How to progress your pull-ups!

It can be incredibly hard to achieve your first pull-up, trust me I understand - it took me around 2 years until I reached one. If it’s something you are working towards or struggling with, I am here to help! 

Here are 3 movements you can work on which will fast-track you to your first ever pull-up (or to achieving more if you’ve already nailed that first one). 

1 - Seated Pull-ups: 

These are a great place to start when working on your pull-up. What you have to do is set up a barbell at a height where you can sit on the floor underneath and reach up to hold the bar. Once set up, sit with your hips directly underneath the bar and hold on with your hands just wider than shoulder width apart. To switch on and use your lats efficiently in the movement, think about driving your elbows down to the ground as you pull your weight off the floor. Control back down to the ground between reps. You can make this movement easier by pushing more through the feet, or vice versa you can make it harder by using your feet less and upper body more. 

2 - Banded Pull-ups: 

Do you ever try these but struggle trying to loop the band over the top or find yourself stuck with one foot in the band? Well there is a much easier way to do these, you’ll be happy to hear! Grab yourself some J-hooks and set them up on the squat rack, then choose one or two bands and place them across the hooks. Then grab yourself a box or a bench so you can grab hold of the bar and step straight onto the band/s (don’t worry they won’t snap, I’ve been asked this countless times). To make the pull-ups easier, place the hooks higher up or choose more/thicker bands. To make it harder over time you can start to lower the bands or use a thinner one. 

3 - Eccentric Pull-ups: 

These are a great movement for everyone to practise, whether you’ve got that first pull-up or not! You can do these just bodyweight, banded or even weighted (see pic). ‘Eccentric’ refers to the downward part of this movement, so we are purely focusing on lowering yourself from the top of the bar down to the bottom, without having to pull back up. In order to do this, you’ll want to set up a box or something that allows you to step off and be holding yourself with your chin above the bar, then as slowly as you can lower yourself all the way to the bottom. Step back on the box to return to the top and repeat. Doing eccentric movements help to build time under tension, therefore building strength in the movement to improve your ability to perform the full movement. 

Give one or all of these a go at least once a week and watch your pull-ups take off! Remember, consistency is always key so keep practising.