How to get your first pull-up: Three tips to achieve this massive feat of strength

In this post, I’ll take you through how I achieved my first unassisted pull-up and share three tips that helped me get there. Over the course of a year, I went from barely being able to hang onto the bar to being able to do two unassisted bodyweight pull-ups for two reps. At the beginning of my journey, it felt impossible. However, after a lot of hard work and perseverance, I was able to achieve it, and you can too. So grab a coffee, pull up a chair (pun intended), and let’s dive in. In the beginning of 2023, I started going to the gym to lose weight and tone up for my wedding in the spring of that year. I signed up at GYMVMT Beacon Heights and started working with a personal trainer. I learned the technique for the basic compound movements of barbell lifts in the gym: squat, deadlift, row, and bench press. I committed to going three times a week for 45 minutes. At this point, I was just going through the motions. Although, I did see some progress which included losing a few pounds and my clothes fitting better. That was encouraging. 

One day, I was completing my normal routine at the gym when I noticed the girl in front of me doing a pull-up. Then she did another five or six reps. I thought it was incredible that a girl could be so strong. I was inspired. At that moment, my motivation for the gym completely changed. I didn’t want to focus on losing weight anymore. I wanted to be strong. I thought ‘Wow. I want to do that. That could be me someday.’ I thought I’d give it a try. Maybe I could surprise myself. So I went over to the pull up bar and jumped up to it. I held on to the bar for about three seconds before falling off. It was so hard to even hold onto the bar. I couldn’t imagine being strong enough to pull myself up to get my chin over the bar. It was a lot harder than the girl made it look. I remember thinking that maybe this wouldn’t be something I could achieve.

A few months later, I joined a CrossFit gym inside of GYMVMT Macleod called PWR X LAB. My wedding day had come and gone and I wanted to continue my pursuit of strength in a supportive environment. I thought CrossFit would be a good fit for my goals. It was. In one of my first classes, pull-ups were in the strength portion of the program. I couldn’t do one without assistance. Following the coach’s suggestion, I jumped up until my chin was over the bar and lowered myself down, also known as a negative pull-up. This is one of the key progressions to increasing upper body pulling strength. The goal is to lower yourself as slowly as possible. I could only lower myself for about two seconds for one rep. For every rep after that, I would jump to the top and then immediately fall down to the hang position. I felt disappointed that my upper body wasn’t strong enough to hold myself above the bar and lower myself down with control. After that day, I made a decision. I’d start working toward getting my first pull-up. 

I asked the coaches for advice on developing upper body and core strength required to achieve this feat of strength. I also did a lot of research online and watched YouTube tutorials on pull-up progressions. I would go to the gym before class and put in extra work on developing upper body strength. At first, I felt embarrassed by how quickly I would fall from the top hold position. However, I started to see progress after a few weeks. Four weeks later, I was able to hold myself with my chin over the bar for five seconds. This was not just five seconds. This was five Mississippis. This was a huge milestone for me! After eight weeks, I was able to do three sets of three negatives, lowering myself down with control. After 16 weeks, I was able to do an underhand pull up (chin-up) with only 15 pounds of assistance. After 22 weeks, I achieved my first unassisted underhand pull-up. After 26 weeks, I achieved my first unassisted overhand pull-up. Today, I’m grateful to be a part of the CrossFit Pyro crew and I’m currently working to increase my pull-up reps, among other fitness goals.

Here are three tips to help you get your first pull-up:

Tip #1: Create a plan and stick to it. 

I highly recommend seeking advice from a coach or personal trainer. They can guide you on the correct form and progressions to increase your upper body pulling strength in order to get you there. Otherwise, YouTube is a great resource, especially the tutorials from megsquats, which helped me a lot.

Based on my experience, you’ll need to:

• Build up your grip strength by hanging on the bar on the bar for as long as you can.

• Increase your scapular awareness through scapular pull-ups. Hang on the bar and pull your shoulders down while keeping your arms relatively straight. You should feel a squeeze between your shoulder blades. This is important because it’s how you’ll start every pull-up.

• Strengthen your upper back (lats, specifically) through barbell (or dumbbell) rows and negative pull-ups. Jump up until your chin is over the bar and lower yourself down. Start with a couple reps and build up from there as you get stronger. It’s essential to go a little heavier on the rows and a little slower on the negative pull-ups each week.

• Pick your training days and commit to them. In order to see progress, I trained at least two to three times per week.

• Push close to failure on your last rep. Feeling the burn? That’s good. You’re getting stronger.

• Take 48 hours of rest between training sessions for recovery.

Tip #2: Allow yourself to fail. 

In fact, allow yourself to fail epicly. That’s where the magic is. You’ll learn from it and do better next time. It’s fairly common to feel embarrassed when you’re doing something new. You’re a beginner. So you’re most likely not going to be good at it. Step out of your comfort zone. That’s how you grow.

Tip #3: Be patient and believe in your vision. 

It’s exciting to set a new goal for yourself. However, it won’t happen overnight. So don’t expect it to. My journey started with me setting a goal and believing that I could do it. Everyone starts somewhere. You’ve committed to your plan. Now it’s time to put in the work, be patient, and believe that you can do it. Envision it. Trust me. If you stay consistent long enough, it’ll happen. 

The lesson I learned from my journey to the pull-up goes far beyond my achievement in the gym. This journey taught me that you can become proficient at any new skill with enough time and consistency. I hope that you feel inspired to get your first pull-up. Don’t just wish for it. Work for it. Go out there and make it happen.