How to Get Better at Pull-Ups: A Guide for Pros and Newbies

How to Get Better at Pull-Ups

No matter where you are in your fitness journey, pull-ups are something that will occupy an athlete’s mind somewhere along the way. They show that you have upper-body strength and that you know how to put that strength into work.

By the way, pull-ups are different from chin-ups. To learn more about chin-ups, read Chin-Ups for Biceps: How Can You Beef Up and Sculpt Your Biceps?

Pull-ups are so popular among gym-goers because they’re an upper-body exercise that targets most upper-body muscles, some of which are:

• Latissimus dorsi,
• Trapezius,
• Deltoids,
• Biceps,
• and Brachialis, among others.

No matter if you’re trying to do your first pull-up, or that you already can do pull-ups but want to do more, there are ways you can reach your goals. You just have to be patient; because in order to do a pull-up, you’ll have to put up with a lot of hard work.

This article teaches you how to get better at pull-ups, no matter your fitness level. Let’s jump right in!

How to Do Pull-Ups: Beginners

First off, if you're looking at improving your pull-ups, you may be wondering: Why are pull-ups so hard in the first place? In a proper pull-up you are lifting almost 100% of your body weight. Compare that to push-ups where you lift about 65% of your bodyweight.

If you want to do pull-ups but have no training background, this part is for you. Let’s see how to get better at pull-ups as a newbie.

Preliminary Exercises

As a beginner, you’ll have a longer way ahead compared to someone who has spent some time in the gym. If you never work out but want to do pull-ups, you should take a moment to think about your decision.

A pull-up is an advanced exercise that requires a certain level of muscle mass for you to be able to do it. Ask yourself why you want to do a pull-up. If you’re a reasonable person, your goal is probably to start getting stronger and building some muscle. So, your first step shouldn’t be to do a pull-up, it should be to start working out and lifting weights.

If that’s where you are, all those exercises that you’ll be doing in the gym will help get you there, but here are some movements that you should make sure are incorporated into your workout routine:

Lat Pull-Downs

1. Grab the bar with an overhand grip and arms wider than your shoulders.
2. Sit at the lat pull-down machine and put your legs under the padding. Go as far forward as you can on the seat to get in a fixed position.
3. Keep your shoulder blades down and relaxed.
4. Pull the bar down slowly and bring it to your chest. As you come down, lean back slightly.
5. At the bottom, squeeze your lats and shoulder blades together.
6. Come back up slowly.

Dumbbell Rows

1. Pick a side and put your hand and knee on that side on a bench.
2. Pick a dumbbell with your other hand. Your other foot should be on the ground.
3. Your back should be straight and your neck in the same line as the rest of your body.
4. Bend your elbow and bring it toward your belly button and past your body while the inside of your arm brushes against your flank.
5. Avoid moving your torso. Let your arm be the only part of your body that moves.
6. Come back down.

You can do rows with a cable machine, seated row machine, or a barbell as well. Find a variation that best suits your preferences.

Cable Biceps Curls

1. Attach a straight bar to the pulley and put it in the lowest position.
2. Grab the bar with a supinated grip, aka underhand grip.
3. Take a few steps back from the machine.
4. Bend your elbows and bring the bar to your shoulders while keeping your upper arm fixed beside your body.
5. Hold the position and then extend your arms back slowly.

The biceps curl has different variations. If you’re just starting out, the one suggested above will be the best option for you because you’ll have a solid grip and a lower chance to sway your body, which creates momentum.

Specific Exercises for Pull-Ups

Let’s assume that it’s been quite some time since you’ve been hitting the gym regularly. You must feel good about all the muscles you’ve built. That’s why you run to the pull-up bar to do your first pull-up—well, you probably can’t!

Don’t let it make you think that all the sweat and the screams under the barbell were useless. You were only doing the first part. But it’s still not the end of the story. You’ll still need to break down the different parts of a pull-up and master them individually so that you can become a pull-up master. Here are the moves that you should do for a pull-up:

Dead Hang

The first step in preparing your body for a pull-up is to play dead—but from a hanging position.

1. Grab a bar with an overhand grip and hang from there.
2. Keep your core tight and squeeze your butt.
3. Hold the position.

Stay in the dead hang for three sets of as long as you can. Gradually increase the time until you reach one minute. Once you’ve reached the limit, move on to the next exercise.

