I Love Pull-ups!

I used to have a real love-hate relationship with pull-ups: I loved what they do to my back, lats, shoulders and arms but I used to hate to do them! The reason? I couldn't do as many pull-ups as I wished I could. Then I got wise: I tapped into some great pull-up exercises and variations and before I could say "5 sets x 10 reps" I was doing them! I am confident that you will have the same success I did if you apply yourself and set realistic goals. So let's get started!

Your Basic Pull-up

The basic pull-up is easy in theory but often difficult in execution. Why? Because you're pulling your own weight. And human weight can often be more challenging than hoisting iron. To get the maximum benefit from a pull-up, I recommend you keep your arms at shoulder-length. Start with the arms straight and your legs either flexed at the knee or criss-crossed at the ankles. Keep you palms facing OUT. That is, you are grasping the bar. If your palms were facing IN you would be doing a chin-up. Pull yourself up so your chin is over the bar. Then let yourself down. All the way down. Now repeat at least 10 times.

Easy stuff, right? If it was we'd be doing dozens of pull-ups. So why is it you are struggling after doing 3 reps?

Let's establish some ground-rules. How ever many pull-ups you can do is a good number. All you can is three pull-ups? Fantastic! Over the course of your workout just make sure you do at least 3 sets of 3 pull-ups. Try one set at the beginning of your workout, one at the midway point and one at the end. Continue for a week and then progress to 4 pull-ups. If you can do 4 than keep with 3. But stay focused on your goal.

In the meantime, work the muscles you need to do more pull-ups. The easiest way to do that is to just do pull-ups. Do as many as you can every day and you'll see success. I realize that is probably too easy a suggestion for many of you. So barring pull-ups, allow me to get you going on some prep-work. My favorite pull-up variation doesn't have a name. At least I don't think it does. Let me explain it to you and you can call it whatever you want:

1. Squat rack

Go to the squat machine and sit down on ground. Look at the level of where the top of your head is and lower the bar to that level. Now grasp the bar with your arms at shoulder length and your legs extended. You will be at a slight decline. Now go through the motions of doing a pull-up. You will find this is somewhat easier than a regular pull-up but with the same range of motion. Sometimes for variety I prop my legs up on a bench or small stool. I go for 4 sets of 20.

2. Use an assisted pull up machine.

The assisted pull-up machine allows you set how much of your weight you want to pull, and it provides the counter weight to balance it off. Your goal here would be to gradually increase the amount of your own weight using until you get to the point where you can pull 100% of your own weight. At that point, you'll be doing actual pull ups and can stop using the machine. If you don't have access to a pull-up machine, don't worry. Have a friend or spotter grab your ankles and give you an assist to help you up. Try for 4 x 20.

3. Lat pull-down.

The lat pull down is basically a machine version of the pull up. But, rather than pulling the weight up, you sit and pull the weight down to you. I've never seen a gym that doesn't have a lat-machine. Try for....you guessed it: 4x 20. (and let me add that while performs the lat pull-down you need to keep your arms at shoulder width, just as if you are doing a pull-up).

As easy as pull-ups are, it takes a lot of hard work to get your body in shape to do them. Supplement your regular work-out with these pull-up variations and you'll be doing the real thing and plenty of them in no time!

Yo may never reach a point where you actually love pull-ups. But I bet after you start seeing some progress you'll love what pull-ups can do for your body and that's what counts!