I have NEVER been able to do a pull up.
My entire life, whether over or underweight or average and healthy, I have NEVER been able to pull myself over a bar, climb the rope in gym class...I could do hand stands though.
Anyways. I've been working out steady for about 4/5hours a week. Swimming, just started a "total gym" class, use small weights during kickboxing (parts of it at least).
Do I have to step up the weight routine to be able to do a pull up? Will push ups help me acheive this goal? Been there?
My goal is unassisted pull-ups. I am not there yet. I still use the assistance from the machine and lessen the weight each two weeks.
Some recommend negative pull-ups to start. Some recommend beginning w/ a flexed-arm hang....bend your knees and take your feet off the bench - hold for as long as possible. Negative pullups - from the flexed arm hang position, slowly lower yourself until arms are fully extended.
Good luck!
I was the same way for the longest.. What I did at first was start out with a giant band. My coach had me loop it around the bar and then loop it under my feet. I did that for a few weeks. Plus there are different weights of bands you can use so try eventually getting to the smallest one. After that I was able to do pull ups on my own. My work out calls for 2 x 10 pull ups but I do as many as I can which is normally around 2 x 6. And for me to be able to get those last 4 pull ups my weight partner will hold my feet behind me to give me a little help. Its all about baby steps! And youll get it.
this might be out there, but perhaps try using a scare tactic.. push your body to it's limits and get that adrenalin boost that may help you to achieve your goal
this is what I mean.. first start off with about 10 mins of cardio to get your heart rate up and the blood flowing.. and then attempt to do a pull up, BUT this time imagine that you are hanging for dear life from a cliff/tree/helicoptor..etc. and your only way of staying alive is to pull yourself up to safety
in a life or death situation you will have that much more motivation to push your limits... I'm not saying that you need to do this every time, but once you manage to do a pull up you will have more confidence in your abilities and should be able to repeat the move in the future...
the mind has great power over the body, and if your mind believes that you cannot do something then the harder it will be for your body to prove it wrong.. so think positive and believe that you are capable and strong... this negative "I can NEVER do a pullup" thinking has got to go
and don't do a bunch of weights before attempting pullups, or else you'll just fatigue your muscles and make it that much harder
If you're like me and doing pull ups at home, place a chair in front of you, and put one foot on the seat, and only use your leg to help when you can't pull up any more with your arms. When this becomes easy (It will take a while), turn the chair around and put your foot on the back of the chair. When that becomes easy, you should be able to do pull ups on your own. (It won't be as many as you were doing assisted, though, so be ready for that)
Push-ups won't help, but rows will. This is also being discussed in the "How to do a chin-up?" thread.
A few links to helpful articles, including the stumptuous one:
Ladies you can conquer the pull-up
Things you should know - how to do the pull-up
I think I've seen this topic before. Try searching the forums for Chin-up, pull-up, chin up, pull up, etc...
Don't feel alone! I think upper-body strength is a challenge for many women.
KC suggests a chair (if at home) and I found this technique really helped me. The further the chair, the more difficult it is. I am slowely building towards doing a pull-up from dead weight, but its a challenge! I just started the p90x workouts and even the chicks in the DVD's (and trust me, these girls are FIT) use the chair.
The more you forcus on gaining strength in your upper body, the more you will find you will be able to do a pull-up. And one day you will be able to do them from dead-weight. Keep pluggin' away!
If assisted and assisted w.chair is till compromising your form [meaning too difficult] start at home by placing two chairs 4 ft apart and placing a broom across them. Lie on floor and do slllooowww compound chin ups. Start with 4 sets @ 15 15 12 10. Once this is no longer diff. go to chair assist pull up. Also suggest doing push ups, lateral raises, raised dips all compound movements at 3 sets 15 15 12 10 to help build upper body strength before moving towards the pull ups.
Detours may take longer but they will still get you to your desired 'location'.
I'm a big fan of negatives for pull ups.
Let me just add, in case you're impatient like me: you probably want to warm up a little beforehand. Once I was finally able to to a full pull up from hanging, I was so giddy about it that I would jump up on the bar (I have one at home) at random intervals throughout the day and try to knock one out just for kicks. Took me doing that about three times before I came away with an achy elbow - tendonitis. Lesson learned. :)
Thanks everyone! Fitnessgirl, I will try the 2 chairs and broom suggesstion tonight. I've been trying to picture what you folks mean by using a chair for pull-ups at home and I just don't understand lol. I tried googling that, but didn't come up with much.
Is there a website I can find an image of what this looks like?
Signed,
Imagination Challenged.
Put chair underneath pullup bar. You will not be pulling yourself up from floor...you will stand on chair, grab hold of bar...then start pull up reps. [without putting feet back on chair..sometimes, people will need to use that chair/assisted before pulling back up but the point is..you need to be PULLING up and not using your legs.
I would start with the floor/chair/broom chin ups first..and push ups, chair dips, lateral raises...all which can be done at home. Do 4 sets of each ..as I said above at 15 15 12 10 and hopefully, in approx 8 weeks of doing those 3x's a week, you should be able to progress to pull up.
BEST OF LUCK!
Push ups will not help you achieve pull ups.
Rows, Lat pull downs and deadlifts will help you get their. Pull ups are very difficult hence why the pull up bars are the least used piece of equipment in a gym! lol
Here is a video that will show you one position on a neg. pull-up:
http://www.ehow.com/video_3192_pull-.html
I usually push the chair in front of me (this is how they do it in p90x) instead of directly below (as in this vid). But the closer the chair is the easier it is. As you get stronger you can move it away from you to challenge yourself. When doing a neg. pull-up, focus on your arm and back muscles doing the bulk of the work rather than the leg. This way you are building those upper-body muscles to get the results you want.
Good luck!
