Many who have PM’d me regarding Pull-up training have a specific weak point in their Pull-up. It’s either at the bottom (the hole), or at the top (chin over bar).
I would like to address one of these “Weak” areas, and hopefully give all of you T-men a better shot at adding reps to your total, or weight to your reps, whichever you are after!
Let’s begin with the first pull, out of “the hole.” Let’s first address the mental ascpect of the movement. As you advanced T-men are all aware, every great lift begins with not just a positive attitude toward achievement, but an actual visualization of what you want to accomplish.
For our purposes when you are hanging from the bar and ready to pull yourself up I want you to think about pulling the bar down to you! Before, you start thinking that I am off base, “Hey Zeb has lost his mind, that pull-up bar is secured to the cieling and it’s not going anywhere man.” I said “visualize” it.
Far too many times we get a feeling like we have to pull our big heavy bodies up to that bar that is so very far away. This new visualization will give you a great way to counteract that “I have to pull myself way up there” feeling. With every rep picture yourself pulling the bar to your chin instead of your chin to the bar. Sort of like picturing pushing your feet through the floor on a Deadlift. This one technique could help you out tremendously if you are even a partial negative thinker when it comes to Pull-ups. Try it and see!
Still having a problem exploding out of the hole in your Pull-ups? Try half reps from the bottom with some weight. If you are going for reps use a light weight, no more than 10lbs. If you are going for added weight use at least 20lbs.
Here is the drill: Dead hang from your Pull-up bar for a full :3 count. Now, with wieght secured, explode as fast as you can to the half rep position. Come back down immediately, don’t “hang around” (sorry). The point of this drill is to get you stronger in the hole position, nothing else. Now, repeat the movement.
It is far more important that you dead hang for the full :3 than how many reps you get. This is not a “let’s see how many reps I can get” movement. It is a drill to get you sronger out of the hole. Don’t make it into more than it is. The key here is to use your speed getting out of the hole! Explode for the half rep!
Perform just two sets at the end of your workout and you will start to see some great progress!
Recap:
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Visualize pulling the pull-up bar to you. This tends to negate any negative feelings you might have about pulling yourself “way up there.” Visualization is often the key to all great victories.
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Dead hang from the bar for :3 with some weight. Explode out of the hole to the half rep point. Come back down immediately and repeat. Don’t get sloppy hang for the full :3 count, then explode. Two sets of these at the end of your Pull-up workout is all you need!
I have more tips for training your weak points in the hole, but these two are sensational, I hope that you give them a try. If for some reason you are still having a problem, feel free to PM me and I will try to help you out.
Next time I will post some information on the other most common weak area: getting your chin over the bar.
Good Luck, and thanks for reading my post.
Zeb
PS: I am continuing my quest for 40 consecutive dead hang chin-ups by the end of August. I am getting pretty close…(wink).