We all know that doing pull-ups isn’t that easy, especially for beginners. For sure, it can be quite frustrating. When you can’t even do one proper pull-up, don’t be embarrassed we’ve all been there. Even those who are now the strongest people in the Calisthenics community also started weak. I remember when I couldn't do one (1) pull-up and my brother laughed at me, and it can be helped quite easily.
In our new topic today I’ll show you how to gain the necessary strength to finally achieve your first pull-up. Also below I'll provide a YouTube video so you see the proper form of every variation.
3 Easy Variations to Achieve Your First Pull-Up
1. Negative Pull-Ups
One way to finally get to your first pull-up is to implement the negative motion. Put your grip on the pull-up bar and hop, then resist gravity for as long as possible. Most people are much stronger in the negative part of the movement, so with time, you’ll be strong enough to be able to do one or more pull-ups. My recommendation would be to do 3 sets of 8 repetitions three times a week. So you’ll do this on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If you can’t reach the bar by jumping, get a chair and reach it by elevating yourself.
Here's the tutorial video of Bulldog Gear doing a negative pull-up.
2. Australian Pull-Ups
Australian Pull-Ups are another great way of improving your pulling strength. If you have a bar available, that is closer to the ground, you can start including it into your routine. Get your hips positioned directly under the bar, then reach up with your hands and apply your preferred grip. Then retract your shoulder blades and pull yourself up until the bar touches your chest. You can adjust the difficulty by lowering yourself or elevating yourself. My recommendation would be to do 3 sets of 12 repetitions after you have done your negative Pull-ups, which have been explained before.
Here's the tutorial video of Breaking Muscle doing an Australian pull-up.
3. Table Inverted Rows
I think you're not familiar with this variation, but table inverted rows is one of the best exercises in case you can't do the 2 variations that I mentioned above, you don't need any pull-up bars to do this exercise to do this. All you need is to find the table above in your stomach, go underneath the table, lay your back, put your grip on the edge of the table, and start pulling yourself. My recommendation would be 3 sets to 10-12 repetitions, This exercise helps you to strengthen your upper body, your back muscles, and the grip that you need to do a standard pull-up.
Here's the tutorial video of Alex Bunt doing a table inverted row.
Tips and Tricks
Many people fail to retract their shoulder blades when executing the pull-up. It is of great importance to start doing them correctly so that muscle growth can occur. By retracting your shoulders, your lats will develop and it will give you the illusion of having a V-taper.
As you progress with doing more and more pull-ups, start adding some weight. Progress is very important for you to achieve muscle hypertrophy and strength gain. You should probably keep track of your progress with a notebook or something of the like.
Conclusion
Doing pull-ups is not easy when you're a beginner, but you can do it with easy variations first to make you stronger. For me pull-up is not just a workout that strengthens your back muscles or makes you a V-Taper shape, it's a symbolized discipline. Maybe today you can't do one standard pull-up, but trust me, one day you can make not just one but a lot. Just trust your process.
Do you have any questions or suggestions regarding our post? don't hesitate to comment below.