LADIES! Can you do a pull-up?

[I-Jo]

Getting up and over to the bar matters significantly more than pulling from a dead hang.

 

Get to the point where you can do a dead hang- and then work on getting your chest to the bar- not your head. 

[Cort]

Negatives combined with assistance bands helped me initiate the "muscle memory" and strength necessary for the full dead-hang pull-up. Half-reps don't count, kipping doesn't count. I highly discourage the pull-up machines as I never found them to be helpful in my quest to conquer the pull-up. They just don't allow the body to mimic the free-fall-hanging feeling necessary to learn how to activate your lats from a dead-hang; (just like lifting machines don't allow the body the freedom to compensate for balance like dumbbells do.)

 

Here's the type of band I used. It's great because you can start with heavy assist (all 3 bands) and then decrease to 2 and then 1 band for less and less assistance. Took a few months, but I finally crossed the threshold using these. I started with 2 bands and would do AMRAP, then when I got to 1 band I would do AMRAP and then add back one band and do AMRAP again.

[p2tog]

Question! My shoulders hyperextend; for example, when I hang -- like at the bottom of a pullup -- they come right out of the sockets. In order to DO a pullup, I first have to nudge them back into place, which puts a whole bunch of extra strain on my shoulder area.

 

I really want to be able to do at least a couple of pull ups, but I'm worried that no matter how much strength I build, my natural anatomy is working against me. >

 

Any thoughts? Anyone else have this issue?

[I-Jo]

You're lats and rhomboids need to be stronger so you don't lose the socket.

 

Keep the shoulders 'packed'  Keep working on the negatives. I think it has less to do with natural anatomy and more to do with back strength- my arms 'fall out' too- but I just got stronger so I keep myself from falling out of that. 

 

If you can use a chair- or steppers- or another piece of equipment to help with your feet- or use the smith machine for inverted rows- that's all going to help you get a feel for that and really move forward. 

[Hit]

i can do one pull up. I can probably do more but i only have evidence of one

 

[alienjenn]

i can do one pull up. I can probably do more but i only have evidence of one

GIRL! I'm super jealous now

[starpuck]

Maaaaaaan that was fun to watch!

And it was like getting a shot of Super Inspiration MOJO2000!

[namelesswonder]

I don't think I'm very close to my goal of a chin-up by September. I haven't been consistent about working on supported chin-ups (with a chair) every day and that seems to be the only way I am able to make progress. My muscles (biceps) do appear bigger even if I can't manage a controlled negative daily, so maybe I'm building in other ways (...capacity?) and the strength will come? It's a very slow and rather frustrating process!

[Silo]

Do you have assistance bands? I am working on those. It is definitely slow coming. I need to go back to the beginning of this thread and read through all of the tips again.

[Cort]

Question! My shoulders hyperextend; for example, when I hang -- like at the bottom of a pullup -- they come right out of the sockets. In order to DO a pullup, I first have to nudge them back into place, which puts a whole bunch of extra strain on my shoulder area.

 

I really want to be able to do at least a couple of pull ups, but I'm worried that no matter how much strength I build, my natural anatomy is working against me. >

 

Any thoughts? Anyone else have this issue?

 

I agree with I-Jo. I think your shoulder issues will resolve as your back and upper body strength increases. When I first started I had problems with my right elbow locking on the descent which was incredibly painful. I tried every grip position and nothing seemed to help. It was so frustrating that I almost quit working on my pullups altogether. But I kept at it with the bands, and the problem slowly faded away. Now that my arms and lats are stronger, I am able to control my descent so that my elbow stays loose throughout all of my reps and sets. 

[namelesswonder]

Do you have assistance bands? I am working on those. It is definitely slow coming. I need to go back to the beginning of this thread and read through all of the tips again.

No, it's never been clear to me if I can use them on a knee instead of standing (because my pull-up bar is in a regular height doorframe). Anyway, I'm about to lose a ton of progress because the pull-up bar is down while we're moving Hopefully my parents will let us put it up in the house somewhere so I can resume next week!

[I-Jo]

Do you have a park you can practice in?

 

A week won't set you back to far honestly- but if you can get into a park it'll help your mind set and your work! 

[namelesswonder]

Do you have a park you can practice in?

 

A week won't set you back to far honestly- but if you can get into a park it'll help your mind set and your work! 

 

Just a few days has set me back quite a bit this summer. Unfortunately, it looks like the pull-up bar isn't going back up now that we're moved. My posture is already suffering! There is a park up the hill from their house, but I'd have to bring a chair with me to practice, it takes me a while to build my way back to negatives (have reached that twice this summer and lost it because I skipped a few days). I guess I'll just work on swinging around my kettlebell. I am not sure we'll be able to use a pull-up bar in the next apartment either (door frames are too thick for those temporary kinds and we might not be allowed to drill the supports in for our current bar).

[starpuck]

Pull ups are such a tricky thing!    I had to take about 3-4 months off from anything weight lift-y or pull up-y due to a hand and wrist injury.   I had gotten up to 5 really solid reps of unassisted pull ups prior to that.   (Starting from being able to do none, then doing not so good form ones, then I-Jo fixed them for me [[Thanks chica! BTW nice to see ya posting!!   Where ya been!]] then I got up to my PR of 5 beautiful ones!)      

 

Well, after that time away from them -- I went back to being able to do ZERO!  Aaaaarrrrrgggg.      We built a workout space in our company's warehouse and it has a pull up bar, and I am just now, after about 8 weeks back at it, able to do 2 unassisted before going back to using my assistance band.    I feel like it came a lot faster last time, not sure why ... but I am confident I'll get back to where I was eventually.

