The Pullup

Learning Pullups at Home

Ah, the elusive pullup... one of my favorite exercises. Whenever I train a new client as soon as I mention pullups they cringe and tell me they can't do them. I've known very athletic people who've told me they managed two or three pullups in their whole life.

Pullups are an important part of any resistance training program. And resistance training is an important part of everyone's healthy lifestyle. You're never too old to start seeing radical changes in your health and energy level by adding resistance exercise. The Pullup is an important compound exercise that is often overlooked.

Certainly the heavier you are, or more specifically the lower your strength to weight ratio is, the harder pullups are going to be. Then there's the body-dangling-from-a-bar thing. That means some grip strength is required so you don't fall on your head.

Then there's the other problem... even if you wanted to do pullups and even if you could actually do them, how can you do them at home? Well this page will give you quite a few suggestions for that.

Then if you have a place to do them, you have to figure out how to do them. I mean you can't really practice if you can't even do one, right? Well I have several possible solutions for that as well.

Where to do Pullups

First let's talk about where to do pullups, then we'll discuss the how. Here's a quick list of places you might find a pullup bar:

• Gym/Weight Equipment Frames
• Gymnastic Equipment - Rings, Bars, Climbing Rope
• Playground Equipment
• Sturdy Tree Branch
• Deck or Overhang
• Steel I-Beam in the Basement
• Doorway Pull-up Bar
• Climbing Holds/Climbing Board
• An Open Door (on a sturdy hinge)
• Many other places...

As you can see there are lots of places you can do pullups aside from your local gym. Now most gyms will have assisted pullup machines, which actually offset your bodyweight making pullups easier. But, while such a machine is useful, there are other ways you can build your pullup skill without such a machine.

It is important that you make sure whatever you hang off of is strong enough to support your full weight and is designed to hold that much weight. Don't risk injury by hanging off shelves or some flimsy tree branch.

Once you can hold yourself at chin height on the bar, you can start trying actual pullups. Start out on a low bar (or standing on a bench/chair) and use your legs for assistance. Try to put as little weight as possible on your feet as you do the pullups. You might try using only one leg. Make sure you can hold yourself up on the bar in case you do slip. Along the same lines if you have a partner, that person can spot you while you do pullups by lifting your hips as you pull, taking some of the weight off of you.

Another thing you can try before graduating to regular pullups is jumping up into the pullup. Jumping pullups give you some upward momentum to make it easier on your back and arms. They're also a good overall workout. Just do a squat jump, grab the bar and pull... all in one motion. They're kind of fun too, but try hard not to whack your head on the ceiling if you're in a small room. 

Akin to jumping pullups are kipping pullups. This is technically an unassisted pullup, but it does not adhere to what we might term "strict form." Kipping pullups are performed by swinging the hips forward and up. This engages the core muscles to establish some upward momentum to take some strain off the back and arms.

It should be noted that some people refer to chin-ups and pull-ups as different exercises. Primarily they are referring to a difference in grip. For our sake, they're the same. Palm-in pullups, which are sometimes called chin-ups, are easier for most people than performing the same exercise with the palms facing outward or at another angle (such as one facing in/one facing out, or a rope grip).

Another great way to master pullups is to join a climbing gym, or get some climbing holds or a climbing board and mount it to a wall. Make sure it's mounted to a very solid wall and the holds/board are firmly affixed to the studs. If you attach it to drywall or plaster you'll end up on the ground in a pile of white dust with chunks of the wall on top of you.

Climbing indoors is very safe when you get the proper training and use the right equipment (ropes and harnesses if you go above a few feet, etc). The nice thing about climbing is that you can use your feet against the sheer wall to assist in pulling you up with your hands.

As you build up your max pullup capability you can move on to other grips, and new things such as throwing a heavy towel over your pullup bar, twisting it up and doing pullups on it as if you're climbing rope. You might try very close/narrow grip or very wide grip pullups as well.

Pretty soon you'll be attempting one-handed pullups like Stallone does in the movie Rocky 2. This is where you hold the bar with one hand and your wrist with the other. It looks impressive, but really isn't that much harder than a regular pullup. To do this you want to work on hanging from one arm first. Then eventually you can work on doing pullups without any assistance from the second arm. One way to transition toward this is to use just the tips of your fingers or a single finger on the second hand, then gradually move toward the solo arm.

Ok, we're getting carried away now. A minute ago you couldn't even hang from the bar now I'm getting you ready to do them with only one arm. Sounds crazy, but it is possible.

I know, you want to make pullups easier, not harder. So here's another way to make them easier. You might not like this suggestion, but here it is anyway... Lose weight. When you weigh less, pullups are easier. It had to be said.

Ok, some of you may have rushed out and tried to do a pullup on the top of the door and couldn't even hold on. So now what? Well the easiest way to start out is with a stretch band and a door frame. Just loop the stretch band over the top of the door. You'll want a short one like a figure-8 for this. Get on your knees and pull your arms to your shoulders.

This is basically just a door version of a lat pulldown you see on cable machines at the gym, but it uses around $5 of equipment, instead of hundreds or thousands. You may want to put a rag or something over the top of the door so you don't damage the stretch band.

Likewise if you really do pullups from an open door, make sure it's all the way open (so it doesn't close and smash your fingers as you hang from it), and put a towel over the top edge so you don't hurt your fingers. If you weight more than say 150 pounds (that's just a guideline it depends completely on your door hinges) you probably shouldn't be doing door pullups at all, unless you have church-sized doors on your house. Stay close to the hinge side so you put use less leverage against the poor little hinges. If you hear a cracking or creaking sound stop and pick a new way to do them.

Remember... I warned you. Please don't send me pictures of yourself lying on the bathroom floor with the remains of the door lying on top of you.

Obviously if you have access to gym equipment you can just use that and do lat pulldowns on a cable machine. The nice thing there is that the machines have a pad that you can wedge your legs under so you don't end up doing a pullup. Then again, if you can pull down enough weight to lift yourself off the ground, why not just do pullups, right?

Once you do progress, you might be inclined to add some resistance. This can be in the form of a weighted vest or just belting a weight around you. Hey, if you want to fill your pockets with lead shot that would probably work also. In any case, add some resistance as you gain strength.

If you're going for sheer numbers, you may be best served by doing more total reps in smaller sets. Don't work each set to exhaustion so you can do multiple sets. Then on some days go ahead and work to exhaustion in each set to fully breakdown the muscle and get optimal recovery.

As with any resistance exercise, remember to give yourself adequate rest time.

Why Pullups Increase Real Functional Strength

Simply put you need to do pullups to be in top shape. When you "lift weights" or partake in resistance training that essentially involves "lifting weights," or in our case lifting your bodyweight or stretching a band, you are for the most part "pushing" the weight, which means you're moving it away from your body.

In order to be in optimal shape, muscle strength should be balanced against it's antagonist. You wouldn't want to have very strong triceps (outside upper arm muscle) and very weak biceps (inside upper arm muscle), because you could actually injure your weak biceps just by straightening your arm.

So the best way to get pulling strength is by doing pullups. I'd say rowing would be a second choice, but pullups provide more valuable stretch to the lats (V-shaped muscle in the upper back). For those without enough strength to move their whole bodyweight, pulling motions tend to be problematic, hence this long, drawn out article.

Rowing is also a valuable exercise. This can be accomplished with a stretch band anchored to an immoveable object or even anchored around the feet. It can also be performed with a dumbbell from a bent position or leaning across a bench, or from a cable machine, or rowing machine. Or the obvious... you can row a real boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily... life is but a dream.

Enough talk about pullups (and other random things)... get out there and do some!

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