How I Did My First Eight Pull-Ups

I have spent most of my life looking at turnstiles, wanting to rise to their height. Sometimes I train hard and do one (1) pull-up. But then I relaxed for a hot minute and returned to zero again. I am a cis woman, not particularly gifted with upper body muscles. But last year, I decided I would focus on building strength for plural chin-ups, and I swear to god I did just that.

Here’s my qualification: In early October 2018, I could do about one pull-up on a good day. By the beginning of November, I had a second one. I added a third and fourth in December, then a fifth and sixth in January. I missed a lot of workouts in February and March due to illness, travel and life that got in my way. I kept doing chin-ups whenever I could, and in that time added a seventh repetition . Now I can do eight in a row and hope to get nine and ten soon!

Know the basics

First, the position of the hands matters. If your palms are facing you, this is a pull-up. If they are looking away from you, this is a pull-up. These are very similar movements, but the pull-ups are simpler, so you get your first (or next) pull-up before the same number of pull-ups.

Sometimes gyms have pullups on various equipment (look at the top of the machine or squat racks) and these are not always straight bars. There may be handles that are parallel to each other, giving you a grip halfway between the pull-up and the pull-up. I like those with two handles set wide apart. Your arms should be wider for pulling up than for pulling up, and when you do pull-ups, wider is actually a little easier. Play around with your hand positions and find out what works best for you.

Second, know what counts as a strict pull-up. In the top position, the chin should be above the bar. At the bottom, you should extend your arms and straighten, while the muscles of the shoulders are clenched behind the ears. If you see guys in the gym throwing a bunch of reps but only half descending, then they’re not doing the rigorous pull-ups they should, and you shouldn’t be impressed.

Kipping chin-ups are a different matter altogether. It is a movement in which youswing your body and use momentum to help you rise . This is a skill I didn’t master, and in fact the CrossFit instructor told me that you have to be able to do a few strict pull-ups before you can learn to bend. I just want to make sure I officially say kipping is not a hoax. This is a different exercise.

Don’t expect one magic move to take you there

When people talk about how to do the first or first few pull-ups, the discussion often boils down to a general consensus about which exercise is best or most effective. Some people swear by negative repetitions when you start at the top and work your way down. Others prefer bandaged pull-ups, machine-supported pull-ups at the gym, ring rows, or inverted barbell rows. This question is a great way to start a lively discussion because everyone has their own favorites, and yet many people might say they’ve tried one of the magic tricks but haven’t made any progress.

I suspect the truth is that you have to do many different exercises , not just one. I have had tremendous success with this six-workout program from Jennifer Blake and Jen Sinclair, in which pull-ups are a staple but nothing without appetizers and dessert.

This is what I mean. In this workout, supported pull-ups are the type that helps you do the bottom of the rep and makes you do more at the top. (Ribbon pull-ups are also similar.) There is another exercise in the program, shoulder-blade pull-ups, which work the lower part of the movement on their own. The authors then point out that you need to spend a lot of time doing Croc Rows (when you bend over and pull a heavy dumbbell to chest level) to “increase upper body mass.” In other words, we are talking not only about practicing one movement, but also about building up the absolute strength necessary to support oneself.

Commit and keep going

When I embarked on my pull-up trip seven months ago, I remembered Blake and Sinclair’s routine. I started doing everything in the exercise, but even when I got lazy and missed a few things, I tried to keep the important ones in rotation: lots of supported pull-ups, lots, lots of dumbbell rows.

It might be a feminine problem, but I’ve found that my body doesn’t cling to the upper body as well as it does to the lower body. If I am increasing the weight I can squat with, I don’t have to worry about losing that gain. But if I get some upper body gains and then relax, they disappear. So I decided to work on my deadlift exercises two to three times a week, no matter what.

I also have a pull-up bar at home, so I tried to pull up throughout the day , even if it’s just a random one-time repetition as I walk through the doorway. (If you don’t already have the first rep, you can develop this habit with one of the sub or negative options.)

Once you get a few, change your strategy

If you can only do one, two, or three pull-ups, this means that every time you do a set, you are likely to be “to failure,” to the point of not being able to do another rep. This is one way to work your muscles, but it is not the only one, and it may not be the best.

Let’s say you can do three pull-ups, but a set of three leaves you fully armed and unable to do more. Chances are you won’t do many sets of three during your workout. In fact, when I was in this situation, I could do one set of three a day, and after that only single or maybe doubles.

You may find it helpful to do sets one or two at a time. This still may not lead to a lot of reps, so keep doing chin-ups, rows and everything else. Now that I can do eight reps, I do most of my pull-up work in sets of five or so.

I also started working on weighted pull-ups. At the gym, look for a dangling chain belt: you can put a weight plate on the chain and let it hang between your legs. Or at home, load books or dumbbells into your backpack. I can do one pull-up with 18 pounds of extra weight, and one of these days I can do it with my 30-pound daughter hugging my legs. Wish me luck.