How To Get Your First Pull Up
Today I had a question from one of my co-workers. Out of the blue, he asked me how to get a pull up. I got excited with the question because of a few things. One, I am grateful that he asked me as it is a privilege for me to help him with this journey. Second, I am excited to see him be able to perform a pull up on his own.
One of the things that we like to do in the first week of January in our old gym was to do a goal setting course. In this goal setting course, we talk about how to define a goal, the steps towards it and why it is important to you. This was a popular session among the many events we did in our gym. It is particularly important because the year end goal setting is something that we as trainers would be privileged to help and to see the results being crushed at the end of the year.
The first thing about defining the goal is to make it S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound). Since many of the goals that we received year after year is actually about getting a pull up, a typical SMART goal would be:
“I would like to gracefully perform three (measurable) strict pull ups (specific and achievable) by the end of the year (time bound).”
And of course it is relevant because this is a goal set in the gym with the guidance of a personal trainer. If you are wanting to get a pull up yourself, I would highly recommend you to come up with your own one-liner that is SMART to you. If you are lucky enough to have a personal trainer, give it to him or her and just follow the directions. If you are on your own at home, then write it down and put it on a wall for you to see. But setting this goal is important because it creates an intention and a direction to where you want to go.
The Pull Up
This unicorn movement for some is a great goal for many because it is an awesome measurement of upper body strength. In the military, it is a requirement to be able to perform a set of pull ups in order to be enrolled in the program. Not because it looks cool, or because it proves you are strong, but simply because it is required when you need to climb up anything that is in your way. Pull up is as functional as it can get. As a survival skill, you need to be able to pull your body up in order to avoid or get over an obstacle in front or below you.
But a pull up is hard to do.
A pull up is hard because we rarely do it. Since we were babies, we can demonstrate that we can crawl, stand up, walk, run and squat. As we grow up, we do these more and more. As we start physical education, we are then taught to do push ups or sit ups and nowadays burpees (yay!). But, even though we are engaged in hanging on a monkey bar, we rarely perform any vertical pulls.
But it is not impossible.
When we teach our clients, we always tell them that having big strong muscles is not enough, you also need to be able to use it. Here’s what I mean. Some people will tell you that in order to perform a pull up, you need to develop muscles around your shoulders and on your upper back. This is clearly true. Because those are the muscles used to perform a pull up. But there is a secret ingredient that most people forget.
(Kinesthetic) Awareness
If you don’t know what “kinesthetic” means, don’t worry about it. Just consider the word Awareness. There are a lot of awareness that is required when performing a pull up.
- You must first be aware of how it feels to be hanging off the ground while hanging on a bar. Something we rarely do
- We then must be aware of how to engage (tighten) the muscles in your arms, shoulders and back together in order to pull yourself up over the bar
Now if you have ever meditated before, you would know that awareness is your ability to use your imagination to connect yourself with your body. If you have also started a meditation practice you would know that it is always a work in progress. Which is why it is called a practice. Awareness grows with practice. You get more aware of which muscles to use and how to connect them together to perform the movement by using them often.
This is where we talk about … progressions.
3 Steps To A Pull Up
Progressions are steps that you can do to build up strength and awareness to perform a pull up (consider it like building blocks). Based on my personal experience as a fitness coach and a practitioner, progressions to a pull up can be summarized to 3 simple steps that when followed properly (and patiently) will help you improve both strength and awareness.
1. Strengthen your push
Wait, I thought we are doing pull ups. Why push? The initial pulling motion that you need to perform when doing a pull up will involve this external rotation from your elbows to your shoulders that is also performed in a push up. Oh and don’t forget the wrist strengthening it will perform when you push up from the floor. The push up is also the most portable exercise for everyone. You can literally do it anywhere! But I also acknowledge that not everyone can do a push up from the floor from a plank position. So there’s also a progression to a push up. Here it is:
- Push Progression #1 — Plank. The first thing about doing a push up or a pull up is shoulder stability. Meaning your ability to recruit your upper body muscles to hold a position
- Push Progression #2 — Push up on a table. When you are comfortable holding the plank pose, you have the ability to squeeze your butt and your abs to create this “surfboard” pose through your back. Then you can start holding that flat back position as you perform a push up on an elevated surface.
