#pullup help

I have an old youtube video on working up to your first pull-up. Below is a general write up.

You can start at the bench station: Lay on a flat bench with the barbell unloaded and racked. With your hands in bench press position, pull your body up from the laying position up until your chest is near the barbell. Do these for sets of however many you can do.

Get to a smith machine: Adjust the bar to a little lower than chest height. Hold onto the bar with both hands and create an angle with your body (your feet should be waaaay in front of you). Mimic a pull up with your feet on the ground.  It’ll look just like doing the table assisted pull-up pictured below, only picture the smith-machine bar instead of the table edge.

Assisted pull up machine: Do sets every back day. I started my pull up training with one of these. Not many gyms have them, however. If yours does, stop using it once you surpass the smallest weight assistance (usually 25lbs) and move onto the next step.

Reverse pull ups: This will usually be the final exercise before you can do pull ups. Find a smith machine with the bar above chest height, or a pull up station (you’ll have to find a step-up box to get you to the top of the pull up position). You’ll start the exercise at the topmost position and slowly lower yourself down the the lowest position of the pul lup. Release and climb back up the top position. Do this for sets/reps.

Tips: 1. Just hang around. Build up grip strength by hanging for as long as you can at  a pull up station (or anything else you can hang off of).

2. Do chin ups: While it works some different muscles than the traditional pull up, it is a great way to practice lifting yourself up with the aid of your biceps. You can also slowly widen your grip with chin ups to transition into pull ups!