What are the best exercises to help you get your first pull up?
Well my friend, that’s exactly what we’re going to cover in this article.
I’m going to give you the best pull up alternatives and pull up progressions so that you can work your way up to your first pull up.
Now, don’t get me wrong… pull up’s are freaking hard dude.
Getting your first pull up is one of the best feats of strength you can accomplish.
They require a lot of hard work, patience, muscle, strength, and grit.
It’s an exercise that most people can’t do even one of. So just being able to do one place you above 99% of other people.
So even if you can’t do one pull up right now, my hope is that you can get your first pull up after reading this whole article.
Pull Up Muscles Worked
First, let’s cover the pull up muscles.
Now, I know I’ve been saying “pull up” so far but what I’m really talking about is a “chin up”.
The main difference between the two is your hand and elbow position.
During a pull up, your palms are facing away from you. As a result, your back has to do the brunt of the work since your biceps aren’t there to help out as much. And typically with your palms facing away, you’re elbows will facing out more which will also make it harder.
On the other hand, a chin up is where your palms are facing you. This brings your biceps in the equation, which helps assist your back muscles in pulling you up. It’s almost like having someone there to give you en extra boost. Plus, your elbows will be closer to your body which will make it easier as well.
So I will continue to refer to a chin up as a pull up through out this article so that it can reach more people. Just know, I’m talking about your palms facing you.
Other than your biceps, the main muscle group being worked in the pull up is your back muscles. More specifically, your lat’s, rhomboids, traps, and basically all of your other mid/upper back muscles. These back muscles are the muscles responsible for pulling things towards your body. And in a pull up, you’re back muscles are pulling your body up to the bar.
The next muscle group that will help you get your first chin up is going to be your abs. Not only are these muscles great for getting you ready for the beach, but they’re also great for increasing pull up strength and pull up form. They help stabilize your body by keeping it straight and preventing it from swinging, which is going to make getting your first pull up much easier.
The last set of muscles being worked is your grip. These involve the muscles in your hand/forearms which are responsible for holding onto things. If you can’t hold onto a bar, then how do you expect to pull yourself up to the bar? You can’t, right? So having a strong grip is great for carrying in groceries/luggage and getting your first pull up.
Now, let’s dive into the 5 exercises that will help you get your first pull up.
5 Pull Up Variations: The Pull Up Progression
Now is the fun part.
The part where you can begin to work your way up the pull up progression ladder.
These pull up variations will start from the “easiest” and progressively get “harder” as you progress.
They’re going to help you build pull up strength and muscle while also teaching you how to improve your pull up form.
1. Lat Pull Down
This is one of the best beginner pull up alternative exercises to help you get your first pull up.
A lat pull down machine is great to start with because there’s not much of a learning curve with form and technique. You simply sit down and pull the bar down. It’s basically that simple.
Plus, it’s easier to isolate your back muscles, which will improve your pull up form.
To Do:
1. Sit down and grab the bar with an underhand grip to use your biceps (I like to use a thumbless grip).
2. I want you to think of pulling down and back through your elbows – not your hands – and finish by bringing your chest to the bar.
Doing this will help you use your back muscles instead of your arm muscles.
3. Once you pull the bar all of the way down below your chin, slowly allow the bar to come up until your arms are fully straight.
4. Repeat.
2. Hollow Body Hold
Remember how I said that your abs play an important part on how to get your first pull up?
Well, a hollow body hold is a great pull up alternative exercise to strengthen your abs.
This is because the way you’re laying on the ground mimics the same pull up position you’d have hanging onto a bar.
Therefore, they are probably one of the most underrated exercises to help you get your first pull up.
To Do:
1. Lay on your back with your hands above your head like you’re going to sleep…but don’t actually fall asleep.
2. Press your low back into the floor like you’re trying to smash a bug on the ground. This’ll instantly “activate” your abs.
3. Lift both your feet and hands off of the floor simultaneously. You’ll immediately feel you abs and core working hard. The closer your hands and feet are to the floor the harder it will be.
4. Now, here is the important part… keep your low back pressed into the ground to keep your abs turned on the whole time. If your lower back comes up off of the floor, the tension gets taken away from your abs. So really focus on keeping that low back pressed against the floor.
3. Inverted Row
An inverted row is the first pull up progression.
It’s basically an easier version of the pull up since your legs are on the ground vs hanging in the air.
If you’re not pulling up your legs up with your torso, you’re not lifting as much weight. (Duh!) and it requires less stability since you don’t have to work to prevent your legs from swinging.
However, just because it’s easier doesn’t mean it’s a worse exercise.
It’s one of the best pull up alternative exercises to improve your pull up form and strengthen the pull up muscles.
To Do:
1. You can use a barbell, smith machine, or TRX Straps for this movement. Set the bar or straps somewhere between belly button and chest height.
2. You can start from your butt or standing up to grab the bar and get into proper position (watch the video for more detail). The more upright you are, the easier this movement will be. The more forward you move your feet and become horizontal, the harder it will be.
3. Brace your core! This is an important step for great pull up form! So practice it now so that when you get to a pull up, it’s already second nature.
Take a big breathe in, push out your belly like someone is going to punch you in the stomach, and pull yourself up.
4. Remember to think of pulling through your elbows vs your hands so that you use your back. Bring your chest to the bar, hold it for a second, and slowly lower yourself away from the bar, with control, until your arms are straight.
