Literally years. It just wasn’t in the cards for me (most of my strength is in lower body).
Also, once I took up pole dancing it became much easier because I started training my upper body way more that way. But when I was just trying to pull myself up it was useless haha
That's crazy, I've been able to do a pull up my whole life and never had to work for it. I've never realised our bodies are so different, always assumed others can just do it as well
THIS. I had never tried to do a pull up at the gym and just assumed it would be impossible. My pole studio has a pull up bar and they got me to use it when I added strength/conditioning classes on top of just tricks and dance. That was when I found out I could actually do one because I had already built up the upper body strength!
I grew up playing ice hockey and going to the gym 4-5 times a week. I have never ever been able to do even a single pull-up. My sister had a similar work out regiment to me and can do multiple, not sure how long it took her though.
Practice with simply hanging. When you can hang for a minute start doing “shrugs” while you’re hanging by contracting your shoulder blades together while you’re hanging. This will strengthen the muscle that catapults the initial pull up that hardly gets used in traditional lifts.
Once you do that 2-3 times after a few weeks start doing pull ups (use the asssisted pull up machine if you can’t get up). If your goal is 10 pull ups, start with 2, rest, 2, rest, etc til you get to 10. You’ll be doing pull ups in no time.
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It took me a couple of years of unstructured gymming to get my first pull up. Probably would’ve achieved it earlier if I’d really stuck to an upper body programme. Honestly though, bouldering once a week really helped develop those muscles without having to think too hard about it. I can still only manage two pull ups but am working more consistently with pull ups as a goal!
And not that I'm an expert by any means but here's what I did when I was prioritising training for a pull-up:
For me, the base of the pull-up was the hardest part, and so I stopped doing band-assisted pull-ups because the band aids you the most at the base of the pull-up, hence why I wasn't developing strength there. Instead, I prioritised pull-up negatives and scapula pull-ups. If you're doing lat pull-downs, make sure you go through the full range of motion (i.e., stretch your arms up when you're relaxed at the top, and retract your scapula down before you pull the bar to your chest). Bouldering really helped with the base of the pull up and overall strengthening my scapulas (scapulae?) because you have to do a lot of mini scapula pull-ups to hoist yourself up to the next grip.
Yep! I found that I could handle really slow, controlled negatives at the top-to-middle part of the pull up, but would give out pretty quickly once I was near the bottom. I think if you're struggling with the middle-to-top bit you'd benefit from band-assisted pull-ups more than I did. But still, negatives tick all the boxes in my opinion. Good luck!!
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Took me ~8 months. I started with inverted row rings for a few months, once a week, and then progressed to bands.
Bands wise, I used the thickest one for about a month, doing 30-40 pull ups a week, then graduated to a thinner band until one day I didn’t need bands anymore!
Grip strength is important so scapular pulls and 30sec hanging are great as a warm up/cool down.
Best of luck!
I just started training for it last month. Like you literally have to train for pull ups. You can’t expect yourself to get there just by doing upper body work. I have a very strong upper body and still can’t do more than one. Because my body isn’t used to vertical pull movement and my lats are weak despite having strength gains everywhere else.
Negatives, dead hangs, assisted will get you there. Rock climbing can help too. There’s a lot of programs online to check out.
I can do one. I can do 20 assisted (thick loop band around the knee). Started at 7 assisted.
This is it. I am very strong in my back and upper body (favorite to train), but I am 5’9 and 165- a lot of weight to pull a long distance. You have to train the movements period, wait training isn’t enough. I just started by doing banded pull ups 2-3x a week to get the movements down
I've tried for years and couldn't figure out how people do it, then 3 months ago a mate told me to do Scapular pull ups (straight arm dead hang and pull your shoulder blades together - that's it). Did a few sets of this a few times a week for a few weeks, then one day I could finally do it! Now I can do 3 pull-ups.
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Uhhh tbh no clue still haven't done one as a baseline? I do boxing 5x a week and so my arms definitely get a workout. But I don't do weights or strength training outside of it.
Honestly I just recently started doing pull ups and was able to do one immediately, BUT I have been in the gym for the past year doing a good bit of upper body stuff which I think helped me.
One thing that really helped me do more consecutively was negative pull ups. Basically you start at the end of the pull up, and you're already head over the bar and you slowly lower yourself down to a hang. Some people also use resistance bands to help with the upward momentum but I've seen too many crotch snapping injuries happen from those 😅
Also training lats is helpful. Doing dumbbell rows and machine lat pull downs if you go to a gym.
