Do More Than One Stinking Pull-Up
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I’m still haunted by my 6th grade gym class. At the beginning of the semester, all the students took part in a physical fitness test. Part of the test included a visit to the old chin-up bar. I remember standing in line nervously knowing I was about to embarrass myself. You see, I was a fat kid. My mom tried to tell me I was big boned (God bless you, mom), but I knew I was fat. And looking at that bar, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to pull up my pudgy 160 pound body with my wimpy 11 year old arms.
I watched all the skinny kids bust out pull-ups like they were nothing. “Yeah,” I thought, “Pull-ups are easy when you only weigh 75 lbs.” Maybe God was trying to humble me that day because the person right in front of me in line was a girl. Not only that, she was a prepubescent athletic machine. I stood and watched her crank out pull-up after pull-up. I lost count of how many she did.
“Okay, McKay,” the coach said, “you’re up.”
I summoned all the positive thinking I could at that moment. I convinced myself that I could actually bust out 4 or 5 pull-ups. With my newfound confidence, I jumped and grabbed the bar. It was over before it even started. I put up a good fight, but gravity and my fat middle school body beat me that day. I couldn’t even do one stinking pull-up.
Ever since then, I’ve made it a goal in life to be able to do pull-ups. Lots of them. To me, the pull-up represents the ultimate test in fitness.
The benefits of pull-ups
The pull-up is a strength building dynamo. In just one pull-up, your body calls upon the following muscles:
- Fingers
- Forearms
- Biceps
- Triceps
- Shoulders
- Back
- Core
Not only will your strength in these muscles increase dramatically from pull-ups, but your upper body will become bigger and more defined. Moreover, the strength you derive from doing pull-ups will help you improve your performance in other exercises like the bench press or overhead press.
How not to do pull-ups
Many men who have trouble doing pull-ups go to the assisted pull-up machine to help them crank the pull-ups out. Don’t do it; it’s a useless crutch. If your goal is to do several unassisted pull-ups, you’re wasting your time with these machines for a couple of reasons.
First, a mental factor exists when doing pull-ups. Because you know the machine is helping you up, you probably won’t exert as much effort as you would if doing pull-ups unassisted. When you finally make the switch to unassisted pull-ups, you may still find yourself unable to do any.
Second, you don’t use all the muscles needed for real pull-ups when using the machine. When doing real pull-ups, your body has to call upon larger and smaller muscle groups all throughout your body for you to pull yourself up. A machine won’t recruit as many of these muscles. Thus, when you make the switch to doing unassisted pull-ups, you won’t have the strength needed to complete them.
The Do More Than One Stinking Pull-up Routine
A friend recommended this pull-up routine to help turn me into a pull-up machine. And guess what? It worked. In a month, I went from doing one stinking pull-up to cranking out 10 reps in multiple sets.
So if you’re ready to start cranking out pull-ups, here’s your routine.
If you currently can only do one pull-up, start out by doing 12 sets of 1 pull-up with a 45 second break between sets two times a week. Once you can do two pull-ups, begin this routine:
Week 1: 6 sets of 2 reps. 45 second break in between sets. Twice a week.
Week 2: 5 sets of 3 reps. Twice a week.
Week 3: 4 Sets of 4 reps. Twice a week.
Week 4: 3 Sets of 6 reps. Twice a week. If you’re able to do more, go ahead. Like I said, by this time I was able to increase my reps to 10.
When you get to the point that you’re able to do more than 12, it’s time to start adding weight to your pull-up routine, like the bad ass guy in the pic.
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Out of all the strength training exercises a man could do, the pull up and overhead press are probably the hardest. Working on those more really pays off, as they work some of the least used muscles in the body.
I never thought of working pull ups using the above routine, and my goal is to achieve weighted pull ups. That really looks like a good starter, thanks Brett!
Nice entry - pull-ups are inherently manly. I disagree about the assisted pull-up, however - I went from being a “1 or 2 stinking pull-up” guy to being able to crank out 10 easily last year, and I think the assisted pull-up helped me get started.
First of all, it helped my form. I was able to really isolate my lats, and feel exactly what it was like to flex them while I pulled myself up.
Second, it helped me work the muscles more than I would have (at least at first) having to face the bar, making me stronger and probably more defined.
While it is a crutch, it can be valuable for guys who have never had much upper body strength or have never really practiced pull-ups.
