What are some good exercises to build up to pull ups?

[Stopthistrain]

I use the assisted pull up machine and I think it helps but I'm not getting to where I want to be fast enough. If I use less assistance I get burnt out pretty quickly, so should I do more assistance and more reps?

[rockangel]

To get better at pull ups, do more pullups.
Personally i always have done 1st set with no assistance, as many as i could, then did 3 more sets of increasing assistance in the 5 to 8 rep range. Pull ups take a lot of time to build, its a hard movement that requires a lot of strength and endurance, which takes a lot of time to build. It took me a good 8 - 10 months to really see the difference but doing the above i have built my lats and back pretty decently.

The lat pull down is also a good exercise that mimics the movement, and you can work on the negative aspect of the pull up as well (which is lowering yourself from the top position as slowly and controlled as possible). I work negeatives more at the moment since i dont have the assistance machine at home.

But really, doing pullups consistently over a long period of time is really the answer to getting better at them.

[Fitboss68]

Do negatives. start in the up positionand come down slowly.

[erinlee01]

The assist machine, IMO, hinders pullup progress. It's not exactly the same movement. If you can't do any unassisted, do negatives, as suggested. You also could try using bands for assistance as it is the same movement.

[acrawlingchaos]

Rack chins are a good intro into pull ups as well as greasing the groove.

[srb04e]

Lat pull downs!!!! Get on the lat pull down machine and do all different types... Wide, inside, close grip... That will help build you up to mastering the pull up!!!

[discdoggie]

Pull-ups.




Srs.

[BEEvon]

Pull-ups.




Srs.

^^ I don't understand that answer. If OP is trying to 'build up to' pull-ups, how is she supposed to do pull- ups? I can see if she's trying to increase her reps but by what she asked it seems she can't even do one yet.

[discdoggie]

^^ I don't understand that answer. If OP is trying to 'build up to' pull-ups, how is she supposed to do pull- ups? I can see if she's trying to increase her reps but by what she asked it seems she can't even do one yet.

Then she can hang from the bar and pull herself up 1/4 of the way. Repeat. Next week she may get halfway up. The next, 3/4. Soon her chin will clear the bar. What's not to understand?


I had a goal of pull-ups. I did not do one lat pulldown, negative, or Aussie/inverted row. I walked my ass up to the bar and pulled until I cleared the bar. I did it, so can she.

[BEEvon]

[QUOTE=discdoggie; What's not to understand?[/QUOTE] I guess it my mind doing pull-ups is different than 'trying' to do pull-ups. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

[BEEvon]

When I was learning it helped me a lot to jump up to grab the bar (neutral grip) and use the momentum to get me up. I would do as many in a row like that as I could. eventually I didn't have to jump anymore.

[FoxBlossom]

Give all these suggestions a go OP and see what works for you, everyone is different and you need to find what works for you. Me personally, I got a bar at home (the type that hooks on to the door frame) and literally every time I walked by it, I'd try to perform a pull up. I started with a mixture of doing negs and also howdiscdoggie mentioned, quite literally just pulling myself up as much as I could each time and getting better as time went on. Admittedly I got impatient and also started doing the kipping style pull ups, just to try and speed progression; am not sure if these speeded the progress up or what but one day all of a sudden, I could do pull-ups. Whatever gets you in to the movement is the best bet, it's weird but it's almost like once you perform your first full pull-up, your body realizes the movement your asking it to perform and they are suddenly much easier to execute.

[discdoggie]

but it's almost like once you perform your first full pull-up, your body realizes the movement your asking it to perform and they are suddenly much easier to execute.

Yes. ^^^^ There is also a techique to them, which once learned, makes successive ones come easier

[Botika]

Maybe checkout this vid.....

[Stopthistrain]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll give them all a try. I can do probably like 6-7 chin ups but pull ups are much harder for me. I can do one or two right now. Just wanted a way to strengthen my back to increase the reps.

[birdiefu]

If you can get a hold of some resistance bands, loop them around the bar and stick your foot in the lower end. It will give some assistance, but you will keep the same body movements (as opposed to the "assistance machine" that sucks).

[Partyrocking]

Do 1 pull up several times. Do one, go to your next exercise. Do another one, etc. Eventually, you will be able to do 2 at a time, 3 at a time, etc.