Featured article #1

Forget about various lat pulldown machine variations, if you want to build a back to block out the sun with, you should focus on one exercise only; pullups.

Pullups arent only great for back width and lats, but also for core, forearms, biceps and shoulders. Unfortunately, for many people out there pullups still present mission impossible. The common reasons are lack of knowledge(and patiente) on how to progress to them and of course lack of interest. With the first Ill help you in a minute, with the second you have to help yourself..

Like with many other effective exercises, youll rarely see someone perform pullups in the gym. The reason is simple, they arent easy.

And to stop you right away, if you think that lat pulldowns on a machine are the same as a pullup, its time to wake up. As with all other machine exercises, you cant compare it with the freedom of movement and working the body as a unit like the case is with the pullups.

So how to progress to your first pullup? How much time will it take? Can women do pullups to? Well, it all depends on you, really. Someone does it in a matter of weeks, someone needs more time. For women, the pullup presents a very big challenge, but with a good program, dedication and patience they too can accomplish this „mission impossible“.

There are 2 basic ways of pulling yourself over the bar and the rest are their many variations. Chinup(palms facing you) and a pullup(palms facing away from you). The first one is easier and I suggest you master it first.

Now, to even start doing pullups, you need a pullup bar, of course. Each gym should have them, but I suggest you get one of those door pullup bars that you can install in your home.

I say that because in order to reach your first pullup you have to hang on that bar any chance you get, and going to the gym just 3xweek simply wont be enough. Also if you have a park nearby you can use it to practice in fresh air. When I think of it, thats the way I started. The park in my neighborhood was located bellow a big block of buildings with all the balconies looking straight at it. Talk about motivation, people looking at you while you struggle to do one pullup

There are several progression methods with pullups, in the video I demonstrated the most effective ones. For a complete beginner I suggest to start with hanging from the bar. But dont just hang there, pull your shoulders in their sockets and tense your whole body. Dont hold your breath, but dont relax your body either. Same as doing the plank exercise on the floor. Start with 10sec and work your way up from there.

When you manage to hang 30sec, proceed to the first progression and thats hanging with your chin above the bar(arms flexed). Again you start with 10sec and work your way up to 30sec.

When you manage to hold 30sec in that position, you can try the next progression and thats the „negative“ pullups. With these pullups you use a bench or a chair to come to the top position of a pullup. After that you slowly go down, keeping the tension the whole time. Here also you can do progressions in a sense of how fast you go down. Start with a 5sec lowering and work your way up to 15sec. When you reach the bottom position, use the bench or chair again to come back up.

When you succeed to do a few sets with that 15sec lowering, try the jumping pullups. Here youll use the floor as a spring board, meaning that youll push yourself with your feet from the ground to reach the top. When going back down, again go slowly with max tension.

Resistance bands can be very useful when progressing towards your first pullup. Especially if you have several of them, with different resistance. You start with the thickest and gradually decrease the band thickness untill you reach the thinnest one(the least resistance).

As far as training method is concerned, a one called “GTG“ has proven to be very effective. It was popularized by Pavel Tsatsouline, who in my opinion is one of the top minds in the fitness world. This method means that you do as many sets as you can throughout the day, but never going to failure. Always leaving something in reserve, for example if you can do a max of 6 reps, you perfom many sets of 3 reps throughout the day, in our case with any of the listed progressions. And when you test your max in a few weeks, youll be pleasantly surprised when you see that you smashed your old personal record.

As far as technique is concerned, in the bottom position you inhale, tense your whole body and exhale on the top without relaxing. Keep your shoulders tucked in your armpits. Pullup stresses the shoulders more than a chinup, so be careful if you have a shoulder injury.

And remember, Red bull doesnt give you wings, pullups do. ([/Forget about various lat pulldown machine variations, if you want to build a back to block out the sun with, you should focus on one exercise only; pullups.

Pullups arent only great for back width and lats, but also for core, forearms, biceps and shoulders. Unfortunately, for many people out there pullups still present mission impossible. The common reasons are lack of knowledge(and patiente) on how to progress to them and of course lack of interest. With the first Ill help you in a minute, with the second you have to help yourself..

Like with many other effective exercises, youll rarely see someone perform pullups in the gym. The reason is simple, they arent easy.

And to stop you right away, if you think that lat pulldowns on a machine are the same as a pullup, its time to wake up. As with all other machine exercises, you cant compare it with the freedom of movement and working the body as a unit like the case is with the pullups.

So how to progress to your first pullup? How much time will it take? Can women do pullups to? Well, it all depends on you, really. Someone does it in a matter of weeks, someone needs more time. For women, the pullup presents a very big challenge, but with a good program, dedication and patience they too can accomplish this „mission impossible“.

There are 2 basic ways of pulling yourself over the bar and the rest are their many variations. Chinup(palms facing you) and a pullup(palms facing away from you). The first one is easier and I suggest you master it first.

Now, to even start doing pullups, you need a pullup bar, of course. Each gym should have them, but I suggest you get one of those door pullup bars that you can install in your home.

I say that because in order to reach your first pullup you have to hang on that bar any chance you get, and going to the gym just 3xweek simply wont be enough. Also if you have a park nearby you can use it to practice in fresh air. When I think of it, thats the way I started. The park in my neighborhood was located bellow a big block of buildings with all the balconies looking straight at it. Talk about motivation, people looking at you while you struggle to do one pullup

There are several progression methods with pullups, in the video I demonstrated the most effective ones. For a complete beginner I suggest to start with hanging from the bar. But dont just hang there, pull your shoulders in their sockets and tense your whole body. Dont hold your breath, but dont relax your body either. Same as doing the plank exercise on the floor. Start with 10sec and work your way up from there.

When you manage to hang 30sec, proceed to the first progression and thats hanging with your chin above the bar(arms flexed). Again you start with 10sec and work your way up to 30sec.

When you manage to hold 30sec in that position, you can try the next progression and thats the „negative“ pullups. With these pullups you use a bench or a chair to come to the top position of a pullup. After that you slowly go down, keeping the tension the whole time. Here also you can do progressions in a sense of how fast you go down. Start with a 5sec lowering and work your way up to 15sec. When you reach the bottom position, use the bench or chair again to come back up.

When you succeed to do a few sets with that 15sec lowering, try the jumping pullups. Here youll use the floor as a spring board, meaning that youll push yourself with your feet from the ground to reach the top. When going back down, again go slowly with max tension.

Resistance bands can be very useful when progressing towards your first pullup. Especially if you have several of them, with different resistance. You start with the thickest and gradually decrease the band thickness untill you reach the thinnest one(the least resistance).

As far as training method is concerned, a one called “GTG“ has proven to be very effective. It was popularized by Pavel Tsatsouline, who in my opinion is one of the top minds in the fitness world. This method means that you do as many sets as you can throughout the day, but never going to failure. Always leaving something in reserve, for example if you can do a max of 6 reps, you perfom many sets of 3 reps throughout the day, in our case with any of the listed progressions. And when you test your max in a few weeks, youll be pleasantly surprised when you see that you smashed your old personal record.

As far as technique is concerned, in the bottom position you inhale, tense your whole body and exhale on the top without relaxing. Keep your shoulders tucked in your armpits. Pullup stresses the shoulders more than a chinup, so be careful if you have a shoulder injury.

And remember, Red bull doesnt give you wings, pullups do. view original])

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