Physical and Mental Benefits of Mastering Pull-ups with Shawna Kaminski

Shawna and I talk about pull-ups and why people tend to look at us like we’ve got two heads. But doing pull-ups is a challenge worth taking. Check out the video to find out why and her suggestions to get you started.

Fitness is a gateway. A gateway to all life has to offer. Part of the reasoning behind this site is just that. At Cube Dweller Fitness I say that we pursue fitness because there’s life outside the box.

That said when I start talking to people about pull-ups or chin-ups I do get odd looks. But I also hear a very common response to mentioning pull-ups is I could maybe do one. So I asked Shawna, why bother doing pull-ups.

Interview With Shawn Kaminski

Why do pull-ups?

It depends on your mentality and what you value.

Do Pull-ups For Physical Reasons

Physical reasons – it is an amazing almost full body workout. Requires your back, rear felt, biceps, and your core. It is a really expensive metabolic exercise. You get a lot of bang for your buck with the pull-up.

But it is a full bodyweight exercise. Scaling it is challenging. To get started you pull your entire body weight.

Do Pull-ups For Mental Reasons

It is a great mental challenge, since we need to get past the idea that we could pull our entire bodyweight. The mental challenge is if we can do a pull-up we can do anything. It is a worthy goal in itself.

If you can do one pull-up it is a gateway challenge to move through. If you can get one pull-up you can get ten.

Strategies to Build Pull-Ups

What strategies to help people get started. The key to remember is that the eccentric contraction is the strength building movement. That’s when you are lowering yourself down. So find a way to get up above the bar then slowly lower yourself down. Build up.

With the pull-up bar at work I love taking micro-breaks at work to walk to the bar. One day I’ll do sets of pull-ups, another day chin ups, and another day I’ll mix in slow negatives. Those negatives are by far the hardest sets; take time to simply jump up then slowly lower yourself down. Try to take 10 seconds to go from top to bottom hanging from the bar.

When you start stand on a bench, or a chair. Use your legs to help support your weight. This gives you the ability to scale the pull-up so you don’t have to support your entire weight. Build up.

Once you get the negatives going with your full body weight then progress to working on getting yourself up above the bar. That’s the concentric contraction – the motion of pulling yourself up.

Position Matters

Shawn’s Challenge Workouts3 point power position. Get in the right position, hands shoulder width apart, don’t bring chin to the bar, instead roll shoulders back and think about bringing the bar to the upper chest.

The positioning is super important. there are many exercises that can be done off the bar to build up that strength. Try pull-ups to test, then build up.

Focus on Scapular retraction.

Scapular Pull-Ups

Check this quick video showing how to do micro-pullups focusing on scapular rotation.

Progression

Shawna and I talked about just finding different ways to progress. Check out my earlier post on How do do pull-ups and chin ups. Find ways to reduce the resistance and help you get up to the bar. Use your plyobox like I demonstrate in the video.

Exercise bands can help too. Loop them over the bar, then hook them on your foot, or knee. The band will help reduce the effective load while hanging from the bar. But don’t do a band fail – unless you can catch it on camera and become a viral YouTube sensation.

Another way to progress is what Shawna calls Controlled cheating. This just means creative ways to change how you do the pull-up. That could be reducing your effective weight by using bands, or performing kipping pull-ups. But it could also mean performing weighted pull-ups do get your body to exert more energy in lower number of repetitions.

What to do to keep moving to the next plateau?

Plateau busting. Do not do the same thing each and every day. Mix it up. Change when pull-ups are done and change the exercise, the intensity, and the volume.

One exercise that we both enjoy is the burpee pull-up. This is a brutal bodyweight exercise that combines the burpee and a pull-up. Perform the burpee pull-up by doing the following steps:

1. Start in a standing position below the pull-up bar
2. Squat down and place your hands just outside your feet.
3. Hop your feet back into a high-plank position
4. Perform a push-up
5. Hop your feet back to inside your hands in a squatting position
6. Jump up to the bar and immediately pull yourself up in a full pull up
7. Lower yourself down, then release the bar at the bottom.
8. Repeat until toast

Here is a quick video of the Burpee Pull-up.

I managed to finish 12 burpee pull-ups. How many can you do? Leave a comment below.

But get creative with other forms as well when working to bust through plateaus. Do kipping pull-ups, or band assisted pull-ups. Do not go to max each and every time. Work multiple sets to add volume. If you are adding weight, make sure to do equal work on either side to make sure we stay balanced.

Grip Position

What about grip variation. Grip changes the pull at the elbow. Do now always to wide grip, but mix in some chin ups and narrow parallel pull-ups. Every type of grip change you can add in just increases your strength through your range of motion.

Changing grip can really save you from injury. Shawna has suffered from elbow injury and was able to change grip to alleviate the strain on the joint. She doesn’t go all the way down instead keeps a gentle bent in the elbow. Listen to your body and do not push through pain. (Like my battle with INSANITY Cardio Abs – be smart.)

Listen to your own advice. I need to do this with my recovery and specifically my sleep patterns. But the same is true for anything. More often than not when I talk to people who have injured themselves as they explain what happened I undoubtedly hear the phrase I knew better mixed in. Don’t do it. If you feel pain stop and figure out why.

Changing grip position can be an essential part of avoiding pain and injury in doing pull-ups. Check out my earlier post on training for the Tough Mudder Monkey Bars by changing grip positions. While the training worked wonderfully for the monkey bars, the rings left with an epic ring failure. Changing between four grip positions is important.

Take On The Pull-Up Challenge

Pull-ups are not just a man’s exercise. They are a great full-body exercise with incredible physical benefits, but don’t diminish the mental benefits of mastering the pull-up. Set new fitness challenges for yourself and break through them.

If performing a pull-up is on your list, then take on a pull-up challenge with Shawna’s Challenge Workouts. She’ll help you get through the physical and mental challenge of pull-ups.