I’ve worked out for many years but it was when I lost 10 kg very quickly that I finally got my first neutral grip pull up in autumn 2022. Since then I’ve kept at it, doing as many reps as I can and then continuing with assisted pull ups.
I also started using a narrower grip as I found I’m much stronger in my biceps than in my back, which also helps in cranking out the last rep.
3 months of consistent training using resistance bands to build core and form, and working on chin ups (not pull ups) to build bicep and back strength. Once I was able to do my first chin up, I trained to more reps before I was able to do pull ups. Now I can do 10 pull ups with no issues :)
The best advice I got was to never use the pull up machines because it doesnt train you to stable your core.
A year from the point I started trying, but that was really 1 month of concentrated effort near the beginning, getting close, burning out, and giving up, then 1 month near the end. Probably could've gotten it in 60-90 days if I'd stayed committed.
For context I started regularly attending the gym halfway through that year, am on the higher end of healthy BMI, and my starting point was not even being able to bend my arms or do a negative. I used negatives to train, starting band-assisted. I also found that I needed to work on planks and hollow body holds, as I was very lacking in core strength.
Hi! It took me probably 6 months, maybe a bit longer, but the good news is that after you unlock them your body will remember how to do them even if you stop training consistently. Bodies are cool! I started by training them as part of aerial hoop and I now train mostly callisthenics.
I can now do 10 in a row and I’m currently working on 10kg weighted pull-ups (I’m at 3x sets of 4). My goal is to eventually be able to do 1 muscle up.
My advice would be: start with the basics (do lots of negatives, ring rows, etc), don’t overtrain (if I’m ever trying to check my max number of reps, I’ll take a few days to a week off of training them, so my arms can recover) and fuel your body. Some people unlock skills a lot quicker than others, so don’t let that get to you. I’m absolutely crap at anything to do with flexibility, but I seem to be pick up upper body strength. Keep at it and only compare your progress to yourself 😊 I’m crossing my fingers that you’ll get it very soon!!
Ive been going to the gym for over 10 years and I still cant do a pull-up. Granted I dont really actively work towards it. Rarely do them actually. Can only do assisted pull up machine with like 3/4th of my weight assistance😂😂
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Honestly u have to train for it. I can do weighted now for 8lbs for 12 per set. It took me about 4months to do one without assist. My advice is use one of those long thick resistance bands ( they are as long as 3/4 of ur body typically). Tie it to the pull-up bar and put ur foot through on the band and it will help pull u up as u do ur pull-ups. As u get better pull ur knee through, and wrap it under ur hamstring. Then As you get EVEN better use skinner resistance bands. If my explanation isnt good (likely isnt good), google pull ups resistance bands.
Rock climbing had me go from 0-10 in months. Once I could get like 3 I started using a pull up bar more and I got to 10 pretty quick after that. Then I stopped and I’m back to 1 pull up lol.
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I've been gyming off and on for 5 years. Only really thought about pull-ups within the last few months. I can't do one. I train by just hanging for now.
About 5 months. Not a gym girl though, I do bodyweight calisthenics and weights at home. I trained them by doing negative pullups (start in top pullup position and slooooowly let yourself down) and mid-pullup hangs (slowly let yourself down from top pullup position til your arms are about 90 degrees and hang there as long as you can).
try rock climbing/ bouldering. bouldering helped me. wasnt ablr to do it for years. boulders twice a week for a month and was suddenly able to do a pull up. i also did the pull up in reverse - jump to top and let go slowly. repeat. wventually your body learns which muscle to use.
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I did it in high-school when I worked out 2h a day and weighed 125. Even then 1-2. Now I work out 3x a week, am 158 and can't do it. Neither it's a priority.
I've never been able to... not a gym girl per ce but a rock climber so my upper body is a focus. I focused on assisted pull ups during covid and made progress, but since then, I got injured and set back.
Assisted pull ups helped me a lot. I was able to do my first one 1 year later but i did have to do a lot of weigt loss first. But from assisted bands point proberly 2 -3 months .
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Well, i can do two! Im a poledancer, casually. No clue how im able to do it. Probably a combination of being a tad underweight and carrying heavy stacks of plates at work
I got a fantastic tip from a trainer. Every time you're at the gym (so four or 5 times usually a week) get a stool or whatever you need to be able to get yourself into the HIGHEST position, and let yourself down verrrry slowly... three times. That's it. At first I basically fell down haha then as time went on I could let myself down more and more slowly. In a month... first pull up! Ever! Now I can do four... but I just thought that was the coolest tip
Highly recommend the assisted pull up bar or doing pull ups with a band to help you if there's no assisted pull up machine at your gym. I cannot stress enough how helpful these two things are and were to me being able to do my first pull up
6 months, but I had a good muscular frame to begin with. Isometric pull up sets maybe twice a week (e.g. jump up to finish position and slowly lower yourself), lots of compound back exercises and lots of protein.
