Pull Ups - Chin Ups for ABSOLUTELY beginners

Options
penrbrown
penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm at the point where I have absolutely 0 upper body strength. My goal is to eventually be able to do push ups and pull ups/chin ups (I know they're different but I lump them together).

My question is this... I can do modified pushups but not full form push ups... so I intend to do the modified form until I build up some strength and can do regular pushups...

BUT I cannot do even an assisted pull up. I do not have a gym membership (and won't be getting on). With m y work hours the gym is always closed when I'm off so I have a pull up bar installed in my doorway at home.

What are some strength training exercises I can do to build up my upper body strength enough that I can even do an assisted pull up or chin up? Anybody have some suggestions?

What do you do when even the assisted pull ups aren't possible?

Replies

  • shockedsoshocked
    shockedsoshocked Posts: 21
    Options
    If you have a pull up bar, try doing only the decline part of the movement (eccentric loading). Even if you have to jump up to get there, hold the position for a few seconds and lower yourself down as slowly as you can, and repeat as many time as you can manage I guess!

    Proper wide grip pull ups are hard so stick with it!
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
    Options
    If you have a pull up bar, try doing only the decline part of the movement (eccentric loading). Even if you have to jump up to get there, hold the position for a few seconds and lower yourself down as slowly as you can, and repeat as many time as you can manage I guess!

    Proper wide grip pull ups are hard so stick with it!

    I was trying this for awhile but it seemed to be encouraging injury (took more then four-five days for the muscles to recover after one session!). I will keep at it if that's what it takes but I was a little concerned that this reverse pull up might not the safest method.
  • shockedsoshocked
    shockedsoshocked Posts: 21
    Options
    How do you mean by injury/recovery? Was it a proper injury or just DOMS? Four/Five days to recover might not be unrealistic if like you said you haven't really trained like that before.

    Maybe find a platform (a box or a chair maybe?) to get into position without the jump?
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    Options
    If you have a pull up bar, try doing only the decline part of the movement (eccentric loading). Even if you have to jump up to get there, hold the position for a few seconds and lower yourself down as slowly as you can, and repeat as many time as you can manage I guess!

    Proper wide grip pull ups are hard so stick with it!
    My goal is also to do pull ups. I am doing the methode explained in the quote i also do ....hum not sure of the name but you start lying on your back and pull yourself up on a low bar. It is like a push up but you pull yourself instead of pushing.
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
    Options
    Just realized I made and absolutely mistake in the title of this thread. Whoops.

    4-5 days if normal recovery time? I didn't know that. Usually 2-3 days is max for me so 4-5 seemed excessive.

    I'll keep up with it. :)

    Yanicka - that sounds like an interesting move... I might try it if I can figure out how to accommodate for such a move in my little home gym.
  • gp79
    gp79 Posts: 1,799 Member
    Options
    The modified push-up position is on your knees. In time you will build the upper body strength required to do them in the normal position.

    With Chin / Pull ups, look at getting tension bands which you connect to your pull up bar which will offer you negative resistance. If you're not too strong, you should buy a band that is going to offer the right amount of assistance.
  • shockedsoshocked
    shockedsoshocked Posts: 21
    Options
    Just realized I made and absolutely mistake in the title of this thread. Whoops.

    4-5 days if normal recovery time? I didn't know that. Usually 2-3 days is max for me so 4-5 seemed excessive.

    I'll keep up with it. :)

    Yanicka - that sounds like an interesting move... I might try it if I can figure out how to accommodate for such a move in my little home gym.

    I thought the same when I first started Olympic lifting, took me about a week to be able to walk down stairs properly!
  • AZKristi
    AZKristi Posts: 1,801 Member
    Options
    Try a band assisted chin-up / pull-up

    http://www.menshealth.com/workout-center/e/band-assisted-chinup/26044
  • _persephone_
    _persephone_ Posts: 138 Member
    Options
    Try this...

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

    I'm doing this at the moment, and it is helping, though I'm not quite there yet :D
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
    Options
    Ah! That's interesting. Thanks guys. I'll see about getting a band... :)
  • thatsnumberwang
    thatsnumberwang Posts: 398 Member
    Options
    Nerd Fitness to the rescue :-)

    http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/04/25/do-a-pull-up/
  • alli_baba
    alli_baba Posts: 232 Member
    Options
    I think I have a solution for you but it's a little hard to explain (I got the idea from Mark Lauren's book "You Are Your Own Gym", which is excellent by the way).

    Take two chairs and space them a few feet apart with the backs facing each other. Place a broomstick (or some other bar/stick) between them. Get between the chairs and under the bar/stick with your feet on the floor,knees bent, hands on the bar, so that you are looking up at your ceiling. Pull yourself up as far as you can and then lower yourself down to the starting position.

    As you get stronger, you can keep your knees straight (so at a diagonal) which makes it harder, or raise one leg up while pulling up with your arms, which also makes it harder. I would scan the picture from the book and post it here but it is on my Kindle :-(

    I hope this helps! -- Allison
  • DanielleDavids
    DanielleDavids Posts: 96 Member
    Options
    Assisted pull up bands are amazing. I can't do pull ups at all but my new gym doesn't have an assisted pull up machine. Instead, we loop the bands around the bar, hook one foot in and do our pull ups that way! I can already tell that it's helping improve my strength so that I'll someday be able to do an unassisted one! :)
  • kfox15
    kfox15 Posts: 97 Member
    Options
    For learning/ building up to push ups I would suggest doing them on an angle vs. doing them on your knees. When you start with knee push ups, you take your lower body out of the equation and don't learn how to engage your core to keep your body in a plank. It's a lot easier to balance your midsection over your knees vs. your tip toes. You can start by leaning up against a wall and doing "push aways" and then move down to a bench or chair as you get stronger. This way, you can learn the form and engage all of the same muscles (well most) while still doing something at your strength level. I improved very quickly using this method because for me, 1/2 the battle of pushups was learning which muscles to use when, you don't realize how much you use your abs, glutes, and other muscles!
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
    Options
    I think I have a solution for you but it's a little hard to explain (I got the idea from Mark Lauren's book "You Are Your Own Gym", which is excellent by the way).

    Take two chairs and space them a few feet apart with the backs facing each other. Place a broomstick (or some other bar/stick) between them. Get between the chairs and under the bar/stick with your feet on the floor,knees bent, hands on the bar, so that you are looking up at your ceiling. Pull yourself up as far as you can and then lower yourself down to the starting position.

    As you get stronger, you can keep your knees straight (so at a diagonal) which makes it harder, or raise one leg up while pulling up with your arms, which also makes it harder. I would scan the picture from the book and post it here but it is on my Kindle :-(

    I hope this helps! -- Allison

    That's a fantastic idea!!! I wouldn't have thought of it either. Thank you!

    And Kfox - Thank you! Lots of great tips. I just started incline push ups after reading a book that suggested I do just that. My worry with the 'knee' push ups is that I'm not keeping proper form. I don't worry about that so much when I'm trying a push up at an incline.

Categories