Puberty, Public Speaking, and Pull-Ups
“Even in my revenge fantasy where all I do is exercise, I can still only do 25 pull-ups. Pull-ups are tough, no joke. ”
Key Takeaways
Puberty, public speaking, and pull-ups - some things in life are just TOUGH. Although I don’t know much about teenagers or talking in front of crowds, I do know about pull-ups.
They’re tough, and I know you’d rather do bench press or bicep curls (or sip margaritas on a beach in St. Lucia), but they’re worth it!
The benefits of pull-ups include:
Strengthen the back, shoulders, biceps, forearms, and abs - in one exercise!
Increase muscle size
Earn the respect of your peers/potential mates at the gym
Improve mental health (life looks a little brighter from the top of a pull-up bar)
The best ways to get better at them:
Prioritize form
Do them often
Be patient
If you have any specific questions/comments, feel free to pull (out your phone and hit me) up.
Full Story
Puberty, public speaking, and pull-ups - some things in life are just TOUGH. Although I don’t know much about teenagers or talking in front of crowds, I do know about pull-ups.
Here are 6 things I know:
Whoever named them wasn’t the most creative guy/gal in the world
“You pull yourself up over the bar... Pull yourself up…pull up…Hmm. I’ve got it! I’ll just call it the ‘pull-up’!”
If you can do them, you’re in really great shape
Pull-ups are one of the best tests of not only full body strength but also strength-to-bodyweight ratio (1). Sure, Eddie Hall or Brian Shaw may be the strongest men in the world, but they’d be hard pressed to knock out more than 10 pull-ups in a row.
One of the best full body movements
There’s a reason pull-ups are so tough - they require the use of nearly every muscle in your body! Primarily, they’ll torch your back, biceps, shoulders, forearms, and core, but they require a team effort from tons of other muscle to stabilize and control your body throughout the movement.
One of the best bicep builders
Bicep curls may be fun (and are definitely easier!), but no exercise will increase the size of your arms than pull-ups and chin-ups.
They are really tough
You already know this.
They don’t have to be so tough
You might not have known this. Here’s where I can help.
I KNOW. They’re tough, and I know you’d rather do bench press or crunches (or sip margaritas on a beach in St. Lucia), but they’re worth it! Trust me, the challenge is well worth the reward. The benefits of pull-ups include:
Strengthen the back, shoulders, biceps, forearms, and abs - in one exercise!
Specifically, it works the lats, traps, erector spinae, infraspinatus, teres major, rhomboids, subscapularis, delts, pec major and minor, triceps, coracobrachialis, biceps brachii, rectus abdominis, and external obliques (and more!)
Increase muscle size
One of the most effective exercises to incorporate the three main muscle building strategies - mechanical tension, muscle damage, and metabolic stress.
Earn the respect of your peers/potential mates at the gym
One will want to be you, the other will want you!
Improve mental health
Life looks a little brighter from the top of a pull up bar.
“What do you know, John? You’re a fitness freak that probably pulled yourself up out of the womb!”
1. That’s a weird accusation
I was not a strong baby - my twin brother hogged most of the nutrients
2. I’ve struggled immensely, just like everyone else!
After 2 years of working out, I could manage to eek out sets of 2-5 questionable reps. But after I learned these tips and put in some serious elbow grease, my pull-up strength skyrocketed.
HOW:
Grip the bar with your hands shoulder width apart and palms facing out (and I mean tight, your knuckles should be white)
Squeeze your glutes and abs
Keep you shoulder blades back and down (“shoulder blades in back pocket”)
Keep your elbows ~45deg from your sides
Raise your chest to the bar
Lower under control until your arms are straight
Repeat (if you can!)
The BEST ways to get better at pull-ups include:
Prioritize form
If your form is ugly for a while, you’ll have a tough time breaking bad habits. Every time you perform a rep, you are training your body how to move. Look at it like playing the piano or learning Spanish, except a lot sweatier.
Do them often
2, 3, 4 times per week is a great frequency to start. If you really want to get good at them, work up to doing them every day. IMPORTANT: If you decide to do them every day, keep some days sub-maximal (in other words, nowhere close to failure). If you played the piano until your fingers bled or yelled out “Olé!” until your vocal chords were sore, you wouldn’t be raring to practice again the next day.
Be patient
It takes TIME to improve at any exercise, let alone pull-ups, the king of tough movements. I’ve been doing them for over 10 years now and they’re STILL a challenge. Instead of focusing on daily or weekly progress, zoom out and assess your improvements over the long term.
Can’t yet do a pull-up? Try:
Dead hang holds
Rows/band pull aparts
Inverted rows
Pull downs (on a machine)
Band assisted (loop a band around the bar, put the band under your feet)
Negative (eccentric only) pull-ups (1. jump up 2. lower yourself under control 3. repeat)
Chins ups (palms facing you)
Listed in order of difficulty. If you don’t know how to do any of the above movements, google “How to [insert exercise name here] and you’ll find a fantastic video from one of my millions of personal trainer colleagues. All of these exercises are great stand-alone exercises and all will help you achieve that elusive first pull-up.
Wrap Up
Try it out, give it time, and I promise that your pull-ups will begin to feel less tough (I had written “get easier,” but they never get easy 😂.) Whether you’re a beginner training with your at-home bar or want to WOW your peers at the local CrossFit gym, everybody can benefit from getting better at pull-ups. Remember - if you put in more effort than the guy/gal that came up with that creative name “pull-up”, you’re on the right track.
If you have any specific questions/comments, feel free to pull (out your phone and hit me) up.
