A Chick Who Can Do Pull-ups?
Aaaah!! That felt goooood!
Just got finished my run and thought I’d whip the camera out and show you the place I’ve been talking about where I do my ‘end-of-run’ pull-ups on the shower contraption at the beach.
And, I’d love to hear from you.
I think my form is kinda sloppy. What do you think?
Any tips for getting those pull-ups done without looking like I’m flailing? lol
Thanks in advance, if so…
Btw, we know what a great full-body exercise Pull-ups are, right?
Don’t believe me?
Try one and feel your core engage. No joke!
I was surprised myself the first time I tried one (just for fun on my nephew’s monkey bars) and felt every muscle in my body tensing to help me get my chin over that bar.
No wonder I’m so addicted to them now, huh?
You’ll really do some great isolation muscle building on your back, shoulders and arms with pull-ups, too! I HIGHLY recommend them to men AND women alike.
Think they’re too hard to master? They really aren’t as hard to master as you might think. It’s all a matter of progression.
Once you can do one, you’ll be surprised how fast you’ll be able to do TWO (and so on).
Starting out and can’t even get one done?
Try this:
Put your feet on a chair, box or bench either out in front of you, or behind you. Then pull yourself up to the bar using ONLY as much support as you need from your legs. Make your arms and back do as much of the work as possible. Practice that way until you don’t need the chair to pull yourself up ONCE. Then do ONE as often as you can until you can do TWO and build up like that.
Another way you can start out is work the ‘eccentric’ direction (down) instead of the ‘concentric’ direction (up). Simply JUMP up to the top position and then slowly (and admittedly slightly painfully) lower yourself to the bottom position until your arms are straight. Jump up again and slowly lower yourself to the bottom. Repeat until you can’t lower yourself with control anymore. Eventually you’ll train your muscles to handle the load and the feeling of the move until you can pull yourself up at least once.
Combine the two strategies to get yourself there even faster.
That’s how I did it, anyway!
Pull-ups!! I Love Them. You will too, once you’ve got them mastered. Trust me on that one!
Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname
10778
November 24th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Way to go with the Pull-ups Jackie!!!
Great tips too. Pull-Ups ROCK!
Tip: once you jump up I would wait until you stabilize yourself before doing your first pull-up. Once you settled down a bit your form became better.
I have a beginner pull-up video here:
http://fatlossquickie.com/blog/one-of-the-best-yet-most-neglected-fat-burning-exercises/
PS Can you send some of that snow our way ;)
November 24th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Nice pull ups. Yeah, there’s a bit of swinging but from your written description I was expecting something quite a bit more thrashy looking. I cannot do pull-ups yet. But I’m working on it. My goal is to be able to do at least one by the 1st day of Spring 2011. Right now I’m going to the gym twice a week and using the assisted pull-up machine to do 2 sets of 3 or 4. I’m using less than half my body weight right now, so that’s not too bad, I guess. It’s the best I’ve ever done in my life. I know it will help me with my swimming immensely, so that is a great motivator for me to keep working at it.
November 24th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Hey THANKS Scott!! :-) Great tip, I think I’ll pay attn to that. I crossed my legs today to bring my focus more into the bottom of my body so I could be aware of all that bending and crunching, and found I didn’t bend so much that way …!!
November 24th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Awesome Sheila. I dunno how I feel about those assisted machines. I think the tips I gave might wind up being more beneficial and get you there faster, but whatever you do, KEEP AT IT!! You’ll get there.
November 24th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
hi! looks good..you are swinging too much dollface…also try different hand positions…and cross your feet in the back…also when you are wicked tired and can’t do anymore…on your last one hold that pull up at the top for as long as you can…this will be like a static hold..it will help you..do this often…tighten your core when you do them & breathe just like you do on every other exercise…people forget to breathe when they are doing pull ups…also stretch & hang at the bottom..put a lil stress on those muscles…you rock though..most chicks can’t do on non assisted pull up so keep at it baby! xo
<3 Mandy
November 24th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
THANKS CHICK!! Actually, I DO do that ‘top of the move’ hold every time I do them on strength days, on my last rep (on the first set anyway, after that I’m too burned to do it). and may I just say OUCH!! and yep, I’m breathing…!!! I know I’m swinging too much, I gotta get some focus back into my lower body when I do ’em…! xo
Thanks for the tips!!
November 25th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
At the end you had quite good form, but at the beginning you were bouncing a lot.
Anyway I admire that, because there’s not much girls doing pullups.
Cheers,
Vaclav Gregor
November 28th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Hey Foxy,
I’ve got a friend on facebook, Crystal West, who holds the world record for pull-ups … Thought she might offer a little inspiration for you …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtqW2SYYxP0&feature=player_embedded
Good job :)
December 7th, 2010 at 6:23 am
Kudos to you for incorporating pull-ups into your mix regardless of your form! I do the crossed legs and try to bend them up behind me and find that that helps- but i still swing esp on my last rep(s). It seems to me that most folks that do excellent form pull-ups is mostly the result of much experience. But really- you don’t thrash around very much (i’ve seen and been guilty of much worse) and your strength shines through!