How to do your first pull up

Most people get their first pull up by building it in stages rather than by trying and failing at the full movement. Start by hanging from the bar, then learn to pull your shoulders down, then lower yourself slowly from the top, then practise reps with a band or a partner taking some of your weight. Train two or three times a week, and expect it to take a couple of months, give or take, depending on where you start.

This guide walks through each stage, how to know when to move on, and how to put your first rep on a board.

What a strict pull up is

A strict pull up starts from a dead hang with your arms fully straight and your palms facing away from you. You pull until your chin is clearly above the bar, without swinging or kicking. That is the standard used in the strict pull up contest, and it is worth learning from the start, so the rep you earn is one that counts.

Chin ups, with palms facing you, are usually a bit easier and are a fine training tool. They just are not the same contest.

Stage 1: dead hangs

Before you can pull, you need to hold on. Grip and shoulder strength are often what stop people first.

Jump or step up to the bar, take an overhand grip a little wider than your shoulders, and hang with straight arms. Let your feet come off the floor. Keep your shoulders from creeping all the way up to your ears by gently pulling them away from them.

Hang for as long as you comfortably can, rest, and repeat a few times. When you can hang for around half a minute without your grip giving out, you are ready to add the next step. Keep hangs in your sessions anyway: they help all the way through.

Stage 2: scapular pulls

A pull up starts at the shoulder blades, not at the elbows. Scapular pulls teach that first part.

From a dead hang, keep your arms straight and pull your shoulder blades down and slightly together. Your body rises an inch or two. Lower back down under control. It is a small movement, and it should feel like the muscles under your armpits and across your upper back are doing the work.

Do a few sets of several slow reps. When they feel smooth and controlled, move on.

Stage 3: negatives

Negatives are the step most people credit for their first pull up. You skip the hard part, the pull, and train the lowering, which you can do with more weight than you can lift.

Use a box, a bench or a jump to get your chin above the bar. Hold that top position for a moment, then lower yourself as slowly as you can until your arms are straight. Step down and reset.

Aim for a lowering that takes several seconds. Do a handful of reps per set and a few sets, with good rest between them. Quality beats quantity here: once you drop quickly through the bottom half, the set is done.

Negatives are hard on the muscles in a way that can leave you sore for a couple of days, so start with fewer reps than you think you can do.

Stage 4: assisted pull ups

Assisted reps let you practise the full pull with some of your weight taken away.

• With a resistance band: loop a band over the bar and put a foot or knee in it. A thicker band helps more. As you get stronger, switch to a thinner one.
• With a partner: a friend holds your ankles or supports your feet and gives just enough help to get you up. Tell them to help less each week.
• With your feet on a box: stand on a box under the bar and use your legs only as much as you need to.

Do a few sets of several reps, all the way from straight arms to chin over the bar. As the reps get easier, reduce the help.

How often to train

Two or three sessions a week, on separate days, is enough for most beginners. A session can be short. One way to put it together:

1. Warm up your shoulders and arms with some easy movement.
2. Do a few dead hangs.
3. Do a few sets of scapular pulls.
4. Do your main work: negatives, assisted reps, or both.
5. Finish with one more hang if your grip has anything left.

Stop each set before your form falls apart. Training to the point where your shoulders shrug up or your body swings teaches the wrong movement.

Rest days matter. Muscles get stronger between sessions, not during them, and tendons and grip adapt more slowly than muscles do.

How long it usually takes

There is no honest single answer. It depends on how strong you are now, your body weight, how often you train and how well you recover. Many people who train consistently two or three times a week get their first rep somewhere in the range of six to twelve weeks. Some get there sooner, and some take several months. Both are normal.

A useful sign that you are close: you can lower yourself slowly from the top, and a light band feels easy. At that point, try a full rep at the start of a session, when you are fresh, once a week.

Testing for your first rep

When you try, set yourself up well. Start from a full dead hang, take a breath, pull your shoulder blades down first, then drive your elbows down toward your ribs. Look slightly up at the bar. Keep your legs still.

If your chin clears the bar, that is your first pull up. If it doesn’t, note how far you got, go back to your session, and try again next week.

Put your first rep on a board

One strict pull up is a real result. Enter the pull up contest, film the rep in the app, and it is ranked on your gym, city, age group and weight class boards at the same time. A first rep can put you near the top of a board you did not expect, as we explain in everyone is first somewhere.

Before you film, read how to film a take that counts: side-on, whole body and bar in view, recording started while you are in the hang. Then do it again in a few weeks, and watch the number go up.

Once you can complete a set, our guide to how many pull ups you should be able to do explains the people and counting rules behind published benchmarks.