How to get your First Pull Up?

How to get your Chin over the Bar?

This is a post for all those seeking that first experience of lifting your
Chin over, looking into the horizon, smirking a cheeky grin and stomping down on the ground as you fall back with glory and accomplishment.

First thing is First!
Pull Up Strength or Lack thereof comes down to 1 of 2 Problems

Problem Number 1) Not being Strong enough in the vertical plane, which means not having enough arm and back strength to pull your self up all the way

Problem Number 2) Having an unbalanced strength to weight ratio (which is a strength issue and also a weight management issue)

Today we will be tackling solution to problem no.1

Solution to Problem Number 1)
Have a Set program to help you achieve your First pull Up.

This program doesn't need to be hard, but it needs to consistent and frequent with step by step progressions to get you there

How to practice Pull Ups when you can't do them?
Follow Progressions

Here are 4 Progressions
Progression no.1
Ring rows

*With the Ring row, we can start by taking baby steps and starting at almost no leaning
or we can make them incredibly challenging by a leaning back all the way down to being parallel to the ground


*to perform the Ring Row , Start with your Arms fully extended at the bottom position and finish by pulling your Chest and shoulder to the rings, Keep your Hips locked,
*To make the movement easier, bend at the knees .
*important tip, make sure not use momentum and do drop your butt during these

When to ideally progress to next stage?
When you can perform 10-12 ring rows parallel to the ground

Progression no.2
Banded Pull Ups

Banded pull ups are a great tool, once enough pulling strength has been developed in the horizontal plane *which means pulling yourself horizontally from the ground up with your feet on the ground.
Next comes vertical pulling which mimics the pull up alot more.

To perform the Banded Pull Up
Choose a band Ideally not thicker than a Large sized band or a band larger than your hand*the reason this is, if you need 2-3 4 bands to perform the pull up, the chances are you probably need to spend some more time developing horizontal pulling strength in the ring row.

Picture 1 shows a women placing her feet in a band, pushing the band down with one foot, then placing the other foot over the band. from there she goes to hanging from the bar as demonstrated in picture no.2

Once you have secured the band and are hanging from full extension with your arms locked out and shoulders active. proceed by pulling your body up, until your chin is over the bar.

Progressions, complete sets of 5-8 repetitions over 3-5 sets. and progress by changing bands from thickest to thinnest over time. if not progression in bands is made, then no progression in pull up strength will be made.

*tip do not swing on the band, or no strength will be developed

Progression no.3
Negative Chin Ups



Negative Chin ups are great for people who can complete Ring Rows as prescribed below and can perform 5-8 pull ups with a band.

Negative Chins basically consist of Fighting the fall during the pull ups once you have jumps yourself to the top

Steps,
Jump to the Top and Slowly go all the way down, this should ideally take 5-6 seconds

if you fall within 1-2 seconds, then this option is too advanced for you and you would be better off going to an easier progression.

How to implement these
perform 10 reps of 5-6 seconds, rest 3 minutes repeat.

do these on a frequent basis 2-3-4 times a week

Progression No.4
Chin Ups / Pull Ups



How to get better at them if you can already do them?

simple do them everyday not as apart of your work out but as a habit, perform 10 reps everytime you go past a bar, or perform however many reps you can perform. Make pull ups a habit or even a part of your warm up so that they start improving.

Hope This article Helped, in Next weeks article we will be covering

Thanks for Reading our Article

Written by. Raul Alonso Valenzuela
Head Coach/ Owner @ CrossFit Down Under

If you would like help with your first pull up, or would like to improve you any other aspect of your fitness and well being
you can contact us to write you a program
and inquire about our 1 on 1 Coaching Sessions
via
info@crossfitdownunder.com