The purpose of this post is to explain how to do pull ups for beginners because of the following facts:

• Many people avoid exercise just because they don’t know how to do simple exercises properly (or at all) and they are too embarrassed to ask someone for help or advice.
• Many people who start exercising for the first time (or after a long layoff) end up injuring themselves because they begin an exercise program that is not appropriate for their level of conditioning?

Another reason for this post is because many people returning from shoulder injuries require a gentle transition into regular pull ups and so the steps outlined in this post should be helpful to people in this position.

First let me explain why pull ups are such a great exercise and why they should feature in any exercise program.

 

Pull ups are a great exercise because…

Pull ups are a brilliant, full body exercise when done with good form, as they work your chest, arms, back, and core and don’t require any expensive equipment. All you need is a pull up bar.

They require a lot of strength to perform them correctly which is why a lot of people avoid doing them. I’ve personally seen several “ripped” guys who are regular gym goers, struggle with pull ups.

The likely explanation for this is they have probably focused on isolation type exercises without realising that your body is designed to move seamlessly and fluidly and that it does this by utilising multiple muscle groups at a time.

Unless you train your body to work as “one” it will struggle to do so effectively which is why Calisthenics, aka bodyweight training, is so effective.

Why do you think the elite Military and Police units still use callisthenics?

It is simply because Calisthenics training makes you VERY strong while at the same time, retaining the ability to move quickly and easily over obstacles and so forth, carrying heavy loads and equipment.

Another benefit with pull ups, as with all bodyweight exercises, is that they are progressive and completely scalable, which makes them ideal for people of all levels of fitness.

What I mean by this is that you start out at a level that is comfortable for you and then as you get stronger you swap out the current exercise for a more difficult one from the pull up progression list.

For example, as a beginner, you can start with vertical pulls (easiest) and as you get stronger, move through the push up progressions until you can complete one armed pull ups (hardest).

 

So what are the progressions?

There are literally too many progressions to list (if you include variations and so on) but the list below gives you the basic outline:

1. Vertical Pull Ups.
2. Horizontal Push Ups aka Australian Pull Ups.
3. Assisted Pull Ups.
4. Regular Pull Ups.

Each of these progressions can be made harder as well using various methods such as:

• Doing a one armed variation of the exercise.
• Moving your hand position i.e. close grip, wide grip, reverse grip (chin ups), or staggered grip are just a few examples.
• Altering the movement pattern. An example of which would be “typewriters” (If you aren’t sure what a typewriter pull up is, just Google “typewriter pull ups” and check out the videos).

When going through the progression levels, you need to remember that as you advance, the number of reps that you can do will drop back initially until you build the strength.

For example, say you are on the assisted pull ups and can do 3 sets of 12 reps so it is time for you to progress to regular pull ups. When you first start out doing the regular pull ups, you will likely find that you can only do 6 or 8 reps per set.

Don’t let this get you down, this is a good sign and helps to build even more strength because low repetitions at such high intensity led to more muscle growth. Before you know it you’ll be back up to 3 sets of 12 reps and it will be time to progress again, at which time you’ll take another hit to your rep count.

That’s enough about that for now…this is about teaching beginners how to do pull ups so they can progress so let’s go through the first four exercises from the above list.

 

Vertical Pull Ups:

The following steps will outline how to do this exercise safely:

1. Open a door that has a good solid handle on each side.
2. Take a towel and wrap it around the handle on one side of a door and feed it around the thin face of the door and around to the opposite side of the door and feed the towel around this handle as well. This will give you a solid handhold.
3. Stand facing the thin face of door with your feet either side of the door and your hands holding each end of the towel.
4. Now bend your knees so that they are at 90 degrees and your hands are gripping the towel and close to your mid section. This is the starting position.
5. Keeping your knees bent and your core “tucked”, extend your arms so that you are hanging back from the door with your arms extended. Keep your elbows close to your side while doing this.
6. Now pull yourself back to the starting position, keeping your mid section “tucked/tight”, and your elbows close to your sides. Focus on the using muscles of your back, not your arms.
7. Repeat steps 5 & 6 until you complete the set.

Once you can complete 3 sets of 12 you should move onto the next progression i.e. horizontal pull ups.

