You’re staring at the bar. It’s high, cold, and honestly, it feels a little bit like it’s mocking you. We’ve all been there—clinging to the steel, face turning a deep shade of purple, feet dangling helplessly like a cartoon character who just ran off a cliff. Most people think learning how to start doing pull ups is just about having massive biceps or being naturally "light." That’s a total lie. Pull ups are a skill, not just a display of raw power, and if you’ve been failing at them, it’s probably because you’re trying to brute-force a movement your nervous system hasn’t actually learned yet.
It’s hard. Really hard.
Most fitness "influencers" make it look effortless, gliding up and down like they’re on invisible wires. But for the rest of us, the journey from zero to one is the steepest hill in the gym. If you can’t do a single rep right now, don’t sweat it. You’re actually in the best position to build a foundation that won’t wreck your shoulders later.
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The Mechanical Reality of the Pull Up
Before you even jump up, you have to understand what’s actually happening in your body. A pull up isn't just an "arm exercise." If you try to pull with just your biceps, you’ll stall halfway every single time. You’re essentially asking a small muscle group to lift your entire body weight. Instead, you need to recruit the latissimus dorsi—those big "wing" muscles in your back—and your core.
Think about your hands as hooks.
Seriously. Don’t squeeze the bar until your knuckles turn white; just hook over it. The real magic happens at the shoulder blades. High-level coaches like Pavel Tsatsouline or the folks over at StrongFirst often talk about "packing" the shoulders. This means pulling your shoulder blades down and back before your arms even start to bend. If you start from a "dead hang" where your shoulders are touching your ears, you’re putting an insane amount of stress on your labrum and tendons.
It’s about tension. You want your whole body to feel like a solid piece of wood. If your legs are swinging or your core is limp, you’re leaking energy. That energy should be going into the bar, but instead, it’s just dissipating into the air. Squeeze your glutes. Point your toes slightly forward (this is called the hollow body position). This tension creates a stable platform for your back muscles to pull against.
Why Your Progress Has Stalled (and the Lat Pulldown Trap)
A lot of people think the path to how to start doing pull ups begins at the lat pulldown machine. It makes sense on paper, right? You’re doing the same movement but with adjustable weight.
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But here’s the problem: the machine stabilizes you.
When you sit on that bench and tuck your knees under the pads, your core can go to sleep. You don't have to worry about balance, swinging, or total-body tension. This is why you see guys who can pull the entire stack on the machine but still can’t do five clean pull ups. The carryover isn't as high as you’d think. If you want to get good at moving your body through space, you have to actually move your body through space.
Better Alternatives to Machines
Negative Pull Ups: This is the undisputed king of progress. You jump or use a box to get your chin over the bar, then lower yourself as slowly as humanly possible. Research in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research consistently shows that eccentric (lowering) strength is the fastest way to build the concentric (pulling) strength you need. Try to make each "descend" last a full 5 to 10 seconds. It will burn. You will be sore. But it works.
Scapular Pulls: You hang from the bar and simply pull your shoulder blades down without bending your arms. It’s a tiny movement. Maybe two inches. But it trains the initial "click" that starts every good rep.
Inverted Rows: Find a low bar or use rings. Lean back and pull your chest to the bar. It’s a horizontal pull, but it builds the specific back thickness and grip strength required for the vertical version. Plus, you can easily adjust the difficulty by moving your feet.
The Grip Secret Nobody Mentions
Check your palms. If you have massive calluses right at the base of your fingers, you’re probably gripping the bar wrong. Most beginners shove the bar deep into their palms. When you gravity starts pulling you down, that skin folds over and gets pinched. It hurts, it’s distracting, and it makes you want to let go before your muscles are actually tired.
Instead, grip the bar at the base of your fingers. It feels less secure at first, but it stops the skin from pinching and actually gives you a slightly better mechanical advantage. Also, don't be afraid of chalk. Sweat is the enemy of a good pull up. If your hands are sliding, your brain will subconsciously send a "stop" signal to your muscles because it thinks you’re about to fall. Dry hands equal a stronger nervous system response.
Banded Pull Ups: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Resistance bands are the most common tool for people learning how to start doing pull ups, but they’re a double-edged sword. The problem is the physics of the band itself. A band provides the most help at the bottom—the hardest part of the movement—and almost no help at the top where you need to get your chin over the bar.
This creates a "false" strength. You get used to being slingshotted out of the bottom position, so you never develop the raw power needed to start the move from a dead stop.
If you use bands, use them sparingly. Don't let them be your only workout. Combine them with negatives so you’re still feeling what it’s like to handle your full body weight during the lowering phase. Use the thinnest band you can manage. If the band is so thick it’s basically doing the work for you, you’re just wasting your time and looking like a human slingshot.
Frequency vs. Intensity (Greasing the Groove)
You don't need to do a "pull up day" once a week. In fact, that's a terrible way to learn a new skill. Imagine trying to learn guitar by practicing for five hours once every Sunday. You’d forget everything by the next week.
Instead, try the "Grease the Groove" method popularized by strength coaches. If you have a pull up bar at home (and you should if you're serious about this), do one or two "easy" reps or negatives every time you walk under the door. Never go to failure. If you could do three negatives, just do one.
The goal here isn't to get a "pump" or to feel exhausted. The goal is to tell your brain, "Hey, we do this movement all the time, get used to it." Over a week, you might end up doing 50 or 60 reps of quality practice without ever feeling tired. This neurological adaptation is often the "missing link" for people who have been stuck at zero for months.
A Sample "Get Your First Rep" Plan
Forget the complex spreadsheets. If you want to know how to start doing pull ups, you just need a simple, consistent rotation. Try this three days a week, with at least one rest day in between.
- Day A: 5 sets of 3–5 Negative Pull Ups (3 seconds down). 3 sets of 10 Inverted Rows.
- Day B: 3 sets of 10 Scapular Pulls. 4 sets of 5-second isometric holds (jump to the top and just stay there).
- Day C: 3 sets of "As Many As Possible" (AMAP) using the thinnest band you can find. 3 sets of 10 Inverted Rows with feet further forward than before.
If you find that your elbows start to hurt—a common issue called "golfer's elbow"—stop immediately. This usually happens because you're "pulling" with your hands instead of your back, or you're jumping into too much volume too fast. Take a week off, work on your grip, and come back slower.
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Moving Past the First Rep
Once you hit that first glorious, shaky, chin-over-the-bar rep, the game changes. You’ve broken the seal. But don't immediately try to do 10. The jump from 1 to 2 is often harder than the jump from 5 to 10.
Keep doing your negatives. Keep doing your rows. Your first rep is likely a "max effort" lift, meaning it’s incredibly taxing on your central nervous system. Treat it with respect.
Actionable Steps for This Week
- Buy a doorway pull up bar. Having it in your environment removes the friction of "going to the gym."
- Film yourself. You might think your chin is over the bar, but video doesn't lie. Check if you’re "reaching" with your chin (bad for the neck) instead of pulling your chest to the bar.
- Prioritize grip. Hang from the bar for 30 seconds at the end of every workout. If you can’t hang, you can’t pull.
- Lose the ego. If you can only do one good rep and then your form breaks down, stop. One perfect rep is worth a hundred "half-reps" where you’re kicking your legs and straining your neck.
Success in pull ups is about consistency over intensity. It’s about showing up to that bar day after day, even when you feel heavy. One day, you’ll pull, and instead of the bar feeling like an immovable object, you’ll feel like you’re pulling the earth down to you. That’s the moment you’ve officially started.
Focus on the negatives. Squeeze the glutes. Stop using the massive green bands. You'll get there faster than you think.