2831: How to Do a Proper Pull Up, and Why You Need to Do Them by Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness on Exercise Goals

[00:00:00] Überlass Deine gesunde Ernährung und die Gains nicht nur Deinem Bauchgefühl. Denn bei der Ernährung gaukelt uns unser innerer Schweinehund manchmal ganz schön was vor. Sag stattdessen Hallo zu Deinem neuen Coach, Yasio. Yasio ist die meistgenutzte Ernährungs-App Europas, made in Germany. Egal ob Massephase oder ein bisschen Abnehmen, tracke Kalorien, Proteine, Carbs, Fette, Bewegung und Intervallfasten. Und mit den Tasty-Rezepten bist Du ready für Deine Ziele. Let's go! Lade die Yasio-App jetzt herunter.

[00:00:29] Have you ever noticed how a calm mind can really set the stage for a good night's sleep? That's the idea behind our new podcast, Good Sleep. Greg, our host from Optimal Relationships Daily, is here to help ease you into a peaceful night's rest with some positive affirmations. And these affirmations aren't just comforting, they can help ease anxiety and nurture positive thoughts, setting you up for true good sleep.

[00:00:54] So, press play on good sleep tonight, because a good tomorrow starts with a good night's sleep. Just search for Good Sleep in your podcast app and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily.

[00:01:08] This is Optimal Health Daily. How to do a proper pull-up and why you need to do them by Steve Kam of nerdfitness.com.

[00:01:16] And I'm your host and narrator, Dr. Neil Malek. Welcome back to Optimal Health Daily, where I read to you from popular health and fitness blogs to help you optimize your health.

[00:01:25] All right, let's get right to today's post and start optimizing your life.

[00:01:34] How to do a proper pull-up and why you need to do them by Steve Kam of nerdfitness.com.

[00:01:41] So, you want to do a pull-up, eh?

[00:01:44] When many people think of fitness and the gym, they picture meatheads doing countless arm curls staring at themselves in the mirror.

[00:01:51] Sounds about right to me, and that makes me sad.

[00:01:53] What's truly unfortunate is that I very rarely see people in my gym doing deadlifts or proper squats.

[00:01:59] And I've probably only seen a handful of people in a year and a half doing legitimate pull-ups.

[00:02:06] As far as I'm concerned, if you're not doing deadlifts, squats, and pull-ups, and you want to build muscle, you're leaving behind a ton of progress and gains.

[00:02:15] We want to avoid that.

[00:02:17] And you're hearing this article, which means you want to avoid that too.

[00:02:21] I knew you were smart.

[00:02:24] Appearance is a consequence of fitness.

[00:02:26] When preparing for their roles in the movie 300, all the actors from the film went to train with Mark Twight,

[00:02:32] who had them trained by emphasizing, quote,

[00:02:55] That's right.

[00:02:56] These guys weren't training to have bulging biceps and chiseled abs.

[00:02:59] Their motto?

[00:03:00] Appearance is a consequence of fitness.

[00:03:03] And that meant that these guys worked on getting in the best shape possible,

[00:03:07] doing deadlifts, running sprints, Olympic ring push-ups, doing pull-ups like clockwork,

[00:03:13] and then doing it all over again.

[00:03:15] This type of training really struck a chord with me,

[00:03:18] because I've always been fascinated with turning myself into an absolute machine.

[00:03:22] If I happen to look good as a side effect, awesome.

[00:03:25] There's a reason you need to do 50 pull-ups to complete the legendary 300 challenge.

[00:03:30] Only the fitness elite can attempt such a thing.

[00:03:34] Proper pull-ups.

[00:03:35] Personally, I believe pull-ups are one of the most important exercises in a routine,

[00:03:39] and I recommend them to anybody that comes to me for advice.

[00:03:43] Forget bicep curls.

[00:03:44] Show me a guy who can do 25 pull-ups and 25 chin-ups,

[00:03:47] and there's no way his arms aren't well developed.

[00:03:51] Find a bar that will support your weight anywhere.

[00:03:53] I don't care.

[00:03:55] Just find one.

[00:03:56] If you have a gym membership, there will be pull-up bars all over the place.

[00:04:00] At your house, you might have the perfect pull-up in your doorway.

[00:04:04] If you have neither of these things,

[00:04:06] find a local playground and use their monkey bars.

[00:04:08] This is one piece of equipment that needs to be in your arsenal,

[00:04:12] so find a way to get one.

[00:04:13] No excuses.

[00:04:14] Play like a champion.

[00:04:16] Now, what are the differences between a pull-up and a chin-up?

[00:04:19] Well, a pull-up is when your hands are facing away from you.

[00:04:23] This will work your back and biceps.