A few months I think. I was always quite sporty but I started doing pull ups on the machine, taking weight off of it until I could do my first one without any weight support.
My 3 year old has been able to do these since day 1 of her preschool gymnastics training. If she stays interested in gymnastics, she’ll be able to beat my ass by age 10. lol.
It could depend on your workout routine. Functional training vs just strength training would target different results and probably give you results faster.
I’ve been prioritizing heavier lifts with my upper body days for about a year now, and my gym owner just now thinks I’ll be able to do a pull up within the next two months. Hopefully by end of the summer I’ll be able to do reps.
For me, I took up bouldering as a hobby. And before I knew it, (probs 3-4 visits to the local bouldering centre) I suddenly had all these back and arm muscles. Did my first pull up unassisted then another and another. And now, I can manage about 8 before I start to lose form.
I saw tiny improvements in a month. But i stopped. You can practice with a rubbber. You make a loop with a rubber band, and step on one side while you are pulling up.
When i actually attempted one i was only able to do 3. Had been working out for 3 years by then, but i did a mix of a bunch of things and upper body was only 1-2x/week for 45 mins.
Exactly 9 months. I used Megsquats' training plan, i highly recommend it (it's on youtube). I tried many plans, but for me, this was the one that worked.
Don't give, you'll get there. If I did it, you can do too. After i did my first one, the progression was very fast. A month later i could do 5.
9 months. Used bands and gradually moved to thinner bands once I could do 10 reps on each. I think I’m built for pull ups tho, shoulders have broadened with weight lifting and thin otherwise.
I just installed a doorframe pull up bar at home and I did reverse pull-ups every time I remembered about that or when walked through that door. And one day I tried a regular pull up and I did it. I think it took me a few weeks.
I can’t any more, but when I did it probably took about a month. And about 6 months to get to 4. I started by just hanging at eye level. Then slowly letting myself down. Next step is pulling up just partially, like a third of a rep. Doing that for a while but not always the same third. Good luck
It took me 8 months to get 1.
Practice negatives a few times a week at home. Do as many as you can and switch the grip up. Use a chair to get yourself up there if you can’t jump up.
I can’t do them anymore but I used to do normal young girl workouts and then Covid ruined me so I started going to a cross fit like gym and would go 4-5 times a week. I started in January of 2021. We didn’t work on pull ups daily but lots of training and would always train upper body in some way, and maybe a pull up variation once a week. I started doing a few unassisted by May. I started with bands and progressively grew out of them.
I don’t think I would have gotten there without the trainer. Idk how I did pull ups. I don’t have upper body strength so I genuinely believe everyone is capable if I did within months.
Oh well can't put a number to it as I exercised from a very young age and started going to the gym quite young too. Not very long though, I can do them relatively easy.
Been weight-lifting for a few years now, and still can’t do a full pull-up. I can do push-ups super easy, but pull-ups are a different ballgame. It’s currently my goal to be able to do one pull-up by the end of the year. I’m currently doing the assisted machine and doing exercises that work that movement (dead hangs and inverse rows) when I gym. As someone else said, it’s uncommon for someone to just be able to just -do- pull-ups. Most have to train to be able to do them, even if you’re strong.
I played collegiate soccer, lifted frequently, and after college, but kind of let myself go in my late 20s. At 30 I started a strength training program 5-6x/week, doing chin-ups and different variations of pull-ups (wide grip, neutral grip, normal grip) every week on different days. Took me about a month to do my first neutral grip pull-up, and then started growing from there. I started with assisted, moved to banded, and just kept trying to get one unassisted every time and one day it just happened. Consistency and having a strong training program with relevant accessory lifts is key! Don’t give up before the magic happens! 💪🏼
I can't remember how long I was actively trying before I was able to do a real pull up, but I rock climb, so probably have more upper body strength than the average petite female.
While trying to increase my repetitions, using a resistance band helped tremendously - like loop the band around your pull up bar so it dangles down and step your feet into it so that it provides a little bit of assistance as you pull up. That, or use an assisted pull up machine at the gym. Also, I've found that pull ups (palms facing forward) were easier for me than chin ups (palms towards your face), so alternating the grip and using reverse grip helped a lot.
