Christopher - The Ultimate Guide to Pullups and Chin-ups

The Ultimate Guide to Pullups and Chin-ups

By Logan Christopher

DISCLAIMER

The exercises and advice contained within this book may be too strenuous or dangerous for some people, and the reader should consult with a physician before engaging in them.

The author and publisher of this book are not responsible in any manner whatsoever for any injury, which may occur through the use or misuse of the information presented here.

"All images, unless otherwise noted, are from my private collection. They are reproduced here under the professional practice of fair use for the purposes of historical discussion and scholarly interpretation. All characters and images remain the property of their respective copyright holders

Back in 8 th grade I had to do the Presidential Fitness Test. One of the exercises in there was the pullup. At that age I weighed all of about 90 lbs. yet when I jumped up onto the bar I couldnt move. I remember the thought going through my mind:

How do people pull themselves up?!?

Yes, I was really weak. Fast forward many years and at a Tactical Strength Challenge I hit a goal I had had for many years, to do 20 strict pullups. In fact, I got 21. That is what progressive strength training can do for you. And thats what this book is all about.

The pullup is a life skill that everyone ought to have, women, the elderly and children included. Why? Its a simple test of strength. It also could come in handy in certain life or death situations. If you cant pull your own bodyweight up, what happens if you end up on the side of a cliff or hanging on for your dear life? Are you just going to hope that someone else is there to save you? Luckily, that is a rare case in which pullups are necessary to save your life. And hopefully you never actually need it for that purpose.

Its one of the best exercises out there, bar none. It develops the back, arms, grip and even the abs too. You can focus more on certain areas over others depending on how you do them. For the men they can be great to give you a natural strong look. For the women, few things will make your arms look better.

But theres a problemMost people cant do a single rep. What do you do if this is the case? Well, now you have the roadmap to achievement and much more. This book is divided into three main sections.

Achieving your first pullup. This section covers lots of exercises, methods and progressions you need to build up to your first rep. Once you get that its just a matter of adding to what you currently can do.

The second section is all about pullup variations. Once you can do a few reps you may want to alter how you do them. Youll find variations for making your grip work more, your abs fire harder, and to just toughen up the exercise in general.

The third section is all about the toughest pullup variation out there, the one arm pullup. If you practice the first and second sections you may eventually be able to move towards this elite level goal. Here youll find everything you need to work up to this exercise.

Each section will also feature a few training ideas to choose from. I encourage you to come up with your own methods of training and to listen to your body but these will give you a great starting point. Before we get to the exercises themselves lets talk about where to do them.

Pullups can be done in most places. All you need is a something sturdy enough for you to hang your full weight from it. Here are many suggestions of what you can use.

Power Rack

This is what I do the majority of my pullup training with. The power rack has multiple uses and pullups are just one of them. Most commercial gyms will have power racks that have a pullup bar built into them.

Something along these lines is all you need.
Youll see a bunch of this one throughout this book.

Door Frame Pullup Bar

For many years when I didnt go to a gym and didnt have my own well stocked home gym I made do with one of these. Lots of different ones are out there. Just make sure its secure and youre good to go.

The Iron Gym here is a simple solution for many people.

Playground

If you dont have a gym to go to and nothing at home you can often find a local park, school or playground complete with monkey bars or something to hang off of.

The playground at the park that is literally right across the street from my house.

Tree Branches

In the worst case you can often find suitable trees. Make sure it is stable enough to support your weight without breaking. These will change up the grip as usually branches are thicker than most pullup bars. It can also be uncomfortable so gloves are an option

Hanging out with a tree.

Gymnastic Rings

Besides having a straight bar another worthy investment is gymnastic rings. These can be setup in a number of places and are also usually adjustable in height up and down so you can switch them up for whatever exercise youre doing. While you can work to do a pullup or chin-up grip with these, usually your hands will freely rotate to something that is closer to a chin-up on the way up and pullups on the way down.

http://legendarystrength.com/go/rings

You dont need to be a gymnast to get great benefits from ring training.

Suspension Trainer

Suspension trainers like the TRX are popular these days. If setup high enough you can use these for pullups, although typically theyll be set lower for moves like inverted rows.

http://legendarystrength.com/go/trx

Usually youre going to hang this off an a bar so you could use that instead.
But it is an option and great for other exercises too.

The following are not acceptable substitutes.

Lat Pull Down Machine

Assisted Pullup Machine

Avoid these two substitutes if at all possible.

In both cases your body will not need to work to support itself the same as you actually do in the pullup, thus the carry over will be incomplete. These can be used to some effect (in fact I will be sharing one later on). If necessary they can be used for the very weak to start with, but as soon as possible I suggest moving onto the exercises found in this book

A Word on Best Setup

If you want to get the most from your pullup training I encourage you to find a way to hang completely from the bar, that is to be fully extended without bending your legs. This isn t always achievable but it is optimal. Both times Ive done 21 reps in the pullup it was from a bar where I could hang fully. Hard to say what the reason is, except that the exercise just feels better when you do it in this manner. Not necessary, but certainly optimal.