Hey guys,
So lately I have started to incorporate pull-ups into my gym workouts to boost my strength. I have been doing bent over rows for some time now and have decided to add some shock to my neuromuscular system by throwing pull-ups into the mix.
Now, I consider myself to be a pretty strong man, I can curl 60lb dumbbells in each hand for 6 reps and with bent over rows do reps of 7 with 85lbs and maintain good form. However, these pull-ups are a killer! I can only do 5 before my body falls apart on me! (Note: my arms are very long, so that is a greater distance I have to pull myself up) So I definitely gotta put in more effort! There is a very strong woman at my gym who can do 12 pull-ups, WAY more than me! So doing pull-ups is definitely possible if you are a woman.
So what is the proper way to do a pull-up and blast your hands, arms, shoulders and back?
The proper way to do a pull-up
1. I use a pronated grip on the bar, or keep my palms down.
2. I make a W-shape with my arms and grab the bar. So arms elevated from your side 90 degrees and elbows bent 90 degrees to be in a proper position to grab the bar.
3. I cross my legs to help me stabilize myself.
4. I suck in my stomach and squeeze my abs to stabilize my spine and avoid swinging.
5. I come up to the bar with my chest forwards and my chin back. Come up so that the bar is in front of you, otherwise the top of your humerus (upper arm bone) will be forced too far anteriorly, or forward and you will over time get shoulder impingement and damage. So make sure you don’t come up with the bar behind your neck!
6. I try to come up all the way so that my head is above the bar. This is EXTREMELY hard to do, cause in order to hold this position, you will have to have powerful lower traps to depress your shoulder blades and stabilize yourself. The lower traps is a muscle that doesn’t get much love, so in pretty much everyone it is weak and you won’t be able to bring your head over the bar doing a pull-up and hold that position.
How to get your lower trapezius muscles stronger to enhance your pull-ups
What I recommend is to get a chair in the gym and stand on it underneath the pull-up bar. Put your head back, chest up and pull yourself up. Feel your shoulder blades depressing and adducting (coming together). Have your head looking over the bar and HOLD the position for 20 seconds. This will definitely work out your lower traps. Then lower yourself slowly down onto the chair. Rest for 3 minutes and repeat.
If you can’t do the above with holding the position above the bar to workout your lower traps, then I recommend going on the lat pulldown machine and holding the bar down for 20 seconds.
Another exercise you can do to work out your lower traps is to lay facedown on a bench, grab two 5lb dumbbells and bring your arms up level with your shoulders in a Y position. Make sure your thumbs are facing up towards the ceiling while gripping the dumbbells. This will target lower traps as well.
7. So getting back to the pull-ups, once your head is over the bar and you are activating your lower traps, lower yourself slowly against gravity to work out your muscles even more. Go back to your starting position and repeat.
So when you do the proper pull-up, you are blasting your upper body muscles and especially your lats. I threw in the extra part regarding lower traps in there because we tend to spend so much of our day hunched over, which tightens our chest muscles and gives us rounded shoulders. When we have rounded shoulders, we tend to get shoulder impingement. Having strong lower traps will help keep our shoulder blades tilted back and stabilized, relieving shoulder pain. NOTE: you must also focus on good posture, working out your back and stretching your chest as well!
So there you have it, the proper way to do a pull-up. Now go out there, do those pull-ups and see your strength EXPLODE to higher levels!