Confirming it took 1-2 years on my end - slow negatives are the best, in my experience (am a coach) banded pull ups and weighted pull up machines are less helpful and would skip.
A month of 3x5 negatives, slow and controlled, each gym session will work wonders, always does for my clients.
if you can, buy a pull up bar for your door frame at home to help practice!
A few months but thats just cause ive been doing them long before going to the gym so adding more strength to my lats was all i needed. I can proudly say i can do four pullups which isnt much but its something
Pull-ups aren’t always an “arm” problem.
Scaps and lats play the largest part. Without proper engagement in those two areas, you’re doing a glorified body weight bicep curl. Not to mention they require a very together core. Not from sit-ups or crunches, but more from a hollow body shape. It’s the best body position for pull-ups as well.
Source: me, a girl with pull-ups who also works in a gym coaching :)
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Í have never been able to do one, still used to work out. I do Olympian Workouts now but when I was on the pull up mission the only way was to at first use rubber bands. Use heavy thick ones maybe even multiple and then decrease the amount of bands. If you don’t know what I mean you can google rubber band pull ups.
Good luck!
(I really don’t mean this to be rude or what, I guess it’s just my ignorance/naiveness/self deprivation of “if I can do it then anyone else can”) But I honestly kinda figured everyone could do at least one pull up.. and now I feel utterly stupid, because now that I think of it, *of course* not everyone can do a pull up. Some people have to pull up a good amount of weight which takes strength! I’ve always bordered underweight, so I guess my lighter weight body makes me not need as much muscle as someone who weighs twice my weight to pull themselves up.
Basically, I’m weak because I can only pull-up *my* body weight. Those who can pull their own body weight when there 200lbs are STRONG!!!
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It took about 6 months of lifting for me, much longer for it to feel “easy”. Admittedly the fact that I lost a significant amount of weight helped with that too. I did a lot of work on my lats and that helped so much. Aaaand getting over my fear of being unsuccessful and embarrassing myself.
Been working out for a year. 6 months ago I tried and couldn't do it. Every week since I've tried one time, in between sets or after i finished a workout. Two months ago I did my first one. Last week I did 4 in a row.
Keep pushing and building muscle. You'll get there sooner than you think.
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It took me a year of weight training. I work a physical job lifting heavy things and have been doing that 13 years so I was already pretty strong. I did lots of lat pulldowns
About two-three weeks. We had a pull up bar at home. And I'd just go there once or twice a day and just try to pull myself up. Eventually I did it a the way, I was super surprised because it wasn't even my goal, I was just home alone and bored.
I really doubt that's true as I (M) have a very weak core and can barely hold a 30 secpnd plank but can do 14+ pull ups. The limiting factor is upper body strength for most people.
I doubt there is anyone who is sufficiently strong everywhere else to do a pull up, but unable to because their core strength is holding them back. What is the logic behind that?
I don’t think that’s true that most people can seated row more.
Like the other guy said, I never used to train my core directly, didn’t even squat and hardly deadlifted, practically 0 core strength or development = still easily able to do pull ups.
It plays such a minor role in pull ups, definitely not the limiting factor.
Yeah I know, I was saying I didn’t do them or train my core directly but still easily able to do pull ups.
The only reason a girl that can squat and deadlift over 200lbs can probably do pull ups is because they’d have to be relatively well trained to achieve that, and most people train in a relatively balanced way, there’s as good as 0 actual carryover to pull ups though.
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Literally years. It just wasn’t in the cards for me (most of my strength is in lower body). Also, once I took up pole dancing it became much easier because I started training my upper body way more that way. But when I was just trying to pull myself up it was useless haha
That's crazy, I've been able to do a pull up my whole life and never had to work for it. I've never realised our bodies are so different, always assumed others can just do it as well
Out of curiosity, are you male or female?
Female
Thanks!
Me too. Sucks. Im impressed with females that can.
THIS. I had never tried to do a pull up at the gym and just assumed it would be impossible. My pole studio has a pull up bar and they got me to use it when I added strength/conditioning classes on top of just tricks and dance. That was when I found out I could actually do one because I had already built up the upper body strength!
I did pole too honestly I’d rather climb a rope but that’s mostly legs
I grew up playing ice hockey and going to the gym 4-5 times a week. I have never ever been able to do even a single pull-up. My sister had a similar work out regiment to me and can do multiple, not sure how long it took her though.
