Get Awesome At Pull-ups

Every person who's ever step foot in a gym wants to be able to do pull-ups. It's easy to spot that person doing 20 pull-ups like it's a piece of cake. The reason it's so impressive is because anyone who has tried to do pull-up, fully understands the difficulty of this bodyweight exercise. With the immense difficulty of this movement comes great results when performed regularly. Doing pull-ups will build total body strength, add muscle and torch body fat!

So how do you get better at them? Let me enlighten you...

Step 1: Train your entire back

By doing exercises that train the back, such as rows and deadlifts, you will improve your overall back strength. This will build the overall strength required for pull-ups.

Step 2: Use the machines

There are various machines that will build your pull-up strength. Use the Lat Pulldown and Pull-up Assistance machines to complement your training. If your gym has a pullover machine, this is great for building the strength of the lats (a large muscle group in the back).

Step 3: Use slow negatives

A negative is the eccentric portion of a rep (where you lower the weight). To perform these during pull-ups, lower yourself from the bar slowly before pulling yourself back up. Do the lowering portion very slowly (for a count of 4-8 seconds if you can), keeping tension on the muscles and this will build up your strength quickly.

Step 4: Get a grip!

Improving your grip strength will help you hold onto that bar. There are many different ways to improve your grip. Hang from a bar, hold heavy dumbbells and carry heavy things around!

Step 5: Jump!

This is one of the best methods for improving your pull-ups. First, complete as many normal pull-ups as you can. Then when you can't do any more, jump up and grab the bar whilst using the momentum to pull your ass up. The more power in your jump, the easier this will be. This will take a little practice at first. The idea is to only jump as much as you need to, increasing the jump as you fatigue. This is also a great time to use slow negatives.

Step 6: Mix up your grips

Use different grips. Palms facing away, palms facing each other, palms facing you. Wide grip, medium grip, narrow grip. Use different equipment on the lat pulldown such as the v-bar, rope, etc. Mix it up. This will build more rounded strength and improve your overall physique.

Step 7: Follow a pull-up strength specific training programme

This is for sure the quickest way to improve your pull-ups. Follow a well designed plan that is aimed at improving pull-up strength and technique.

If you would like a specific training programme that will get you from doing 2 to 10 pull-ups in the fastest time possible, please like, share and leave a comment on this post to let me know!