How do I even begin to do a pull-up?

25lbsorbust
25lbsorbust Posts: 225 Member
edited November 21 in Fitness and Exercise
Here's the outline of the situation:

I'm 5'8, 145lbs, and kind of sort of starting to get into shape. The only issue is that I have to do a tough mudder in a bit over a month (5ish weeks?) and my upper body strength is sorely lacking.

At my old gym in a different state I had a pull-up assist machine and I was making progress. I think I took like 20lbs off the 'assist' (which started out as most of my body weight).

Now I don't have that. I have a pull-up bar at my new gym, but no other way to work on it.

How do I, using this pull-up bar, free weights, and my body weight, boost my upper body strength? I'm currently working out 4x a week and plan on doing so until the tough mudder.

TIA.

Replies

  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,447 Member
    I can do 3 now. I started by using the assisted pull up machine at the gym giving myself 100 lbs help. 2x10 every gym day. I slowly but surely decreased the amount of assistance. I now can do 3 unassisted and others at 20lbs help.
  • BigNate17
    BigNate17 Posts: 65 Member
    Meganthedogmom wrote: »
    You can do negatives. And if you have them, bands.

    Agreed
  • Rufftimes
    Rufftimes Posts: 349 Member
    A chair under your feet in a pinch
  • 25lbsorbust
    25lbsorbust Posts: 225 Member
    Meganthedogmom wrote: »
    You can do negatives. And if you have them, bands.

    Is a negative where you start at the top and go down?

    I have this weird thing where my right elbow locks at a 90 degree angle when my arm is being pulled up or down, if that makes sense? Doesn't matter what position my hands are in. Also stops me from using a few machines.

    I used to be able to bypass it on the assisted machine because my strength was to a point where I could go one-handed for a half second to get past that locking point on the other arm. So my s/o suggested I start at the top and go down to that point and back up, but I'm not sure how much that'll help.

    Looked into bands and actually just bought one, 25-80lbs assistance. They're expensive so hopefully it helps! Thanks for the suggestion. :smile:
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    edited August 2017
    Negatives are great. You can also self assist with a chair or box, or the floor if you have a lower bar such as , if i dare say, the smith machine bar set at the right level. set the bar so your feet touch the floor when you are at the top of your pull up. then you can bend your knees and self assist , Which i actually prefer over using bands with a higher bar.
  • se015
    se015 Posts: 583 Member
    I would start by just grabbing the bar and dangling for a few seconds and each time practice bringing yourself up. The reason I say this is because the assist doesn't feel the same way as an actual pull up does in my opinion and it requires sort of a muscle and mind connection to figure out how to use all of your muscles to pull your own body weight up if that makes any sense.
  • ugofatcat
    ugofatcat Posts: 385 Member
    Do you have a smith machine or squat rack you can do inverted rows off of?
  • Kwoconnor
    Kwoconnor Posts: 39 Member
    6 months ago I couldnt do one wide grip pull up, now i can do one pull up with 50kg belt on, and then obviously more with lighter weights.

    Here's how I started:

    . Used a band to assist pulling me up.
    Started to wear ankle weights
    stopped using the band after a couple of weeks
    struggled to do one pull up
    added 5kg weight to belt, couldnt do 1 pull up. Dropped the 5 kg off and then viola I could do one!

    Continued in this way TRYING to lift 10kg, couldn't do a pull up. Dropped to 5kg COULD DO ONE!

    Apparently your muscles hold some sort of elastic memory or so I heard from a friend!

    I do pullups now three times a week with weights and then 3 days with just body weight. 4 sets with weights and 10 reps. Start heavy then taper down to lower weights so as I squeeze as much as I can out of each one
  • newfitmommfp
    newfitmommfp Posts: 7 Member
    A trainer told me to jump up, hold myself for a few seconds and slowly lower myself down. This builds the muscles for pull ups. After a week I could do 1. Now after 3 weeks I'm up to 5.
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