THIS week we address the king of the upper-body strength exercises, the pull-up. The aim here is to look at what pull-ups are, how to train for your first pull-up and how we can progress the movement. OK, so first up, what exactly is a pull-up? The pull-up is an upper-body compound movement beginning from a dead hang on a bar, hands wider than shoulder distance and palms facing away from your body. Start by squeezing the lats (latissimus dorsi, the muscles on your back that run under your armpits and round to the middle of your back) and shoulders together and pull yourself up towards the bar. The aim is for the chest or sternum to make contact with the bar before lowering to the start position again. If the pull-up is done with good form you will effectively work the muscles of your back, arms, forearms, shoulders and abdominals. This is why it is known as the king of upper-body exercises. Training for your first full pull-up can take some time, so you must be patient. Variables include, starting strength, athletic background and bodyweight. Bodyweight is probably the biggest obstacle most will face in achieving their first strict pull-up. If you are overweight you can still start with the first of the steps below, but the closer you are to a lean physique the easier it will be to move on through the stages.

Stage 1

Hanging around

The first stage to pass is simply getting comfortable hanging from the bar. This is a great exercise in its own right and one we also use for shoulder health, spinal decompression and grip strength. Grab your pull-up bar, palms facing away with your hands just outside shoulder width and your feet off the floor. The aim here is to have your shoulders pulled down away from the ears, an active hang. Before moving on to the next stage you should be able to hold for five rounds of 30-60 seconds.

Stage 2

Rowing, lots of rowing

The inverted row is one of the greatest pulling exercises and will help you progress towards your pull-up. Think of it like a reverse push-up. This can be done by lying under a bar set on a squat rack or using gymnastic rings or a suspension trainer. The lower and more parallel to the floor your body is the more challenging the row will be. Start high and work your way lower, increasing the resistance as you go. There is a direct correlation between the row and the pull-up so if you are unable to do a strict row with 90-100 per cent of your own bodyweight you probably are not ready to hit that first pull-up. The aim here is to perform 3-5 rounds of 10-15 full repetitions.

Stage 3

Top end isometric (static) hold

Using a step or jumping up, try holding yourself at the top position of the pull-up. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and grip the bar firmly. Perfect form would see the chest or sternum in contact with the bar. Work towards five rounds of 15-30 second holds.

Stage 4

Falling with style

Negatives or eccentrics work on developing strength with the downwards part of the pull-up. We begin at Stage 3 and then slowly lower ourselves until our arms are fully extended ending in Stage 1. Try and perform a 3-5 second eccentric with strict form. Once this has been achieved, aim towards five rounds of five repetitions. Warning, these might leave you a little sore the next day.

Stage 5

More practice

Once you have achieved your first pull-up it’s important to keep performing them with good form. If you can only do one at a time, great, do one, have a minute off then do another one. Do that for 10 rounds. Next week try doing five rounds of two pull-ups. The week after try three reps, break, two reps, break one rep and repeat that sequence. I’ve always found that the only way to get better at pull-ups is to do them as often as possible until you can manage a strict 10 reps. One of my clients struggled for years with pull-ups so I asked him to buy a pull-up bar online, £10, and every time he passed that bar he would do one pull-up. He would pass the bar a minimum of three times a day, that’s around 90 pull-ups per month. Needless to say he no longer struggles pulling his own bodyweight off the floor.

l Bands. We also use resistance bands of varying tension at the gym to allow people to hit pull-ups before they are able to do it unassisted. The reason for this is it encourages a range of motion in the shoulder, which we believe is super important and it gets them over the fear and intimidation many have with pull-ups.

Too easy?

If you can easily knock out 15 strict pull-ups it’s time to add some spice. Grab a dumbbell and squeeze it between your feet or thighs, choose a weight that allows no more than five strict reps. Still too easy? Get a weights belt, attach a bunch of plates that will again only allow under five reps. Try these for four sets.

If you’re already going to the gym, add pull-ups to your routine. Have fun and let us know how you get on.