Ladies & Pull-Ups

healthystudent

Hello all! One of my major fitness goals is to do some real pull-ups, from a dead hang. I've been working at it now for about 6 weeks and have made minor progress (I can now get my head above the bar if I do a chin-up from a running start....hey, it's something). I'd love to hear advice about how to make this goal a reality. It feels impossible at the moment. Any ladies out there gone from not being able to budge from a dead hang --> real pull-ups?

Many thanks!

BattleTaxi

If you can get access to one, there are assisted pull-up machines where you can progressively increase/decrease the weight. This will allow for you to do the complete pull up and eventually get to a point where you can do it on your own.

Edit for link: found this on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwwlc8xUJDE

jessicawrites

I am using an assisted pull-up machine for practice.

kaleena1983

I'm pretty close to being able to do pull ups with my body weight. I'd suggest using a chair to practice, and if possible, get a pull up band. They come in different resistances and help it feel more natural. It's like a big rubber band that you put your knee or foot in. Best of luck!

NovemberJune

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/04/25/do-a-pull-up/

I like that link ^
Chin ups and pull ups are a big goal of mine too

Aparz1

I have been getting a LOT closer these days.... I use a pull up assist machine at the gym that helps off set your body weight and I rock climb. Both seem to help a ton... went from only being able to pull up about 20lbs of weight to being able to pull up about 140 in a year. Sounds like your starting point is a lot closer so this might be the little help you need to get there quick... hope this helps!

PS. Rock climbing is much more fun so would highly recoomend finding a gym that offers it in your area if that is an important goal... such a great full body workout and is so fun it doesn't seem like work

water_coloured

Negative pull-ups (as opposed to assisted) will help you reach your goal faster.

usmcmp

I did lots of negatives to help me. I also did a variety of barbell rows.

minijag06

I can do one! Almost two. I "attempt" 8 pull ups every morning. My son has a pull up bar on one of the doorways. So, it's slow progress but it's working.

caseythirteen

The assisted machine is what helped me the most. I just kept working at it and lowering the assistance until I could do chin-ups on my own. Working on the same thing for pull-ups. Once you get to a low enough assistance (15 or 20 lbs or so), I bet you will be able to bust out a couple on your own. Just did 3x8 with 20 lbs assist this morning but the other day did 3 pull-ups unassisted (just for reference). Other type of assistance work might help too like lat pull downs.

sblake204

I actually purchased an over-the-door pull up bar. I attempted to pull myself up everyday until i was able to do 1. During my workouts at the gym, i also used the assisted pull up maching and decreased the amount of assistance after each set of 10. In the beginning i would suggest doing them at least 3-5 days a week regardless of what your workout is, until you reach your goal. I'm able to do 3 sets of 10 pull ups unassisted now. i will admit, it did take me a few months, but now i can do them, and it was well worth the time and effort. I'm beating most of the guys now and my back has shaped up really nice from it.

you can do it, just don't give up, and push, push, push!!!!!

A_Warrior_Princess

My trainer has me working on negative pull-ups where you start from the pull-up position and work on increasing your ability to hold the position a few seconds at a time. Hope it helps!!!

HMVOL7409

I can do 3-4 sets x 12-15 chin-ups and 3-4 sets x 5-8 wide grip pull-ups. Unlike most females, I'm stronger more dominantly in my upper body compared to lower body. I did negatives and person assisted pull-ups to help achieve this, not the machine. Having a spotter over the machine forces you to do more of the work on the positive and negative side of the lift. It takes time and practice but keep working on it.

saxmaniac

If you break it down, the full dead-hang is actually the very last thing you will get. That's the end goal, not the beginning.

Start with negatives (regressions) with proper form, increasing the downward travel until you can do the full range of motion.

