“How much can ya bench” isn’t too important to us. Honestly, unless you’re competing or being tested in the bench press, we really care less.
When it comes to an excellent upper body strength builder, the pull up ranks at the top. Here at Method Strength & Performance, we look at the pull up as a total body exercise that requires a lot of tension and practice. Depending on a few factors (injury history, sport, etc), we may ask the person to perform chin ups or use a neutral grip.
At Method Strength & Performance, we do not kip or use any other means to get up over the bar. We want a controlled movement from the hang with the chin going over the bar and there must be a pause at the bottom.
Around here, it is not uncommon to see adults bang out a few reps. We even have some doing them weighted. If you’re an athlete, pull ups (depending on sport, chin ups or neutral grip may replace pull ups) are programmed throughout the program.
Lots of people come to us wanting to do their first pull up, more pull ups, or weighted. Many times, the person is doing a few things that are hindering their progress. Most common are:
- Not producing enough tension
- Not packing the shoulders
- Being used as a conditioning exercise
- Placing them at the wrong part of the training session
- Not practicing enough (1-2 times per week isn’t enough)
Recently, Amber put together some ways to improve your pullups. Check it out here:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFMrV2Pgr-g[/embedyt]