About learning how to do Pull Ups.

I actually prefer to write about topics where I can either get really ranting or about general principles from the areas of training, nutrition and regeneration and less about specific exercises. Recently, however, I've been asked a lot about how to do a pull-up or how to get better at it. And since I was able to help a few of my clients achieve this goal, today I'm sharing with you the

HOW TO: PULL-UP!

Pulling your own body weight up on a bar is a particularly desirable goal for many people. And it's similar to the push-up: it shouldn't really be a problem. I mean, at the end of the day it's just a bodyweight exercise, right? And body weight plays a role here. Being a little overweight can already be a decisive factor. But, and this should be made very clear here, even people who are overweight can do pull-ups. There are impressive examples of this... and I'm not talking about bodybuilders who already have a BMI beyond good and evil due to sheer muscle mass. (Yes, I know: BMI blah blah blah... that's another topic).

Considering how many people boulder today (and tell everyone about it), you would think that many more would be able to do a pull-up. Unfortunately, there is no direct transfer. So someone who can climb well can't necessarily do a pull-up and vice versa. Of course, being able to do a pull-up helps climbing... and vice versa. That's probably why there are pull-up bars in climbing gyms... and these things for pull-ups only on a few fingers 🙄

Whether you're going to the climbing gym or just want to finally do that first damn pull-up, there's a way that works. Without bands, lat pull-ups, pull-up machines... but it may take time. Enjoy your progress ;)

Here's how to do your first pull-up

Firstly: You should switch your grip between a shoulder-width underhand grip/comb grip and a neutral grip every 6-8 training sessions until you can do a pull-up. Leave out all other grip variations for now!

Step 1: Can you hang from the bar?

Hang from the bar. Can you hang for 30 seconds with your arms straight? The grip variation doesn't matter here .

Yes, you can? Then move on to step 2.

Step 2: Can you hang from the top of the bar?

Climb up (e.g. with the help of a plyo box), try to keep your sternum as close to the bar as possible and try to hold yourself up for 30 seconds.

Can you do this in about 30 seconds? Step 3.

Step 3: Eccentric (negative) pull-ups.

As in step 2, climb up and then lower yourself down the bar as slowly as possible. The aim here is also to lower yourself as evenly as possible for 30 seconds. This means that the first half takes 15 seconds and the second half also takes 15 seconds. Don't get discouraged here: This is possibly the longest phase in learning a pull-up and at the beginning you might just fall down like a wet bag. Enjoy your progress... I guess.

 Step 4: Eccentric pull-ups with additional weight.

You have completed a slow, eccentric pull-up and now it's time for the real pull-up... no, but you can start from the beginning. The aim is to work your way up to an additional weight of around 10% of your body weight. To do this, clamp a dumbbell between your legs or use a special belt on which you hang weight discs. Work your way up bit by bit until you can do 30 seconds with 10% of your body weight again. NOW you should be able to do a pull-up. 

Step 5: Pull-ups.

From now on, continue with a movement tempo of 5-0-1-0. This means you pull yourself up quickly (1 second - or slower) and lower yourself slowly (5 seconds). The zeros stand for ‘no pause’ at the top and bottom. At the beginning you do a pull-up and 2 more repetitions where you climb up and now only lower yourself for 5 seconds.

Many people will be able to skip the first two steps.

A few words about exercising with bands:

Of course you will also be able to learn a pull-up if you use bands. But due to the resistance curve of the band and the way force is generated when pulling up, the band will only help you in the lower part of the pull-up. This is where the band is strongest. However, you are also usually strongest at the bottom. At the top, near the bar, the band will no longer help you. In the best case scenario, your chest will reach the bar because the band had so much tension at the bottom that it literally shot you up ;)

To get strong in the lower part of the pull-up, you can also do arm flexor training. The initiation of the pull-up from fully extended arms comes from the arm flexors. Women in particular often neglect arm training. Yes, of course not all women and there are also men who neglect it... me, for example, 5 years ago (but I've always been able to do a pull-up ;p ).

Start with the Standing Reverse SZ Curl. You should practice being able to bend 37% of your body weight for one repetition. To avoid having to test one repetition, you can use a 1RM calculator on the internet.

Other aids such as lat pull-ups and the pull-up machine train the same muscle groups but are not comparable in terms of load and are therefore not suitable for learning the first pull-up.

Supplementary exercises:

In my opinion, there are two groups of exercises that you should also train:

Abdominals and - as already mentioned - arm flexion.

Planks and later exercises from the hollow position group make sense for the abdominal muscles.

An example training day could look like this:

A1. Pull-up (a variation of the 5 steps), 4x1-3 repetitions or 1 x to 30 sec eccentric, rest 120 seconds, then A2

A2. Dumbbell incline bench press, 4x6-8, tempo 4-0-1-0, rest 120 seconds, then A1

B1. Standing Reverse SZ Curl, 3x8-12, tempo 4010, rest 90 seconds, then B2

B2. Hollow Hold, 3x to 120 sec, rest 90 sec, then B1

Can you already do your first pull-up? Let me know if these tips have helped you!

Ciao

Marco