The assist machine is not as effective in my opinion, I think it's better to work with your full body weight. Same for chin-ups, you are working different muscles.

bumblebums

I am not a lady. Just a woman. And I can do 5 sets of 5 chin-ups. Here are some good tips for getting there:

http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/proof-pull-10-tools-getting-better-pull-ups
http://jasonferruggia.com/top-10-ways-to-improve-your-pull-ups/
http://physicalliving.com/the-right-way-to-do-pullups-and-chinups/

aquarabbit

Bump! I just mastered big boy push ups, so the pull ups are next on the list. I can do one very very terrible one, but doing a proper pull up is on my goals too. It's nice to see a lot of women got there! Inspiration.

amccoy04

When I was in high school I wasn't able to do any pull ups, not even a hang. Since then (years later) I tried and was able to do at least one pull-up. I've been doing more arm exercises like pushups, etc. and I am now happy to say I can do at least 5 pull-ups. Maybe add some different arm exercises like dips, pushups and bicep curls to help with your upper body strength to conquer that pull-up bar. Good luck!

rassha01

Negative pull-ups (as opposed to assisted) will help you reach your goal faster.

THIS^^^^ +
www.scoobysworkshop.com/pullups-for-total-beginners/

I am not a woman but when I started I could barely do one also. Now I am up to eight in about 4 months. I started with the program at the site above and than switched to doing 5 sets of 5, 2-3x a week. Good luck!

healthystudent

Wow wow! Thank you for the awesome responses, links, advice, motivation. I'm doing many other exercises (at home, can't afford a gym), but will definitely add negatives to the mix. Glad to see so many woman got there with hard work and perseverance. Hoping to get there soon too. I'll keep trying

JoRocka

interveted rows
lat pull down
cable row
regular weighted row
chair/step risers
bands

lastely at all cost- avoid if you can- assisted pull up but use it if you must.

I would recommend having someone stand behind you with your arms up and bent at 90* palms forward- fingers to the ceiling.

have them put their hands UNDER your elbows and resist you pushing your elbows down. It will help with identifying those muscles needed for pull ups.

One of the biggest things with women and pull ups- isn't a lack of strength (that obviously doesn't help) but they just do not USE those muscles often/well and they have a hard time identifying which exact back muscles to use- and it's really hard to do an exercise - fi you don't know which muscles or can't identify which muscles to use.

Joreanasaurous

Double post.

Joreanasaurous

Negative pull-ups (as opposed to assisted) will help you reach your goal faster.

This. I also used an exercise ball. I put my feet on it and rolled it forward so I was just getting minimal help from it.

I can now do about 4 and almost 5 from a dead hang.

No_Finish_Line

i think negatives are a very good suggestion.

i think someone also said see if you can do them from starting at a 90 degree bend and chinning from there. that sounds like a good plan too.

I'm in my second round of p90x. i could do about 10 pull ups when i started, now i can do about 13 lol. I was hoping for a lot more. However, when i started i could only get like 2-4 in the later sets, now i can get 10 almost ever set of the workout. So thats something.

really want to get my max up which IMO puts me in a similair boat. tried doing them with a weighted vest, that was fun but no miracles lol.

I'm acutally thinking about breaking some rules for a little bit like doing a set or two of pull ups every day of the week... and maybe doing one week on one week off.

No_Finish_Line

interveted rows
lat pull down
cable row
regular weighted row
chair/step risers
bands

lastely at all cost- avoid if you can- assisted pull up but use it if you must.

I would recommend having someone stand behind you with your arms up and bent at 90* palms forward- fingers to the ceiling.

have them put their hands UNDER your elbows and resist you pushing your elbows down. It will help with identifying those muscles needed for pull ups.

One of the biggest things with women and pull ups- isn't a lack of strength (that obviously doesn't help) but they just do not USE those muscles often/well and they have a hard time identifying which exact back muscles to use- and it's really hard to do an exercise - fi you don't know which muscles or can't identify which muscles to use.

does this make anyone else scratch thier heads?

healthystudent

Oh I like the exercise ball idea too! The chair is helpful but I feel like it's too solid of a support. I'll give that a try. (I'm also in my first round of P90X, week 6 now, so that's been helping too). Thanks again everyone for such great ideas and advice.

megalin9

interveted rows
lat pull down
cable row
regular weighted row
chair/step risers
bands

lastely at all cost- avoid if you can- assisted pull up but use it if you must.

