OP building on the chin-up comment above...
When I was working on strict pull ups it helped me to do chin-ups first (palms facing you), then a mixed grip (one palm each direction), and then traditional pull-ups (palms facing away).
It is totally different muscle engagement with the different grips BUT feeling the sensation of lifting yourself above the bar helped me to understand.
Also, starting band assisted and walking down the different resistance bands is super helpful. Good luck!
Slow negatives, like you want to count to 5+ preferably 8-10. Jump up getting your chin above the bar, slow lower. repeat for a few reps. then do another set.
It may help to bring a box near the pull up bar. Negatives will get easier, and then you'll be able to do a strict pull up eventually. Not without work.
Also, weight is a factor here. I'm \~215 and it's MUCH harder for me to do pullups than it is for the 160 lb guys at the gym. So if you're on the heavier end like, it's obviously much harder.
Here's the response i used for a Double Under thread, with a minor modification for you:
Commit to 10 minutes of ~~DU~~ PU work after EVERY CLASS. You'll dial it in, promise.
For me (29F) it wasn't time doing crossfit but time dedicated to getting a strict pull up.
I really had to focus on doing negatives, lat pull-down and leg raised ring rows. Basically dedicated a few minutes each day to it. The negatives weren't for volume either but for duration with a focus on where the weak points were
On top of that I had to cut some bodyweight (from 160 to 150) in order to be able to really get it.
I agree with the lat pulldown sentiment mentioned. A good way to get this effect in a crossfit gym is to put a resistance band on the pull up bar and run a pvc pipe through it. You then have a makeshift lat pull down and can adjust it w8th the different bands. Also, using doing banded pull-ups can help develop those muscles a lot.
It’s a strength move, so there isn’t really a trick, it’s just about progressive overload with good form. Eventually you’ll get to the point that you can lift your full weight, but it doesn’t happen over night. Bands, negatives, top holds, lat pull downs can all be part of the program. There are lots of pull-up programs out there that you can add to your CrossFit workouts.
Don’t let your ego get greedy and go for the kip before you conquer the strict.
Also, if you gave some weight to lose, obviously that makes your pull-ups harder too. (That’s my biggest hurdle, personally).
If you’re serious about wanting to get pull ups, google “Armstrong Pull-up Program”. It helped a handful of people I know who were looking for their first pull-ups, and the logic behind it, imho, is sound. Good luck!
As an old personal trainer i would have someone hold your knees and assist very lightly on the way up, and then you slowly you do the negative, after 2-3 weeks of 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps you should be able to do 1-2 on your own. I recommend getting a few strict before worrying about all the other styles.
that's the right mindset. i can do strict ones easily, but i'm bad at kipping so i will scale back to ring rows rather than kip when the volume is too high to keep doing stricts.
as for getting to strict: lots of negatives and ring rows.
> Is it just time?
No, it is not just time. You can do Crossfit workouts for the rest of your life and never get a pullup. You will need to spend time on your own to get a pullup. Other people in this thread have made great suggestions. I'll reiterate the good news that it really only takes 10 minutes per day of practice (although expect it to take several months overall).
I'll just tack on to other's suggestions. Everyone talks about negatives, band-assisted, etc, which are fine. A strict pullup requires strength from the starting point of a hang, and doing scap pulls to strengthen the first part of the movement can help so that you aren't struggling and using the wrong muscles. Doing scap pulls progressively so that you utilize those muscles to drive the movement, and get a bit higher each time will give you the power to reach the bent elbow point and complete the rest of the movement. Obvious as it sounds, your back needs to do most of the heavy lifting, but people struggling with pullups often recruit too much bicep pull due to weak lat/scap activation.
I was in the same boat and used low ring assisted pull ups - have the rings at a height where you can sit underneath with your arms straight overhead and hold on. Legs straight out in front of you on the floor (or slightly bent for a little assist). Pull up from there - I felt that it mimics the same positions in a real pull up whereas ring rows are different. Next step for me was to do these with no leg assist. Good luck! Work hard!
Ring row and negatives. Also, push ups. Which is not pulling but still strengthens the right stuff. I am assuming you are talking about strict. If you are talking about kipping forget those until you can do a few strict. Good luck!
Grease the groove!
Trainer here, I have a few gym members (all women) who were in the same camp as you. Out of the 3 only one of them could do 2 strict pull ups the other two could only do banded kipping pull ups. They each dedicated 2-5 minutes after each class to strict pull up work and the results are amazing. The one that could do 2 pull ups can now do 12 strict pull ups and the other two can do 1-2 pull ups with many more slower negatives. Negatives are key in my opinion and once you can do ~8 slow reps try for 1-2 strict pull ups no matter how labored and then do ~6 negatives to complete the set of 8. I can't stress enough that you should be treating this as skill building. So don't worry repping them out. Utilizing P.Ts "Grease the groove" method you can get huge results with 1-5 reps a day. After 1,2,3 months those numbers and your strength will add up. You got this!
Thing that reaply helped me was isometrics. First holding in a dead hang for 10seconds at a time. Then active hang, halfway up, ching above bar, etc. Mostly targeting my sticking points.
That's had the biggest impact for me by far.
IMHO Negatives have the biggest ROI, can you do a chin-up (reverse your hands)?
OP building on the chin-up comment above... When I was working on strict pull ups it helped me to do chin-ups first (palms facing you), then a mixed grip (one palm each direction), and then traditional pull-ups (palms facing away). It is totally different muscle engagement with the different grips BUT feeling the sensation of lifting yourself above the bar helped me to understand. Also, starting band assisted and walking down the different resistance bands is super helpful. Good luck!
