Sustainable Strength training

How to get your first pull-up

The one exercise that separates the weak from the strong, and one anyone can build towards. Here’s the exact hold-and-lower method we use, how to load it once it gets easy, and the form cues that make it click.

By Sam Beagle · Coach and registered nutritionist · 9 min read

You don’t need to lift yourself to the bar. You need to learn to pull the bar to you.

Whether you’re 50 and carrying extra weight or a skinny 16-year-old fresh out of your GCSEs, you can build towards a pull-up. As a side effect, you’ll get a leaner, stronger, more resilient body. Over the next few minutes I’ll show you what to do, and many people get their first rep within about six weeks.

In this guide

Before you start
What a pull-up is
Four cues that change everything
Phase 1: build the base
Phase 2: hold and lower
Adding weight
Variations for other days
Your week

Start here

Three things I’ve learned in 12 years of coaching first pull-ups

Pull-ups work your upper back, biceps and shoulders in ways few other exercises can, and you need almost no equipment. I’ve helped mums and dads hit their first one for over 12 years, and three things come up every time.

Your weight mattersIt’s far easier to pull-up when you’re 20kg lighter. At 75kg I can do 20 pull-ups. Add a 30kg vest to match a friend’s 105kg and I’m down to two, maybe three. If you have body fat to lose, any weight you drop makes this easier.
Where you carry weight mattersWomen tend to hold more body fat around the hips and thighs, and when you’re hanging from a bar, how your weight is distributed matters.
Women can build strength at the same rate as menMen tend to start with more upper-body strength, so the first pull-up often arrives a little sooner. It takes the same effort, sometimes a little more, and it’s completely achievable.

The basics

What a pull-up actually is

You hang from a bar with your whole body suspended by your grip. From a relaxed, straight-arm position, you pull yourself up until your chin rises above the bar.

The neutral-grip pull-up

Video coming soon · Sam demonstrates

Different grips change the difficulty. The wider your hands, the harder it is. The narrower and more neutral, the easier. In this post we’ll use a neutral grip, with palms facing each other. I find most clients get on with it best, and it’s the most comfortable to practise. A lot of that comes down to shoulder position. After years at a desk, many people have rounded, hunched shoulders, and a neutral grip is kinder to them.

Technique

Four cues that change everything

Before the training, fix how you pull. These four cues make the exercise feel completely different.

Shoulders away from your earsPull your shoulder blades down and back before you pull with your arms. If your shoulders creep up towards your ears, you’ve lost your lats and your biceps and neck take over.
The pinky finger matters mostGrip tight with your pinky finger. A hard squeeze on the little-finger side of your hand helps switch on the muscles that run from your forearm into your back, and keeps your elbows moving down.
Pull the bar towards youDon’t think “lift myself to the bar”. Think “pull the bar down to me”. Coach Meghan Callaway uses this cue because it takes the slack out of the shoulders, like setting your back before a deadlift.
Ribs down, body tightSqueeze your glutes, keep your ribs down and your body in one straight, slightly hollow line. No arching and no swinging. Think of a dead bug or a hollow hold, hanging from a bar.

“Pull the bar to you, don’t lift yourself to the bar.”

Phase 1

Build the base

Start by testing your dead hang: the relaxed bottom position of the pull-up. Time how long you can hold it today and write the number down. Work towards at least 90 seconds, because below that the pull-up usually feels out of reach.

To get there, we use two drills. First, the scapula pull-up. Hang from the bar, and keeping your arms straight, lift your body by pulling your shoulder blades down. Your chest and ears should rise away from your shoulders. If you can’t hold that position for 60 seconds, a pull-up will be difficult.

This is the first mistake I see when people try a pull-up: they’re too relaxed at the bottom. Their ears touch their arms and their body is loose. From there you can’t use your lats, so the biceps start the movement.