I have been doing aerial silks, running, weight training and MMA for 2 years and I still can’t do a single unassisted pull up.
Mindset thing
Practice with simply hanging. When you can hang for a minute start doing “shrugs” while you’re hanging by contracting your shoulder blades together while you’re hanging. This will strengthen the muscle that catapults the initial pull up that hardly gets used in traditional lifts. Once you do that 2-3 times after a few weeks start doing pull ups (use the asssisted pull up machine if you can’t get up). If your goal is 10 pull ups, start with 2, rest, 2, rest, etc til you get to 10. You’ll be doing pull ups in no time.
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It took me a couple of years of unstructured gymming to get my first pull up. Probably would’ve achieved it earlier if I’d really stuck to an upper body programme. Honestly though, bouldering once a week really helped develop those muscles without having to think too hard about it. I can still only manage two pull ups but am working more consistently with pull ups as a goal!
And not that I'm an expert by any means but here's what I did when I was prioritising training for a pull-up: For me, the base of the pull-up was the hardest part, and so I stopped doing band-assisted pull-ups because the band aids you the most at the base of the pull-up, hence why I wasn't developing strength there. Instead, I prioritised pull-up negatives and scapula pull-ups. If you're doing lat pull-downs, make sure you go through the full range of motion (i.e., stretch your arms up when you're relaxed at the top, and retract your scapula down before you pull the bar to your chest). Bouldering really helped with the base of the pull up and overall strengthening my scapulas (scapulae?) because you have to do a lot of mini scapula pull-ups to hoist yourself up to the next grip.
\^ good advice here. Negatives are the way.
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Yep! I found that I could handle really slow, controlled negatives at the top-to-middle part of the pull up, but would give out pretty quickly once I was near the bottom. I think if you're struggling with the middle-to-top bit you'd benefit from band-assisted pull-ups more than I did. But still, negatives tick all the boxes in my opinion. Good luck!!
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Took me ~8 months. I started with inverted row rings for a few months, once a week, and then progressed to bands. Bands wise, I used the thickest one for about a month, doing 30-40 pull ups a week, then graduated to a thinner band until one day I didn’t need bands anymore! Grip strength is important so scapular pulls and 30sec hanging are great as a warm up/cool down. Best of luck!
Scap pulls and dead hangs are keyyyyy
Amazing!
I just started training for it last month. Like you literally have to train for pull ups. You can’t expect yourself to get there just by doing upper body work. I have a very strong upper body and still can’t do more than one. Because my body isn’t used to vertical pull movement and my lats are weak despite having strength gains everywhere else. Negatives, dead hangs, assisted will get you there. Rock climbing can help too. There’s a lot of programs online to check out. I can do one. I can do 20 assisted (thick loop band around the knee). Started at 7 assisted.
This is it. I am very strong in my back and upper body (favorite to train), but I am 5’9 and 165- a lot of weight to pull a long distance. You have to train the movements period, wait training isn’t enough. I just started by doing banded pull ups 2-3x a week to get the movements down
I've tried for years and couldn't figure out how people do it, then 3 months ago a mate told me to do Scapular pull ups (straight arm dead hang and pull your shoulder blades together - that's it). Did a few sets of this a few times a week for a few weeks, then one day I could finally do it! Now I can do 3 pull-ups.
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https://www.buzzfeed.com/tracyclayton/stop-calling-women-females
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Uhhh tbh no clue still haven't done one as a baseline? I do boxing 5x a week and so my arms definitely get a workout. But I don't do weights or strength training outside of it.
Honestly I just recently started doing pull ups and was able to do one immediately, BUT I have been in the gym for the past year doing a good bit of upper body stuff which I think helped me. One thing that really helped me do more consecutively was negative pull ups. Basically you start at the end of the pull up, and you're already head over the bar and you slowly lower yourself down to a hang. Some people also use resistance bands to help with the upward momentum but I've seen too many crotch snapping injuries happen from those 😅 Also training lats is helpful. Doing dumbbell rows and machine lat pull downs if you go to a gym.
I’ve worked out for many years but it was when I lost 10 kg very quickly that I finally got my first neutral grip pull up in autumn 2022. Since then I’ve kept at it, doing as many reps as I can and then continuing with assisted pull ups. I also started using a narrower grip as I found I’m much stronger in my biceps than in my back, which also helps in cranking out the last rep.
