New Goal: Doing More PullUps

I’ve come to a conclusion about my ability to do pullups.  I suck.  Sound too tough?  I suppose that’s a little drastic, but probably accurate.

A friend of mine and I were discussing the subject of fitness a few months ago, and he told me a story about going to the gym with his wife.  During their workout, she went over to a pull-up bar, grabbed hold, and proceeded to peel off 20 pullups.  He stepped up, and could only manage one.  His comment, giving laughingly, was “If you ever want an exercise in humility, try doing pullups.”

Do you want to know something?  He’s right.  At my next workout, I decided to see how many I could do.  I managed two.  Yeah!  Right.  Needless to say, I was not impressed with my performance.  Since then, I’ve added pullups to my exercise routine at every workout, using the assist machine at the gym.  I’ve gotten better, but a recent article in Men’s Health has prompted me to focus my attention on this area.  With that in mind, let’s give a little more definition to what I’m hoping to accomplish.

There are several variations to the chin-up, or pull-up, exercise depending upon grip width and hand position.  The three basic variations involve a starting position by gripping a bar with hands shoulder width apart, hanging with your arms fully extended and feet crossed.  You then proceed to pull yourself up such that your chin is level with the bar.  The exercise is completed by lowering yourself back to a full hanging position.  That’s one rep.  Primary variations I’ve encountered are as follows:

1. Palms facing toward your body.  This is the classic “chin-up,” and reputed to be the easiest of the three variants.  (Not sure I buy it, by the way.)
2. Palms facing together.  Often called a “neutral grip pull-up.”  Expected to be harder than a chin-up, but easier than a pull-up.
3. Palms facing away from the body.  The classic “pull-up.”

Why try to do pull-ups?  The primary target muscle for the exercise is the latissimus dorsi, but a myriad of other muscles in the back, shoulders, and biceps come into play.  Basically, the pull-up is a great upper body exercise.  For someone trying to be as efficient as possible with their workout plan, I think its a must-have exercise in your arsenal.  An excellent reason for me personally to focus on this exercise is because I 1) stink at them, and 2) I figure by making my back, neck, and shoulders stronger, I should reduce my risk for accidental injury, both now and later in life.  I think a lot of people avoid this exercise because its just plain hard.  That, of course, is what makes it such a good addition to your workout.  A classic catch-22.

How to do more pull ups

So, how am I going to accomplish this goal?  I need to add a few exercises into my regular workout.  Right now, I perform one assisted set of pull-ups and neutral grip pull-ups.  I’ll add a set of assisted chin-ups to my routine, as well as “negatives” of each exercise, and a set of kneeling underhand grip (palms facing away) latissimus pull-downs.  I’ll also need to find a few minutes on the weekends to do a set of “negatives” of the chin-up and pull-ups, just to try making a little faster progress.  For that, I’m considering purchasing a Everlast Multi Function Chinning Bar to do these at home.   You can check out my Workout page to see how I intend to incorporate these exercises.  My short term goal is to achieve 12 reps of each variation in a single workout.  I figure short term might mean 12 months from where I’m starting.

I’m be curious to hear if others incorporate this into their workouts, and the reason for or against this exercise.  Also, does anyone have other tips for improving their performance?