Scapula pull-upsBuild to 5 sets of 10 reps over time.
Too hard? Start on the floorSet a barbell in a squat rack at chest height. Take an overhand grip, shoulder-width apart, and lower until your arms are straight and your bum sits a couple of inches off the floor, just under the bar. Do 5 sets of 30 seconds with 30 seconds’ rest.

Phase 2

Hold, lower, then put them together

Once your base is solid, the pull-up itself is built from three pieces. Here’s the goal for each one.

30–60s: Isometric hold at the top, chin over the bar
30–60s: Slow eccentric, lowering from the top to a dead hang
30s + 30s: Hold for 30s, then lower for 30s: one 1-minute rep

01
Isometric holdUse a box or jump up so your chin is over the bar. Pull your shoulder blades down, grip hard and hold. Start with whatever you can hold cleanly, even 5–10 seconds, and build towards 30–60 seconds. 2–3 sets with 1–2 minutes’ rest.
02
Slow eccentricGet to the top the same way, then lower as slowly as you can until your arms are straight. Start at 3–5 seconds and build to 30–60 seconds. 2–3 sets of 3 reps, resting between reps.
03
Hold and lower togetherHold the top for 30 seconds, then lower for 30 seconds. That’s one 1-minute rep. Do 2–3 sets of 1–3 reps. When this feels solid, you’re very close to your first pull-up.

The science bit

You’re stronger lowering than lifting. That’s why holds and slow lowers work: they let you train the full range with a load your muscles can already handle. Coaches like Joe DeFranco build chin-up strength with isometric holds then slow eccentrics, working up to around 30 seconds each, and favour more sets of fewer reps rather than grinding to failure. Meghan Callaway uses the same ideas, pairing a hold at the top and slow lowers with scapula work to teach the shoulders to move properly.

Level up

Adding weight

Once you can do the full 30-second hold and 30-second lower cleanly, you can start to add load to the hold and the eccentric. It’s the best way to keep building strength after the first pull-up arrives.

How to load itUse a dip belt, a weight vest, or a dumbbell held between your feet or attached to your back.
Go up in small stepsAdd 2.5–5kg at a time. When you add weight, drop back and build the time up again, rather than jumping straight to the full 30 + 30.
Keep it cleanIf your shoulders rise to your ears or your body starts to swing, the load is too heavy. Take some off.

Other training days

Variations to build the rest of the pull

You don’t need to hang from the bar every day. On other days, these exercises build the strength you need, especially near the top of the pull-up where most people get stuck.

Feet-elevated rows

Rows with your feet raised are a step up from regular bodyweight rows. They build the strength to pull your chest to the bar.

Feet-elevated pull-ups

A bridge between rows and full pull-ups. With your feet raised, you take some bodyweight out of the movement but still train the full pulling motion.

Bicep curls

Your biceps do the most work near the top of the pull-up, so stronger arms help you finish the rep. A fat-grip attachment on curls and rows, once or twice a week, is a good way to build grip as well.

When these get easy, you can load them up with chains. They add resistance gradually as you lift, so the hardest part of the movement is at the top, where you need the strength.

Put it together

A simple week

Here’s one way to organise it. Keep the number of sets low and stop short of failure. More good sets of fewer reps beats one ugly grind.

A
Hold and lower dayIsometric holds, slow eccentrics, then holds and lowers together. Finish with scapula pull-ups.
B
Feet-elevated rows and curlsBuild the pulling strength with rows, then finish with bicep curls.
C
Feet-elevated pull-ups and curlsPractise the full pulling motion with less bodyweight, then finish with curls. Add chains when it gets easy.

Spread these across the week with a rest day between sessions. Test your dead hang and your hold every two weeks and write the numbers down. Progress you can see keeps you going.

Sustainable beats perfect. Every time.

“Anyone can build towards a pull-up. Hold it, lower it, load it, and give it time.”

Want help getting there?

In coaching, we build your pull-up into a plan that fits your body, your schedule and your goals, and we coach your form in person at our Northwood studio or online. No guessing, just steady progress.

Start your Sustainable Strength coaching

How To Get Your First Pull-Up