Have you tried to get your first pull-up and haven’t been able?
Have you been doing pull-ups for awhile but can’t seem to make the progress you want?
Do you want to build muscle, lose fat, improve your posture, but just haven’t been able to?
Those questions are both common themes I run into. When I meet with clients one of the things I’m asked the most is, “Where will we start?” It’s an excellent question and one you should ask of ANY service professional about their service. One of the areas I explain to them I need to look at whether they’re new to working out or have been at it the past 20 years is how well they can engage and use their shoulder blades. I’m not keeping someones best interest in mind if I’m putting them onto exercises they’re not currently ready for, or can do correctly. I would be wasting their time, limiting their results, and worst yet setting them up for INJURY!
To avoid that and help explain better one of the key areas I want to look at when starting with someone I put together an 11.5 minute video with breakdowns on different pulling exercises to engage your scapula and get your first pull-up!
In the video I will be breaking down these exercises:
- Body Row.
- Hinge Row (Bent Legs).
- Hinge Row (Straight Legs).
- Assisted Pull-Up.
- Negative Pull-Ups
- Flex Arm Hang.
- Pull-Ups!
I recommend doing 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps the Body Row, Hinge Row, and Assisted Pull-Up before moving onto the Negatives, or Flex Arm Hang. Once you can engage your shoulder blades correctly mix in the Negatives and the Flex Arm Hang. You’ll find that with the engagement you get A LOT more out of the simplest movements you were doing before (if you were) but just not very effectively.