pullups or pull up at least

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Vladaar
Vladaar Posts: 147 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Anyone have a great routine for improving pull ups?

I have been doing lat pull downs, modified pull ups, dumbell rows, close grip pull downs. Can't quite get one single pull up yet, and it is irritating the crap out of me. I saw on a youtube channel someone suggest that you do rope pull downs for the minor muscles that work with your lats. I have been trying that for 3 weeks now I can feel those muscles involved. I probably just need to be more patient. It's just hard to remember that just 20 years ago when I was in the Marines I could do 16 pull ups and now weighing 45 pounds more than I did than I can't do one.

Replies

  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    Lat pulldowns mimic the movement almost exactly, but reduce the reps to 2 or 3, and increase the weight whenever you can do more. Once you get close to lifting your body weight, you should be able to do a single pull-up. Then increase your reps on the lat pulldowns a bit, and repeat the process... :+1:
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Lose weight and try chin ups would be my first recommendations.

    The additional 45 pounds is a really big factor. I know that losing weight helped me immensely.

    Plus the chin-up seems to be the pull-up's easier cousin. Right now I do my one chin-up and then do band assisted chin-ups, neutral grip pull-ups, and pull-up grip lat pulldowns (along with rows) throughout the week.
  • pbandwine
    pbandwine Posts: 1,236 Member
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    Start with negatives and assisted. It takes a while, you have to keep at it. Took me months to do just one.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    pbandwine wrote: »
    Start with negatives and assisted. It takes a while, you have to keep at it. Took me months to do just one.

    Lat pulldowns will get you close, but ultimately, you need to learn to brace your whole body and pull, You can only get that from negatives and assists.
  • MilesAddie
    MilesAddie Posts: 166 Member
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    Negative pull-ups, assisted pull-ups with a machine if your gym has it, or assisted with resistance bands if it does not.

    You could try chin-ups, but they really focus on your biceps as the main mover, not the same muscle group as pull-ups.

    Also, generally speaking, the less you weigh, the easier it is to do a pull-up.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    Assisted pull up bands at different intensities.
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
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    Yes to the above, body weight exercises get significantly easier once you lose weight. In the short-term, I would stick with assisted pull-ups or assisted negative pull ups. Put your feet on a chair under the bar and use your legs to take some of the weight. Just don't cheat yourself; make sure you're working for every one!
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
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    If you want to get good at a movement you need to practice that movement. I would personally work on Chin Ups (supine grip) as opposed to Pull Ups (prone grip). You recruit more muscles by doing a Chin Up so it's "easier" to do. As already mentioned, resistance band Chin Ups and Jumping Chin Ups with a slow negative are a great place to start. I'm personally not a big fan of the Pull Assistance Machine as it in no way teaches you how to brace.




  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    pbandwine wrote: »
    Start with negatives and assisted. It takes a while, you have to keep at it. Took me months to do just one.

    Yep.
  • Vladaar
    Vladaar Posts: 147 Member
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    Thanks all, Ill try to be patient and work in negative pullups.
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    edited October 2017
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    Vladaar wrote: »
    Thanks all, Ill try to be patient and work in negative pullups.

    Note that if done properly, negatives aren't necessarily that much easier than regular pull ups. Giving yourself assistance is the key or else you'll likely just shortcut the negative (let yourself descend too quickly) and eliminate any potential benefit.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
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    Q: are pull-ups ok for your shoulders? Particularly when a bit later in life?
  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
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    Negatives were definitely the key to achieving my first pull-up. Just make sure you keep your muscles active all the way down to the very bottom position, it's easy to allow yourself to drop that last inch. What actually helped me a lot too was just accumulating "hang time" while keeping lats activated.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    Q: are pull-ups ok for your shoulders? Particularly when a bit later in life?

    If you do them correctly with properly "packed" shoulders....

    You will need a small amount of "shrug" to get to the appropriate Range of motion, but you should be focused on having your shoulders "down and together" in the back.

    If you have diagnosed mobility/flexibility issues, see your doctor... obviously.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    As others have said, the key is negatives, making sure you maintain the same speed for the entire negative. Volume is also very important. Try to do a lot of negatives. Just keep resting and repeating.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    DX2JX2 wrote: »
    Vladaar wrote: »
    Thanks all, Ill try to be patient and work in negative pullups.

    Note that if done properly, negatives aren't necessarily that much easier than regular pull ups. Giving yourself assistance is the key or else you'll likely just shortcut the negative (let yourself descend too quickly) and eliminate any potential benefit.

    I've always felt that assistance, even with a band, really changes a pull-up. If you can do decent negatives then they're your best bet. Otherwise use assistance to help get your self to negatives. Or just do lat pull-downs to get strong enough for good negative pull-ups.
  • draftsman28
    draftsman28 Posts: 98 Member
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    Also try inverted rows.

    https://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/inverted-row

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