I would recommend having someone stand behind you with your arms up and bent at 90* palms forward- fingers to the ceiling.

have them put their hands UNDER your elbows and resist you pushing your elbows down. It will help with identifying those muscles needed for pull ups.

One of the biggest things with women and pull ups- isn't a lack of strength (that obviously doesn't help) but they just do not USE those muscles often/well and they have a hard time identifying which exact back muscles to use- and it's really hard to do an exercise - fi you don't know which muscles or can't identify which muscles to use.

does this make anyone else scratch thier heads?

Nope. This actually makes complete sense to me. I think part of the reason I'm not doing a pull-up yet is because I'm doing assisted pull-ups and because I don't know which muscles to engage to do a proper pull-up.

MartialPanda

This is awesome.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/04/25/do-a-pull-up/

I like that link ^
Chin ups and pull ups are a big goal of mine too

saxmaniac

Nope. This actually makes complete sense to me. I think part of the reason I'm not doing a pull-up yet is because I'm doing assisted pull-ups and because I don't know which muscles to engage to do a proper pull-up.

This is why negatives will help. A negative has you start at the top, then dip downward in a U-motion, and back up. The deeper the U gets, the more difficult it becomes. This way you are operating with your entire bodyweight the entire time.

If you can't go up, not even one inch, then you need to work going downwards as *slow* as possible until it's perfectly controlled.

Once you get the U all the way down, you flip it upside down!

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/04/25/do-a-pull-up/

Quicky scanned the video. Isn't this a chin-up?

No_Finish_Line

Nope. This actually makes complete sense to me. I think part of the reason I'm not doing a pull-up yet is because I'm doing assisted pull-ups and because I don't know which muscles to engage to do a proper pull-up.

well, personally i think the assisted pull ups are the way to go, but if you don't know what if feels like to squeeze your lat, then i suppose thats a good place to start too.

i'm talking specifically about the elbows part... i don't see how they could go down seeing as how its attached to your arm gripping the bar. maybe i'm just reading it wrong.

JoRocka

Nope. This actually makes complete sense to me. I think part of the reason I'm not doing a pull-up yet is because I'm doing assisted pull-ups and because I don't know which muscles to engage to do a proper pull-up.

well, personally i think the assisted pull ups are the way to go, but if you don't know what if feels like to squeeze your lat, then i suppose thats a good place to start too.

i'm talking specifically about the elbows part... i don't see how they could go down seeing as how its attached to your arm gripping the bar. maybe i'm just reading it wrong.

assisted pull ups are pretty much the most worthless way to train a pull up EVER.


Can you do a pull up (not being sarcastic here- legitimately asking)

If so put your arms up as if you were going to do a pull up- or a lat pull down- so reach up and contract your back down and do an imaginary pull up/lat pull down.

Now when you finish- your elbows should be about shoulder height... and your back should be contracted.

Many people CAN"T DO THAT properly.

To help- the position would be at that finish point- with your elbows at shoulder height- and your palms forward... fingers up (like if you were doing a pull up/lat pull down and you were at the top of the bar)... imagine (or get someone to actually help) someone resisting your elbows as you push downwards with them )they would be resisting in the UP direction).

It generates the same exact feeling.. it helps wake up/ID those muscles- not just the upper lats/rhomboids- but all the way down the sides into the transverse obliques.

Is that helpful? maybe yes no... I can take pictures later if you need to.

No_Finish_Line

yes i can do a pull up. i just kept trying and trying till i could do them. afterwards i did use a pull up assist bungee thing when i was doing p90x to get more.

I guess you're saying to have someone resist your elbows as you 'simulate' a pull up? i mean i just don't see your elbow moving up and down when you do a pull up.

my elbows come down when i do a lat pull down, but they are awfully stationary when i'm doing a pull up. if anything they come in towards my ribs.

and elbows at 90 degrees would put me at or below eye level with the bar... i've got another few inches to go before i'd say i've reached the top of the movement.