13 Things that Happen when you get Good at Pull ups

What happens when you get good at pull ups? Let me tell you, getting good at pull ups has a lot of unintended consequences.

Funny stuff starts to happen when you start getting really good at pull ups, and knocking out sets of 8, 10, or more or sets with added weight. Today, pull ups are my strongest exercise. On a good day, I can do upwards of 20 reps.

These are my own experiences about what started to happen when I started getting really good at pull ups. I would not be surprised if many of these same things happen to you.

1. Your Confidence improves

Few people in this world can really do pull ups. When you accomplish this feat, you are on top of the world and you feel like you can do anything. You stand a little taller knowing you have put the work in to get good at a skill few people can do. This confidence transfers over to the rest of your strength training career and life in general. Suddenly you feel ready to take on more challenges in your physical and professional life.

You start getting excited when your program calls for pull ups (likely you will become a little bit of a pull-up-show-off!) instead of retiring to a remote corner of the gym to do band assisted pull ups.

2. Your body awareness improves

If this is the first time in your life you have done strength training or bodyweight exercises where you have to move your body through space, your body awareness will definitely improve. Suddenly you have the kinesthetic awareness to know what your body is doing in space and to make adjustments and corrections as you go, without relying on the feedback of a trusted friend or trainer. You know when you are doing pull ups correctly, if your lower body is tight and in the proper position, if you are pulling your shoulder blades back and down and pulling your elbows back, if you are getting your chin above the bar, and then descending with control and poise.

This newfound body awareness benefits you in any sport you may play, and it makes you less injury prone.

3. You are having fewer general aches and pains.

Building on my second point, the body awareness you build when you get good at pull ups helps you to better control your body during other exercises, sports, and just life in general. All of a sudden you are paying better attention to your posture and core positioning, and you just feel better.

Strength is protective. Getting stronger at the pull up exercise means you are using less of your strength reserve for activities of daily life. You are not getting injured cleaning your house or mowing the lawn anymore because those have become low-threshold activities.

4. Your body fat percentage drops

Getting good at pull ups requires a low body fat level. Fat is non-contractile tissue which makes it harder for you to get your chin above the bar. To get good at pull ups, you have probably had to drop your spare tire and build muscle. This means you have traded in fat tissue for muscle and are likely a lot leaner and meaner than where you started.

Strength training in and of itself helps you improve your body composition–by reducing body fat levels and using fat stores and energy supplied in your diet to build more muscle. You have likely been training long and hard to get good at pull ups, and that by itself should mean you have dropped a considerable amount of fat and put on muscle since you started.

By the point you can do 8+ pull ups, you probably have a pretty good body composition and impressive physique. Especially if you are performing other strength and hypertrophy exercises like squats, deadlifts and the like, you probably have a very impressive physique and overall low body fat percentage.

If you can do ten or more pull ups with good form, you probably have more muscle and less fat than 90 percent of the population.

5. Your grip strength gets better

Doing a lot of pull ups, and training to get good at pull ups, requires you to hang from a bar for a lot of reps and a lot of sets. Maybe you have also been following the workouts and training advice offered here for supplemental grip building for the pull up exercise. To get good at pull ups, you need an iron grip. If you have accomplished this feat, you likely have a very strong grip now–at least strong enough that you are able to hang on to a pull up bar for high rep sets. This will also help your deadlift strength!

6. Your other lifts start improving

The strength you have built with your pull ups translates to more strength with your other lifts. Stronger lats make you a better lifter and better at any exercise where your lats have to help you stabilize your back or shoulders–like the deadlift, bench press, snatch, or clean and jerk.

Getting good at pull ups will help you deadlift more weight safely and hold onto heavy weights better!

This is one of the reasons most powerlifters and weightlifters train pull ups at most points in the training year. Pull ups make a stronger lifter.

So if you have gotten really good at pull ups, you should start noticing that you just feel more stable and stronger during your other heavy compound movements.