Bonus: If you can get 10 good quality reps with where you’re at, move your feet forward or even elevate your feet to make it more difficult.
4. Assisted Chin Up
It’s time to finally to learn how to use a pull up bar.
The pull up assist with a band is one of my personal favorite progressions as you’re working towards your first pull up.
It’s a great exercise to learn how to use your core and stabilize your body.
Like I briefly mentioned before, you’ll notice you’ll be swinging around like you were on the monkey bars as a kid. The goal is to stop swinging before you pull yourself up. Why? Because that’s a sign that you’re using your core.
The only thing that sucks is the set up the first few times you do it. You’ll probably feel silly and a bit awkward but we all do. Once you get it, you’ll be good to go.
Also, make sure the band doesn’t have any tears or rips in it either. The last thing you want is a shot to the face from the band snapping in half when you’re doing chin ups.
To Do:
1. You can either use a chair, bands, or a machine for assistance.
The band is great because it helps you at the hardest part of the movement which is the bottom. As the band is stretched out at the bottom, it gives you more assistance. As you pull yourself up, you’re using more of your strength because the band is giving less assistance. Plus, you can adjust the difficulty too. The thinner the band, the harder it will be because there will be less assistance. The thicker the band, the easier it’ll be because there will be more assistance. So yeah, I’m a big fan of the band assist pull up.
2. Set the band up on the bar and place your foot or knee in the loop.
3. Brace your core and stop yourself from swinging before your pull yourself up. This’ll likely be the hardest part.
4. Be explosive and think of pulling yourself up to the bar. Once there, slowly lower yourself down.
5. Negative Chin Up
Now we’re really ramping up the strength and getting you ready to learn how to do your first pull up.
The “negative” portion is when you’re lowering yourself towards the ground.
Why does this matter?
Because you’re stronger and can also build more strength in the eccentric portion of lifts – meaning you can lift more weight.
So basically, this is a pull up alternative where you’re NOT pulling yourself up to the bar. Instead, you’ll start at the top and focus on fighting gravity on the way down to really build that pull up form and strength.
To Do:
1. Use a bench, box, or a chair to assist you up to the bar.
2. Grab the bar with an underhand grip about shoulder width apart. Jump up so that you’re hanging at the top.
3. Remember, squeeze your butt and brace your core so that you can stop yourself from swinging BEFORE you begin to lower yourself down.
4. Once you’ve stopped swinging, slowly lower yourself down. I want you to think of it like you’re fighting gravity and you don’t want gravity to win! Fight against it pulling your down.
5. Once you reach the ground, let go of the bar and repeat. You should try to strive for a 3-5 second eccentric on each rep or work your way up to that.
6. How to Get Your First Pull Up
I’m going to be real with you…This is probably going to be one of the hardest things you’ve done.
But that’s ok because I know for a fact you can do this because one, I’ve trained everyday people like you for 5 years who’ve gotten their first pull up.
And second, you’re reading this article so I know that you CAN do it.
To Do:
1. Grab the bar by either jumping up or standing on something to give you a boost.
2. While you’re hanging at the top, remember to brace your core like someone is going to punch you in the stomach, squeeze your butt cheeks, and make sure to keep your legs as straight as possible. The last thing you want to do is be swinging all over the place.
3. This is probably the most underrated tip out there….Be EXPLOSIVE at the bottom. I want you to imagine you’re ripping the bar out of the wall at the bottom. I’ve seen this help people go from no pull ups to getting their first. (Some were able to get multiple).
4. FIGHT! There will be a moment where you think you can’t get it – that’s called the sticking point. I want you to fight through that and keep going. Even if you don’t get it your first time, you WILL eventually get it.
In case you still don’t believe me, check out a few of my 1:1 Online Coaching Clients who went from zero pull up’s to being able to do multiple following these exact steps in this article:
Extra Tips to Help You Get Your First Pull Up:
1. The lighter you are, the easier it will be to pull yourself up. Think about it like this…What’s easier, squatting 100 lbs or 150 lbs? 100 lbs, right? So, if you’re over weight, losing a few lbs will help tremendously in getting your first pull up. Plus, you can absolutely get stronger while getting leaner. That’s why I recommend combining this with a fat loss phase. You can grab my free fat loss cheat sheet HERE to get you started on the right path.
2. Practice! The more often you do something, the better you’ll get at that thing. Imagine shooting a basketball for the first time. You probably are pretty shitty, right? Therefore, you need to practice more. Just like you have to shoot a basketball to get good at shooting a basketball, you have to practice a pull up to get good at it. Strength and muscle is only part of the equation. Getting skilled is the second part. And using these pull up variations helps a ton with that.
So, find time to practice your pull up’s and you’ll see your results sky rocket. Have a pull up bar at home? Every time you walk by, practice a pull up. Going to the gym to workout? Start your workout with a set of pull ups.
3. Don’t be hard on yourself. A pull up is fucking hard dude. It takes a long time to get down. I’ve had clients where it took them a whole year to get their first chin up. But, just because it’s hard doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. So, be easy on yourself but work hard too.
Just remember to remain patient as you go through these. Take each movement one by one, get really good and strong at that movement, and then move onto the next one. Before you know it, you’ll be getting your first pull up and be so proud that you did.
-Bob
Ps. If you’re interested in a simple plan to get you lean and strong, download a free copy of my Fat Loss Cheat Sheet HERE. All of the guess work is taken out for you in order to lose fat, get strong, and build muscle in 5 simple steps.