I can't do a pull up.

freyaheart

I went to the gym today fully intending on starting my pull up training I downloaded to my iPhone. I go into the aerobics room and grab two steps So I am tall enough to reach the bars.

I grab on, take the weight off my feet and hang there. I try to pull myself up but I just couldn't. I was so embarrassed. these was a guy off to my left lifting 280 pounds and here I was a chubby chick hanging from the pull up bars.

What muscles do I need to work to be able to do pull ups?

ajlandon

Is there an assisted pull up machine at the gym? If so, use that to start building up strength.

If you don't have access to one of those, start with static holds (jump yourself about half way up and hold there until you can't take it anymore - kind of like you hold a plank), negative pull ups (jump yourself all the way up, slowly let yourself down, repeat for reps), and get one or two of those stretchy fitness bands to put over the bar and give you assistance (hook each end over each hand hold, put your feet on the bottom of the band, do pull ups for reps).

It took me about a year to be able to do one unassisted pull up - keep at it, and you will be rewarded

MoreBean13

Don't feel bad. It's very, very rare that any woman- even fit women- can do a pull up without specific training to do them.

There's 2 ways to get there- assisted pull ups and negatives. Assisted pull ups are when you either use a machine or a rubber band contraption to counterweight some of your bodyweight and you progressively subtract counterweight over time until you're pulling your whole body weight.

Negatives are when you use a chair or something to get you to the top of a pull up, and then you let yourself down as slowly as possible, repeat. They're much harder than they sound if you're doing it right.

Both are useful, I recommend doing both if you can. It took me a full summer of training to be able to do a full 5-rep set of unassisted pull ups. Don't be ashamed.

autopilot_off

First of all don't be discouraged! Pull ups are something that I have struggled with all of my life (even in 8th grade PE). The best way to work up your muscles for this exercise is to keep trying. There are some strategies that you can use to make them easier in the beginning.

1. If you have access to them, use resistance bands attached to a door or something above your head, then pull them down parallel to your back with your hands at about shoulder width apart. This movement mimics actual pull ups

2. Bring a chair to the pull up bar. Depending on your strength, put one or both of your feet on the back of the chair while you're doing your pull ups. This will take most of the weight of your legs out of the equation, or you can even use your legs to help you get up to the bar. The tricky part about using a chair is to make sure you're focusing on the muscles you use to pull your body up and not let your legs do all the work. Also with this technique you can gradually move toward the actual pull up by stepping up to just one leg on the chair, then no legs.

3. If you go to a gym that has workout machines, most of them have a lat pull down machine. This machine also mimics pull ups. It's usually a short bench with a knee rest (to put your legs under) and a long bar above your head. While this is also a great way to step up to actual pull ups, the machine essentially eliminates many of the other stabilizing muscles required when doing pull ups. That being said, it's still a great place to start.

When I started P90X last year, I couldn't do a single pull up. I'm up to 10 now (not that impressive if you ask me) and that all happened because I just kept doing them.

You can do this!

Frank_Just_Frank

I wasn't able to do them in the beginning because of my weight. I suggest either assisted pullup machine or lat pulldowns.

KeepCalmNGetyaSweatOn

Sweets, don't feel bad about not being able to do a pull up. I can't do one either, it is one of my goals. Like ajlandon said if you have an assisted pull up machine start using that to build strength. I have been using it for 2 months now and I am making progress. You can do it, it just takes practice and consistency :flowerforyou:

luckydays27

Me neither. At least not without the assisted pull up machine or bands/ball to help.

One day I will get there.

Before I start with the assisted pull up machine, I do the negative pull up as previously described. I figure eventually I am going to be able to pull myself up there or stay up there for a long time. I have improved but not enough to do an entire pull up on my own.

aquarabbit

I can't do a pull-up either. I have resistance bands and one of those straps that attach it to the door. Then I pull the resistance bands in the same way I'd pull my body up. But if you look up "pull up alternatives" on youtube, they'll be a few videos showing you how to work those muscles. I feel you though. I still can't do a full military pushup. I can only get halfway down. Pull ups, no way. I even tried with my husband's assist band and only got about 1/4 of the way up!

ElizaB84

Same here. I use a chair to put one foot on when I'm doing a pull up. Still really hard, but atleast let's me get up there.

Akimajuktuq

WHAT? Of course you couldn't do a pull up. A small percentage of women who are NOT over-weight can do a pull up. Since you have some weight to lose it's that much harder. It's a great goal to work towards, but make sure your goals are realistic. You can do a pull up eventually but you have a journey to get there. So do I.

MichaelVRenner

Some of the healthiest find it difficult to do a pull up. "Hang" in there.

morehealthymatt

If you have access to a stable, secure bar, try a reverse push up.

I use a rack that can be used for bench presses, just remove the bench out. Adjust the height of where the bar will sit to maybe a little higher then your waist.

facing the ceiling, grab the bar. Your feet should be extended out with heels touching the ground (back, leg, feet in a straight line) then pull yourself up as far as you can, trying to get your chest as close to the bar as you can. This will build up the same muscles used for pull ups.

