I know that feeling you get when you stand still and give up in front of the hanging rings or the hanging iron bar, maybe because you don’t have enough effort to lift your body or maybe you have tried to do CrossFit Pull-Ups but it didn’t work.
Many people suffer from this problem as well, and most of them overcome this challenge and the pull-up became one of the best exercises they do in CrossFit centers. The beginning is always difficult, but it will not be too difficult if you have the right guidance.
After reading this post, I am sure that you will not suffer from frustration in front of hanging rings again, because I will give you the 10 best ways to master this exercise and some tips and mistakes that you should also avoid.
Let’s discover these methods together.
What are the main 3 steps to perform your first CrossFit Pull Up ?
Well let’s start, there are three steps you must go through in order to make a successful first pullup.
1 – Hollow body hold.
The first thing is hollow body hold, this movement helps build the endurance of your hand muscles and help them hold your body for a long time.
How do you do hollow body hold?
First you must jump to the hanging iron bar, then tighten your hands well and try to push your feet forward a little.
The purpose of this movement is to stay suspended for a longer period of time, so you should make your feet close together and push them forward until they are in the shape of a hanging banana.
- Legs and Feet are zipped together
- Posterior pelvic Tilt
- Space between Ribs and Pelvis is shortened
What if I can’t do a hollow body hold on the hanging bar?
For people who can’t do the hollow body hold on the hanging bar, they can do it first on the floor in the same way,
- lie on your back,
- push your hands behind your head slightly up,
- lift your head off the floor and keep your eyes on the ceiling,
- then raise your feet slightly off the ground and keep it close together.
Keep doing this movement for a few seconds per session and then when you feel like you have the ability to do the movement on the hanging rings or the bar, start doing it.
2 – Scap Pull Ups
This movement you do in order to get enough force to push your shoulders during the ascent, and it is very important because it is the starting point for doing the pull-up movement.
How will you do a Scap Pull Up?
All you have to do is stay hanging on the bar in a position similar to the first movement, then try to push your shoulders towards the ears, try not to bend your hands, raise your shoulders towards your lower part and then push them down again.
This movement will build the necessary strength to do your first Pull Up, you can also do it only with an iron bar, stand and put the bar above your head and then do the same movement.
3 – Negative Pull Up
The negative pull-up is the most well-supported exercise for you to do your first Pull-up, so if you practice it well it will be easy for you, it is the only movement that you need to control and you will see how easy the Pull-up movement will become afterwards.
How do you do a negative Pull Up?
- First you should focus only on the negative Pull Up.
- Jump into the hanging bar, then slowly let your body fall (3 to 10 seconds would be ideal).
- Try to keep your hands focused on holding your body as it falls.
What can you do if you can’t?
You can use a rubber band, tie it on the barre and then put your foot on it, it will give you good support.
Use the band only if you can’t hold on at least for one second, if you can hold on only for 2 or 3 seconds, then you are ready to start the Pull Up program.
What if you can’t hold out for one second?
You can adjust the barre so that it is close to the ground, and then do a negative pull-up while leaving your foot on the ground will be easy.
What are the benefits of negative Pull Up?
- You will increase the endurance of your hands.
- It will increase lifting strength in the shoulders.
- You will get used to lifting your body for longer.
- You will get your first Pull Up.
What are the mistakes that you should avoid?
The only mistake that you must avoid, is not to let your body fall quickly. You must lower your body as slowly as possible. If you cannot, you can make one of the changes we have already referred to for the incapable.
CrossFit Pull Ups program that will help you
It’s time for you to start implementing these 3 steps and this program has helped many people achieve their first Pull Up success, just read with some focus and you are ready to go.
The strategy includes only negative Pull Up but the same method will apply to the remaining two steps.
Let’s start !
The first day should be in the form of a test, so you know how long you can do negative pull up, and also remember you should focus only on pulling down and slowly.
Try to let your body fall slowly for as long as you can, maybe 5, 10, or 15 seconds. Whatever your score will be your starting point with this program.
Well suppose your result was 10 seconds during the first day.
In the first session you should achieve a result between 14 and 20 seconds.
If you can’t do it all at once, you can split the session into 2 sections (7 seconds) or you can split it up into 4 sections (5 seconds) to complete the 20 seconds.
What’s the plan ?
The plan is, you should add 2 seconds with each session, for example you did 20 seconds on Wednesday, add 2 seconds on Friday.
It is best to follow this plan from 3 to 4 days a week for about 3 or 4 weeks, the most important thing is to continue adding more and more seconds.
At the end of the third week, you must repeat the test, but this time you must hold out more, maybe 20 seconds straight, that will be good.
People always wonder how long they have to hold out in order to be ready for the first Pull Up?
25 seconds will be enough to make their first successful Pull Up.
This program has helped thousands of people to do their first successful Pull Up, and that was their starting point with this exercise in order to overcome it in CrossFit classes, so you too will help you.
What are the best exercises that can help you do a CrossFit Pull-Ups?
Certainly, there are several exercises that you can combine with the program that we presented, and also these exercises will give effective results and you will notice changes quickly and will also help you to do more pull-up exercises.
- Hollow Body Hold & Negative Pull Up (we already mentioned them)
Some of these exercises are not intended for CrossFit pull-ups, but will help a lot to improve your performance and strength by holding on to the barbell, pulling yourself up, and so on.
You also have to do some Grip Strength
When can you do CrossFit Pull Ups like a pro?
You should focus first on the plan that we mentioned, if you have never done a Pull-up exercises before or tried to do it several times, but the attempts were unsuccessful, I am sure that this plan will work for you if you stick to it, and within a month or less you will do your first Pull Up, and same method will help you to do 1, 2, 3, 4 … 10, just never stop challenging yourself.
For people who have already done this exercise but want to improve their performance, it would be better to increase the intensity of the steps we mentioned and practice it for a longer period.
Summary
If you follow the plan properly, I think you will be the friend of the hanging rings, and the Pull-ups exercises will not bother you anymore.
The Pull Up exercise is also important to include in the list of your CrossFit exercises, because it targets the whole body and gives a real exercise to all the muscles of the body, so it is important to do some repetitions at least 3 times a week.
Do not forget to share the post with your friends who are interested in learning CrossFit Pull Up, and also do not forget to share your experience with your first successful Pull Up.
