[elliekelly]

Could you do pull-ups before you bought the bar? I’m always so tempted to get one because I so badly want to be able to do a pull-up. I’d be so pumped if I could just do one. But I have no upper body strength to speak of and getting to a pull-up seems nearly impossible so I never pull the trigger on buying the bar.

[RootReducer]

It took me a solid 6 months from "never worked out a day in my life" to "can do a pullup".

I started just hanging from the bar, then moved to using a stool to get above the bar and lowering myself as slowly as possible.

Eventually, with practice, I could start holding myself in place with arms bent, then finally start moving upward.

It was a journey, but I'm glad I did it!

[lancesells]

Congrats! I've got a very strange pull-up anecdote. During quarantine last year I started working on the roof of my building. That meant climbing up a vertical fire escape ladder daily with 25+ lbs of clay and all types of gear. Months into going up and down the ladder 10-20 times a day I realized I could do more pull-ups than I could ever have done previously.

I'm still working on my roof and love it. Since last summer I made a pulley system to get my work up and down when it's too heavy or too big to fit on my back.

[montecarl]

I had the exact same experience. Hanging, then slowly lowering, then eventually being able to do one! Then worked up to 3x sets of 5, then an unrelated injury has prevented me from working out. I really enjoyed doing pull ups and the strength I gained. I'd highly recommend getting a pull up bar and following the reddit body weight fitness recommended routine[1].

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/

[mellavora]

Another tip for getting started. Start horizontal, with your feet supported on a box. You are really doing a 'row', not a chin-up, but since part of your body is supported, the weight is less.

    *
    |
    |
 ()-----------|-------/
                    /---\

 

This technique lets you develop power at the low end/start of the pull, which is where you need it most.

The other tips (hang from the bar and slowly lower yourself) are also very good.

[hawski]

Bonus is that you can do this with a table - with body under the table.

[Jemaclus]

There are some training plans out there to get you from "couch to pullup". The trick, essentially, is to start from the top and lower yourself down as slowly as you can. After a while, you start to use resistance bands to reduce the weight you need to lift, and then you start doing assisted pullups. Over time, you drop the resistance until you can do a pullup! It does take some time (~6 week for me to my first good-form pullup).

I'm insanely jealous of the American Ninja Warriors who can do 30 pullups at once. I just don't see how that's possible. But maybe someday I'll get there...

[ggregoire]

You could do Australian pull-ups (i.e. horizontal pull-ups) to start building your back, you just need two chairs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbBDBkkuNac

Or with a broom put down between two chairs to build your hands grip: https://homegym-exercises.com/inverted_row_between_two_chair...

[datadrivenangel]

Buy the bar!

You can start by just hanging there or trying to do a pullup. Over time you'll get it!

Pushups also help to strengthen your back muscles, which helps with pullups.

[dehrmann]

When I started with my trainer 5+ years ago, one of my goals was being able to do a pullup. We never really focused on them specifically, I got up to 6, or so. The two things that really got me there, and they go together, were learning to activate my lats (pullups are as much a back exercise as an arm one), and deadlifts. They definitely don't work the lats directly, but you'll engage them when your form is good, training that activation under heavy load.

Problem is if you're thinking about a pullup bar, you probably don't have the equipment for deadlifts. Band deadlits can work, though.

You can also try a lat pushdown with a band to train lat activation. With pullups, it's easy to turn it into an arm exercise. It's harder to skip this with a lat pushdown.

[skrtskrt]

Look up "greasing the groove" for pullups. As others have said, an absolute beginner would start with negative reps - jump up to the top of the pull up, then let yourself down slowly.

[fn1]

Just a small tipp: Doing a pullup mostly depends on the latissimus dorsi muscle. It's about keeping a steady, stable body while pulling. Pull with your back, not only with your arms.

[dqv]

Negatives can help get you there if you really want to pull the trigger. Just be careful - door frame pull up bars can ruin your door molding.

[9-65263652]

There's lots of ways to get past the hurdle of the first pull-up! Don't psych yourself out, pull the trigger.