My recommendation: I like the suggested routine, but perhaps throw in some assisted pull-ups (think 20-30 lbs off your body weight, not any more) towards the end of your work out, just to really hammer on those muscles. Also, seated row and other exercises that isolate lats and biceps will help a lot for pull-ups.
If you can’t do any pull-ups (not even one stinking pull-up), a good way of doing assisted pull-ups is to use one of those large exercise rubber bands attached to the bar. You can hook it around both feet, one foot, or a knee to adjust the tension.
The good thing here is you get to use most of the muscles involved in a real pull-up, but with a little assistance.
Once you can do 1 pull-up, stop using assistance (check periodically, it could happen after just a handful of workouts).
I have some homemade rings hanging from a tree limb. It seems to take some of the stress off of my shoulders when my arm can rotate inward while pulling up (pull-up-ing?).
Handstand pushups are next on my goal list…
Then a front lever…
That should keep me busy for a while.
Thanks for the good read!
I’d sure love to but I don’t know if the door frames here will be able to support a pull-up bar, much less a 240lb guy.
Starting pull-ups without any assisted devices:
If you can’t do a single pull-up, this is a great set of advice I came across once.
Step one: Check body-fat % to ensure that the necessary strength-weight ratio can be achieved. If need to lower body-fat %, priority is to exercise and weight lift (the latter builds muscle which burns more fat). Stronger arms and back through basic weight lifting will go a long way to being able to do pull-ups, even if you don’t practice pull-ups specifically.
Step two: At some point where you feel better, use these new stronger muscles and hardening body to attempt a pull-up. If you can’t do one, do negative pull-ups. Basically, jump all the way to the top of the pull-up position and then lower yourself as slowly as you can. The lowering work of the pull-up motion actually damages muscle fibers a lot (in a good way) and promotes growth and strengthening of muscles, making you stronger. Do this a few days a week. Soon you’ll be able to pull yourself up then lower back down.
Step three: This step means you’ve managed to pull yourself up once. Go with Brett’s advice from here on
Outstanding article! The hardest exercise known to man, I agree.
TIP- keep your thumbs on the same side of the bar as your fingers when doing palms-away style pull-ups.
That is, don’t wrap them around the underside of the bar.
this will help your grip a lot.
I was told - and it seemed logical - that doing palm-facing pull ups uses different muscle sets than palm-away pull ups. To that end, it was recommended to try one hand palm-forward and the other palm-away until I could do several reps, then reverse.
Has anyone else heard of this method?
This is something that I have just started to do. Purchasing the bar and installing it was the first hurdle, now is the goal of setting in a routine, which is never an easy task, but definitely worth it. Thanks for the thoughts on this…great article!
Nice aritcle
I did the same kind of thing with dips (which are another difficult manuever that are awesome in all the muscles they entail). My best friend, who is a gym freak, raved about dips, but I couldn’t do one. He said… just do one… then next day do one… then the next day do one… keep going until you can do two.
What was amazing was the speed at which I became able to do dips. In a few weeks, I was doing sets of 12. It was one of the most rewarding gym experiences.
Pull-ups were sort of the same, but I think I need to get more serious about them. I’ll watch Rocky IV daily for inspiration.
Some days, I feel like the forces of fate are working in my favor, it may sound overly-grand in this case, but to some degree its true.
I say this simply because I am joining the army very soon, and have been working out for the last five or six weeks. My ability to do pushups, situps and run has improved 5-fold at least, however I still have issues with pullups. I don’t need to do any pullups in the PT test for selection but I know how beneficial they are, and if I follow through with my ultimate goal, I will have to know how to do many pullups. I am not too disappointed with my lack of ability to do pullups, as I have not spent much time working on them yet (due to lack of a readily available bar) but this post has inspired me and I am now going to make the effort to get to the gym and work on my pullups using this guide.
Thank you for the advice.
- Facta, non verba!
Great article! Thank you for that and all the tips.
My 8th grade PE coach pointed out to us that pull-ups were better than chin-ups. If all you could do were chins, what would happen if you one day found yourself hanging from a cliff or ledge?
I hate pull-ups more than pushups, but I can now crank out pushups having used the incremental increase-by-one per day approach. It works.
I’ll be doing pull-ups the same way.
Any suggestions on a stand or something you can use in-home? We’ve got a “basement gym” of sorts, but the ceiling isn’t very tall, either. I’d rather not have one of those doorway bars; is there something out there relatively inexpensive that’s freestanding?
