Strengthen you pull-ups with this simple strength routine

Weekly Pull-up strength routine

When it comes to upper body strength, the pull-up is probably the biggest challenge. 

Of course there are more amazing feats of strength like the muscle up and one arm handstands, however, the strict pull-up is the foundation for almost all upper body strength movements. And is seen by many as an ever elusive exercise, especially for beginners.

One of the core problems that I have seen over the years with people trying to develop their pull-ups is, a lack of patience and forced early progression. Meaning, strength takes time, you need to train frequently and consistently over a decent period of time doing some pretty boring things so that you build a great foundation of strength. 

Most people, skip the boring bits, or at least move past them too early and progress into more advanced things well before they have the strength and control to do so. 

This short term satisfaction ends up resulting in frustration and potential injury. 

So here is a very simple program that you can use to build your foundation of upper body strength and nail your pull-ups, to a point that enables you to continue to progress into all of the cool shit.

Complete this routine once per week for the first 3 weeks to build your tolerance, then progress to 2-3 times per week (base this on how well you recover) until you achieve your goal.

Step 1 is to to understand your current level and set a goal based on that. 

Can you do a few strict pull-ups already? Or are you starting right at the beginning?

If you can’t do 1, set your goal to 1. If you can do up to 5, set your goal to double. 

Warm-up (5 mins)

  • 2-3 mins stretching your chest, shoulders and upper back
  • 2-3 mins of dynamic movements – Focus on your wrists, elbows, shoulders and shoulder blades
  • 10 wall angels + 10 wall scap circles

Grip and back strength (10 mins)

  • 3 x 60s passive hang (60s rest)
**Your level will determine the amount of sets you do here. The goal is to build up to 5 sets comfortably.                                                                                                                                                                                                ***Jump up to a bar and hang passively (with relaxed shoulders at full stretch) for the full 60s, then rest for 60s. Continue until you complete the number of sets you have set for yourself.
  • 3 x 5 reps of 5s passive to active holds (60s rest)
**Starting in a passive hang, pull your shoulder blades (scaps) down into your back pockets so that your lats become active. Brace your core to prevent your back from arching and hold for 5s. Release your lats so that you drop back down to passive and pull back up to active. Continue until you have completed the 5 reps. 
  • 3 x 10 Scap push-ups (60s rest)
**If you have never done these before start standing with your arms outstretched and against the wall (just like a push-up position). With straight elbows and a little bit of weight leaning against the wall switch your lats on by trying to get your shoulder blades to move down and into your back pockets (make sure you don’t arch your back when you’re doing this). Once you are in position squeeze your shoulder blades together and then press them apart for 1 rep. As you get better, you can progress onto your knees, then into a full push-up position.

Pull-up Strength (10 mins)

  • 3 x 10 Bodyweight rows (Using a low bar or a barbell on racks) (60s rest)
**Hanging off a low bar with your body stretched out straight and tight and holding an underhand grip, complete 10 rows. The goal here is to find the best position for you and your strength (the further under the bar you hang, the harder it is).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    ***The goal here is to show stability in your shoulders, tension in your torso and control in your pull. So brace your torso as tight as you can, lock your shoulder blades into your ribcage, and pull your chest to the bar (roughly touching the bar at your nipple line). Squeeze your shoulder blades together like you’re trying to pinch a tic tac, hold for 2s and release back to the hang.                                                          *****Make sure that on your way back down to the hang, you don’t lose tension in your shoulders or your torso. 
  • 3 x 10-20 Push-ups (Stick to the number of reps that you can perform really well)

Get to work.

This is a basic program that anyone can implement to improve their pull-ups. if you are more advanced then add some strict pull-up sets to the end of the program to get that final bit of specific training. 

For those of you that are still at the beginning, for now, this will be more than enough. 

The thing to take note on though, is it’s the little things that are the most important. 

So do the little things more often and your strength will fly.

2019-04-26T08:15:47+10:00

About the Author:

Denee Lalouette
A UFT PLAYground is a place that people of all shapes, sizes and ages learn to develop their movement abilities through an infinite learning and development program. UFT PLAYgrounds have been created to re-inspire our natural ability to move, create, adapt, re-act, connect, have fun and of course PLAY. PLAYgrounds have been developed to allow people to feel and explore their own abilities by utilising a multidimensional, infinite, creative and PLAYful approach to training. We live in a world full of specialists and obsessions. At an ever increasing rate, people are specialising more and more, in their jobs, in their businesses, in their sport and in their training. The result, is a backward step in human evolution. By specialising, we limit ourselves to thinking that 1 particular way of doing things is the right way, or the only way. We promote creativity, not only in movement and training methodologies but in thinking in general. A UFT PLAYground is created to provide the general public with an opportunity to PLAY across multiple styles of training and moving, to be able to progress in the training methods that they become passionate about or that excites them and to be a part of a community that promotes more than just fitness. The “fitness” industry above all others has brought about a need to specialise in order to achieve anything, and majority of what we do for “fitness” is for an aesthetically pleasing reason. We understand that aesthetics are nice and we too love to look and feel good. However a UFT PLAYground is developed to allow people to move better than ever before across a broad range of training methodologies and ideas. Aesthetics, therefore are a result not a goal of that system. We know that “If you train to look good, you will not always enjoy what you do, but if you PLAY a lot, and do the things that you love, you will ending up looking good”. Aesthetics should be a result not a goal. For years now, we have recognised that the best movers on the planet are children. They are flexible, mobile & fit, they have better relative strength than a typical adult (and even most adolescents), they are the best creators and innovators, they learn faster, the adapt better, they interact better with other people, they are more connected to nature and most importantly, they PLAY more than anyone else. As adults, we tend to believe that because we are taller and more experienced in “life”, we are better, and then we get to an age that says we are “too old to PLAY”. As we grow taller (and in a lot of cases rounder), we experience things that inhibit our ability to move, think and not think. We allow our experiences to limit our abilities as humans, whether it be a physical injury, a story that we heard or a youtube video that we watched. We also allow our emotions to control our behaviour because of our past experiences. Maybe it was the feeling of humiliation when we tried something new, regret when we failed or heart break when it was taken away from us. Because of this, we allow our experiences to control our future instead of learning from them and creating our own . This is what UFT PLAYground’s are built on. The understanding that we as humans need to go back to the way things were before our negative experiences took over our subconscious mind and body. A UFT PLAYground gives people the ability to re-learn what they have lost, as well as develop new sets of skills that will allow them to follow any particular passion that they uncover in PLAYtime. When we PLAY, we are simply, exploring. Through exploring we become curious and through curiosity we become obsessed or passionate about a particular thing. This is why in a PLAYground we allow people to PLAY across a broad range of training systems (minimum of 3), Through this system they are able to identify 1, their current limitations and be educated on how to overcome them, and 2, identify their passions and learn to develop, grow and excel in them. UFT PLAYgrounds are also a development centre for up and coming entrepreneurs in the fitness industry. Each PLAYground founder will have been trained and will be continuously trained in UFT’s Trainer Success System. This system allows personal trainers, coaches, teachers, instructors, etc. to continue to develop in their fields of specialty (as they play they will find it) and in the philosophy of PLAYtime. They will also be trained in the business systems of UFT in order to have their own successful and profitable business. See UFT Trainer Success System for more details.

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