Pull-ups are arguably the toughest bodyweight exercise to perform. However, the pull-up has many benefits and let us admit, it looks hardcore when you can do them for reps in the middle of a gym.
While it is super difficult for beginners, the pull-up can be mastered with a few weeks of practice.
Anyone can get better at pull-ups. At the beginning of my journey I could barely do a chin-up, and now I can do them with weights and with different variations.
What you need to understand is that everyone starts at zero. For me, zero was literally zero. What you need to do, is find a pull-up variation that you can execute. This will be tough enough as a beginner, but it will build your strength and you will get used to the motor patterns of the pull-up.
In addition to working your back, pull-ups strengthen and sculpt your shoulders, forearms, and chest. They also engage your abs, including your deep transverse abdominis, making them a great exercise for targeting many of the major muscles in the body.
For starters, you can assist yourself with resistance bands. With this variation, you attach a resistance band to the top of the pull-up bar and place your feet within the band. This way, the elasticity of the band will assist you in pulling yourself up to the bar.
There are various types of resistance bands, so you can play around with that and work your way up to a regular pull-up.
Remember, the thinner the band, the less it will help you.
But wait… there’s more!
If your gym has an assisted pull-up machine like the one at Space Gym, you can also give this a shot.
The mechanism of action is similar to that of the banded pull-up, but here the assistance curve is proportionate throughout the entirety of the movement.
With bands, you’ll get the most assistance at the bottom part of the movement – this is also the most difficult part of the movement. With the assisted pull-up machine however, you are supported throughout the entire movement.
Arguably, the assisted pull-up machine is therefore a bit easier, since you won’t need to support your full weight at the peak of the contraction. With this machine, you can work your way up to a regular pull-up by decreasing the counterweight that lifts you up.
Now that you are equipped with this information, the only thing left for you to do is pick your poison and get to the gym. Time to do pull-ups.