7. You wish you could go back in time and crush the High School Presidential Physical Fitness Test

Maybe you were not the fittest kid in middle or high school, or maybe the Presidential Physical Fitness Test made you anxious or embarrassed that you could not do the pull up test. I’m guessing now you feel a bit of regret that you did not have your current pull up skills in high school.

It is ok. All that matters is that you can do pull ups now. I would suggest channeling your new-found strength into a new hobby, like competing in an event that features pull ups or doing an obstacle course race.

8. Even if you have no interest in the military, you start thinking, “I could become a marine!”

If you are interested in becoming a marine or forest ranger, by all means, go for it.

According to my new brother in law, a lot of Americans are unable to pass the specific fitness requirements of the military. They might appreciate your fitness and strength levels!

9. People keep asking when you are going on American Ninja Warrior

People rarely see others able to perform pull ups with good form so they might be impressed by your skill and prowess with the exercise. Others might start asking you when you are trying out for American Ninja Warrior. You might even start thinking you should try out for ANW, but I would encourage you to go hold that thought unless you can already do all types of crazy climbing, scaling and propelling yourself from object to object or are willing to prepare yourself for the huge challenge.

Again, use your new skills in a constructive way and don’t be afraid to challenge yourself competitively, but make sure you are prepared for the challenge or competition you aim to enter.

10. People start asking you if you were a gymnast.

I was, so I just smile and nod. But if you built your pull up strength on your own accord, without coaches yelling at you, props to you. Smile, say no, and tell people you just work hard at your craft. 🙂

11. You develop terrible calluses and shaking peoples’ hand becomes embarrassing

Your devotion to your bar skills is really admirable, but if you don’t take care of those calluses, your hands can get really rough and nobody wants to touch your hands anymore. I would highly recommend a pumice stone to keep those calluses in check. Using one will also help you keep from getting blisters and rips or bleeding on your pull up bar.

12. You cannot fit into any of your shirts, coats, or dress-coats anymore

Kudos on growing your lats, biceps, and upper back. Congratulations. You have outgrown all your shirts, but only in the back. Your waist might be the same size or even smaller than when you started your pull up journey. So now none of your old clothes fit. This was a depressing reality for me as I could no longer fit into a lot of items I really liked. I have this one dark blue toggle coat which I really like, but it was getting extremely tight around my lats. I could not wear it while driving my car and I certainly could not give anyone a hug in it without fearing it might rip.

Honestly this was a bit embarrassing but I could not find a coat I liked as much as my dark blue coat for a long time, so I suffered in the coat for months! Others would laugh at me when they would see how much I was struggling in my dress coat.

Other garments posed a problem too. Suddenly all my shirts were too tight or fabric would pull in weird ways. Until I had the time to replace my current wardrobe, I felt as if I had nothing to wear and this frustrated me!

Just go ahead and get rid of your old clothes, or give them to a friend with less muscular development.

Go shopping and try different things:

You will need to go shopping for new things, and you will need to order a size up and find a good tailor to take things in around your waist. You will probably have to try on things you would not otherwise.

Things that used to look good on your frame, like a casual loose sweatshirt, now just make you look like a linebacker. I would recommend a lot of soft, flowy tops with loose sleeves. I would also recommend slim fitting garments and slim fitting dresses. If you are like me you have a very feminine style and you like lace and detail. Try on each piece to assess whether it accentuates your body or not. Employ friends and family members who will give you their honest opinion and appraisal.

13. You feel secretly smug when you are stronger than a lot of the guys you know (especially if you are a woman) …

But on the same token, you also are not impressed anymore unless a guy is really strong.

Seriously dude? I could squat/press/pull/lift more than that. 

If you are seriously competitive like I am though, you might get a bit down when you see guys twice or even three times as strong as you.

‘No big deal, he can do pull ups with my squat 1RM….Sniffle.’

These are thirteen reflections I have had since I have gotten really good at pull ups. I cannot guarantee that you will have the same experiences as me, but there is only one way to find out! If you had any quirky experiences from being a girl (or a guy!) who can rock pull ups, definitely let me know in the comment section! I would love to hear about what has happened for you since you have gotten strong as hell at pull ups!