How to Do Military Pullups

Pull ups are tough to do, but almost anyone can work up to a solid set of military pull ups. A military pull up is done by placing the hands on the bar, shoulder width apart, with the palms facing out. If your palms are facing in, it's called a chin up. Practice these techniques to strengthen muscles and build up to a full military pull up.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Check to see if your gym has an assisted pull up machine. This machine allows you to rest your knees on a weighted platform so that you're only lifting part of your body weight. Decrease the amount of weight on the platform as you progress toward your goal.
2. Jump up to a pull up bar and hang on. Lower yourself down as slowly as you can. Even if you can't pull yourself back up, this exercise will strengthen the muscles that you use to do a full military pull up. Focus on moving slow and with purpose.
3. Assist yourself by doing your pull ups over a bench. Rest your legs on the bench and cheat as much as you need to during your pull ups. Use your legs less and less as you get stronger in doing your pull ups.
4. Do lat pull downs. This is a machine that works like a reverse pull up. You pull the bar in toward your chin, rather than pulling your chin up toward a bar. It works the same muscles as a pull up does and will help you get stronger.
5. Work on your bicep curls. The stronger your biceps are, the easier you'll be able to do pull ups. You can do dumbbell bicep curls, barbell bicep curls or even use a machine to do bicep curls. Lift to failure on these exercises for maximum benefit.
6. Practice your pull ups to failure. If you can do even one pull up, work toward pulling yourself up one more time. Every time you do this workout, try to add one more pull up. Eventually, you'll get stronger and be able to add repetitions.

Tips & Warnings

• Always warm up by doing five minutes of cardio before starting your workout.