Below is a quick video showing you the correct technique for vertical pull ups. The video features Mark Lauren, a fantastic fitness trainer who has a great range of products, all of which are available from our store.

 

 

Horizontal Pull Ups:

Horizontal Pull Ups aka Australian Pull Ups, are a significant but achievable step.

The following steps will outline how to do this exercise safely:

1. Lay beneath a solid horizontal object that allows you to fully extend your arms. You can use a table if you like but something like the Lebert Equalizer would be ideal.
2. Reach up and grab the bar (or table top) above you with an overhand grip, with your hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart. This is the starting position.
3. Keeping your body straight from head to feet by keeping your abdominals tight, pull yourself up towards the bar/table until your chest touches it. Do this without flaring your elbows out to the side to much.
4. Now lower yourself back down to the starting position under control without flaring your elbows to much and while making sure that you keep your body nice and straight by keeping your abdominals tight.
5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 until you complete the set.

Once you can complete 3 sets of 12 you should move onto the next progression i.e. assisted pull ups.

If this is exercise is a bit too difficult for you, you can move your feet in towards your butt so that your knees end up at 90 degrees.

Below is a quick video showing you the correct technique for Australian pull ups. The video features Al Kavadlo, a fantastic fitness trainer who has a great range of training books, including Raising The Bar and Pushing The Limits.

 

 

Assisted Pull Ups:

Assisted Pull Ups are very similar to regular pull ups, you just utilise either an exercise band or a chair below you to reduce the amount of effort required to pull yourself up.

If using an exercise band, simply attach it to the pull up bar and stretch it down until you can place your foot on it (the band should run across the width of your foot). This will assist you to pull yourself up.

As an alternative, you can place a chair below the bar and as you pull yourself up, you push off the chair with your foot to take some of the weight.

The following steps will outline how to do this exercise safely:

1. Attach the exercise band to a pull up bar, or place a chair below the bar.
2. Stand below the pull up bar, reach up and grab the bar in an overhand grip, with your hands shoulder width apart.
3. If there is room below you, hang from the bar. If not tuck your legs so that you are hanging from the bar. (Keep some tension in your shoulders so that they are not fully “relaxed” as this can cause injuries such as dislocation). This is the starting position and is often called the “dead hang” position.
4. With the assistance of the exercise band or chair, pull yourself upwards until your chin clears the bar. Keep your body “tight” throughout the movement (do not swing).
5. Now lower yourself under control back to the starting position (hanging below the bar) while keeping the rest of your body tight.
6. Repeat steps 4 & 5 until you complete the set.

Once you can complete 3 sets of 12 you should move onto the next progression i.e. regular pull ups.

Below are a couple of quick videos showing you the correct technique for assisted pull ups. The first demonstrates how to do the exercise with a resistance/exercise band, while the second demonstrates how to do the exercise with a chair (you should use the seat part of the chair though if possible).

 

 

Regular Pull Ups:

Great work…you have reached the final hurdle. Master the regular pull ups and you are officially no longer a beginner!

The regular pull up is essentially the same as the assisted pull up, you just remove whatever you were using to assist you, whether it be an exercise band or a chair and pull yourself up in the same fashion but without the assistance.

The following steps will outline how to do this exercise safely:

1. Stand below the pull up bar, reach up and grab the bar in an overhand grip, with your hands shoulder width apart.
2. If there is room below you, hang from the bar. If not tuck your legs so that you are hanging from the bar. (Keep some tension in your shoulders so that they are not fully “relaxed” as this can cause injuries such as dislocation). This is the starting position and is often called the “dead hang” position.
3. Now pull yourself upwards until your chin clears the bar. Keep your body “tight” throughout the movement (do not swing).
4. Now lower yourself under control back to the starting position (hanging below the bar) while keeping the rest of your body tight.
5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 until you complete the set.

Once you can complete 3 sets of 12 it official…you are no longer a beginner and will have developed a significant level of strength.

From here you can start to change things up a bit. You can start working towards one armed push ups or adding some variations such as close grip pull ups, wide grip pull ups, or even typewriters!

Below is a quick video showing you the correct technique for Australian pull ups.

 

 

I hope this article on how to do push ups for beginners was helpful to you and gives you the confidence to get stuck into some healthy exercise.

If you have any thoughts you would like to share, feel free to leave a comment below.

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Thanks

Jeremy