your pull ups with the shoulder raised the whole time. That would simply be bad biomechanics and leverage.

I’m just saying that it is not a bad thing to relax fully at the bottom of the hang and let the shoulders open up more. This can even be done with every rep. And then before you begin the next one you re-pack the shoulders to start your pull.

In no way do I see this as being injurious to the joint. Plus there are two reasons I see it as having value:

Reason One: I was just at a bodyweight training workshop with a number of impressive people there. One goal of mine that I have not yet achieved is the one arm chin up. The instructor there was able to do it by starting from a very slight flexed hang. In talking to him afterwards he said he wasn’t able to start from a dead hang and do it.

While I haven’t achieved the one arm chin yet, I’m closing in on it. What I can do is start from a dead hang and begin the pull. My guess is that I can do this at least in part because I open up the shoulders completely when doing pull ups. So I have turned what for many is a weak link in the chain into a strong point.

Reason Two: Another point is found in looking at what happens for most people when they’re told to pack their shoulders. The elbow tends to bend to a slight degree. It takes a good amount of control to keep these things independent. Thus the problems mentioned before can come up.

Now, when explosiveness and momentum is added to the pull up, as in kipping forms, that’s a whole different story. I’ve heard many people injuring their elbows and shoulders because of the excessive forces used when the joints and connective tissues aren’t ready for it. In that case I would advise you to keep the shoulders packed and elbows slightly bent to avoid joint wear and tear, or just avoid kipping pull ups for the most part and stick to dead hang versions instead. I recommend you experiment with this and see the results for yourself.

Photo 1 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 3 courtesy of Al Kavadlo.

The post Why Unpacking the Shoulder in Pull Ups Is Helpful appeared first on Breaking Muscle.