Scapular Pull-Ups

1. Start with a dead hang with your hands wider than your shoulders.
2. Your arms should be extended and your body straight. However, if your legs touch the floor, it’s okay to bend your knees to hang from the bar.
3. Take a deep breath and stabilize your core.
4. Now, start the movement by pushing your scapulae (shoulder blades) down towards your waist. If it helps, imagine that you want to bend the pull-up bar. This will cause your body to rise slightly.
5. Stay there for a few seconds and let your muscles feel the pressure. Then, slowly come down in a controlled movement.

When performing scapular pull-ups, make sure that the whole movement is executed by your back muscles and not your arms. Do 3 sets of 12 reps. Once you see that it’s become a piece of cake, move on to the next step.

Negative Pull-Ups

Pulling your body weight up with your arms may be hard, but the eccentric part of a pull-up is something you can manage. The eccentric part, or the negative phase, is the part where you bring your body down from the bar. Training this movement can make the whole thing a bit easier for you.

1. Place a platform, like a bench or a box, near the bar.
2. Stand on the platform and jump up to the top position of a pull-up so that your chest is against the bar.
3. Slowly bring your body down until you’re in the position of a dead hang.

Do this movement for 3 sets of 10 reps. When you’ve mastered the movement, do the next thing that we’re going to tell you.

Inverted Rows

This is also a variation of rows, but it’s inverted, and it’s done with the body weight.

1. Set the Smith machine at about chest height.
2. Hold the bar and bring your feet in front of the bar. Your toes should be off the ground and your body should make a diagonal line with the ground.
3. Keep a tight core and bring your body up until your chest touches the bar.
4. Go back down slowly.

Do it for 3 sets of 8 reps. This is a movement that has its own steps. The lower you set the bar, the harder it gets. So before jumping to the next movement, try to go as low as possible.

Assisted Pull-Ups

You can do assisted pull-ups in two ways. You can either use an assisted pull-up machine or a resistance band. Using an assisted pull-up machine is simple. You just have to pick a weight, stand on the platform, and do the pull-up. You should just know that, unlike other exercises, picking heavier weights on this machine means more assistance.

Assuming that you don’t have access to an assisted pull-up machine, you can practice your pull-ups with a resistance band. Here’s how to get better at doing pull-ups with a resistance band:

1. Tie the resistance band around the pull-up bar.
2. Put both your feet or just one foot inside the band at the bottom.
3. Do a regular pull-up.

You might not be able to do this movement with a thin resistance band. Pick thicker ones and decrease the assistance little by little. Also, do this movement for 3 sets of 5 reps at first, then gradually increase your reps to 12.

If you’ve had the patience to follow all these steps, you should be happy, because now you’ll be able to do your first pull-up.

How to Get Better at Doing Pull-Ups: Pros

If you’ve skipped the first part of the article, it means you’re an experienced gym-goer. You probably can do a couple of pull-ups but you want to do more. If you have enough time, we suggest that you read the first part as well. That’s because those exercises aren’t just good for beginners; they can also be the key to increasing your pull-up reps. Still, if you don’t have the time or simply don’t want to, keep on reading.

If you can do pull-ups but only a few of them, you’re struggling with endurance. Here are some tips on how to get better at pull-ups and do more:

• Improve your grip by doing exercises that train it. Basically, any exercise that involves picking up a barbell or a set of dumbbells works on your grip. A good example would be doing deadlifts with heavy weights.
• Train your back muscles at least twice a week for muscle hypertrophy. Your upper-body workout should contain a variety of back exercises.
• The same goes for your arm muscles, especially your biceps. Make sure you’re targeting these muscles at least twice a week.
• Do kipping pull-ups. Although it’s popular among CrossFitters, it can also be a good way for you to get more pull-ups in. The kipping pull-up, as the name suggests, requires that you swing your body while hanging from the bar. The momentum created from the swinging will help you do more pull-ups.
• Focus on your diet. A diet rich in protein ensures that your efforts in the gym are not wasted. Also, if you need to improve your performance, you can take pre-workout or creatine. To learn more about these supplements, read the following articles:

• • Does Pre-Workout Break a Fast?
  • Does Pre-Workout Make You Poop?
  • Can I Take Creatine Before Bed?
  • Creatine: Monohydrate vs. Micronized

• Don’t get disappointed. Build your way up to doing more pull-ups by showing up every week and doing your best.

Conclusion

Doing a pull-up is like learning how to read: It requires much patience and effort. Remember how happy you felt when you read your first word out loud? You’ll feel the same when you do your first pull-up.

For more information about fundamental movements, check out:

• Squat vs Deadlift
• Squats and Deadlifts with Resistance Bands

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