Fitness Tip from the Sporting Club: Mastering the Pull-Up

It’s now well into February, and some of you may have noticed the crowds at the gym lightening up post-New Year. If you’re one of those people that had all the motivation on January 1, but not so much now, we have compiled this fitness tip just for you.

When starting to exercise, many people start too fast or have unrealistic expectations. It’s important to start slow, and that’s what this week’s fitness tip is all about: building to a full range pull-up.

The pull-up is one exercise that can challenge even the most fit athletes. Especially for women, the pull-up can be a dread. As fitness trainer Kris Machain from The Sporting Club San Diego explains, pull-ups are a terrific exercise for toning the upper back, shoulders and arms.

Now, if you’re not ready to jump on that pull-up bar and give me 20, Kris has put together some tips that will help you ease into the pull-up and have you pounding them out in no time.

Step 1: Utilize a step or chair to practice an eccentric pull-up. An eccentric pull-up is the lowering phase of the exercise. In a pull-up, the action of lowering yourself back down from the lift is the eccentric movement. This exercise will help you build up to the next phase.

Step 2: Use a super band to give you assistance as you complete a full pull-up. The thinner the band, the less help you will get from the band. Swap out strong bands for weaker bands until you can go to step 3.

Step 3: Pull-ups! You know how these go.