I can maybe crank out two real pull-ups, unassisted, but that’s it. I have the over the doorframe doohickey that I should be using more. Currently it holds items to be ironed…..shameful. The only thing more scary than the pull-up bar in highschool gym class was the rope climb, i mean WTF? To this day I can tell you I’ve never EVER had to climb another rope. Perhaps if I’m being rescued from a dingy in the ocean by a large sailing vessel I may regret not having rope climbing skills, but till then…whatever. Yup, pull-ups are manly fer sure!
Zendad
http://www.zendad.net
Yes to chin-ups.
For people like me, who loathe and are bored by the sterile, artificial atmosphere of gyms, chin-ups are a throw-back godsend.
Many times I have tried to go to gyms and burn out after a month or so. I used to work out and train a lot for sports but in my thirties now I just don’t have the discipline. I was lucky to come into an empathetic trainer one day and he got me on to pull-ups. At first I could do 2 reps. A few months later I could do 25 reps.
As said before, pull-ups work the upper body and core very efficiently. Do five sets (of as many as you can do each set) four or five times a week and I promise you will notice a huge difference after eight weeks. It is the old-school and easy way to a ripped physique.
When I was a kid — and even a teenager — I couldn’t do even one pullup without cheating for most of it.
When I started weights in college, I could only bench-press the *bar*.
You have to start where you are.
This article is pretty funny from a physiologist point of view, but either way, the main point is very true. It isn’t very manly to be weak. and pull-ups are a great demonstration of strength.
It’s easier to start with chins (palms facing you, hands close) than pull-ups (palms away, wide grip). Most people can crank out at least one or two chins if they’re not very overweight. If you are specifically training pull-ups and chins, but can’t get one full rep, I’d recommend starting with bent-over rows, DB pullovers, and negative-only pull-ups. After 2 or 3 weeks if you still can’t get one perfect (3-0-3-0 tempo from a dead hang to chin over the bar) pull-up, you’re not trying hard enough.
Great article!
What’s even more unmanly than not being able to do pullups? Being a fatty with man boobs.
I enjoy this blog, but must say that I disagree strongly with your
advice not to use the assisted pull-ups machine.
I’m speaking as a healthy ultrarunner, able to run 100-mile races and
further, and as someone who is also 65 years old.
The fastest way to get injured when lifting weight is to try to handle
a weight that is too much. There is nothing manly about doing
something stupid and getting injured.
About five years ago I ripped a rotator cuff doing unassisted
pull-ups, because my body weight was simply too much for me to lift,
and at my age, my upper body strength is diminishing. For many months
I could not raise my right arm to shoulder level. It required
cortisone to heal, and over a full year to recover. It has not been
the same since, and I still feel pain when I try to put too much
stress on those muscles. I will never attempt to do an unassisted
pull-up again.
However, after years, I can now do assisted pull-ups, and am grateful
to have the machine available, because otherwise I would not be able
to execsize those muscles again.
I remember that grade school lineup like it was yesterday.
Another good benefit of pullups is building a powerful grip.
6′6″ 279 lbs and i can bang out about 4 solid sets of 8-10. I’d say the assisted machine ISNT completely useless as the reason why most people can’t do pull-ups is because besides under developed arms, shoulders, upper back and core, their joints, tendons and ligaments really aren’t used to the amount of stress and shock that doing the pull-up or dips puts on them.
I’d suggest starting out doing about 4 sets of 10 on the assisted machine. Remember to use a weight which provides some assistance but a weight with which you can still only manage 10 reps per set. Once you complete the 4th set, give yourself about 3-5 minutes to rest and then get on a regular bar and just rep out. This will help get your joints and ligaments used to the stress.
Remember to reduce the weight by about 5-10 lbs every week and to always aim for one more rep per 10 lb in weight that you drop. You’ll be doing pull-ups in no time.
God, the days of PE and then a few of STPT (sealteampt.com)…. the rope climb is a nightmare; pull-ups when younger were far easier. I read a Crossfit article that encouraged kipping until you can pull up from a dead hang. It works.
What’s an assisted pullup machine? Link please.
I sometimes use a lat pulldown machine as a warmup. Is that what you’re talking about? Anyway, the article didn’t mention anything about kipping. I find this helps build momentum.
