10 pull up tips: improve your pull ups today

Everyone wants to be good at pull ups, but few are able to really conquer this tough body weight exercise. I’ve written some tips you can implement today to perform a little better on your pull ups today–and every day thereafter.

1. Do your pull ups near the start of your workout

So many people leave their pull ups near the end of their workout, after the “bread and butter” movements like squats, deadlifts, and other barbell movements.

If you are prioritizing your barbell movements before pull ups, that is fine.

Just perform your pull ups near the beginning of your workout on days when you are hitting mostly accessory movements. For example, you might train the big barbell movements 3 times per week each but have one training day when you are just hitting some lighter accessory movements.

On that day, do your pull ups first.

Science suggests you gain the most strength and size in the exercise you prioritize and do first in your training program. This is called the primacy effect.

When you are fresher and less fatigued for your pull ups, you can do them a little better and devote a bit more training volume to the exercise. Your body also has the most resources to devote to proper pull up performance when you do them first, or at least close to first.

Give at least one day per week a “pull up emphasis” and put pull ups first in your training program.

2. Do your pull ups before your rows

If you absolutely cannot do your pull ups first in your training program, at least do them before any type of (horizontal) rows. Many people still train with upper/lower splits where they train pull ups and rows on the same training day. This is fine, but heavy and high volume rowing will likely tire your back and will make pull ups a lot harder, compromising the volume you can accrue with pull ups. (Pull ups usually do not limit row performance, however).

If you train your upper body on one training day, put your pull ups before your rows. An example (yet non-traditional) order for an upper body training session:

DB Overhead Press 4 x 6-8

Pull ups 4 x 6-10, leaving 2 reps in the tank for all sets

DB Offset One Arm Flat Press 3 x 10

DB Bent over Row 3 x 10

Barbell Abdominal Roll out 3 x 8

3. Perform a quick, but thorough general warm-up before starting your pull ups

You will be stronger, and less likely to injure yourself, if you perform a quick general warm up before starting your pull up training. Warming up will raise your body temperature and bring blood flow to muscles, tendons and joints.

You want to avoid tiring yourself out. Take 5-10 minutes to warm up and bring blood flow to every area of your body.

Sample General Warm up:

5 minutes jogging, cycling or elliptical

10 shoulder circles forward and backward

10 hip circles each direction

4. Perform a specific warm-up before performing your pull ups

A specific warm up will help activate the muscles you want to use in your pull up, reduce the risk of injury, and get your central nervous system on board to produce more force.

Specific Warm up (After General Warm up)

McGill Series: 4 Alternating Birddogs (10 seconds each)

4 Alternating McGill Crunches (10 seconds each)

Side Plank (30 seconds each side)

Band Pull Apart: 2 x 10 reps

Band Straight Arm Lat Pulldown: 2 x 10 reps

5. Perform an easy set of scapular retractions before starting your pull ups.

Consider these the equivalent of your empty bar squat before working up to 550 x 5.

You are performing an easy exercise that will help you use proper muscle recruitment patterns in the pull up (the lats) and initiate the pull up by retracting the shoulder blades, not by bending the elbows.

This simple form trick will help instantly make you stronger. 

6. Do an “over-warm up”

After doing your general and specific warm up as well as your hanging scapular retractions, go ahead and do a heavy single with a weight that is moderately difficult–around 80-90 percent of your 1 Rep Pull up Max.

For example, say your program calls for Pull ups 4 x 10 with 10 lb additional weight. Before starting your 4 x 10, go ahead and do a heavy single with 35-45 lb.

This is called Post-Activation-Potentiation or PAP. What is PAP? PAP is a phenomenon where heavy or explosive muscular contractions (greater than 85% of 1RM or very explosive training) increases strength or rate of force development in the subsequent sets, as long as the heavy or explosive movements are performed in a close time proximity to the subsequent sets (2-5 minutes; and longer and the benefit dissipates; any shorter and you may enter the set too fatigued to see a benefit.)

You too can get some of the benefits of PAP by doing very heavy training for as few as one single rep, waiting 2-3 minutes, and then completing your regular pull up training.

You will likely experience an immediate training improvement and your regular pull ups will feel really light in comparison.

Alternatively, you can also experience the benefits of PAP training by doing very explosive training for the upper body in between sets of pull ups. This is called complex training. Example:

4 Supersets, rest 2-3 minutes between sets):

6 pull ups

3 explosive plyometric pull ups

7. Add an easy set of pull ups to each workout

Strength is a skill, and frequent progress will help you get a bit better, a bit faster.

Experiment adding a single easy set of pull ups to each training session. You don’t have to take the set to failure, or even to fatigue. Simply accumulate some extra pull ups on other training days in small pulses.

Adding extra pull ups to your training days will also help you accumulate a bit more training volume. Volume is easily the most important training variable for size and strength. Doing a few extra pull ups by adding a couple pull up sessions per week will help you accumulate a bit more volume–helping you rack up those gainz.

8. Add some extra volume to your pull up training!

Make your pull up training a little more robust by adding more volume. If you are anything like the stock standard strength enthusiast, you are performing between 5-6 sets of squats and deadlifts per training session, 2 or more times per week. You are lifting more weight off the ground than Godzilla and willing to fry your lower back with thousands of pounds of training volume in the back squat.

But extra sets of the pull up to get a little bit better?

Likely no way.

Past your beginner gains stage, you are going to have to add more training volume in the pull up to make gains. But the pull up is such a joint friendly exercise, and unlikely to pose any real issues to your recovery, why not add a few extra sets?

Go beyond the standard 3 x 10 for a 4 x 10, 5 x 10, or even 6 x 10. Even if you can’t do all six sets of ten, you can start with three easy sets of ten and then regress to band or machine assisted pull ups for the remaining sets. This is a great way to add penalty-free training volume.

It’s also a great way to practice your form at lighter weights–helping you to reinforce better movement and muscle recruitment patterns, instead of just flailing through all those reps.

If you are too tired to do so many sets of pull ups all at once, you can certainly break them up and train 3 sets one day and 3 sets on an additional day.

This may be an even better strategy since you will be fresher and stronger at the start of a new session compared to after several fatiguing sets.

9. Set up a pull up bar at home and do a few pull ups every time you pass it.

This is Greasing the Groove Training at its finest (read here to learn more about greasing the groove). Greasing the Groove means training as often as possible, as fresh as possible. If you set up a pull up bar in a doorway in your home, you can easily add a couple pull ups each time you pass by. It won’t be fatiguing and it won’t even feel like training, but it will add up.

Do this easy method for a few months, adding a rep or two each day. You will definitely be able to improve your pull ups if you employ this method.

10. Focus in on your nutrition.

Fueling properly before your workouts will make you stronger–immediately. Focus on consuming 30-45 grams of carbohydrates along with 20-30 grams of protein about an hour or two before your workouts, and consume the same carb and protein rich meal about an hour or two after your workout.

Carbs are the training fuel–and your body burns through carbohydrates during intense training sessions. If you can supply your body with some carbs before and after your training sessions, you will provide your body with its preferred training fuel for intense exercise.

It is an easy, no-brainer way to eek out a few extra reps with the pull up today.

And there you have it. Follow these simple tips and you may surprise yourself at your pull up performance, today!