[00:04:25] A chin-up is when your hands are facing towards you.

[00:04:29] Although this also works your back, it has more emphasis on your biceps.

[00:04:33] Grab a bar with a grip slightly wider than shoulder width,

[00:04:36] with your hands facing away from you.

[00:04:38] Hang all the way down.

[00:04:40] Then pull yourself up until your chin is above the bar.

[00:04:44] Slight pause, then lower yourself all the way back down.

[00:04:48] Go up and really concentrate on isolating your back and biceps,

[00:04:52] but don't swing.

[00:04:53] Once you can do a single pull-up, work on doing them in sets.

[00:04:57] Do one pull-up, then wait a minute or two, and then do another one.

[00:05:01] Then wait a few more minutes and do another one.

[00:05:04] A few days later, try to do two in a row and do a few sets of two.

[00:05:09] You need to start somewhere, but as soon as you can do one,

[00:05:13] you can find a way to do two.

[00:05:15] After that, find a way to do three, and so on.

[00:05:18] Remember, don't cheat yourself by only going halfway down and not going all the way up.

[00:05:23] Straighten your arms out at the bottom and get your chin over the bar.

[00:05:27] Want big biceps?

[00:05:29] Do close-grip chin-ups.

[00:05:32] I guarantee, if you're banging out three sets of 12 of these at the gym,

[00:05:36] maybe even hanging some weight around your waist,

[00:05:38] your arms will be built like cannons,

[00:05:41] and you might need to have them legally declared.

[00:05:47] You just listened to the post titled,

[00:05:49] How to Do a Proper Pull-Up and Why You Need to Do Them

[00:05:52] by Steve Kam of nerdfitness.com.

[00:05:55] And I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:05:58] Dr. Neil here for my commentary.

[00:06:01] Pull-ups and chin-ups were the banes of my existence.

[00:06:04] I could not do a pull-up to save my life.

[00:06:07] And this was after years of resistance training.

[00:06:09] I just couldn't lift my body weight up over a bar.

[00:06:12] And I couldn't understand why.

[00:06:14] My buddy and I would train our arms,

[00:06:16] and I would expect that my arms would get stronger

[00:06:19] and therefore be able to lift my body up

[00:06:21] so that my chin would go up above this bar.

[00:06:23] But it didn't happen.

[00:06:25] It was only until I did exactly what Steve outlined.

[00:06:29] I tried to do just one chin-up,

[00:06:32] then just one pull-up.

[00:06:34] Once I could do that, I tried to do two in a row.

[00:06:37] Hey, two in a row.

[00:06:38] That's not bad.

[00:06:39] That's more than I was doing before.

[00:06:41] Let me see if I can do three this time.

[00:06:43] And that was it.

[00:06:44] There was no magic to it other than just practicing.

[00:06:47] And sure enough, it worked.

[00:06:49] And I'm sure this is gonna be different for everybody.

[00:06:51] But for me, Steve was absolutely right.

[00:06:54] That when I started being able to do 25, 30, 35,

[00:06:58] and even 50 pull-ups and chin-ups in a row,

[00:07:01] my arms grew even faster

[00:07:03] than when I just tried to do isolation exercises

[00:07:06] for my biceps.

[00:07:07] Now, I know for some that may follow, let's say, CrossFit,

[00:07:10] a pull-up doesn't maybe necessarily

[00:07:12] need to be completely strict,

[00:07:15] where you're allowed to swing.

[00:07:16] And normally when I train folks,

[00:07:18] it's not like I say you can't do that.

[00:07:20] What I do is say,

[00:07:21] well, let's train you to do it the full proper way

[00:07:24] that Steve just outlined.

[00:07:25] And then if you wanna do the CrossFit-style pull-ups

[00:07:28] where you're swinging, that's fine.

[00:07:29] I just wanna be sure that you know

[00:07:31] how to do it properly first.

[00:07:32] That's all.

[00:07:33] And it's quite common for me to start with someone

[00:07:35] when they're just starting to get used

[00:07:37] to this pull-up or chin-up move

[00:07:38] to use their legs at first,

[00:07:40] meaning I'll assist them

[00:07:42] with the first one or two pull-ups.

[00:07:44] Or if they're doing it on their own at home,

[00:07:46] as long as they have a very stable chair below them,

[00:07:49] they can put one leg on the chair

[00:07:51] and just gently provide that extra support

[00:07:54] to get their chin above the bar.

[00:07:55] But eventually, that help, that chair needs to go away.

[00:07:59] All right, that's enough out of me for today.

[00:08:01] I hope you're having a wonderful week.

[00:08:02] Thank you as always for listening

[00:08:04] and I'll see you back here tomorrow

[00:08:05] where your optimal life awaits.