How To Do Your First Pull-Up

The first pull up a huge milestone every beginner look forward to. Pull-ups can be quite intimidating as an exercise since they require a good level of strength and coordination to do. However, they are not that difficult if you’ve already built a good foundation of strength. Here is how to do a pull-up.

Using assistance:

If you know you have the strength for it, then you should first start using assistance exercises that will help you get the technique down first. The best way to do it is by using resistance bands to help you ascend.

Grab medium resistance bands with a good amount of tension and loop one end at the top of the pull-up bat. Step into the other loop with both feet and go for pull-ups. You should feel like the band is helping you go up.

Building strength:

You must be pretty strong to do a pull-up and it’s a good idea to build some power before you try. Here are some good exercises that will help you build strength.

This exercise will increase your strength specifically in the pull-up. Take a grip on the pull-up bar and jump up so your chin is already above the bar without using your back. The point of this exercise is to build muscle by using the eccentric part of the motion. Slowly lower yourself down to the starting position and then jump up again for a few reps.

One of the best exercises for building upper back strength is the lat pulldown and it works very similarly to the pull-up. It’s a machine that helps you use all the muscles in the pull-up without stabilizing muscles such as your abs and lower back.

This is the exercise of choice for powerlifters and bodybuilders when they try to increase the size and strength of their back. It’s definitely a great choice if you want to build your way into pull-ups.