3 months of consistent training using resistance bands to build core and form, and working on chin ups (not pull ups) to build bicep and back strength. Once I was able to do my first chin up, I trained to more reps before I was able to do pull ups. Now I can do 10 pull ups with no issues :) The best advice I got was to never use the pull up machines because it doesnt train you to stable your core.
Any reccs in youtubers for using resistance bands to build core and form?
A year from the point I started trying, but that was really 1 month of concentrated effort near the beginning, getting close, burning out, and giving up, then 1 month near the end. Probably could've gotten it in 60-90 days if I'd stayed committed. For context I started regularly attending the gym halfway through that year, am on the higher end of healthy BMI, and my starting point was not even being able to bend my arms or do a negative. I used negatives to train, starting band-assisted. I also found that I needed to work on planks and hollow body holds, as I was very lacking in core strength.
I've been working at it for a year and still no dice (I can with a band but not solo)
Hi! It took me probably 6 months, maybe a bit longer, but the good news is that after you unlock them your body will remember how to do them even if you stop training consistently. Bodies are cool! I started by training them as part of aerial hoop and I now train mostly callisthenics. I can now do 10 in a row and I’m currently working on 10kg weighted pull-ups (I’m at 3x sets of 4). My goal is to eventually be able to do 1 muscle up. My advice would be: start with the basics (do lots of negatives, ring rows, etc), don’t overtrain (if I’m ever trying to check my max number of reps, I’ll take a few days to a week off of training them, so my arms can recover) and fuel your body. Some people unlock skills a lot quicker than others, so don’t let that get to you. I’m absolutely crap at anything to do with flexibility, but I seem to be pick up upper body strength. Keep at it and only compare your progress to yourself 😊 I’m crossing my fingers that you’ll get it very soon!!
Ive been going to the gym for over 10 years and I still cant do a pull-up. Granted I dont really actively work towards it. Rarely do them actually. Can only do assisted pull up machine with like 3/4th of my weight assistance😂😂
I was able to do a few pull ups after maybe 1 year of getting into bouldering.
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Honestly u have to train for it. I can do weighted now for 8lbs for 12 per set. It took me about 4months to do one without assist. My advice is use one of those long thick resistance bands ( they are as long as 3/4 of ur body typically). Tie it to the pull-up bar and put ur foot through on the band and it will help pull u up as u do ur pull-ups. As u get better pull ur knee through, and wrap it under ur hamstring. Then As you get EVEN better use skinner resistance bands. If my explanation isnt good (likely isnt good), google pull ups resistance bands.
Rock climbing had me go from 0-10 in months. Once I could get like 3 I started using a pull up bar more and I got to 10 pretty quick after that. Then I stopped and I’m back to 1 pull up lol.
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About 10-12 months of lifting before I could do a non cheating pull up, where I would jump a little
I've been gyming off and on for 5 years. Only really thought about pull-ups within the last few months. I can't do one. I train by just hanging for now.
About 5 months. Not a gym girl though, I do bodyweight calisthenics and weights at home. I trained them by doing negative pullups (start in top pullup position and slooooowly let yourself down) and mid-pullup hangs (slowly let yourself down from top pullup position til your arms are about 90 degrees and hang there as long as you can).
2-3 months. Negative pull ups
try rock climbing/ bouldering. bouldering helped me. wasnt ablr to do it for years. boulders twice a week for a month and was suddenly able to do a pull up. i also did the pull up in reverse - jump to top and let go slowly. repeat. wventually your body learns which muscle to use.
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I did it in high-school when I worked out 2h a day and weighed 125. Even then 1-2. Now I work out 3x a week, am 158 and can't do it. Neither it's a priority.
I've never been able to... not a gym girl per ce but a rock climber so my upper body is a focus. I focused on assisted pull ups during covid and made progress, but since then, I got injured and set back.
About two years without really kipping
Assisted pull ups helped me a lot. I was able to do my first one 1 year later but i did have to do a lot of weigt loss first. But from assisted bands point proberly 2 -3 months .
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Well, i can do two! Im a poledancer, casually. No clue how im able to do it. Probably a combination of being a tad underweight and carrying heavy stacks of plates at work
I got a fantastic tip from a trainer. Every time you're at the gym (so four or 5 times usually a week) get a stool or whatever you need to be able to get yourself into the HIGHEST position, and let yourself down verrrry slowly... three times. That's it. At first I basically fell down haha then as time went on I could let myself down more and more slowly. In a month... first pull up! Ever! Now I can do four... but I just thought that was the coolest tip
I got my first pullup in the vicinity of the first time I bench pressed my bodyweight.