Baby steps. Realize that it's not going to happen overnight.

Inshape13

I got a pull up bar a month ago and work out a lot at the gym so I thought I would at least be able to get off the ground. Well, I can do 5 chin ups and no pull ups thus far. It made me realize how much back work I need to do so I asked the trainer that I workout with in classes to show me how to work up to a pull up. He said the lat pull downs, reverse flies and to hang from the bar and lower myself with control or hang there. Here are 2 links that I found helpful as well.

http://www.bodytribe.com/2013/01/17/how-women-can-do-pull-ups/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRznU6pzez0

The second one is a Scooby Workshop and I have been following that one and it is helping. Good luck with this!

MoreBean13

If you have access to a stable, secure bar, try a reverse push up.

I use a rack that can be used for bench presses, just remove the bench out. Adjust the height of where the bar will sit to maybe a little higher then your waist.

facing the ceiling, grab the bar. Your feet should be extended out with heels touching the ground (back, leg, feet in a straight line) then pull yourself up as far as you can, trying to get your chest as close to the bar as you can. This will build up the same muscles used for pull ups.

Baby steps. Realize that it's not going to happen overnight.

Finally a good use for smith machines!

Get_In_Shape_2014

Don't worry, most adult men can't even do 3. The ARMY removed pull up's from the fitness test, they just do push ups, sit-ups, and a timed run.

I have a fitness tree and I added assist bands to allow me to do 20 to 25 at my weight. Pull-ups are one of the most important exercises, as it develops the shoulders like no other. It has helped my serve in tennis a lot.

If you are at a gym which has a assisted chin up machine, this is an older style with square weights that you put a pin it, load up the counter weight and for sure use this. If I had to buy one weight machine for my house, this would be it. You can also do assisted dips with this machine. Here is a link to a similar machine.

http://www.powerhouse-fitness.co.uk/bodymax-it9320-assisted-chin-dip-machine.php

Cheers,

OverDoIt

Good advice from everyone. Remember to warm up your deltoids and forearms. Full range of motion pull-ups are quite taxing on the deltoids and forearms. If they are done properly, they add enormous ammounts of strength. I would also recommend dips, at the correct angle you can get some signifigant lat, and deltoid recruitment. And the most important thing is this. If you find a weak point in your training, exploit it and make it a strong point.

freyaheart

My gym only has the bars. It would be nice if they had the assisted machine but I doubt they'd put it in for one person. Maybe I Should start a petition and hang it on the cork board :P

jwdieter

Your ticker indicates you're somewhere around 70 lbs over goal weight? Unassisted pull ups are just not a viable exercise yet. Will probably need to lose at least 50 pounds to do one.

HappyStack

All good advice above. Pull ups when overweight are much, much too difficult for most people. Either wait until you're a lot lighter, or start with assisted reps for now. Then, as you get lighter, you'll be much more likely to be able to complete a full, unassisted, rep.

Here's another thought. The closer your hands are together (most people will just grip at shoulder width or just outside of shoulder width) the more arm strength you are trying to use to hoist yourself up. Women are typically overly weak in the upper body, anyway, and the overweight tend to be even weaker in the upper extremities.

Widen your grip to approximately elbow-width when you hold your arms out horizontally. This engages much more of the back and shoulder muscles, especially the lats.

Don't relax your shoulders. Ever. This places all of the tension on the joints and makes engaging your shoulders to attempt the first or next rep unnecessarily difficult, so lock your shoulders into their sockets. Same goes for elbows. The wide grip will help you maintain a slight bend in your elbow, but you also have to be conscious of this to maintain it throughout the entire range of motion.

ohpiper

This is an excerpt from a recent news story:

The Marine Corps found itself in such a predicament this week when it reported that 55 percent of female Marines in boot camp couldn’t perform the minimum three pull-ups. (The top score for male Marines is 20 pull-ups; for women, it’s eight pull-ups.)

For the moment, the Marine Corps is delaying implementation of this standard.


This indicates that you're not alone in working on your pull up goal. There's been some good advice in here as to how to move towards your goal, though. I think if you follow that advice it will help you to attain your goals. Fight for your goal. It'll take take time and tenacity, but you will get there.

jofjltncb6

You certainly aren't the first person to try to do a pull-up and fail. Pull-ups are damn hard...even harder for women...and even harder for overweight women.

That said, this is no reason to give up on your goal...it's just going to take some work. A pull-up assist machine would be ideal. Otherwise, negatives may be helpful. Even if you can't do a full pull-up, working on them will have benefits. Just add it to your strength program. Meanwhile, dial in your eating plan so you're reducing the weight you're lifting while you're increasing your strength.

Best of luck.

ETA: All kinds of awesomely awesome advice up there on this thread already. So ^this to all of what's already been said.