Everybody Hates Pull-Ups… Until They Get One
That first pull-up changes everything. One second, you’re just hanging there, feeling useless. Then—holy shit—you’re up. And just like that, you’re addicted.
Why Give a Shit?
First off, it’s just effing cool. Controlling your own body weight, moving through space, defying gravity? A beautiful demonstration of strength. You either can, or you can’t—no debates. And considering only 10% of people over 40 can do one, why wouldn’t you want to be in the top 10%?
Second, pull-ups are a cheat code for long-term health. The big muscles in your back—lats, rhomboids, lower traps—literally hold you up. As they weaken, you shrink, compress, and collapse in on yourself. These muscles are your personal fountain of youth. Keep that well clean and drink from it!
Strength and health go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. But pull-ups aren’t just about brute strength; they demand coordination. You’ve got to sequence your core, back, shoulders, and arms together to pull yourself up. That kind of movement control carries over to everything else—lifting, running, throwing, even just standing without back pain.
Functionality. Sure, you might never have a cliffhanger moment in real life, but knowing you could save yourself if you had to? That’s confidence. Plus, if you can pull yourself against gravity, lifting your kid, your groceries, or a case of beer is a sinch.
The Problem: Pull-Ups Are Hard. Really F***ing Hard.
And with that comes frustration. You try, you fail, you get pissed off, and eventually, you think, screw this, what’s the point?
All valid feelings. Bodyweight training is humbling. Unlike lifting weights, you don’t get those small wins—there’s no “adding 5 lbs” each week. You either get up, or you don’t. That makes progress feel invisible, even when it is!
This is where ego comes in. People get too attached to doing the pull-up instead of building the pull-up. That means using the wrong progression—hanging there, hoping for magic, instead of doing what actually gets results.
And then there’s modern life. The industrial revolution f***ed us biomechanically. We used to lift, carry, drag, and pull all the time. Now? We sit. The muscles built for pulling—some of the biggest in the body—get ignored. With that comes a lack of awareness and an inability to engage the muscles and joints needed. No scapular retraction, no pull-up. Simple.
The Solution: Regress to Progress
Step one: Take a step back. Pull-ups don’t happen through sheer willpower—you’ve got to build the strength and coordination first. That means finding the right starting point and working your way up.
The pull up’s foundation lies in your ability to draw your shoulder blades and down and back across your rib cage. Get those gigantic muscles working with Row variations.
Next up: hanging. If your grip is weak and your shoulders don’t know how to stabilize, pull-ups will feel impossible. Hanging is a must—aim for at least 60 seconds in an active hang before you start attempting reps. Plus, it’s one of the best things you can do for shoulder health in general.
Once you’ve got those two dialed in, it’s all about finding the right pull-up progression for your current strength level. The key? If you can’t feel your back working, the progression is too hard. Drop to an easier version until you can engage the right muscles. The chart below is a rough step by step guide. Find your base and build from there.
A great way to push progress? Technical drop sets. Do a harder progression until you can’t anymore, then immediately switch to an easier one and keep going. This helps reinforce the movement pattern while giving your muscles the time under tension they need to grow.
And the most important part? Be patient. Pull-ups are a skill as much as they are a strength test. Rushing through progressions too fast will only stall you out. You wouldn’t expect to go from squatting 25lbs to 250lbs in a year so why would you expect to go from hanging for 10 seconds to pulling your bodyweight up in a year?
Trust that the work you’re putting in is moving you forward—even if you don’t see it right away.
The Bottom Line: Earn Your Pull-Up
Pull-ups are hard. That’s the whole point. The struggle makes the reward worth it.
And when you finally get that first rep—when you own it—it’s not just about the pull-up. It’s about everything you built along the way. Strength. Coordination. Control. A body that is capable of cool shit and a mind that is resilient.
So be patient. Train smart. Regress to progress. And when you finally pull yourself up, you’ll know every second of work was worth it.