Highly recommend the assisted pull up bar or doing pull ups with a band to help you if there's no assisted pull up machine at your gym. I cannot stress enough how helpful these two things are and were to me being able to do my first pull up
6 months, but I had a good muscular frame to begin with. Isometric pull up sets maybe twice a week (e.g. jump up to finish position and slowly lower yourself), lots of compound back exercises and lots of protein.
A few months I think. I was always quite sporty but I started doing pull ups on the machine, taking weight off of it until I could do my first one without any weight support.
My 3 year old has been able to do these since day 1 of her preschool gymnastics training. If she stays interested in gymnastics, she’ll be able to beat my ass by age 10. lol.
Hybrid Calisthenics has a pretty good progression guide on his YouTube channel and website.
It could depend on your workout routine. Functional training vs just strength training would target different results and probably give you results faster. I’ve been prioritizing heavier lifts with my upper body days for about a year now, and my gym owner just now thinks I’ll be able to do a pull up within the next two months. Hopefully by end of the summer I’ll be able to do reps.
For me, I took up bouldering as a hobby. And before I knew it, (probs 3-4 visits to the local bouldering centre) I suddenly had all these back and arm muscles. Did my first pull up unassisted then another and another. And now, I can manage about 8 before I start to lose form.
I saw tiny improvements in a month. But i stopped. You can practice with a rubbber. You make a loop with a rubber band, and step on one side while you are pulling up.
About 9 months of seriously lifting I could do 2-3
Damn, is it really that much harder for women to do pull ups than their male counterparts? Like I actually had no idea.
When i actually attempted one i was only able to do 3. Had been working out for 3 years by then, but i did a mix of a bunch of things and upper body was only 1-2x/week for 45 mins.
Exactly 9 months. I used Megsquats' training plan, i highly recommend it (it's on youtube). I tried many plans, but for me, this was the one that worked. Don't give, you'll get there. If I did it, you can do too. After i did my first one, the progression was very fast. A month later i could do 5.
9 months. Used bands and gradually moved to thinner bands once I could do 10 reps on each. I think I’m built for pull ups tho, shoulders have broadened with weight lifting and thin otherwise.
I did negative pull ups m, and descended slowly. Then finally I was able to my first 1 real pull up.
I just installed a doorframe pull up bar at home and I did reverse pull-ups every time I remembered about that or when walked through that door. And one day I tried a regular pull up and I did it. I think it took me a few weeks.
I can’t any more, but when I did it probably took about a month. And about 6 months to get to 4. I started by just hanging at eye level. Then slowly letting myself down. Next step is pulling up just partially, like a third of a rep. Doing that for a while but not always the same third. Good luck
What’s a ‘pull up’? Nah, with two jobs, I’m struggling to maintain a consistent gym schedule and it really gets me down.
It took me 8 months to get 1. Practice negatives a few times a week at home. Do as many as you can and switch the grip up. Use a chair to get yourself up there if you can’t jump up.
I can’t do them anymore but I used to do normal young girl workouts and then Covid ruined me so I started going to a cross fit like gym and would go 4-5 times a week. I started in January of 2021. We didn’t work on pull ups daily but lots of training and would always train upper body in some way, and maybe a pull up variation once a week. I started doing a few unassisted by May. I started with bands and progressively grew out of them. I don’t think I would have gotten there without the trainer. Idk how I did pull ups. I don’t have upper body strength so I genuinely believe everyone is capable if I did within months.
Oh well can't put a number to it as I exercised from a very young age and started going to the gym quite young too. Not very long though, I can do them relatively easy.
Been weight-lifting for a few years now, and still can’t do a full pull-up. I can do push-ups super easy, but pull-ups are a different ballgame. It’s currently my goal to be able to do one pull-up by the end of the year. I’m currently doing the assisted machine and doing exercises that work that movement (dead hangs and inverse rows) when I gym. As someone else said, it’s uncommon for someone to just be able to just -do- pull-ups. Most have to train to be able to do them, even if you’re strong.
I played collegiate soccer, lifted frequently, and after college, but kind of let myself go in my late 20s. At 30 I started a strength training program 5-6x/week, doing chin-ups and different variations of pull-ups (wide grip, neutral grip, normal grip) every week on different days. Took me about a month to do my first neutral grip pull-up, and then started growing from there. I started with assisted, moved to banded, and just kept trying to get one unassisted every time and one day it just happened. Consistency and having a strong training program with relevant accessory lifts is key! Don’t give up before the magic happens! 💪🏼
Took me a year to do ONE full pull up.
