Pullups: How to get strong enough to do them!
"I want to be able to do a pull-up" is a comment I hear often from women. Guys want to bench press a lot of weight.... but women want to do pull-ups. Pull-ups are a far better exercise!!
The fastest way to increase your strength in pull-ups is to focus on the negative phase of the pull-ups (the lowering portion of the exercise).
Whether you can do a pullup or not, the technique is the same:
If you can lower yourself under control (but can't pull yourself up) this shows that you have the strength to do a pullup within a few weeks of concentrating on doing negative reps.
Can do pull-ups:
If you can already do pull-ups then negative workouts will increase your strength quickly. Perform your max number of pull-up and then see how many you can do after 3 weeks of training like this.
The fastest way to increase your strength in pull-ups is to focus on the negative phase of the pull-ups (the lowering portion of the exercise).
Whether you can do a pullup or not, the technique is the same:
- use a bench, stool etc... to get into the top position
- lower yourself down under control
- use the bench to get back into the top position
- repeat
If you can lower yourself under control (but can't pull yourself up) this shows that you have the strength to do a pullup within a few weeks of concentrating on doing negative reps.
Can do pull-ups:
If you can already do pull-ups then negative workouts will increase your strength quickly. Perform your max number of pull-up and then see how many you can do after 3 weeks of training like this.
- Caution: When you lower yourself, never lower to a position where your arms are completely straight (as if you are just 'hanging' there). Always keep a slight bend in your elbows,. when you are are almost straight, use the stool to stop from going into a hang. "Hanging" takes the stress off the muscle (where it should be) and places it on the shoulder and elbow joints.
- Careful: Negative repetitions put a lot of stress on the muscles and tendons, so start easy. Do a few negative reps in your next workout, then increase it with each workout (ex workout #1: 4 negatives; workout #2 (later in the week) 8 or 9 negatives; workout #3 (following week) 3 sets of 4 etc.... slowly increase the number you do so that the muscles and tendons have time to get accustomed to the extra stress.
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