Kipping pull-ups:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6cahod
@Kevin-
This is an assisted pull-up machine:
http://www.lmra.org/sfc/hfc-007.jpg
Thanks for the link on kipping. I can’t say that I have tried and I am intrigued.
did someone say pull-ups! Aren t they part of the Holy Trinity of Fitness or something like that…
Great post, I’ve got a few questions though. What should I do during the 45 second breaks? Should I just hang on the bar, or stand on the ground? And what’s the best way to position my hands? Facing inwards, outwards, or both hands parallel and on different bars? What’s the difference, and can this also be alternated?
@ Dave- I just stand there during the break and watch the clock. Maybe get a drink of water. The pullup uses hands facing outwards, while the chinup uses hands facing inwards. Pullups are more difficult than chinups, so I stick to the pullups.
Experiment with different grips to focus on different muscles.
i hate you for referring to fingers, forearms, shoulders and back as muscles… very very passionate hatred
JC- Sounds like you have some serious anger issues. Seek help and get a life. God bless.
When you progress to over 10, add weight. Remember that a 200lbs guy doing 10 pullups is going to be stronger than a 150lbs guy doing 10 pullups because he’s pulling up more weight.
The way to overcome that, of course, is adding weight. But it appears that ‘badass’ guy put weight on his feet. Don’t do that. If your leg even slightly moves to the outside your knee will crook and you can say goodbye to your ligaments.
Instead, grab an ‘ironman’ weighted vest or a weighted belt.
I used to be able to crank out 15 of these bad boys back in my day. My goal is to be able to do it again. Aside from working out and losing weight, I hadnt thought about a routine to get at it with. Now I can. Thanks.
haha i love how everybody talks as though these things are hard. I NEVER work out and i got 29 cranked out during my 10th grade physical.
The Holy Grail of workouts to make a real man out of you is the SQUAT!!! Nothing else compares, end of story. Deep breathing squats are what separates the men from the boys. If you want raw strength, do squats. If you want massive power, do squats. If you wants tons of stamina, do squats. Do not rob yourself of this awesome exercise, it will make an athlete out of the laziest of people if done correctly.
Sorry, I’d have to say that handstand push-ups are pretty much the hardest. Take a military press of your full body weight - while balancing upside down (against the wall is okay). Even the toughest gymnasts I worked out with as a teen could maybe do 10.
For those of you who are serious about getting in shape, I humbly suggest that you acquire Pavel Tsatsouline’s Power to The People book.
This is a great post, Pullups are something very hard to progress at them is to keep ploughing away and once you can do a few with your body weight add some weight in order to shock your body.
Also try doing sets of 3 reps adding some weight between your feet every couple of sessions!
Nuff said. Try adding your site.
There are no muscles in fingers.
I am 74, 100 lbs overweight and have a pacemaker. Thirteen years ago I had an accident that resulted in the 100 lb weight gain. What would you reccomend as a beginning excercise program? Thank you.
@Richard-
I’m not a doctor or a trained professional, so I don’t feel comfortable telling you yes or now about starting this program. My guess would be that it would be okay, but that’s only a guess. Ask you doctor or a physical trainer at the gym.
I know that I’m a little late to the comment-party, but this post originally inspired me (along with Pavel’s ‘Naked Warrior’ e-book) to look into getting a pull-up bar about a month ago.
For those of you that are renting and don’t want to deal with your landlord when it comes to the holes you have to put in your doorframe for a pull-up bar, I’d suggest the Door Gym:
http://www.doorgym.net/
Yeah, it’s got that cheesy infomercial look to it, but I got it for less than $40 and use it daily - with no damage to the doorframe at all. I’ve got friends who weigh upwards of 250lbs who use it, as well, and have yet to damage anything.
Just a thought!
I’ve gone from zero from dead hang on the first of 2008 through progressive routines of negatives to a total of 40 dead hang pull-ups 3 times a week 8 months later (now usually doing sets of 8 or 9 in a row and then making up the difference after about 30 seconds with a negative plus the 1 or 2 more to get to 10). Weighted chin-ups on the in-between days (now up to a set of as many as I can do (usually about 6) with extra 25 pounds) seems to help without putting as much strain on the shoulders as weighted pull-ups. I was lifting weights pretty religiously for a year before trying the pull-ups again and still couldn’t do any at first, so in my mind there is no substitute. There are good pull-up bars available which fit in most doorways and don’t require any installation of hardware, being removable between workouts.