Drills for achieving your first pull up

**Curt James** · 11-05-2014, 05:09 PM

Drills for achieving your first pull up

1. Bent Over Rows/Batwings

Whereas vertical pulling can exaggerate bad posture, rowing makes it better. My favorite rowing drill will always be bent over rows. I am a big believer in them and know that when I do them my pull up numbers always go up quickly. The key is not to focus on just getting the bar to the bottom of the ribcage, but to hold it there for a short time, like a solid two count. Dan John has a variation of a row he calls Batwings, which is an isometric row done with longer holds, but I like to have clients use some decent weight for these.

These rows are not just a beginner exercise to build up to your first pull up, but can also be a great assistance exercise. I generally find that your row weight is a good indicator of your pull up 1RM.

2. Ring Rows

My second favorite row variation is the ring row. The added benefit with these is that not only do we get the same benefit we get from other rows – starting to reverse all the time spent in internal rotation – but we also have the benefit of teaching clients to keep their body locked together. To perform a ring row well, the body needs to stay in a straight line throughout the movement, just like it should during a pull up. I find it teaches them how hard they need to work pulling their elbows back to get their upper back working properly. Without that activation, they’ll always struggle to finish their pull-up.

3. Jumping Pull Ups

As clients start to build some more strength, we can move to the pull up bar. While they will likely still be struggling to get their first pull up, they will be able to do jumping pull ups, which can be a great first move on the bar. Simply stand under a pull up bar that you can hold onto and jump up so that you are at the top position of the pull up. Hold the top position for a two count, really focusing on squeezing your shoulder blades together and then lower down under control. Let your feet touch the ground, then jump up again and repeat the process for the desired number of reps. This takes advantage of the fact that eccentric training is far stronger than concentric training – in other words, you are much stronger while lowering a weight than you are while lifting it. A few sessions of negatives done at the right time will see someone go from having never done a pull up to achieving their first one.

4. Sled Pulling

At this point I like to add in one of two things. The first would be sled pulling. Attach a rope to a sled and pull it towards you, in hand-over-hand fashion. The key is to make sure not just to pull with your arms. Instead, just like with the rows, focus on pulling your arm as far back behind you as you can. The sled can be a good transition to hard pulling work, as it’s possible to load it with as much or as little weight as needed.

5. Rope Climbing

The next step to develop some great arm strength is rope climbing. Remember, though, that we’re doing this to develop our pull up strength. Just like we used eccentric training to quickly boost strength with the jumping pull up idea, we can do the same with rope climbing. We’re not even going to worry about climbing the rope – just use your feet and climb in the most energy-efficient manner possible. Once you get to the top of the rope, I want you to come down using only arm strength. This is a great way to build both the grip and arm strength required for strong pull ups.

At each stage along the way, there are more ways we can look to fix the weak links via added isolated work. Remember isolation exercises are not evil or non-functional if they help you perform better.

And now we've arrived at the final key to the first pull up puzzle: bodyweight. Even dropping a few pounds can make a massive difference in your ability to get your first pull up. So perhaps the first exercise needed for pull up success is a push to get away from the dessert buffet.

Full article @ http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-c...doing-pull-ups