Hi all.

I have always had a problem with pullups. Even when I was fit in high school, lifting like a madman, I couldn't do them.

Now, I am losing weight and getting back into shape, but I am really eying the pullup bar. For someone who has never been able to do them, what kind of lifts should I be doing to ensure I can one day fulfill my dream of ups?

Do you have one of those machines where you can pull yourself up on the bar but your knees rest on a platform? There are weights where the less you use the more you are using your body weight. Do you know what I'm talking about? If you do...try one of those machines and try doing pull-ups on those but with some weight to help you get back to the starting position. This way it's not a "dead lift" like the pull-up bars. Also, you can then slowly lower the weight as you get stronger in the exercise. It's an idea!

Build up your lats with the lat pull-down machine using the full range of motion ie. from straight arms to behind the neck.

I had trouble figuring out how to work up to pull-ups too. Going to a gym is not convenient for my schedule. I have a ghetto-tacular weight bench with no pulldown attachments. My spotter is my great-uncle who is in his 70s, so I don't feel comfortable having him assist me with pull-ups - he'd have to compensate for half my bodyweight or more.

So I took some advice here and did negatives -- where you stand on something so you start out in the "finished" position of the pull-up, and lower yourself down to the "starting" position. The problem with those is you have no way to track your progress. You can either do a pull-up or you can't.

After more frantic Googling, I hit on the answer. Go to your local fitness/sporting goods store and look for exercise flex bands. I'm not sure what they're proper name is, but they're just lengths of rubber or rubber tubing. They come in color-coded grades, each providing more resistance. Be sure to get a full set, lightest to heaviest resistance.

Buy some handles to go with them - they should be bundled nearby in an "exercise kit" or the like. Then buy a pull-up bar that mounts on your door frame, if you don't already have one.

Take the heaviest grade flex band, fold it in half, and then thread it through the exercise handles. Make sure they're good and secure. Then, stick the pull-up bar through the handles, and attach it to the wall.

What you should have is your pull-up bar, and a short length of rubber tubing dangling from it like a "U." Now get something to stand on, carefully fit your knees into the "U" (this is a bit tricky), and do pull-ups. Presto! You now have a cheap, homemade Graviton machine. As you get better at the exercise, swap out the flex bands for "lighter" bands that provide less resistance. Before too long (I hope) I won't need them at all!

This is the solution I've found, but it may not necessarily work for everyone. If there's any interest, let me know and I'll post pictures of my little Goldberg contraption.

Assisted pullup/dip machines are t3h r0xor: use one of those if you can find one. Like woodenkey said they typically have a bar/platform you can put your feet/knees on, and some counter-weights. If you can find one of these, set it to maximum assist and start doing fully-formed pull-ups. Also hit the lat pull-down machine heavy. Between the two you should see big improvements.

Another method is to put a step under a standard pull-up bar. Step up to the bar and get into the "up" postition, then slowly lower yourself down until your arms are fully extended. Do that for a while, then start helping yourself up with the crate when you're ready.

You probably won't be doing pull-ups in 2 weeks, but in a few (5?) months you should be able to pump out a few.

As an example, using the assisted pull-up machine and lat pull-down I've gone from 2 sets of 5 pull-ups with 112lbs of assist, to 3 sets of 8 pull-ups with 52lbs of assist in about 3 months. I'm hoping that by the end of summer (August/September) I'll be doing real pull-ups.

This is the solution I've found, but it may not necessarily work for everyone. If there's any interest, let me know and I'll post pictures of my little Goldberg contraption. I've got to see it -- that sounds like an awesome hack :nod: :tucool:

In addition to the good advice here, there's some good information in this thread: http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=2676
I don't yet have a lat pull down, so I used Arnold's strategy as presented by Sole. At first I could only do 1.5 pullups, and now I'm up to 3X3.
If you're not able to do one full pullup yet, I would take a combination of the suggestions here until you're able to do 3 sets of 1 successfully, then do the Arnold strategy.
It's really a challenge for those of us that have always struggled with pullups, but the compound exercise is very much worth it. Since I've started to make progress on pullups, I've noticed the area of flab around the triceps become less flabby, which makes my arms look more "complete". :gl:

Hi all.

I have always had a problem with pullups. Even when I was fit in high school, lifting like a madman, I couldn't do them.

Now, I am losing weight and getting back into shape, but I am really eying the pullup bar. For someone who has never been able to do them, what kind of lifts should I be doing to ensure I can one day fulfill my dream of ups? Do negatives. Use a chair to step up (or just jump) and grip the bar in the "up" position, and slowly lower yourself down to a dead hang -- try a 5-second count (or less if it's too hard at first). Start out with a few of these, maybe 2-3 sets (or whatever you can handle), a couple times a week. Gradually increase the number you do, and the length of your negative. Once you can do several of these, you will be plenty strong to do complete pullups.

Once you can do a few (and trust me, consistently doing negatives will get you there), if you're really looking to rock on pullups, look into Recon Ron's Pullup Workout (http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~moi/pullups.htm). It's hardcore (for Marines who want to ace their PT), but it works! :tu:

The only way to get better at pullups is to do pullups.

Personally, the lat pulldown bar didn't work for me. I used one of those Gravitron machines to work my way up to full body weight. I can do maybe 6 pullups in a row now.

If you don't have access to a Gravitron machine use a chair. I'm assuming you have a doorway pullup bar.

Place the chair in your doorway, stand on it and grab your pullup bar. Keep your toes on the edge of the chair and lower yourself down. Use your legs for assistance on the way up. A big part of doing pullups is muscle memory so don't just do this in the morning or in the evening. Every time you pass that pullupbar do a few pullups. Try to do 15 or 20 a day. You'll be doing unassisted pullups before you know it.

Good luck.

This is my first post in quite awhile... what can I say other than I got a new job and I've been a little shy of net forum usage. ;)

A lot of people are proponents of dip assistance machines and they're a really great option. Personally, I feel that actually doing pull-ups and being assisted by around the ankles by your workout partner is far superior. About 4 months ago I couldn't do but 3 normal pull-ups doing just my body weight. Now, I can do 3 sets of 8 with 25 pounds strapped to me. Of course that doesn't mean that things would not have worked out exactly the same, or better, had I used the machine instead.

This obviously doesn't help the original poster, but I think that some of you ought to give this a go for a couple of weeks just as a change of pace. You might surprise yourself.

All right. Sorry about the delay - this is the flex band solution I've put together.

You could do lat pulldowns, but really if you're able to do at least one pullup with good form you're golden. I started out only able to do 3 at a time, but I'd just say "I'm going to do 20 pullups" and I'd do all of them, one at a time with little breaks if I had to, and eventually I could do 10 no problem.

Snollygoster, I like your creativity! Do be careful,though. I don't want to see you in Lurifax's injury thread.

Snollygoster, I like your creativity! Do be careful,though. I don't want to see you in Lurifax's injury thread.

I scoot a footstool underneath and usually have one of my grandparents help pull the flex band under my knees to support me. It seems pretty safe to me - the only danger I've encountered is having the band whap me in the face unless I take care getting off it. :o