My wife has started working out with me and told me she’d love to be able to do pull ups.
I am trying to find supplemental work to aid in the process of being able to do a pull up(s).
I’ve got her doing facepull type stuff with TRX straps, lat pull downs, and jumping up to the bar and lowering herself as slowly as possible.
Do I have her on the right track?
Yep, sounds like it to me.
Take her rock climbing occasionally as well. It will probably help her pull ups, it will definitely be fun.
Great idea! We have a new indoor climbing place close by come to think of it
I still live in hope my other half can be persuaded into that kind of thing.
It’s been a long process. She wants to work out but when it comes down to it she doesn’t want to put in the work. Last year I offered a vacation anywhere of her choice if she completed one of the programs for women I found off here. Never happened.
Two of her friends showed interest in working out and even came to the house to workout some. My wife went hardcore into working out when they showed interest. So to keep things interesting and keep everybody motivated i offered a $500 cash reward for the most progress made in 2 weeks. At first everybody loved the idea, now somehow I’ve pissed her friends off.
On the bright side my wife is still killin it in the gym! Although by herself now.
Dude, sounds like your heart is in the right place, but bribery is a bad idea. Turning it into an outright competition between them all was an even worse idea. She needs to be self-motivated to stick with it. Training with her friends makes sense because it’s a community and they can share the experience. It’s a big part of why CrossFit, Curves, and Weight Watchers are popular.
Give this a read for how to adjust your approach in general:
As for getting the pull-ups, neutral-grip is the strongest pulling position, so use that the majority of the time, if not exclusively. Negatives are fine, but they can bring more soreness than standard tempo training, which can be a buzzkill. Band assisted is a better way to go because it lets you get reps in while working the full ROM.
I also like working a lot of horizontal rows (do not tell her they’re sometimes called fat man rows) because you can adjust the angle up or down from set to set based on performance.
This article also has some cues and tips for getting to a pull-up:
Yea I’m learning that 
. Turns out women aren’t like guys.
Thanks for the links! I’ll check them out.
I’ve been wanting to get something set up for neutral grip pull ups so this is just another reason to make that happen!
Adams apples are still normal though, right?
Of course. Just means they are good lifters
Pulldowns, 1 arm at a time helped my pull ups. I used a neutral grip, focused on vertical forearm and they really helped get my lats working. I felt really solid when I went back to 2 hands on the bar for pull ups.
Pulling down normal speed then “lowering” slow (like lowering the weight or extending my arms over a 3 Or 5 count) was super effective for the pulldowns and gave me great carry over to pull ups.
train pulldowns like a main lift -5x5 scheme or 5/3/1 etc until can get to close to bodyweight on the stack
Inverted rows. The angle of the pull is different - but I’ve found it has great carry over. I assume because of the fact its a body weight exercise.