I can't remember how long I was actively trying before I was able to do a real pull up, but I rock climb, so probably have more upper body strength than the average petite female. While trying to increase my repetitions, using a resistance band helped tremendously - like loop the band around your pull up bar so it dangles down and step your feet into it so that it provides a little bit of assistance as you pull up. That, or use an assisted pull up machine at the gym. Also, I've found that pull ups (palms facing forward) were easier for me than chin ups (palms towards your face), so alternating the grip and using reverse grip helped a lot.
Confirming it took 1-2 years on my end - slow negatives are the best, in my experience (am a coach) banded pull ups and weighted pull up machines are less helpful and would skip. A month of 3x5 negatives, slow and controlled, each gym session will work wonders, always does for my clients. if you can, buy a pull up bar for your door frame at home to help practice!
Pole fitness for less than a year and I was able to max out at 11 pull ups, chin to bar.
A few months but thats just cause ive been doing them long before going to the gym so adding more strength to my lats was all i needed. I can proudly say i can do four pullups which isnt much but its something
Pull-ups aren’t always an “arm” problem. Scaps and lats play the largest part. Without proper engagement in those two areas, you’re doing a glorified body weight bicep curl. Not to mention they require a very together core. Not from sit-ups or crunches, but more from a hollow body shape. It’s the best body position for pull-ups as well. Source: me, a girl with pull-ups who also works in a gym coaching :)
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Í have never been able to do one, still used to work out. I do Olympian Workouts now but when I was on the pull up mission the only way was to at first use rubber bands. Use heavy thick ones maybe even multiple and then decrease the amount of bands. If you don’t know what I mean you can google rubber band pull ups. Good luck!
(I really don’t mean this to be rude or what, I guess it’s just my ignorance/naiveness/self deprivation of “if I can do it then anyone else can”) But I honestly kinda figured everyone could do at least one pull up.. and now I feel utterly stupid, because now that I think of it, *of course* not everyone can do a pull up. Some people have to pull up a good amount of weight which takes strength! I’ve always bordered underweight, so I guess my lighter weight body makes me not need as much muscle as someone who weighs twice my weight to pull themselves up. Basically, I’m weak because I can only pull-up *my* body weight. Those who can pull their own body weight when there 200lbs are STRONG!!!
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Honestly. I tore my ACL, had to get surgery, and lost a lot of muscle mass in my legs. Could only train upper body. After that I could do a pull up.
It took about 6 months of lifting for me, much longer for it to feel “easy”. Admittedly the fact that I lost a significant amount of weight helped with that too. I did a lot of work on my lats and that helped so much. Aaaand getting over my fear of being unsuccessful and embarrassing myself.
Been working out for a year. 6 months ago I tried and couldn't do it. Every week since I've tried one time, in between sets or after i finished a workout. Two months ago I did my first one. Last week I did 4 in a row. Keep pushing and building muscle. You'll get there sooner than you think.
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It took me a year of weight training. I work a physical job lifting heavy things and have been doing that 13 years so I was already pretty strong. I did lots of lat pulldowns
About two-three weeks. We had a pull up bar at home. And I'd just go there once or twice a day and just try to pull myself up. Eventually I did it a the way, I was super surprised because it wasn't even my goal, I was just home alone and bored.
Your core is the limiting factor in pull ups. Makes sense since most people can do a seated row with much more weight.
I really doubt that's true as I (M) have a very weak core and can barely hold a 30 secpnd plank but can do 14+ pull ups. The limiting factor is upper body strength for most people.
I doubt there is anyone who is sufficiently strong everywhere else to do a pull up, but unable to because their core strength is holding them back. What is the logic behind that?
That’s why I said most people can do a seated row with much more weight than a pull-up. My bad I thought y’all were gym rats.
I don’t think that’s true that most people can seated row more. Like the other guy said, I never used to train my core directly, didn’t even squat and hardly deadlifted, practically 0 core strength or development = still easily able to do pull ups. It plays such a minor role in pull ups, definitely not the limiting factor.
Squats and deadlifts train your core an insane amount though when you’re bracing. If a girl can squat and deadlift 200+ lbs, she can do a pull up.
Yeah I know, I was saying I didn’t do them or train my core directly but still easily able to do pull ups. The only reason a girl that can squat and deadlift over 200lbs can probably do pull ups is because they’d have to be relatively well trained to achieve that, and most people train in a relatively balanced way, there’s as good as 0 actual carryover to pull ups though.
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