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How can I get better at pull-ups?

Do you want to start on one of the most effective pull-up programmemes ever devised?

Just because the title says that this is all about pull-ups, the same ideas, structure and advice can be applied to any bodyweight movement.

The whole programmeme works from the starting point of you being able to do one good strict rep of the skill that you’d like to improve, and is almost too simple to believe. 

In this example, we’ll talk pull ups…

On Day 1 you head to the pull up bar (at home or at the gym) and do one perfect rep.  You come down, rest a minute or two and then repeat your one rep.  Another minute or two of rest and you hit your final rep.  That’s it, three sets of one.

If you completed 1-1-1, then the next time you train you strive to do two reps on your first set, followed by two further sets of one.  The following session is 2-2-1, and then 2-2-2 is the goal.  Assuming that you have time to do this 3-4 times a week then the volume quickly builds, as does your strength. 

At some point however you’ll struggle to make the numbers that you’re scheduled to hit, but don’t worry, you’ve got two options:

1 – Stick at that particular rung of the ladder until you can before moving on

2 – Take a few reps away from all of your sets and start building back up again.

If you can do more than one or two reps then feel free to start at a higher starting point. Understand though that the more build up sets you have then the longer you’ll be able to make progress.  We’ve found that starting out around 50% of your maximum number of reps is a good place to start.  So if you’ve got 10 strict pull ups then starting with 5-5-5, progressing to 6-5-5, 6-6-5 etc is where we’d recommend starting.

Let us know how you get on!

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