How to Practice Pull Up Bars for Beginners

Pull-ups are a great way to develop upper body strength as well as core. However, you need to practice to get enough strength to pull the barbell. If you want to learn to pull up the bar, you should start with exercises for beginners. After that, you will gradually transition to pulling the bar. You have to listen to your body and don’t try too hard.

Table of Contents

Exercises for beginners

Bend elbow swing. To build muscles in your shoulders and arms, start with a swinging elbow bend. First, place the stand near the position of the bar so that the bar is slightly higher than your head. Grasp the bar with both hands with palms facing you. Raise your body slightly above the bar and hold it there. When you do, you will bend your elbows and let your chin rest on the bar. Try to swing on the bar as long as you can. Gradually increase your swing time until you can perform a pull-up. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Hanging people on the beams. The hanging move builds arm strength and builds up into the pull-up movement. First, place the stand near the position of the bar so that your hand just grasps the bar. Grasp the bar with both hands with the palms facing out of the body. Pull the body up about 3 cm, moving the elbows to the side while pulling the body up. Bend your knees to lift your feet off the stand and stay in this position for as long as you can. ^{[2] X Research Source}

The shoulders should not be pulled up at all while you do this move. If you find that your shoulders are pulled up, you need more practice before you can perform the pull-up correctly.

Slowly lower your body down. Lowering the body also requires practice. To get used to this move, place a chair under the bar and grasp the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart, palms facing inward. Step off the chair while contracting your muscles to keep your body on the bar. Lower your body slowly. Then step back onto the chair and repeat. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

You should do this exercise every day until you can lower your body slowly. You have to control the speed while lowering your body. If your body plummets uncontrollably, you can’t practice pulling the bar.

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Build a suitable exercise schedule. Each day, you should focus on practicing one aspect of the pull-up movement. Schedule your workouts accordingly so that you can rotate all aspects of pull-ups, alternating with rest days. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Start with a hanging movement. Do several sets of exercises, hold for 20-30 seconds each time and rest for 1-2 minutes. Workout every other day to build muscle.
Then move on to lower body exercises. Do 8 lowers down. Do 2-3 sets, and rest for a minute between sets. Like other movements, this move will be practiced every other day.
When you feel comfortable, combine the hanging movement with the lower body and remember to rest between sets. Eventually, you should be able to lift yourself up easily and move on to pull-ups.

Monica Morris

ACE Certified Personal Trainer

Monia Morris is an ACE (American Council on Exercise) certified personal trainer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. With over 15 years of fitness coaching experience, Monica started her career as a fitness trainer and was ACE certified in 2017. Her sessions emphasize warm-up, post-workout cooling, and stretch techniques. .

Monica Morris
ACE Certified Personal Trainer

Push-ups, powered pull-ups, and biceps dip are good exercises to strengthen the pull-up bar. However, weight training and cardio are equally important. Weight training will help develop shoulder and back muscles, while cardio helps you lose weight to pull the bar more gently.

Switch to real pull-ups

Initially, you will practice hanging and keeping your chin on the bar. Before doing the full pull-up, you will practice hanging and keeping your chin on the bar. With the hanging movement, you will practice 3-5 times, each time 20-30 seconds. Then, stand on a chair so that your chin is just above the bar. Bend your knees and keep your body still so that your chin is higher than the bar. Do this movement 3-5 times, 5-10 seconds each time. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Do this exercise every other day until you no longer feel the difficulty.

Practice pulling the bar in the opposite direction. Pulling the bar in the opposite direction helps you learn how to lower your body in a regular pull-up exercise. To practice pulling the bar in the opposite direction, you repeat the lower body exercise with the chair mentioned above. Then, pull yourself up a bit, and continue to pull yourself up to the maximum height with a smooth movement. Do 4-6 times. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

You can move on to other movements when you can pull the bar in the opposite direction easily.

Switch to rowing. To practice rowing, lower the bar to waist height. Lie under the beam. Grasp the bar with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders. You are now lying in a reverse push-up or plank position. Straighten your arms so that your body hangs under the bar, legs stretched out in front. Then pull your chest up near the bar. Hold this position for 3 seconds. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

After you can easily do 3 sets of 15 pulls each, it’s time to pull the bar.

Start doing pull-ups. After gradually perfecting your skills, you can now practice real pull-ups. Get into a ready position and grab the bar. Grasp the bar with your palms facing out of your body and begin to pull yourself up. Continue pulling until your chin is close to the bar, pause for a second and lower your body. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

Monica Morris

ACE Certified Personal Trainer

Monia Morris is an ACE (American Council on Exercise) certified personal trainer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. With over 15 years of fitness coaching experience, Monica started her career as a fitness trainer and was ACE certified in 2017. Her sessions emphasize warm-up, post-workout cooling, and stretch techniques. .

Monica Morris
ACE Certified Personal Trainer

Remember to protect your hands. You should wear gloves when doing pull-ups because the skin on your hands will quickly burn before you feel tired.

Gradually increase the number of pull-ups. In the beginning, usually you can only pull a few times per day. Do not try to pull too many times at this time to avoid muscle strain. Every day you should try to pull 1-2 more times/set. ^{[9] X Research Source}

Pay attention to safety issues

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Consult your doctor before starting a new exercise program. You should not start exercising on your own with a new program without consulting your doctor. This is especially important if you have underlying health problems. Before doing pull-ups, you should talk to your doctor to make sure this exercise is safe for you.

Talk to your doctor about health problems or concerns about your back, neck, shoulders, elbows or wrists.

Avoid jumping up. When you first learn to pull up the bar, you often have a tendency to jump up to help push your body. This move causes you to use the wrong muscle group when pulling the bar. Try to lift your body up with your arms and upper body muscle groups. Don’t jump up when you’re doing pull-ups. ^{[10] X Research Source}

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Pull up the bar only 2-3 days per week. Pull-ups or other dumbbell exercises should only be done 2-3 days a week. If you exercise more than this recommended frequency, you may experience muscle strain. Always take a day off between pull-ups. ^{[11] X Research Source}

Steps

Exercises for beginners

Switch to real pull-ups

Pay attention to safety issues

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