How to get up to a Pull-up

Pull-ups... probably the best back and bicep exercise. This is true, but what if you can't do a single pull-up? How do you train to do one, without being able to do one? Hopefully this post will help.

First things first: why can't you do one? Do you have too much fat? And/or are your muscles too weak?

If you have too much fat, you have to burn it. Cardio and eating healthier will do this for you. Doing just cardio and eating better will get boring and isn't the only thing you'll need to do. You need to strengthen the muscles used in a pull-up.

Here's a workout you could do 2-3 times a week to do a pull-up! If you don't have the equipment, try to improvise. For example: if the exercise works the biceps more find a way to work your biceps. Same goes for the rear shoulder/back (lats). Remember to do cardio 3-5 days a week if you need to burn fat!

This workout will need a pull-up bar, a chair, and dumbbells or barbells if possible.

To start off you should work on negatives. I will describe a better negative than I have before: place a chair under the pull-up bar. Step on to the chair and grab the bar. Let your arms extend so that you're in the down position of a pull-up. Take one leg off the chair, don't let it touch the ground. Now, do a pull-up, but use the leg left on the chair to help you up. Make sure you go slow. Once you reach the top (chin at or over the bar), take your leg off the chair. Then slowly go down to the lower position of a pull-up. Get off the bar and repeat. Switch legs every time.
Do that 8-12 times. Do 3-7 sets. Rest 1-4 minutes between sets. Don't think you can? Use your leg more. If you are at a gym, use their assisted pull-up machine. Use a weight so that you almost fail at 12 on the first set.

Bicep training. Rest 2-5 minutes after doing the negatives before you do this exercise. Do bicep curls. 8-12 reps, 3-5 sets. Rest 1-3 minutes between sets. Go slowly. Barbells are better, but if you don't have one, then stick with dumbbells.

Lat training. Do rows. Don't remember how? Find a bench, a low bed, or a low chair. Put padding on it so you won't hurt your knee. Put your left knee and left hand on the bench(or whatever it is). Place your right foot out wide (not a split, but wide enough to stabilize your body), grab your dumbbell (should be more than you can curl, or your max bicep curl), then pull it to your hip/waist area. Remember, go slow! Repeat 8-12 times. 3-5 sets. Switch sides every set. Doing both sides once, is one set.

This should really exhaust your lats, forearms, and biceps. Try testing to see if you can do a pull-up every or every other week. Once you can do one, do that pull-up, then minus one pull-up from your negatives and continue those. Try to build up to at least 5 pull-ups. 10 is a good number. If you're really hardcore, go for 30 or 50. That will probably take a few years if you can only do zero to one right now. Keep at it and pull-ups will become easy!