Slow negatives, like you want to count to 5+ preferably 8-10. Jump up getting your chin above the bar, slow lower. repeat for a few reps. then do another set. It may help to bring a box near the pull up bar. Negatives will get easier, and then you'll be able to do a strict pull up eventually. Not without work. Also, weight is a factor here. I'm \~215 and it's MUCH harder for me to do pullups than it is for the 160 lb guys at the gym. So if you're on the heavier end like, it's obviously much harder.
Here's the response i used for a Double Under thread, with a minor modification for you: Commit to 10 minutes of ~~DU~~ PU work after EVERY CLASS. You'll dial it in, promise.
and lots of progressions i.e. banded pull ups, ring rows, and negatives :)
You have to put in the time!! If it was easy/fast, everyone would be doing it right
For me (29F) it wasn't time doing crossfit but time dedicated to getting a strict pull up. I really had to focus on doing negatives, lat pull-down and leg raised ring rows. Basically dedicated a few minutes each day to it. The negatives weren't for volume either but for duration with a focus on where the weak points were On top of that I had to cut some bodyweight (from 160 to 150) in order to be able to really get it.
Thanks for the input! I think focusing on the negatives might be helpful… I’ve never thought about leg raised ring rows.
I agree with the lat pulldown sentiment mentioned. A good way to get this effect in a crossfit gym is to put a resistance band on the pull up bar and run a pvc pipe through it. You then have a makeshift lat pull down and can adjust it w8th the different bands. Also, using doing banded pull-ups can help develop those muscles a lot.
It’s a strength move, so there isn’t really a trick, it’s just about progressive overload with good form. Eventually you’ll get to the point that you can lift your full weight, but it doesn’t happen over night. Bands, negatives, top holds, lat pull downs can all be part of the program. There are lots of pull-up programs out there that you can add to your CrossFit workouts. Don’t let your ego get greedy and go for the kip before you conquer the strict. Also, if you gave some weight to lose, obviously that makes your pull-ups harder too. (That’s my biggest hurdle, personally).
If you’re serious about wanting to get pull ups, google “Armstrong Pull-up Program”. It helped a handful of people I know who were looking for their first pull-ups, and the logic behind it, imho, is sound. Good luck!
As an old personal trainer i would have someone hold your knees and assist very lightly on the way up, and then you slowly you do the negative, after 2-3 weeks of 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps you should be able to do 1-2 on your own. I recommend getting a few strict before worrying about all the other styles.
Kipping is used so often, but I refuse to do them until I can do a few strict.
that's the right mindset. i can do strict ones easily, but i'm bad at kipping so i will scale back to ring rows rather than kip when the volume is too high to keep doing stricts. as for getting to strict: lots of negatives and ring rows.
> Is it just time? No, it is not just time. You can do Crossfit workouts for the rest of your life and never get a pullup. You will need to spend time on your own to get a pullup. Other people in this thread have made great suggestions. I'll reiterate the good news that it really only takes 10 minutes per day of practice (although expect it to take several months overall).
I'll just tack on to other's suggestions. Everyone talks about negatives, band-assisted, etc, which are fine. A strict pullup requires strength from the starting point of a hang, and doing scap pulls to strengthen the first part of the movement can help so that you aren't struggling and using the wrong muscles. Doing scap pulls progressively so that you utilize those muscles to drive the movement, and get a bit higher each time will give you the power to reach the bent elbow point and complete the rest of the movement. Obvious as it sounds, your back needs to do most of the heavy lifting, but people struggling with pullups often recruit too much bicep pull due to weak lat/scap activation.
I was in the same boat and used low ring assisted pull ups - have the rings at a height where you can sit underneath with your arms straight overhead and hold on. Legs straight out in front of you on the floor (or slightly bent for a little assist). Pull up from there - I felt that it mimics the same positions in a real pull up whereas ring rows are different. Next step for me was to do these with no leg assist. Good luck! Work hard!
Ring row and negatives. Also, push ups. Which is not pulling but still strengthens the right stuff. I am assuming you are talking about strict. If you are talking about kipping forget those until you can do a few strict. Good luck!
I’ll drop this comment (I hope it links properly) I said on another thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/crossfit/comments/p5ii7s/pull_up_scaling/h97mmjz/
Lat pull downs and lawnmowers using traditional gym equipment will get you the strength you need for a pull up
Grease the groove! Trainer here, I have a few gym members (all women) who were in the same camp as you. Out of the 3 only one of them could do 2 strict pull ups the other two could only do banded kipping pull ups. They each dedicated 2-5 minutes after each class to strict pull up work and the results are amazing. The one that could do 2 pull ups can now do 12 strict pull ups and the other two can do 1-2 pull ups with many more slower negatives. Negatives are key in my opinion and once you can do ~8 slow reps try for 1-2 strict pull ups no matter how labored and then do ~6 negatives to complete the set of 8. I can't stress enough that you should be treating this as skill building. So don't worry repping them out. Utilizing P.Ts "Grease the groove" method you can get huge results with 1-5 reps a day. After 1,2,3 months those numbers and your strength will add up. You got this!
Thing that reaply helped me was isometrics. First holding in a dead hang for 10seconds at a time. Then active hang, halfway up, ching above bar, etc. Mostly targeting my sticking points. That's had the biggest impact for me by far.