[I-Jo]

Hia.Puckster!!!! I miss you!!!!.. I don't have access at work- and on my phone it's really hard to post- so I flit in and out- I feel bad- because well- I miss you guys!!! 

 

yes- takes work- and proper muscle initiation. 

 

FITS- all things to think about. 

Flexibility

Initiation

Tension

Strength

 

You're pull ups will come back- more practice- it's totally possible. 

 

Nameless wonder- can you jump and reach???

If i can't do any pull ups- or I"m out of gas- I'll put my feet up on a thing so at a park- put your feet up on the other side of the ladder- you'll be doing incline rows or reverse pull ups.  (you'll see people do them on the smith machine occasionally- but i'ts a good way to keep working your back without actually doing pull ups!

[Starfireanddust]

I've finally gotten a trainer at the gym who will listen to me when I say I want to build strength. So, currently, in my program - pullups (assisted with a band... no way I'd be doing them on my own, esp from a hang), deadlifts, pushups, inverted rows, aquabag squats to overhead press and glute/ham raises. Wheee! So excited about this program. Is that normal?

[I-Jo]

 Wheee! So excited about this program. Is that normal?

yes!!!

 

I have a hard time understanding people who say they are bored with their program- I do the SAME three lifts EVERY time I go to the gym- it's either Bench and Squats or Deadlifts and Benching (seriously- M and F are Either Squat Bench Squat or Bench Squat Bench Squat- Wed is Pause DL, Bench- and box DL's).

 

I STILL get excited to go lift. 

 

It's TOTALLY normal- And awesome. Enjoy it!!!And good luck with the lifting!

[StillWaters]

I still can't do a deadhang pull up, but I can do partials with my arms almost fully extended. Basically, my gym has a pullup station with a step for shorter people who can't jump to the bar from the floor. If I step up on that, I can do partials for 3 sets of 3 unassisted. Not there yet, but much better than I was doing before.

[Angieboo]

I have just decided that this is my new fitness goal. I am currently using the machine which assists and allowing it to take half of my body weight 30k, doing this I can manage 5, trying to take my full body weight I literally didn't budge! I am aiming to reduce the amount of assistance every session, but if anyone has any other suggestions on how to achieve my goal I'd love to hear it.

[Tecrin]

I can do pull-ups... with assistance. I really would love to be able to do a regular pull-up, though. Really really. I've been doing chin-ups with resistance bands in my gym's jungle gym and they're fun and challenging and I can do about 5 in a row, but I don't feel like I'm making progress and they're a different beast than an actual pull-up. If I do those with the same resistance, I can barely come up to 3. I've been adding inverted rows to my workout as a substitute for pull-ups when I wasn't feeling the pull-up love (we all have days like that, right? ..right?).

 

I've been doing my pull-ups with palms facing forward, though, is it actually easier/better to do them with a neutral grip? Because I might have to move back to the pulley machine if that's the case, and try them out that way.

[Silo]

A few people, I think Stacy was one, have neutral grips in their videos on this thread. It is supposed to be easier that way. I don't have access to any equipment that lets me try them that way so I don't have personal experience with them. When you do them, are you putting your thumb over the bar? If not, try them that way.

 

I am still doing mine with assistance bands. I slacked off on them for awhile but have added them back in. Pull ups are easier for me than chin ups. There is a pull up station at our local zoo (there are calisthenic stations throughout the whole place) and my goal is to be able to do a pull up by the time we go back next spring.

[kirstenanke]

I can't even HANG... really... I can do up to 4 negatives and feel they are really helpful but at the bottom when it comes to just hanging on the bar it KILLS me!! 

 

So instead of looking like a right arse in my gym I will now turn to my door frame pull up bar. Trouble is I've got to lift my legs up for them not to scrape on the floor and it feels even

more difficult but I might just be making excuses!! The bloody pull up is definitely a goal of mine though, it just might take another year or two (or a decade...) 

[starpuck]

I have read and heard around the loop, that the hardest part of the pull up, is the pull from the dead hang at the bottom.     I had wondered about this, as, last summer, I had managed to go from 0 pull ups, to 5 shitty form ones, back down to only 3 in good form, finally up to 5 GOOD form, dead hang, non-kipping pullups, and up to 5 sets of them.

 

Then I ... stopped doing them and had to start over.

 

I noticed something right away.  My assisted pull ups were cranking up in numbers.   Could do 3, then 6, then 8, then 10.   But trying to do the regular ones was flopping out.    I'm up to 3 again now, and here's what I did.

 

I tried to do full hang pull ups without assistance.   Every time.  Until finally I was able to do it.   Then, it becomes this:   Do unassisted until failure, then grab assistance band and do assisted to failure.      

 

This, combined with lots of inverted rows, seems to be getting them back for me finally.

 

ALSO!  I highly recommend the scapular pull ups that were linked in this thread via a video not long ago.     I think for women, it's a challenge for us to learn how to activate the lats in the back in that initial pull motion.    

 

Also, also - mastering the hang is a good first step.   Your grip and ability to hold your weight, has to come before the part where you start lifting your weight up in that whole defiance of gravity thing.

[Steppinon D'Arrows]

Man, I never was able to even do the monkey bars as a child.

Maybe when I get stronger and can do more than a few push ups I will try it.

[reynalia]

I can only do one pull-up from dead hang position. I usually get stuck in a partial position and cannot go past 90 degree. Chin-ups are a lot easier, and I can do 4 in a row. Still trying to increase my pull-ups and I totally agree with one of the posters above. I do the same lifts all the time and am always excited to lift heavier!