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There are the lot too many questions on our website where it’s asked for us to explain on how to progress on the pull-up. As you may know many people have trouble getting their first pull-up and even if they work on those negative chin-up and pull-up progressions after a month or sometimes even more they are still stuck on that progression level.
Well for all of those who will find themselves in this article don’t worry because this is not some serious problem and it’s easy to fix.
First of all we believe this can be a mental problem. Don’t get us wrong but many people when they first start exercising are afraid to get out of their conform zone.
Comfort zone is an LIE!
In order to progress and achieve great things in life, you got to go through pain.
You got to endure pain and use the pain as your motivation.
There was a great motivational quote by one of the best basketball skill trainers in the world the I’m Possible Training founder Micah Lancaster who once said –
“ I love pain! Pain is my motivation. And for all of you that say that pain is weakness leaving the body it’s NOT!
Pain is proof that weakness still exists in the body”
Such a great quote!
You should drive from here. For every problem where you are stuck in something for the longer period than usual ask yourself, Am I motivated enough? Am I pushing myself until I empty my gas tanks to zero?
If on both of these question the answer is YES then you are good to go on to the next part of this article and if not then you should definitely work on your mind because the mind is everything.
We think this is enough from a mind standing point and that we should proceed to a more technically oriented content on how to remove sticking points and find the weakness that troubles your pull-up progress.
Why had we implemented this picture above?
Because it makes great sense!
Each and every athlete that starts from 0 and wants to progress to getting a calisthenic master should know that 80% of all calisthenic movements include the scapula contraction.
Before we get started we strongly recommend watching our video on Pull Up Mistakes
Lets dive in
*How to work on scapula contraction?
Before your main workout make 10 warm-up sets of a couple of reps of the scapula contraction. If this is too easy, add scapula holds where you hold the top position of the contraction.
“I’m stuck at the negative pull-ups for a month, what should I do?”
We got this question from one of our daily visitors that has a problem with his pull-up progression. He got stuck on the isometric leverage on the pull-up something that should not happen if you practice it on a regular basis and with perfect form. We don’t say that our visitor doesn’t use perfect form but what we say is that we believe he is not putting enough effort into it.
There’s one simple formula on getting the first pull-up.
Work each and every day until you knock down one pull-up
This is already proven. Our founder Jeff Cowan thought few trainees 2 months ago on how to get their first pull-up.
He just said this! Work until you get that pull-up. That means if you practice negative pull-up progression for 2 or 3 days in a week that way you will progress less fast than someone who does this exercise for 7 days a week.
If you are a beginner you need to know that your body recovers faster and you are able to see huge results in a matter of 3 months. That’s why you should not calculate much but instead give everything you got by working out 6 days or even 7 days a week.
On the other hand we all have different genetics and body composure’s so there may be a case where someone gets stuck on one progression for a longer period. We always teach of clients that they should never stop working even if they can’t perform a single pull-up progression. There is an additional equipment that can be used to perform exercises who can target the same muscles which are used in the Pull-up.
We recommend doing these exercises day in and day out every day until you get 10 pull-ups in one set.
– Band Lat-Pull Down
– Band Row
– Band Biceps Curl
– Band Front Shoulder Raises
– Band Rear Delt Raises
– Band Arnold Press
All exercises are to be performed for 15 to 20 reps for 3 rounds. The rest period should be from 1 to 2 minutes between sets because we are working on building strength. By doing this set of exercises, you will strengthen the needed muscles groups, muscle groups which are used in the pull-up. Despite this, we should not forget to work on the main pull-up progressions such as Pull-Up isometric holds, Half Pull-Ups, Band Assisted Pull-Ups, Partner Assisted Pull-Ups and other. If you us we are skeptics about the Band Assisted Pull-Ups and we believe that the body should always get used to itself. By doing assisted exercises, you won’t progress much. The time needed for the body to get used to the movement is short and remember you are lifting your own body weight not 300 lbs. Our point is that the chances of you getting injured are very low.
Practice without help!
We believe that everyone can hold 3 seconds on the top of the pull-up. If you can’t perform a pull-up hold then you will definitely hold a chin-up.
Practice on getting the first Chin-Up instead of Pull-Ups and once you get in a position to do 5-7 Chin-Ups you will be so close to achieving your first Pull-Up.
*How to construct a workout to work on sticking points?
This is so simple. You start with the MAIN workout by doing as many sets and repetition of the selected Pull-Up progression as yo can!
That means if you are doing Chin- Up Holds for 3 seconds perform them until you can’t hold a second. Make sure you get enough rest between sets.
Challenge yourself! Try to endure longer each and every time.
After you are done with the Main Workout then it’s time for the BAND SET of exercises-
– Band Lat-Pull Down
– Band Row
– Band Biceps Curl
– Band Front Shoulder Raises
– Band Rear Delt Raises
– Band Arnold Press
All exercises are to be performed anywhere from 12 to 20 reps for 2-3 rounds. The rest period should be from 1 to 2 minutes between sets because we are working on building strength.
* But what about the CORE?
We should definitely not forget about the core.
Maybe the core is used o more than 20% in the Pull-Up but the stronger the core is the easier you will progress on the other pulling exercises and holds. A Strong core, Arms, and Back means that you will perform Front and Back Levers, Muscle-Ups and other pulling exercises with ease!
The Calisthenic method involves all muscles of the core except for the lower back muscles so you better search for bodyweight exercises who targets that part. Once you build up enough strength and you make training session with 300 or more Pull-Ups then you won’t need to perform regular crunches or sit ups because your core will be strong as hell already!
That would be all from this post.
We ran through everything that was necessary in order to fix the points that troubleshoot your Pull-Up progression.
As for the end, we will like to have a short post conclusion:
– Work on your motivation and get out of your conform zone!
– Learn the scapula contraction the key to a pulling success
– Don’t do assisted exercises because they will slow down the progress
– Do the given band exercises until you build enough strength
– Work your core, it will help you on a long run
Until next time,
Work Hard, Work Smart, Live Healthy
