One of the most popular fitness goals women tell me they’d like to achieve is: THE PULL UP.
Oh yes, the all mighty pull up, that goal makes my heart sing.
There is something so empowering, so glorious, so liberating about pulling yourself up and over that bar.
But they ain’t for the faint of heart. Pull-ups are HARD. It takes wicked grip strength, a core of strength, and lats of steel.
Personally, pull-ups were an exercise I struggled with. Even though I had the desire and commitment, I didn’t have a solid training plan to get me there.
My approach years ago was to get on the Gravitron machine (a machine specifically designed to assist you with pull ups) and do a bunch of reps. That was the extent of my plan and it FAILED, big time.
Now I understand the full body strength that is required. A pull up is much more that just an upper body exercise. It requires a strong core and backside. It requires adequate amounts of grip strength too — without it, a pull up will aways be just out of reach. And you absolutely must develop your lats — the biggest muscle in your upper body and your major pulling muscle.
A smart approach is to train specific aspects of the pull up, gaining strength and perfecting your form, before putting it all together. This rate you will increase your likelihood of success.
So, below I share 5 exercises that will bring you to your first pull up.
5 Exercises To Train For Your First Pull Up
1) Overhand Hold – Grip a high bar with an overhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart. Make sure to activate lats by trying to break the bar with your grip. Tighten your glutes and core and raise. Raise your legs and hang for as long as you can.
2) Underhand Hold – Grip a high bar with an overhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart. Make sure to activate lats by trying to break the bar with your grip. Tighten your glutes and core and raise. Raise your legs and hang for as long as you can.
3) Barbell Row – Grab a barbell (or dumbbells), bend your knees and bend at the waist to l. lower your back towards the floor, so that your arms are perpendicular to the floor. Brace your core before lifting the barbell towards your chest, keeping your elbows in. Once you reach your chest, pause for a second before lowering it back down.
4) Hollow Body Holds – Lie down flat on your back with arms and legs extended in straight line. Tighten your core and push your lower back to the floor so there is no space between the floor and your lower back. Slowly raise your arms and legs of the floor, without letting your back come up from the floor and hold.
5) Resistance Band – You can order resistance bands from Amazon if you don’t have access to one. They’re inexpensive and a useful piece of equipment to have around. Loop the resistance band onto the bar, grip your hands onto the bar shoulder width apart. Place both feet inside the loop so that you’re supported and pull yourself up.
Add the exercises above into your workouts. Try adding 2-3 sets of 10 repetitions. For the hangs holds for as long as you can 2 times before moving on.
Stay consistent and keep progressing the exercises and before you know it you’ll be doing your first pull up.
Now go get to it!
