You’ve Never Seen Pull-Ups Like This Before

Replace Band-Assisted Pull Ups

For assisted pull-ups, use a band. Stop. It doesn’t work well. There are four other options that advanced lifters will love.

To master pull-ups, ditch the band

Using resistance bands to assist with pull-ups isn’t the worst programming mistake in the world, but there are far better options.

Consider the full pull-up: You don’t need a muscle mechanics lesson to know that the first few inches and the last few inches (where your elbows pull past your shoulders) are the easiest. Somewhere near the middle of each pull-up is where it’s the hardest.

For some, this starts at the bottom hang position. Others start much higher. Either way, you’re strongest at the start, weakest in the middle, and strong(ish) again right at the top. The resistance profile of the band just doesn’t match the strength curve of the exercise.

The Mismatched Strength Curve

As the band stretches farther, there’s an increase in resistance and an ascending strength curve. That means you’ll get the most assistance from the band at the bottom, which is where you’re strongest. The band assistance drops as you lift yourself up.

In other words, they’re a mismatch. If anything, the band should be assisting in the opposite way, but that still wouldn’t be ideal. Sure, a band can provide marginal assistance, but when it comes to progressing your pull-ups, bands aren’t the most efficient method. You will lose strength and muscle growth.

Try one of these options instead and you will soon master pull-ups. They’re all easily scalable to both beginner and advanced training. As needed, you can make it easier or more difficult.

1. One-Arm Eccentric ring Pull-Up

The best way to increase strength and width is with eccentric (or negative) pull-ups. They increase your chances of growing by tapping into force-producing, fast-twitch muscle fibers.

Because you’re stronger when you’re lowering yourself down (up to around 40% stronger), emphasizing the eccentric portion is a good way to build concentric strength too. You will see a significant improvement in your pull-up performance over time.

One arm can be used for eccentric pull-ups, or both. In the single-arm variation, you’ll be keeping both feet on the floor at all times. You can lower your body by lowering both of your feet off the ground (full body weight) in the two-arm variation. Use rings to do them. TrainerOr even a racked one.

These can be made more difficult by using a vest with a weight; you might even throw in some chains to make them more fun.

2. DC Pull-Up (Rack Chin).

These animals are also known by many other names. More recently, they’ve been referred to as “rack chins,” These will be remembered by many as a part DC. “DogCrapp” Training system

DC pull-ups work well for all levels. Because you can lose only a small amount of your bodyweight, these are great for beginners. Plus, if you’re going to push to failure on these, it’s no big deal.

These will be a hit with bodybuilders, as they are highly effective for lat engagement. You can also adjust the tempo and body swing more easily.

And let’s not forget strength enthusiasts. They’ll appreciate these since they make it easy to throw some plates or chains across your hips. You can use rings, a rack or suspension trainer to do this. Your feet should be flat on a bench or hooked up over the top of an inclines.

3. Pull-Up Seated

These can be adjusted to match everyone’s needs. They’re a nice way to raise your pull-up game while helping build a bigger, stronger back. They’re also great for teaching back engagement and staying in an active range of motion throughout.

In an effort to stretch more, a common mistake in pull-ups is hanging on the bottom bar. While it is good to allow your scapula movement during pull-ups, losing tension and hanging there can lead to shoulder problems. You can kick this bad habit by doing seated pullups.

You can also compare seated pull-ups. “full” You can also compare pull-ups Box squats To do back squats. Both exercises offer similar benefits and can be used in conjunction with each other. “real” thing.

It is also difficult to cheat when doing seated pull-ups. Sitting down between reps can partially inhibit muscle stretch-reflex mechanisms. You can also maintain a good range of motion by sitting down.

If you don’t think a basic bodyweight version is hard enough, just try doing them as a drop-set, as shown in the video above. To build gymnastic bodyweight strength, you could also do them in an l-sit (hips angled 90 degrees with your knees straight), to increase your flexibility.

These can be used in conjunction with a bar or a suspension trainer.

4. Kneeling Pull-Up

Many of the same benefits are available for kneeling pullups as for the seated version. Your hip position is the main difference. The seated version has your hips in a flexed, allowing for some hip activation and abdominal flexibility. With the kneeling version, however, it’s more of a plank-like position.

Although seated pull-ups are a good abdominal challenge, the kneeling version will develop much of the muscle coordination necessary for full pull-ups – different horses for different courses.

Complete beginners can adjust how high the bar is depending on their ability. They could start with the bar at their head and gradually move up to higher on the rack. They will eventually be able to lift from an elevated position with their arms.

You can make it even more difficult by crushing a medicineball between your knees, or wearing a heavy vest. These can be done in the same way as the others, but you can also use rings and a suspension trainer.

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exactly.

You do more work if you have it where you need it the most: at the top. You get the full range of motion.

While these other suggestions may be fine too it’s not clear there’s evidence that they help a person build to a first pull up better, faster or help someone improve their numbers better

You mentioned box squats to help you get into full squats.

There’s an argument to be had in terms of neurophysiology to say doing more reps in the full range of motion is better than not – so again having a band to help build squats may be better than a box for building patterns on which to layer increasing strength challenges.

So why not? “ditch the band pull up” When it works well? It would be nice to have comparisons, if any, to support the request for a safe and effective neuro-supportive treatment.
Many thanks

Everyone is not the strongest at the bottom.
Most people find it difficult to pull up.

This is what I have learned from experience.

I was able to get to 4×4 with bands. It was helpful at the beginning but I was able save my strength for middle and top sections of the pull up.

I enjoy reading about new ideas, but the bands were a blessing.

This is something I strongly agree with. The assumption of a strength curve in the article does not correspond with my training experience with many people from different backgrounds and strength levels.

I’ve actually found that many athletes are weakest in the last few inches of the ROM (i.e. You may notice your chin dangling over the bar towards the end and near failure. Personally, I’m strongest in the middle, 2nd strongest in full extension (the bottom) and weakest at full contraction (at the top). I’ve seen this pattern with many others.

However, I feel that relying too heavily on band aid can result in a weak starting strength at the bottom of your ROM. It is not a great solution. Like many protocols in strength training programs, each individual should determine the programming. Bands are a good choice for someone with low starting strength. If the top few inches are difficult, bands may not be the best choice.

For home gym users, however, there aren’t many great solutions that allow for full ROM.

I’ve worked with many people, including myself, that started out not being able to do 5 pull-ups.

The following things were helpful:

1. Isometric holds on the bar
2. Half-pull ups begin at the bar
3. Band assisted pull-ups

I’ve only ever met a few people that are stronger at the top than the bottom, personally.

A mini band helps me to relax in the bottom position, but I also agree with the rest of this article.