- Push Progression #3 — Push up on the floor (on knees). As soon as you are comfortable doing the motion on a table, you can move up (or down) to the floor. You can start with being on your knees if you are not strong enough to push yourself up while maintaining a plank
- Push Progression #4 — Push up on the floor (from plank). As you progress through #1 to #3, you will be ready to start from a plank pose, slowly lower yourself down to the floor while maintaining a flat back, and then push yourself back up to a plank.
I would suggest you do whichever you are comfortable consistently for 2–3 weeks increasing 3–5 or 5–10 every week. Or you can do the push up challenge. That’s probably the simplest way.
2. Strengthen your pull.
You can do this one in conjunction with the push up. I would actually recommend it as it also balances out the movement between push and pulls. With the pulls, there are two types that we will work on. Horizonal pull and a vertical pull. The hardest part about doing pull up exercises is the equipment needed. There are some creative ways to perform a pull, but you need to be careful to make sure you are able to set it up correctly. My personal suggestion would be to set aside some money to get any of these equipment that you can use at home.
Here are the two progressions you can do to strengthen your pull for a pull up.
- Pull Progression #1 — Vertical Rows (knees bent). I can’t think of any home tools that can be “makeshifted” into a tool for vertical rows. There are videos out there on using a table to work on your vertical pulls. But I find it awkward. So I would suggest you shell out some money to purchase this Lebert Equalizers on amazon. With this piece of equipment, you are able to start with your legs on the floor (knees bent) and then progress to doing the vertical pulls with knees locked out.
- Pull Progression #2 — Vertical rows (with knees straight). Once you are comfortable with doing vertical rows on the Lebert Equalizers, you can lock out your knees, squeeze your butt and abs (just like a plank) and then perform the pulls.
- Pull Progression #3 — Hang. The toughest part about doing this at home is installing a pull up bar. There are real complicated ways to install a pull up bar, or you can just search for a door pull up bar on Amazon. This Perfect Pull up one is the choice I picked when I was first working on my pull ups. But if you have access to a playground or the gym, then you can use any that are available. First thing you want to do is simply hang on the bar and get comfortable. It’s hard … because it is and will be uncomfortable. You may notice your hand is sore, or you are swinging around uncontrollably. This is normal. The goal of this progression is to simply get on the bar, get a stronger grip and squeeze three areas of your body: your shoulders, your butt and your abs. Just like the plank … but now while hanging.
- Pull Progression #4 — Hang and pull. If you are half way there, you may make some movements up to the bar. But if you are not, I’d try to use your imagination to get yourself up there. It sounds silly but the first thing you can do is to hang, look up towards the bar and just squeeze and pull. It may seem useless and you may give up, BUT you are actually engaging your muscles and creating awareness.
3. Reduce your weight
I know you may not like this one. Especially in this pandemic when we struggle cooking our own food and resort to the closest McDonalds. But this is plain physics. You will get your pull ups quicker if you have less weight on you. The good news is, when you are consistent in performing #1 and #2, and watch what you eat, you will automatically reduce your weight. Believe in being consistent and I can assure you that you will see progress
Remember that getting a pull up is a marathon, not a sprint. Even though it is functional, a pull up is not as natural as a squat. It takes strength, practice and determination to get it. So if you don’t get it after 3 weeks or 3 months, be patient. You are making progress even though you don’t see it or feel it.
So what if I can pull myself up?
My co-worker who asked me this question on slack, told me that it would be pretty nice to be able to go over the bar. I think this is a great way to describe the reason. Both literally and figuratively, the idea of getting yourself over the bar when you have not been able to is an empowering idea. To see a bar above you, hang on to it and then recruit all of your muscles and your will to pull yourself over it, is a great achievement. And I wish that all of you would be able to do it.
This goal is not limited to men only. This goal is attainable to everyone.
It is not to show off, even though movies have always shown it as so. It is an expression of strength and dedication. When you are able to do the movement you said you were going to do, you have proven to yourself, everyone and the universe that you worked hard for it and you deserve to have it. Not to say that you are not deserving otherwise, but as Billie Eilish describes in her song “My Future”, aren’t we all just in love with our future? Aren’t we all in love with the possibility of what will come or may come and what it will be like when we have it.
So even if that meant getting your head over the bar or being able to hang on the bar, or getting on a plank, set yourself up for the future state and work for it. Good luck!
